LAMB SHAWARMA

 

A truly delicious Lamb dish. Shawarma is actually a Turkish word which means turn. This is marinated, and spiced Lamb that is normally cooked on a rotisserie. The list of ingredients looks daunting, but most of them belong to the marinade. A firm favourite on Wilton Week.

INGREDIENTS

2 teaspoon black peppercorns

5 cloves

half teaspoon cardamom pods

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

1 tablespoon cumin seeds

1 star anise

half a cinnamon stick

half a nutmeg grated

quarter teaspoon ground ginger

1 tablespoon sweet paprika

1 tablespoon sumac

half tablespoon salt

25g fresh ginger grated

3 garlic gloves crushed

40 gr fresh coriander chopped

60ml lemon juice

120ml groundnut oil

1 leg of lamb about 2.5 – 3kg

for the pitta bread spread

120g tinned chopped tomatoes

20g harissa paste

20gr tomato purée

1 tablespoon olive oil

salt and pepper

To Serve

6 Pita breads

chopped onion

chopped parsley

Cucumber and tomato salad dressed with lemon juice olive oil and chopped parsley or coriander.

METHOD

Put the first 8 ingredients a pan and dry roast for a minute or two, until they start to pop and release their aromas. Add the nutmeg, ginger and paprika and toss all together for a few moments. Transfer to a grinder and whiz the till they are in a powder. Transfer to a bowl and ad all the remaining ingredients except the Lamb.

Score the Lamb in a few places through the fat. Place in a large roasting tin and rub the marinade all over the Lamb, use you hands to massage the meat, ensure the marinade goes into the slits.

Cover with foil and chill over night.

Pre heat the oven to 170°C

Put the lamb in the oven, fatty side up, and roast for 4 and half hours, until the meat is tender almost dropping off the bone. After 30 minutes of roasting add a cup of boiling water, and use this liquid to baste the Lamb every hour or so. Keep about half a centimetre in the pan, so top up the water if need be. For the last 3 hours cover the Lamb with foil to stop the spices from burning. Reduce the liquid. Save it for later

Remove the Lamb and rest for 10 minutes.

To serve

Take a pita bread and bush inside liberally with the harissa paste. Warm up the bread on a ridges griddle pan until it gets char marks on both sides.

Slice the Lamb, and pile it high on top of the warm Pitta spoon over some the roasting liquid. Sprinkle with the chopped onion, and chopped parsley. Add a sprinkle of Sumac.

 

Serve the cucumber and tomato salad; Simply Delicious.

Original Recipe Yotam Ottolenghi  Jerusalem