A persian style lamb stew (khoresht)

This is a delicious persian styled lamb stew or khoresht which tastes fantastic. There are many combinations of fruit, meat and fowl which make these dishes irresistible. They usually contain lots of dried or fresh fruits, herbs and spices but critically are soured with the addition of lemon juice, dry limes, verjuice or pomegranate.

Running on a common theme of mine, they offer maximum taste and enjoyment for the diner, and minimum effort from the cook - the perfect combination!

If possible prepare the stew the day before eating - the flavours will develop wonderfully be greatly enhanced the following day!

Ingredients

750 g lamb shoulder (off the bone)

80 ml good quality olive oil

2 brown onions, diced

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon dried cumin

4 cardamom pods, split, seeds removed and crushed

2 tea spoons sea salt

400 ml chicken stock

120 g pitted prunes

120 g dried apricots

1 teaspoon caster sugar

1 dried lime

juice of 1 lime

1/4 teaspoon of saffron threads, dissolved in 1 tablespoon boiling water

1 very large handful chopped mint leaves

30 g roasted almonds

a little coriander

400 g butternut squash - peeled and diced (2cm dice)

sea salt and a little freshly ground black pepper

extra virgin olive oil

As with all stews of this nature we begin by browning the lamb. Cut the lamb into 4 cm chunks. We're using shoulder as it's not lean, and we'll end up with lovely melting streaks of fat running through the meat in the final dish!. Heat some good quality olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan and fry the lamb in batches, ensuring a good, even colouring - although clearly not burnt, over a medium to high heat. When browned remove each batch and set aside.

Add a little more olive oil if necessary into the pan used for browning, and add the onions, browning gently over a medium heat. When soft and lightly browned, add the spices and sea salt and stir until the delicious fragrance is released. 

Now return the lamb and any juices to the pan, add the chicken stock, and simmer over a low heat, covered for 1 hour. Stir occasionally. Now add the prunes, apricots, sugar, dried lime, lime juice and saffron water. Cover and continue to simmer for another 30 minutes, or until the lamb is very tender.

Whilst the stew is in its' final 30 minutes or so of simmering, let's cook the butternut squash. Preheat the oven to 200 C. Cut the squash into 2 cm diced cubes, mix with the extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and a little freshly ground black pepper. Place on a baking tray and bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until soft and lightly browned.

Add the squash to the stew and mix carefully. If possible, place lid on and set aside for the following day.

30 minutes before serving, heat the stew over a medium/low heat. Add in the mint leaves and stir carefully. Just prior to serving garnish the dish with the roasted almonds and a little coriander.

This dish is fabulous served with saffron flavoured steamed rice. Additional accompaniments could include pan fried  and lightly spiced egg plant, or steamed green vegetables. Tabbouleh would be great on the side also!

The perfect dish for supper amongst friends, minimum cooking effort required, and little time away from the table!

Enjoy!

Alternative persian lamb recipe

Comments

[The Grubworm]

"maximum taste and enjoyment for the diner, and minimum effort from the cook - the perfect combination" - you are so right about that combo - apart from the fantastic flavours, it's a major draw of central Asian/Persian/Afghan cooking.

I cook a similar dish except the lamb stew is buried in a mountain cooked saffron rice and finished of in the oven. The rice soaks up some of those meaty, fruity, spicy juices and you end up with nuggets of lamb to be extracted like lumps of ore from a mine.

[Paul]

Thanks GW for your kind words - your dish sounds great fun - how long do you leave it in the oven?

[scandilicious]

Must try this sometime, am fascinated by Persian food (a Persian friend always asks why, she thinks it's terribly dull!) but you can't go wrong with lamb, cumin, cinnamon, apricots, prunes...

another cracking recipe Paul!

[Paul]

Lol Sig, the whole middle eastern food sector is fascinating and I reckon we in the west haven't even scraped the surface!

[The Grubworm]

@Paul It's one i picked up from a book by Camellia Panjabi and adapt to whatever spices i have to hand. It's a great dinner party dish because you can do most of it beforehand, then assemble the ingredients and whack it in the oven to finish off whenever you like.

You three-quarter cook the rice firs with saffron and tumeric. Then, when you've made your lamb not-quite-stew/curry (it needs a thick coating of sauce, but not a gravy, you take an oven-proof pot and put half the rice in the bottom, embed the lamb on top of that and cover with the rest of the rice. Cover and cook on a low heat (about 150-160C) for about 20 mins.

I usually do this in my Creuset pot, but one day I'll try it in a tagine, that way i can get the mountain rather than open-cast mine effect

[spiltwine]

Helen, this dish sounds...delish! and semi-simple to make!

As for wine Bordeaux is the classic thing to do with lamb...but who likes classic?! But perhaps a merlot from Hawks Bay in NZ would go well...specifically from Gimblett Gravels...they tend to have a eucalyptus/mint characteristic with some good minerality too!

Otherwise I would go for Zin (I always have to add it in somewhere). I reviewed this guy a while back --->> and b/c of the fruit in the dish think it could go well --- http://spiltwine.com/2009/11/19/local-is-the-way-to-go/

Other wise try a Languedoc red -- something with Grenache and Carignan (also Mourvedre and Syrah) ask your local wine shop if they have one from Terrasses de Larzac it's a pretty safe regions when it comes to South of France.

hope that helps :-) speak soon
-Louis

[spiltwine]

oh whoops! I thought this was aforkful site for some reason *emabarassed*

Paul, Helen asked me to recommend a wine for your dish here...I guess she'll be making it soon.