As much as I hate to admit it, I am a victim of self preservation, I am anthropocentric. A preference for fellows, I would much rather see the sacrifice of a ewe rather than a you. So after watching one sacrifice after another on Eid-al-Adha, the revolt soon gave way to relief; that hard work and debt pay off in ritual, eating head to hoof, that it was not me to place the killing blow, that families who live on bread and oil year-round will be treated to the simple luxury of meat. Yes, in a pastoral world, it is inevitable that some will die so that others may live. A circle of life, if you will. Oh, the lessons you learn from Disney…thank you Lion King.
I still have more than a morsel to digest from that day’s events; even so, that evening I succumbed to desensitization, and cooked up some lamb/ram-shoulder curry. You’ll find the recipe below.
1 onion, julienned
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 lamb/ram shoulder, deboned (use bones for stock) and cut into 1/2 to 1 inch pieces
dry rub/spice blend of cumin, chili, pepper, cinnamon, ginger, salt, fenugreek seed (use curry powder or ras el hanout to replace)
4 carrots, cut into 1/4 inch medallions
4 small zucchini, cut into 1/4 inch medallions
2 peppers (red/green/yellow…your choice), cut into 1/4 inch strips
1-4 minced hot peppers, minced (jalapenos, habaneros…your choice/optional)
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon honey
~Water/stock to cover
Parsley/1/4 cup of citrus juice o choice/chili powder to garnish
-Coat lamb with dry rub. It shouldn’t form a crust, but it should cover the meat. Set aside.
-Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onions and cook slowly, stirring occasionally, until soft and brown, about 10 minutes
-In a large pressure cooker/crock pot/souppot, add the rest of the olive oil and place over medium-high heat. Add the lamb, and brown on all sides. This should be about 2 minutes per side. (do this in batches of the pot is crowded…you don’t want to steam the lamb, but brown it)
-Remove lamb, add carrots, zucchini, onions, and peppers, and reduce heat to medium. Cook, stirring to get the brown bits (fond) from the bottom of the pan, and when the vegetables just start to brown around the edges, add the garlic, honey and water.
-Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to very low (You should see lazy bubbles rising around the edges of the pan, but not boiling away), and cook until meat is tender. This will take anywhere from 45 minutes if using a pressure cooker, to all day if using a slow cooker. Check every half hour, and kill the heat when the meat mixture is like beef stew in texture (from the collagen or connective tissue turning into gelatin from being exposed to 170 + degrees until it changes structure)
-Garnish with parsley, lemon juice and chili and serve over rice.
Sorry about the short post by the way…I’ll include a full description of the Eid events in a couple of weeks, after research is done.
December 1st, 2009 at 10:24 pm
Wow. That sounds like an amazing rub. And a meal that
stays in memory.