I bought some lamb cubes some time back and never got around to cooking them. Since it’s Ramadan and the evenings have been so rainy of late, I wanted to make something comforting and soupy. Besides, Mummy is watching her health more carefully and no longer eats any red meat, so even though she’ll avoid this dish, it is just one of the many dishes we served with rice for our buka puasa meal.
I loved the broth, so flavourful yet the spices are not overpowering. I flooded my rice with it, and i imagine this soup would also be excellent with bread.
The original recipe was intended for lamb shanks, but since I wanted to use up the lamb cubes in the freezer I just used that. The meat turned out a bit tough even after simmering for 1 1/2 hours, so I wonder if I’ll give it 30 minutes in the pressure cooker next time. Because it was already time to break fast and the meat wasn’t as tender as I had hoped, I skipped the shredding step. Will make this again, using a couple of good quality shanks I hope. Yums!
Adapted from a recipe on taste.com.au.
Moroccan Lamb Soup
Ingredients
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1 tablespoon olive oil
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2 large (about 900g) lamb shanks
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1 medium yellow onion, chopped
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2 garlic cloves, crushed
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2 medium carrots, peeled, chopped
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2 celery stalks, chopped
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2 teaspoons ground cumin (jintan putih)
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2 teaspoons ground coriander (ketumbar)
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1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
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1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
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2 cups fresh tomatoes, diced
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3 beef stock cubes
- 1.5 litres water
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1/2 cup dried lentils, rinsed and soaked for a few hours
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1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (daun ketumbar)
Directions
Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the lamb. Cook, turning, for 6 to 8 minutes or until browned. Transfer to a plate.
Add the onion, garlic, carrot and celery. Cook for 5 minutes or until onion has softened.
Add cumin, coriander, ginger and cinnamon. Cook, stirring frequently, until spices are fragrant, 1 minute.
Return lamb to the pot. Add tomato, stock cubes and 1.5 litres water.
Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low.
Simmer, partially covered, for 1 hour.
Add lentils. Simmer, partially covered, for 30 minutes or until lentils and meat is tender.
Remove pot from heat. Remove the meat. Remove and discard bones and fat. Shred meat. Add meat and parsley to pot and return to heat. Simmer for 5 minutes or until heated through.
Serve with warm bread or steaming hot plates of rice.
