For something new and a bit exotic try this 'gourmeh sabzi' - a Persian lamb stew full of fragrant herbes.
This Persian stew is a personal favourite. Made with many different herbs and fresh spinach it is quite light and the 'limou-amani' (dried limes) gives a very distinctive taste. Serve it with Persian rice and the spinach borani from my previous recipe and you have a meal that is deliciously exotic. Lamb stew never tasted so good.
Remember to soak the kidney beans the day before.
This recipe serves 4-5 people
- Ingredients
- 1 kg lamb shoulder cut into bite size pieces
- 200 gr soaked, dry red kidney beans
- 1 large Spanish onion chopped
- 2-3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 teaspoon each of ground turmeric and ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon chille flakes
- 4 limou-amani ( dried limes or fresh lime juice if you can not find them) pricked all over with a fork
- 500 ml boiling water
- butter and oil for frying
- 2 large bunches of Italian parsley, roughly chopped
- 1 bunch coriander, roughly chopped
- 1 bunch fresh fenugreek ( or fresh tarragon) roughly chopped
- 2 teaspoon dried fenugreek
- 1 bunch spring onions chopped
- 1 large bunch of baby spinach, roughly chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
in a large saucepan fry the spices in some butter and oil for a few minutes
add the onions and when soft the meat, garlic and the dried limes
add the drained kidney beans and the water, cover and gently cook for one hour
add half the chopped herbes and spinach and gently cook covered for 40 minutes, pressing down onto the dried limes to release their juice
now add the rest of the herbes, taste for seasoning and cook uncovered for another 15 minutes
