Best Saudi Arabian Slow Cooked Lamb Recipes

ARABIAN ROAST LAMB FIT FOR A KING AND QUEEN, WITH SPICED RICE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425F degrees. Wash and trim the lamb of any excess fat, and pat dry with a clean cloth.
• Rub the leg of lamb all over with the spices, salt, pepper, and oil. Place it in a large roasting pan and put it into the preheated oven. After 20 minutes, take the pan out of the oven, pour in 4 1/4 cups water, and add the onion and garlic. Cover the meat with a large sheet of foil and put it back in the oven. Lower the heat to 300F degrees, and cook for 3 hours.
• While the meat is cooking, prepare the rice. Wash the rice in cold water, rinse in a fine mesh strainer under cold running water, and drain. In a large pan, fry the onion in 2 tablespoons oil until it is soft and beginning to color. Add the ground beef and cook, stirring, turning it over and crushing it with a fork to break up any lumps, until it has changed color. Add salt and pepper and all the spices: cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and cloves. Stir well and add the rice, then stir again.
• Pour in the boiling stock, mix well, and simmer, covered, for about 10 to 20 minutes until the rice is tender. Add a little stock or water if it becomes too dry. Drain (if necessary) and keep it on the side until you are ready to serve.
• Fry the almonds, pistachios, and pine nuts separately in the remaining oil until they just begin to color. When the leg of lamb is ready, place it on a serving dish with the rice. You can cut the meat off the bone into slices, if you wish. Sprinkle the fried nuts all over the rice. Serve the flavorsome meat broth produced at the bottom of the roasting pan as a sauce. Heat it through and serve it in a jug, first pouring off as much of the fat from the top as you can.

SLOW COOKER LEG OF LAMB

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan. Add the lamb and brown on each side for 4-5 mins. Set the slow cooker to low. Melt the butter in a saucepan until foaming, then stir through the flour. Whisk in the stock gradually until incorporated, add the wine and bring to the boil. Set aside.
• Put the onion, garlic, thyme and rosemary into your slow cooker and sit the lamb on top. Pour over the lamb gravy. Put the lid on and cook for 8 hrs or until soft and tender.
• Remove the lamb and set, covered, on a plate. Strain the liquid into a pan and simmer until slightly thickened. Serve the lamb thickly sliced or shredded (it'll be quite soft) with mashed potatoes, green veg and the gravy.

SLOW COOKED LEG OF LAMB

Steps:

• Heat oven to 120C/fan 100C/gas ½. Put your largest lidded casserole on the hob and brown the seasoned leg of lamb on all sides - do this very thoroughly until it is a good dark brown as it will not brown during the cooking. (If you don't do it now, it will end up beige.) If the lamb sticks, add a drizzle of oil - legs of lamb differ. Allow 10 mins on a high heat and put on the cooker fan to remove the smoke. Pour away any fat that has collected in the bottom of the pan.
• Throw in the vegetables, followed by the wine and stock. Season and bring to the boil, then clap on the lid and put in the oven. Bake for 7 hrs, turning twice. After 5 hrs the meat will be cooked and offer no resistance to the knife.
• There is no need to rest the meat when cooked in this way, but to finish the sauce, transfer the meat and vegetables to a serving dish. Strain the sauce into a jug and pour or blot away the fat with kitchen paper. Pour the sauce into a pan then boil the liquid hard to reduce by a quarter, by which time it will be rich and flavoursome. Adjust seasoning, add the Armagnac if you wish, and serve alongside the lamb, which should be served with a spoon, a la cuillère as the French call it.

LAMB IN THE SLOW COOKER

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add lamb and cook until outside is browned, about 5 minutes per side. Remove to a plate and add onion to the oil in the skillet. Saute until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.
• Place onion in the bottom of a slow cooker pot and place the lamb roast on top. Mix water, soy sauce, garlic, and onion soup mix together and pour over the roast. Cook on Low for 8 to 10 hours.
• Remove roast, cover lightly with foil, and let rest for 20 minutes before carving. Mix butter and flour into a paste. Add small pieces of this paste to the hot cooking liquid, mixing well to incorporate. Cook until sauce reaches desired thickness, 5 to 6 minutes.
• Slice roast thinly and serve with gravy.

SLOW ROAST RAS EL HANOUT LAMB & COUSCOUS

Steps:

• Using a pestle and mortar or a mini chopper, mash or chop the garlic with a generous pinch of salt, then add the lemon juice, ras el hanout spice mix and olive oil, then pound or chop to a rough paste. Use a small knife to make small incisions all over the lamb. Sit the lamb in a large, shallow casserole dish or deep roasting tin, then rub the paste all over the lamb and into the cuts. Leave at room temperature for 1 hr, or better still cover and chill overnight.
• When ready to cook, heat the oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Scatter the onion wedges around the lamb, then cover the dish with a lid or tightly with foil and roast for 3 hrs. Remove from the oven and uncover. Stir the onions and baste the lamb in the juices, then turn the oven up to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and continue to roast the lamb, uncovered, for 25-30 mins until browned.
• Lift the lamb and onions onto a board to rest and put the kettle on. Stir the couscous and raisins into the lamb dish so they're coated in the roasting juices. Pour over enough boiling water from the kettle to just cover the couscous, then cover the dish and leave for 5 mins. Uncover and fluff the couscous up with a wooden spoon, then stir through the chickpeas, chopped herbs and preserved lemon or lemon juice, and season to taste. Bring the lamb, onions and the couscous to the table to serve.