Persian Lamb Stew

Some long lost friends were nearby so I decided to splurge and make Persian Lamb Stew. Oh my such goodness, another dish to add to my long list of recipes to keep forever. But I'll only make this for special occasions since it takes an abundance of prep and cooking time, not to mention the cost of the lamb.

My local grocery only had leg of lamb so I purchased a boneless cut. When I unwrapped it I noticed it had a ton of fat. I'd made my choice so I made a go of it. I sliced the leg into one inch slices and then trimmed the fat off of each slice. I wouldn't be surprised if one quarter of the leg of lamb was dense fat. I was dismayed at the pile of fat when I finished, and decided to set it aside for some future use, perhaps a stock? Then I cut up each slice into bite sized pieces. Cutting off the fat and cutting up the lamb alone turned out to be a time consuming effort. If you can get lamb stew meat at your butcher for this recipe, do that.

Saute the lamb meat in olive oil till browned and set aside. Next saute one onion till soft, add three stalks of chopped celery and two carrots chopped fine. Next add a teaspoon each of cardamom, anise, cumin, cardamom, turmeric, half a teaspoon of cinnamon, salt and pepper.and chopped fresh mint. Add 2 cups of pomegranate juice and 1/4 cup of molasses and 1 cup of chicken stock, Simmer for several hours. I cooked this for several days the day before and then reheated the next day which enhances the flavors. The next day I added half a cup of chopped fresh parsley, 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, and a can of chickpeas drained. I cooked the stew another hour. Meanwhile I cooked some saffron basmati rice. Keep an eye on the rice because it cooks much quicker than brown or the usual white race.

Serve the Persian Lamb Stew over the saffron basmati rice and top with fresh pomegranate seeds. Unfortunately our friends couldn't make it due to the storms and heavy rainfall, but the anticipation of their visit seemed to sustain us. Of course the exquisite flavors of the Persian Lamb Stew enhanced our day oh so well. Up next all about those dolmades (stuffed grape leaves also on the plate). Thanks for reading and for all your comments.