Spiced Lamb with Burghul
You may be familiar with burghul from the popular salad tabouli. Here, it is cooked with spices, dried fruit and tender lamb cutlets to make a delicious Middle Eastern-style dish.
Ingredients
Serves: 4
- 4 lamb chops (about 400 g in total), trimmed of all excess fat
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger
- 2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 cup (180 g) coarse burghul
- 600 ml chicken or vegetable stock, preferably homemade
- juice of 1 orange
- 1 tsp honey
- seeds from 6 green cardamom pods
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1/2 cup (90 g) pitted prunes
- 1/3 cup (45 g) dried apricot halves, cut into slivers
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh mint
- salt and pepper
- 1 orange, segmented and segments halved
- 1/4 cup (30 g) unsalted pistachio nuts, chopped
- sprigs of fresh mint to garnish
Directions
Preparation:15min ›
Cook:35min ›
Ready in:50min
- Heat a large, deep, non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Add the lamb cutlets and cook for 2 minutes on each side or until nicely browned. Transfer to a plate.
- Add the onion to the juices left in the pan (there shouldn't be any need to add any oil) and cook gently for 5 minutes or until softened. Stir in the ginger and cumin seeds and cook gently for 1 minute.
- Stir in the burghul, then add the stock, orange juice, honey, cardamom seeds and cinnamon stick. Bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and return the lamb to the pan, together with the prunes, apricots, mint and salt and pepper to taste. Cover and simmer gently for 15–20 minutes or until the burghul is tender and all the liquid has been absorbed.
- Stir in the orange segments and scatter the chopped pistachio nuts over the top. Serve garnished with sprigs of mint.
Some more ideas…
Lamb pilaf with dates Cut 250 g lean boneless lamb (leg, shoulder or neck fillet) into small cubes. Heat 1 tbsp canola oil in a large frying pan, add the lamb and brown all over. Add 1 chopped onion and 2 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger and cook for about 5 minutes or until softened. Add 1 can chopped tomatoes (about 400 g), 2 cups (500 ml) salt-reduced beef stock, 1 tsp each ground cumin and ground coriander, and seasoning to taste. Bring to the boil, then cover and cook gently for 15 minutes. Stir in 1 cup (200 g) basmati rice, a further 300 ml hot stock and 1¼ cups (235 g) pitted dried dates. Cover and cook for 10–15 minutes or until the rice is tender. Scatter over a generous handful of chopped fresh coriander and serve.
Health points
Lamb tends to be a fatty meat, but changes in breeding, feeding and butchery techniques have reduced the fat content considerably. Today, lean cuts contain about one-third of the fat that was found in lamb 20 years ago. * Prunes contain useful amounts of potassium, iron and vitamin B6. They are also a good source of dietary fibre.
