Recipe of the day: Melt in your mouth roasted lamb shawarma

A street food seen in many stalls across Turkey and the Middle East which has infiltrated the world, shawarma’s a popular go-to lunch meal for many people and can be made at home. 

Usually made over a vertical spit, where the meat is slowly roasted over hours to have that juicy, tender result. 

Making a shawarma at home doesn’t have to be so time-consuming and in this recipe, your lamb can be roasted and baked within two hours. It is recommended to prepare this meal a day before.

Roasted lamb shawarma recipe

Ingredients 

Shawarma Spices

• 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
• 2 inches cinnamon stick
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• ½ teaspoon green cardamom seeds from 8 to 10 pods
• 6 cloves
• ¼ teaspoon whole nutmeg small piece
• ⅛ teaspoon fenugreek seeds optional
• ½ star anise optional
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon sumac
• 2 teaspoon salt

Other Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon grated ginger or 1 teaspoon ground dry ginger
• 6 cloves garlic grated
• 4 tablespoon lemon juice
• 4 tablespoon olive oil
• 1.8kg of lamb boneless, butterflied
• 1 onion large, sliced
• 2 cups water

Instructions: 

Prepare the meat

1. On the fat side, trim off the excess, leaving just a thin layer. On the other side, slice off any thick pockets of fat.
2. Make one-inch deep slashes in the thickest parts on the seam side. Flip over and score on the fat side, barely going through the fat layer.

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Season and marinate 

1. Roast the spices in a skillet and grind them into a fine powder in a spice grinder. Combine the ground spices with grated ginger, grated garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and salt into a thick paste.
2. Tip: roasting of spices makes the spice blend intense, but it is optional.
3. Pat the lamb dry and coat ⅔ of the spice paste onto the seam side, rubbing into the slashes. Spread the rest of the marinade on the fat side evenly.
4. Cover and place it in the refrigerator to marinate for a few hours overnight.

Roast the lamb

1. Preheat oven to 180ºC.
2. Let the marinated meat sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before roasting.
3. Scatter onion slices in the roasting pan and place a rack over that. Transfer the meat, fat side up, over the rack. Pour two cups of water into the base of the pan. Cover and bake for about 1½ hours.
4. Then remove the lid. Baste the lamb with the juices collected in the bottom of the pan.
5. Roast the fat side until golden brown on the top.
6. Flip the lamb meat and place it seam side up. Brush with pan juices and roast until the meat has a golden brown crust on this side too. Roasting both sides should take an additional 30 to 60 minutes.
7. It is well done, when the meat is fork-tender but doesn’t roast until it disintegrates. Place a lid ajar and let it rest for about 20 minutes before cutting. That will retain the juices better and make them firmer.

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Slice the meat 

1. Transfer the roasted lamb leg meat to a carving board to slice.
2. Using a slicing knife cut thin slices against the grain. Save the juices from the roasting pan to use for reheating or drizzle on the meat while making sandwiches.
3. Serve with flatbread, rice or couscous, sliced vegetables (cucumber, tomatoes, peppers, onions), tahini sauce (recipe notes below), hot sauce, pickles and tabbouleh or yoghurt dip.

This recipe can be found on thedeliciouscrescent.com.