I’m trying to form a new relationship with my slow cooker. One that involves me actually using it more than once or twice a year. I’m convinced the slow cooker is going to become my best friend once I’m back at work and we get only a couple of hours of time together as a family each day. Time is racing by so I need to get this relationship cemented now so I have an arsenal of recipes up my sleeve for when I need them.
I’ve confessed before that I do love my slow cooker, but I’m just not very good at using it. He tends to spend most of his time at the back of the cupboard. If I’m honest, in the past I’ve found the things I cooked in it all tasted pretty much the same and I found them a bit dull. My slow cooker sausages with tomato and herbs were a bit of a game changer. They were so fresh and bright tasting they inspired me to go in search of other recipes that were a little bit different.
Enter this amazing Arabian lamb. The basis for this recipe came from my ‘Year Round Recipes for Crockpots and Slow Cookers’ book by NZ icon Dame Alison Holst and her son Simon (www.holst.co.nz). There wouldn’t be many Kiwi cooks without at least a few Holst books in their collection. Their recipes are always foolproof. This one turned out almost exactly like the picture. I love it when that happens!
What appealed to me most about the original recipe was using some of the cooking liquid to cook the rice. It made the dish so much more cohesive than just serving it with plain steamed rice. Its a trick I’m definitely going to use again and again.
This Arabian Lamb is now firmly on my list of successful slow-cooker meals to repeat. Not only was it very easy to put together – no browning of meat or fiddly ingredients here – it was wonderfully full of warm spices and succulent lamb. Then its brightened before serving with toasted almonds, currants and fresh coriander. It was divine.
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4
- 600g lamb
- 1 brown onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 4 tbsp fresh coriander leaves
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp ground coriander
- ½ tbsp ground cardamon
- 1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cinnamon stick or 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 cup white rice
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tbsp oil
- 3 tbsp slivered almonds
- 3 tbsp currants or sultanas
- extra fresh coriander leaves
- Dice the lamb meat into 2 cm cubes. Peel and slice the onion into quarter rounds. Peel and slice the garlic. Roughly chop the coriander leaves. Add the lamb, onion, garlic and coriander leaves to the bowl of a slow cooker. Sprinkle over the salt, cumin, ground coriander, cardamon, black pepper and cinnamon. Mix well with your hands. Pour over the chicken stock.
- Put on the lid and cook on low for 8 hours (or high for 4-5 hours) until the lamb is tender. If possible, stir a couple of times during cooking, but this isn't crucial if you're out all day.
- At the end of the cooking time, carefully spoon out 1 cup of the cooking liquid and add it to the cup of milk in a medium saucepan. Bring the liquid to a boil. Note: keep a careful eye on the pot because the milk will boil over easily if left unattended. Once boiling, stir in the rice. Let the mixture bubble for a minute, put on a lid and turn down the heat so the rice is just simmering. After 5 minutes turn off the heat but leave the pot on the element. Allow the rice to steam for 20 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
- Heat the oil in a frypan over a medium heat. When hot, add the almonds. Stir frequently until the almonds begin to brown. Add the currants or sultanas and cook for another minute. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.
- To serve, pile the rice onto a large platter and top with the lamb. Sprinkle over the almond and currant topping and garnish liberally with coriander leaves.
Incidentally I heated the leftovers up for lunch the next day in a hot fry-pan with a tablespoon of my sweet chilli sauce. The result could almost be called ‘Arabian Lamb Spicy Fried Rice’ and it was spectacular!
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