When learning to cook regional dishes, I like to go straight to the source. I want to observe the way it’s done by people who grew up cooking and eating the food. I’ll travel pretty much anywhere to learn the secret of an authentic regional dish. Luckily, when I wanted to learn Persian cooking, I didn’t have to travel– instead, our friend Farah came to me. 🙂
Farah was born in Iran. She immigrated to Israel with her family when she was 5 years old. Her father worked as a cook in many different places, eventually landing as the head chef in a Tel Aviv hospital kitchen. Farah followed in her father’s footsteps, opening a small Persian cafe in Jaffa for other Iranian immigrants. She later moved to the United States with her family and cooked professionally for many years.
Farah is a terrific cook, and she’s generous with her talent. I asked her to give me a crash course in Persian cooking. When she asked what dishes I’d like to learn, I told her I really wanted the secret to making Persian rice with tah-deeg. So, she taught me how to make Persian rice with dill and lima beans… and Persian rice with raisins and carrots… and garlic roast chicken... and cucumber salad… and kooba, fried bulgur wheat pies stuffed with ground lamb and pine nuts. In addition to all this, my husband’s sister brought along two delicious eggplant recipes.
Needless to say, by the end of the night we were beyond stuffed! I think I waddled to bed. But the calorie splurge was worth it. Such a delicious meal!
Did I mention the Persian Lamb Stew? No? Well, it was my favorite dish of the night. I love it when a simple recipe is so full of flavor. You may be more familiar with traditional Irish Stew, but even if you’re not a big fan of lamb, you might want to reconsider and try this stew. The spiced meat is ultra tender, it flakes with a fork and melts in your mouth. The basmati rice soaks up the yummy sauce, a perfect accompaniment to the stew. As a bonus, this dish is gluten free. It also contains a hefty dose of turmeric, a spice that has strong anti-inflammatory and anti-aging properties. What a treat!
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Persian Lamb Stew
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon black pepper (or more to taste)
- 1 teaspoon salt (if salt sensitive, you may want to use less and salt to taste at the end of cooking)
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (omit if spice sensitive)
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 medium onions, minced
- 3 pounds lamb meat cut into chunks for stewing (leg meat works well, it cooks up very tender)
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley or cilantro, chopped
- 4 cups steamed basmati rice for serving
Instructions
- In a small dish, mix together turmeric, black pepper, salt, and crushed red pepper seasoning.
- In a large pot, or large dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium high heat till hot (not smoking). Saute for 10 minutes until onion softens and starts to turn golden brown.Begin browning the lamb. Add the lamb stew meat to the pot. You can use bone-in lamb meat, boneless meat, or a combination of the two. Brown the meat for a few minutes on each side. Drain the fat that collects at the bottom of the pot.
- Sprinkle the seasonings evenly across the top of the browned meat.
- Cover the meat with 4 cups of water. Bring mixture to a slow boil, then reduce heat to medium low. Simmer on medium low heat for two hours.
- Use a large shallow spoon to skim the fat from the surface of the cooking liquid every 30 minutes.
- After 2 hours, add tomato paste to the pot and stir slowly until paste dissolves into the broth.Simmer for another 20 minutes uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the meat is nice and tender and the sauce has thickened. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding more salt and.or spice, if desired.
- Garnish the stew with fresh parsley or cilantro. Serve lamb and sauce over freshly steamed basmati rice.
Keni says
Hello Tori, the recipe sounds delish, do you think that garlic can be incorported in the recipe? I love garlic.
Thank you,
Keni
Tori Avey says
Garlic couldn’t hurt Keni! Throw in a few cloves and see what happens 🙂
Pennie D. says
Just found your blog, wish I had found it earlier. What a great dish. My father says he doesn’t like lamb, but I am going to try him on this dish, bet he will love it. Thanks for publishing it. Its wonderful.
Moshe says
yum, yum and yum…made this tonight and am on the verge of eating it with family…Toda Raba for the recipe, Farah and Tori
Nikki Wright says
Can you post the dill rice with lima beans too? its my favorite and to know how to make it would be awesome!
Thanks!
Nikki W. says
Also, tried this recipe tonight, it was SO GOOD! its amazing that so few ingredients could be so super delicious. I wound up getting two lamb shoulder cuts (bone in) and deboning it and cubing it up pretty big (and when I say I did that, I mean my boyfriend did it) but then put the bones in to simmer with the sauce for the flavor. It was so good, definately a make again! Often!
Tori Avey says
Glad you enjoyed it Nikki! Here is the Persian rice recipe: https://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/2012/01/persian-dill-and-lima-bean-rice/
Carol Esther says
Hi Tori, do you think I could substitute chicken for this? I want to make it but I don’t eat lamb. It may have a different taste, but I bet it will still be good. Thank you, I would love to learn more about Persian cooking!
Carol
Carol Esther says
Update! I made this for dinner this evening and I used beef in place of the lamb (because I don’t eat lamb) and it turned out AWESOME!!!! I added a couple of diced red potatoes during the last half hour of cooking. Thank you for another outstanding recipe, Tori!!!
Tori Avey says
Happy it turned out well for you Carol!
kita says
How amazing is that? I would love to have someone come give me a cooking lesson in another cuisine. And it would be worth every single one of those calories 😉 This stew sounds fantastic and the experience sounds priceless.
Lisa Ruminski says
I made this last night and it was incredibly easy and delicious! Will be a regular on our menu! Thanks for the great instructions.
Mark L says
I love lamb. For a long time I was terrified of going back to my favorite Afghan restaurant because I was terrified that they used butter in their rice (dairy + meat= NO-NO!) But I went back today and they informed me indignantly that they use only vegetable oil on the rice! Yay. So I ordered Moroccan Lemon Chicken.. mmm.
But lamb is my favorite meat of all time, especially well-spiced ethnic lamb recipes like this. It’s almost like Indian biryani… but the Indian biryanis were introduced to India by Persian conquerors, so maybe it’s the same dish! Mmmm. So delicious.
moshe says
looks amazing. could you give more specifics regarding the cut of meat? I mean is it leg, shank, etc and also: in one of the pictures it appears that there are bones included…yes? I imagine that would add to the quality of the final gravy (flavor, gelatin) thanks! I will be making this.
Tori Avey says
Hi Moshe! Ask the butcher for either boneless or bone-in lamb stew meat. It’s really a matter of preference. Sometimes I use boneless, and sometimes I use a combination of bone-in and boneless because the bone-in gives a little more moisture and flavor. I’ve found that leg meat cut into stew pieces works particularly well. Ask them to trim the excess fat for best results. Enjoy!
sharonshiatsu says
Looks delish Tori, now how about the recipes for the other things you listed…YUM!
Hester aka The Chef Doc says
Tori, this stew looks absolutely wonderful! I can just imagine the aromas wafting throughout your house from all this cooking! What a fun learning day 🙂 Farah is an awesome gal! I’ll totally make this soon when we get a cool day here in So Cal 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing this with us and please thank Farah, too!
Kim Bee says
Oh Tori this is a beautiful dish. How lucky for you to have Farah come show you and us this one. May I just say how cute you look. Red is so you girl. I have to say I just want to reach in and steal that big pot. It’s beautiful.
Ann says
Farrah looks like a fun person to have in the kitchen and her dishes sound amazing! Tell her I said hello and thanks for sharing her time with us!
Valentina says
I want Farah in my kitchen! All of this food looks incredible. I especially love the bowl of beautiful spices!
Kelly says
Wow this dish looks incredible! The combination of flavors sound amazing and your pictures are gorgeous as always! 🙂
Faythe says
This post is perfect timing. I have some lamb in my freezer that the Mister and I were just talking about needing to cook up, I just didn’t know what I was going to do with it. Now I do. I’m tempted to slip some curry powder in, how’s that sound? 🙂
sm @ the kosher spoon says
Looks amazing!
I’m in LA, we get to have so much persian food. I should really solicit one of my friends to teach me how to authentically cook persian!
Zeresh rice with the sour berries is my favorite
claire @ the realistic nutritionist says
This stew looks so flavorful!
The Elegant Eggplant says
YUM… what a beautiful stew!! And I can’t believe how little ingredients there are!! I will be making this soon – thanks!! 🙂
Melanie says
Looks like a very flavorful stew! I love your step-by-step photos!
Izzie says
I love the step by step photos too. I am planning to make this dish tonight. Thank you for sharing your recipe.