Today, in Egypt, lamb is one of the most popular meats and since Egypt is in Africa, we decided to include this really superb recipe. Because this dish cannot be appreciated without a glass of wine, let’s briefly look at the Egyptian wine production. They do make wine and produce about 42,000 hl per annum from about 69,000 ha of vineyard – but most of it is devoted to table grapes. However, the ancient Egyptians started it all – they were making wine long before the Europeans and the systems that they had in place thousands of years BC was more sophisticated than many modern wine producing countries. Lists from the Fifth Dynasty discriminate between half a dozen types of wines and indicate the origin, the year, the vineyard, the winemaker and the owner of the vineyard! Grape remains dating back to the First Dynasty (3100 BC to 2890 BC) provide proof of the existence of vines, however, the fruit came from Canaan to the Nile delta during the Pre-dynastic period. Vines were planted inside walled gardens and probably used as pergolas! Wall and tomb paintings provide insight into the actual manufacturing processes that would have consisted of treading and the resultant mush placed into a type of a ’sacking-press’ which was, in turn, twisted by men in opposite directions until the juice was squeezed out into a container, poured into amphorae, closed with leather lids and sealed with mud so that the juice could turn into wine! Lemons are widely used in Egypt and are typically found in many Egyptian dishes. To make this dish, try to find a lamb that hasn’t been fattened too much because, notwithstanding the fact that the lemon cuts the richness very well, too much fat will distort the taste as the flavour of the meat will be drowned in a pool of fat. Remember that it’s very important to marinate the meat very well and it it is not a dish that can be made in a hurry – do take time out to prepare this one – it just doesn’t cook itself. The lemon and cardamom is a perfect new flavour – so do experiment and enjoy.
Ingredients
- 450 g lamb, cut into 2 cm cubes
- 225 g onion, finely diced
- 2 large garlic cloves, crushed
- 50 g almonds, peeled
- 50 g freshly ground coriander
- Sea salt to taste
- 40 ml cold pressed sunflower oil
- 2 tsps garam masala
- 1 teaspoon cardamom seeds (the black seeds removed from the green pods)
- 1 large ripe yellow lemon, zest and juice
For garnishing:
- Lime & lemon slices
- Whole almonds with skin
Method
- Grind onion, garlic, almonds and ground coriander in a food processor,
- stirring in oil, lemon zest and salt.
- Cover all the lamb cubes in this mixture and marinade in the fridge overnight.
- In a heavy bottomed, non-stick pan place lamb with the marinade.
- Cooking until all the liquid evaporates and the oil starts separating (5 – 7 minutes).
- Add just enough water to cook the lamb.
- Cover and simmer until lamb is just tender.
- Add garam masala and lemon juice.
- Adjust the consistency of the sauce by adding a little water, if necessary and bring to the boil.
- Add a few slices of lemon, cover immediately and remove from heat.
- Garnished with almonds and slices of lime and lemon.
- Serve hot with Basmati Rice and a glass of Diemersdal Chardonnay Reserve or, if you are lucky enough to get hold of one, a glass of Veenwouden Chardonnay Special Reserve!
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This post was written by:
Jacoba Budden- who has written
71 posts on the WineCountry Blog. Jacoba's fascination with food began at a very early age and in her travels found herself gravitating towards a kitchen whenever it was possible. She traveled extensively in the past 30 years and food as well as it's history, eventually, became an all consuming obsession. Today she lives in Somerset West and when she's not studying and writing about food, she's a free lance food critic.Author's web site: Just Food Now
