This is just too good to be true, and too good not to share. The Hebrides produces the main ingredients so well. Mint and rhubarb grow in my garden, and there are sheep all around. The recipe is Persian, and this version comes from ‘Nightingales and Roses’ by Maryam Sinaiee.
INGREDIENTS:
- 5 tbsp vegetable oil, or 50/50 oil and butter
- 2 onions, finely chopped
- 400g lamb, off the bone and cut into large cubes
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 120g parsley, finely chopped
- 50g fresh mint, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp flour
- 3 stalks of rhubarb sliced into 2cm lengths
- 2 tsp date syrup, or brown sugar
METHOD:
- Heat 2 tbsp oil in a casserole dish, and lightly brown the onions.
- Turn up the heat a little and add the lamb, turmeric, salt and pepper, and fry until the meat is browned on all sides
- Pour over boiling water, so that the meat is covered by around 2 cm of water. Simmer for an hour and a half.
- Heat the remaining oil in a frying pan, and cook the herbs for four to five minutes, until they start to darken.
- Add the flour, and continue to stir and cook for another three minutes or so.
- Add the herbs to the lamb stew and simmer for another half an hour, to make a thick minty stew. At this point, the stew can be set aside and can be finished another day. Just add the herbs, and then stir and freeze, and then do the half hour simmer on defrosting.
- Add the rhubarb and date syrup, stir it in and then cook the stew on a low heat for another 10 to 15 minutes. Don’t stir, as this will break up the rhubarb
Serve with rice.