Rice-Stuffed Lamb

Name: Rice-Stuffed Lamb
Total time: 260 min
Yield: 10
Cuisine: Emirati
Ingredients: 2.5 kg boneless lamb shoulder or leg, butterflied; 3 tbsp ghee (samn); 2 tbsp bezar, salt and 1 tsp turmeric; Juice of 1 lemon and 2 tbsp saffron water; For the stuffing:; 2 cups basmati rice, parboiled; 200 g minced lamb; 1 onion, chopped, and 3 tbsp ghee; ½ cup almonds, ½ cup cashews and ½ cup raisins; 1 tbsp bezar, and ½ tsp each cinnamon and cardamom, and salt; 4 cups lamb stock; Kitchen string and needle, or skewers, to close

Emirati260 minServes 10

Rice-stuffed lamb is the dish of grand feasts in the UAE and Gulf, served at weddings and when receiving guests as an expression of generosity. The traditional version cooks a whole lamb; this is a scaled-down home version using a boneless shoulder.

Ingredients for Rice-Stuffed Lamb

2.5 kgboneless lamb shoulder or leg, butterflied
3 tbspghee (samn)
2 tbspbezar, salt and 1 tsp turmeric
1Juice of lemon and 2 tbsp saffron water
For the stuffing
2 cupsbasmati rice, parboiled
200 gminced lamb
1onion, chopped, and 3 tbsp ghee
½ cupalmonds, ½ cup cashews and ½ cup raisins
1 tbspbezar, and ½ tsp each cinnamon and cardamom, and salt
4 cupslamb stock
Kitchen string and needle, or skewers, to close

Method

Lay the lamb open on a board and rub both sides with the ghee, bezar, turmeric, salt, lemon and saffron water; refrigerate overnight if you can.
For the stuffing: brown the onion in the ghee, add the minced lamb, bezar, cinnamon, cardamom and salt and cook through, then fold in the nuts, raisins and parboiled rice.
Let the stuffing cool a little, spoon it onto the lamb, bring up the sides and close with string.
Place the stuffed lamb in a deep tray, pour the stock around it and cover tightly with foil.
Bake at 160°C for about 3 hours until tender, then uncover and bake 20 minutes more to brown the top.
Rest for 15 minutes, then slice and serve with the stuffing and pan juices.

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