Saltah bil Hulba

Ingredients

• 30 g fenugreek seeds
• 500 g lamb shoulder or neck, in 3 cm pieces
• 3 tbsp samn (clarified butter)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 300 g tomatoes, grated
• 200 g waxy potatoes, in 2 cm dice
• 1 tbsp hawaij lil shorba
• 1 litre water
• 3 tbsp sahawiq hamra
• 20 g coriander leaf, chopped
• 2 tsp salt

Equipment

Grater / zester

The skills inside

Reducing a sauceSautéing & the shallow frySalted water & the float testKnife cuts: dice, julienne, bias

Allergen screen

Found: dairy

Screened for: gluten, dairy, egg, nuts, peanuts, fish, shellfish, molluscs, soy, sesame, celery, mustard, lupin, alcohol. Not screened: sulphites.

Screened by keyword from the ingredient list, not reviewed by a person; check every label for what the list cannot show.

Method

1. Cover the fenugreek with cold water by 5 cm; after 8 hours pour off the yellow water, rinse the seeds and cover them again with fresh cold water for another 8 hours, until they are swollen and slippery. 480 min
2. Drain, grind to a smooth paste with 3 tbsp cold water, then whip, adding cold water a spoonful at a time, until the paste has tripled and stands in a pale foam like whipped cream; fold in 1 tbsp of the sahawiq and chill.
3. Brown the lamb in the samn in a heavy pot without crowding, until the pieces release from the base of their own accord, then add the onion and cook to soft gold, followed by the hawaij and grated tomato until the fat pools red at the edges.
4. Add the water and salt and simmer covered until the meat pulls apart under a fork, dropping in the potato for the last 20 minutes, then boil hard and uncovered until the stew coats a spoon. 20 min
5. Heat a stone or unglazed clay madra in a 250C (480F) oven until it stings the air above it, ladle in the boiling stew so it keeps a rolling boil, spoon the hulba and the remaining sahawiq over the top with the coriander, and carry it to the table still erupting.