lamb shawarma

with arabic salad and hummus

Spring has really sprung in Brooklyn 🌸 The trees are flowering and the sidewalks are covered in petals. For Easter, I wanted to make something that felt festive but also a little bit extra. This lamb shawarma is juicy, spiced, a little bit messy, and perfect for eating with friends outside as the world turns green again.

Recipe below

Enjoy!

lamb shawarma

🐑🧅🥒

The morning before I cooked, I hopped on my bike and headed over to the Middle Eastern Spice Shop in Bed Stuy. This place is very well stocked with bags and jars of spices in every color. You can truly smell the spices before you see them.

Biked to the spice market and then to the butcher. I secured my leg of lamb in the basket.

My regular grocery store didn’t carry the things I needed for a proper shawarma situation, like fenugreek seeds, cardamom pods, sumac powder, and pomegranate molasses. I also picked up some flatbread from the freezer aisle.

The kitchen was already smelling incredible and the lamb hadn't even gone into the oven yet

Once I got home, I dry roasted the whole spices - black peppercorns, cloves, cardamom pods, fenugreek seeds, fennel seeds, cumin seeds, star anise, cinnamon stick, nutmeg, ground ginger, and paprika. Then I mixed that blend with sumac, salt, fresh ginger, garlic, and lots of chopped cilantro, lemon juice, and avocado oil to make the marinade. Massage it all over the lamb, tuck it in the fridge, and let it soak up all that flavor overnight.

Marinated lamb from the evening to the next morning

I pulled our beautiful lamb out of the fridge, uncovered the aluminum foil, and let it sit on the counter for a solid 1.5 hours. You want it closer to room temp before it hits the oven.

View from the oven when I was basting. About most of the way done!

Make sure to add the boiling water after 30 minutes and continue to add more if needed so you have enough liquid to baste with. After 90 minutes, I pulled it out and added the aluminum foil back on top. Basting it with its juices every hour.

Hot out of the oven! Not burnt, just spiced and cooked to perfection!

It was so tender that it fell right off the bone. Spiced, savory goodness!

Shredded with a fork and plated with spoonfuls of the pan sauce drizzled on top

I served it all with homemade hummus - a simple blend of two cans of chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, garlic cloves, olive oil, chickpea water, and a little paprika. The Arabic salad was just as straightforward: cucumbers, red cabbage, tomatoes, yellow pepper, red onion, feta cheese, olives, and a dressing made with olive oil, sumac, lemon, salt, mint, and pomegranate molasses. A dollop of yogurt garlic sauce (yogurt, garlic, lemon, olive oil, parsley), warm naan, and a pile of pickles rounded out the meal perfectly.

The spread 🌷

Recipe here

See you next week 💛

love! Rilka