Sunday, 29 August 2010

Lamb shwarma kebab with spinach, red onion, peppers, sweet chilli sauce, garlic sauce and pickled green chillies

Ingredients (Makes six)


    700g trimmed neck fillet
    For the marinade
    3 tsp coriander seeds
    3 tsp cumin seeds
    2 tsp mild paprika
    1½ tbs pomegranate molasses
    ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
    1½ tbs olive oil
    For grilling the lamb
    fine sea salt
    To assemble the kebabs
    150g white cabbage, finely sliced
    75g baby spinach leaves
    ½ red onion, finely sliced
    juice of 1 lemon
    6 pitta breads
    3 medium-sized tomatoes, sliced into rounds
    8 pickled green chillies, or to taste
    To serve
    Garlic sauce
    sweet chilli sauce


To marinate the meat


Toast the coriander and cumin seeds over the heat in a dry skillet or frying pan, and grind. Mix in a bowl with the other marinade ingredients. Using disposable gloves, rub the lamb all over with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate overnight or for at least 3 hours.

To grill the lamb


Before barbecuing, give the lamb enough time out of the fridge to lose its chill. This cut of lamb has a relatively high fat and weak sinew content, so needs slow cooking. Season the lamb well with salt. Before you begin barbecuing, have all your kebab ingredients lined up and ready to go.

Barbecue


Preheat the grill to medium-high or 'sizzle' temperature. Clean and lightly oil the rack. A clean grill is particularly important for this recipe, as the pomegranate molasses can make the lamb stick. Place the lamb on the grill and seal on all sides. This should take about 2-3 minutes. Move to a medium heat and cook for a further 12-15 minutes, or until cooked through, turning every 3 minutes or so. Remove the lamb to a warmed tray. Cover and leave to rest for 3-4 minutes while you organise yourself to assemble the kebabs.

To assemble the kebabs


Toss the cabbage, spinach and red onion with the lemon juice and season to taste. Slice the lamb thinly on the diagonal, across the grain of the meat, to give doner-kebab-like strips. Warm the pitta breads on the barbecue for a minute on each side until they puff up and are easy to split. Don't toast them, as they will become inflexible. Split the bread down one side. Divide the dressed cabbage and spinach mix between the pittas and top with the tomato and chilli, finishing with the garlic sauce and the sweet chilli sauce.

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