I honestly don’t know if I can cope with one more snow storms – this winter just doesn’t seem to end! By now I’ve almost run through my entire warming dishes repertoire and feeling a bit uninspired as to ways to get me out of this cold funk. That is when I find most uplifting to sift through my exotic cookbook collection to unearth some exciting recipe to cheer up my palate and my soul.
While I’m sure some hot Mexican dish could have raised the temperature, it’s towards the Middle East that I usually turn to challenge my taste buds and discover some old tradition at the same time. Flipping through Purple Citrus & Sweet Perfume, I stumbled upon this old recipe from Damascus for a lamb stew with squash in a yogurt sauce called Abu Basti – intriguing!
Cubes of lamb get briefly colored before slowly simmering in a quick broth of water, onions, garlic and bay leaves until tender.
In the meantime, seasoned squash (any winter type will do: butternut or kabocha as seen below) roasts in the oven until golden and tender as well.
Now the interesting and unusual part is in making a rich sauce from yogurt and egg yolk slightly diluted with some of the lamb’s cooking liquid. You’ll add in the cooked lamb, roasted squash, and a few tablespoons of tahini to counteract slightly the tanginess of the yogurt.
Cook the risotto rice in the remaining cooking liquid, imparting some of the lamb’s richness into the grains.
Serve the stew with the rice and you’ve got yourself a decidedly unconventional winter dish!
Syrian dishes are often made with yogurt sauces even though it’s not something our palates are used to. Some might find the tanginess of the yogurt strange but I really like it and find comfort in its ability to generously coat the pieces of lamb and squash, as well as serve as a thick sauce to mix in with the rice.
This is the kind of hearty meal our cold weekend evenings were meant for.
| Category: | Entree |
| Cuisine: | Middle Eastern |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
2. In a large saucepan, sauté the lamb in the butter over medium heat for 3-4 minutes, until just golden brown. Add the onion, garlic, bay leaves and 31/4 cups water. Cover and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for about 1 hour, until the meat is tender. Remove the meat with a slotted spoon and reserve the cooking liquid.
3. Arrange the squash on a baking sheet, drizzle with the olive oil and season. Roast about 20 minutes until the squash is tender and golden around the edges.
4. In a separate large nonstick saucepan, whisk the yogurt and egg yolk and season. Add 1 cup of the cooking liquid and cook for 10-12 minutes over low heat, stirring constantly without boiling, until lightly thickened. Add the squash, lamb and tahini.
5. Meanwhile bring 11/2 cups of the cooking liquid and the rice to a boil in a small saucepan. Cover and simmer over low heat until tender, about 17 minutes. If you need to, add more water while cooking.
6. Serve the stew with the rice.
30g of ghee or clarified butter
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 onion, finely chopped
2 bay leaves
750ml of water
1 squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into 2cm cubes
3 tablespoons of olive oil
700ml of plain yoghurt
1 egg yolk
2-3 tablespoons of tahini
150g of Arborio rice
