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LAMB AND CRISPY RICE Ingredients For The Lamb (810 servings)
1 shoulder of lamb (around 3kg), bone in ~ 15g whole cumin seeds ~ 15g whole fennel seeds ~ 15g whole coriander seeds ~ 1 head of garlic – cloves peeled ~ 1 flat tsp whole black peppercorns ~ 4 small dried chilli peppers (each about 1in long) ~ 2 heaped tsps good sea salt ~ Olive oil
Method
Wash and dry the shoulder very well. Set aside, covered in paper towels. To make what is essentially a dry marinade, pummel together the seeds and spices with a mortar and pestle to crumble. Then add the garlic cloves and salt and pummel again till you have achieved a rough mash. If this all becomes too much for your arm and your patience, put it in a Magimix or blender and pulse – but do not pulverise – it. The mix should remain coarse. Uncover the lamb and rub this mash into the shoulder everywhere. Then wrap the whole thing – seeds and all – tightly in clingfilm or a (clean) plastic bag, place in a dish or something to catch any leakages, and refrigerate for as long as you have – at least 8 hours and up to three days. Turn the beast over in the dish once or twice. When you are ready to cook, preheat the oven to 230°C/450°F, adjusting the shelf so that the meat will eventually sit about two-thirds the way up –
Winter 2010
though safely clear of the grill. Take the lamb out of the fridge, unwrap it, sluice off the marinade with your hands into a clean dish and keep this mix to one side – you will use it again. Put the meat into a heavy roasting tin and roast in the oven for about 15 minutes on each side to brown. Take it out of the oven. Turn the heat right down to 110°C/200°F and lower the oven shelf by one notch. With a wooden spoon, spread the marinade on the lamb again, and drizzle over a little olive oil. Return it to the oven. Now leave the lamb in the oven at this temperature for anywhere between 8 and 15 hours, depending on the timing of your lunch or dinner. I am happy with the result after about 12 hours, but this recipe is extremely forgiving. If, for example, I have a Sunday lunch, I put it in late the night before. If it is for a dinner, I’ll start the cooking at nine that morning. Drizzle with a tablespoon of olive oil once in a while and turn over a couple of times through the cooking if you have a chance – it will help keep the lamb moist and evenly roasted, but it is not absolutely essential. The lamb is ready when it falls off the bone with a prod of the fork. The meat will resist even slicing – and looks better in chunks anyway. The bone is delicious – and I have to fight with guests to let our poor dog have his due. Serve (the lamb, not the dog) with crispy rice.
T
Crispy Rice
his dish derives its name from the glorious golden-brown crust that forms on the bottom of the rice in your cooking pot. Some of you might be thinking that this is similar to the rice the Persians call Tadeeq, which, in fact,
is a Farsi word for bottom. You would be correct. I rather love the Persian name – almost comically unvarnished for so voluptuous a dish. My own version of Tadeeq has no claims to authenticity (even though there seem as many versions as Persians) but it does produce the most delicious bottom you are ever likely to encounter.
Ingredients For Rice
500g white Basmati rice ~ 2 rounded tbsps of Maldon or other good sea salt ~ 200g unsalted butter cut into eight pieces. ~ 10 whole cardamom pods
Method
To prepare this rice, you will need a heavy pot or pan, about 12in/30cm in diameter and with sides at least 3in/7cm high, and a tight-fitting lid. If you don’t have such a thing, use a regular pot. You will still get a crispy bottom on your rice, but there will just be less of it, as you will see. Measure out the rice and put it in a large bowl. Fill the bowl with cold water, swish the rice around to remove the starch, which will billow out into the water. Let it sit for a few minutes and then tip into a strainer and rinse the rice under the cold-water tap. Set the strainer atop the bowl to drain and then tip the rice into the pan you will use to cook it, spreading the grains around the bottom. Set this on your widest burner. Take a large measuring cup, and fill with 750ml of cold water. Start to pour this water into the pan, until the level of the water comes to about an inch/2.5cm above the rice. You may not need all the water, or you may need a bit more (though I doubt it). Add one tbsp of salt and stir gently and
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briefly, resettling the rice evenly when you have finished stirring. Distribute the chunks of butter round the top of the rice. Cover the pan with its lid and turn on the burner to medium-high. You must stay close to the rice during this initial cooking, lifting the lid every few minutes to check that the water is not about to boil over. When the rice and water start to seethe and bubble gently, stir carefully with a wooden spoon, incorporating the melting butter into the rice. When this is done, taste a teaspoonful of the water. If it seems too bland, add up to another tablespoonful of salt, stirring to distribute. Dot the 10 cardamom pods about the surface of the watery rice. This will be the last time you stir the mix until you are ready to serve it. Reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting. Cover the rice again. Check after another 5-10 minutes. By this time, there should not be any water remaining on the surface. Cut a piece of baking parchment roughly to fit the circumference of the pan. Lay it on top of the rice and press it down lightly so it touches the surface. This will help the rice cook and help you resist any impulse to stir it. Replace the lid and every 10 minutes or so, shift the pan around the burner to ensure that the bottom is browning evenly. After about half an hour to 45 minutes, your rice should be done. Fluff the grains with a fork, leaving intact the brown crust on the bottom of the pot. In a large shallow serving bowl, tip out this loose top layer of rice. With a metal spatula, gently prise free the bottom crust, which should come out in one or two tectonic slabs. Turn these over on top of the loose rice, and break them up or leave your guests to do this. Maya Even is Finch’s Quarterly Review’s Cookery Editor
www.finchsquarterly.com