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Lamb Biryani
Tejal Rao
1657 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,657
4 1/2 hours, plus overnight marinating
Updated Feb. 28, 2024
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In a large bowl, combine lamb and 2 teaspoons salt. Let sit at room temperature at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours in the refrigerator.
In a small pot, bring stock to a boil. Remove from heat, add apricots, and let sit at least 15 minutes.
Heat oven to 325 degrees. In a tagine, Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot with a tightfitting lid, warm 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat until hot. Working in batches, add lamb to pot, leaving room around each piece (this will help them brown). Cook until well browned on all sides, about 10 minutes. Transfer pieces to a plate as they brown.
Drain fat, if necessary, leaving just enough to coat the bottom of the pot. Add onions and ¼ teaspoon salt, and cook until soft, about 8 minutes. Add tomato paste, ginger, 1 cinnamon stick and the spices, and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add lamb and any juices on the plate, the apricots and stock, and half the cilantro. Cover pot with foil and then its lid, and cook in oven for 2½ to 3 hours, or until lamb is tender, turning it occasionally. (If using a tagine, you don't need to use foil.) Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary.
Meanwhile, in a small skillet, heat butter and 1 cinnamon stick over medium heat. Add almonds and ¼ teaspoon salt, and cook until golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Discard cinnamon stick.
To serve, transfer lamb and juices to a serving platter. Top with toasted almonds and any butter left in the small skillet, scallions, parsley and remaining cilantro. Sprinkle with fresh lemon juice to taste. Serve with flatbread or couscous, if desired.
After using what I need from a can of tomato paste, I freeze it just slightly, open the second end, slide the whole thing out in a cylinder and freeze that. I can then cut off whatever quantity I need from the frozen tube and put it back in the freezer.
It is always useful I find to keep a tube of tomato paste in pantry. That way when recipe calls for a small amount you just squeeze it out. (the refrigerate the tube). Or just empty out a can and measure into ice cube trays, freeze and then put in freezer in bags.
easy.
Amazingly delicious! Added an extra cup of stock and ended up with the perfect amount of sauce. Only took 2 hours to fall-off-the-bone tenderness, so I cranked the oven down to 200 and let it mellow for 30 minutes until my guests arrived. Served with Samin Nosrat's Herb and Radish Salad with Feta and Walnuts, Meera Sodha’s Naan, and some garlicky yogurt. Perfect dinner.
Have made this a dozen times, so have (hopefully) perfected. 1) 1.5-2x apricots; double all spices. 2) Ok to cook for a proper 2.75 - 3.5 hours, depending on dish/oven temp fussiness/size of each chunk. 3) ALWAYS — without fail — make at least a full day before. Absolutely no way these flavors become what they need to be without sitting together for a while. Let cool completely off hear before fridge. Can easily reheat on stovetop over low. 4) don’t skip fresh parsley and almonds at serving.
Rich, complex and delicious!
I might use a few less appricotts next time.
I made this in a large le Crusette dutch oven.
I sealed it with foil and then put the lid on.
Ater three hours meat was perfect, but I was expecting a bit of sauce.
Instead it was a thick melange of meat, very intense.
I wonder if the lid alone would have been tighter, as the stock did reduce to almost nothing.
Another hour, and the meat might have suck to the bottom of the pot.
I presume I got too much evaporation.
Kept the recipe as is, but used around 4 pounds boneless lamb shoulder, and a full quart of chicken broth. After 2 1/2 hours in the Dutch oven, I pulled the meat out and was a bit disappointed in how dry the lamb was, even with plenty of sauce left in the pot. However, I let it sit in the juices overnight, which did amazing things for this dish. The next day, the lamb was so tender and flavorful after a quick reheat. Definitely recommend waiting until day 2 to maximize flavors!
I used a pressure cooker since it seems like it cooks in the same way that a tagine. I used beef short ribs and raisins instead of the lamb and apricots. Cooked for 40 minutes on high pressure and it came out great.
This recipe is great way to get a good foundation for tagine. The background of tagine discusses adding things like squash and dates. I am going to do this next time to help round out the dish with something other than meat. The onions are essential for flavor, but they dissolve in the cooking and there is not much left but meat. This is awesome, but I need my veggies. If anyone has any suggestions, to add to the dish or as a separate recipe to eat on the side, I would love to hear.
I served it with taboulli (made with quinoa and lots of herbs and veggies) and butternut squash roasted with wedges of red onion and sage leaves. Next time, I will add a simple green salad, with a yogurt/buttermilk dressing.
has anyone tried this using boneless lamb stew meat?
This is very good and very rich. The family loved it. I served it with riced cauliflower. I used very good quality lamb shoulder and cooked it for 3 hours in a medium size dutch oven. I also used home made broth. I'm surprised at one of the reviews, I had plenty of sauce and the lamb cubes stayed intact. Maybe her oven was too hot or her Dutch oven too big???. I, too, will use fewer apricots since it was so sweet.
Also great in the slow cooker! I had planned to make this for a nice rainy Sunday night meal...unfortunately a dead car battery in the grocery store parking lot led to us ordering pizza. I threw the browned lamb shoulder etc into the slow cooker Monday morning and left on low for 8-10 hours. The meat was perfectly juicy and tender. Will definitely make again
I’m going to make this using a clay tagine pot, but I’m afraid it will crack in the oven. Can i make this on the stovetop instead, and if so, how should I adjust the amount of heat and cooking time?
My oven is broken. Can it be prepared exclusively on the stovetop in a Dutch oven? It sounds delicious!
I've never enjoyed lamb...until now. This recipe is delicious. Follow it exactly and use the lamb neck as recommended. I added some carrots, mushrooms and a few prunes to the pot. I cooked cous cous ahead of time and placed it in a strainer inside the dutch oven during the last hour of cooking the Tagine to absorb the aroma. I also drained some of the gravy from the finished product for serving. Before serving, remove the dutch oven from the oven and let it stand for 20 minutes.
I only had 1 pound of boneless lamb stew meat so I added some al dente chickpeas as filler. Delightful! I added about a cup more stock, some thickly sliced carrots, and replaced half the dried apricots with chopped green olives. Served with sliced roasted almonds instead of sauteed slivered almonds. Great, flavorful and easy meal.
My employer makes a version of this but adds some quartered waxy potatoes, probably toward the end of cooking. Good to thin out the meat a little even if you’re serving over rice
Rinse the salt off the meat before browning! This is a key step omitted from thr recipe. Ours would have been delicious if it wasn't so salty. Bummer.
What do they mean by bone in lamb stew meat?
Made this with 4 lamb shanks. Added about a cup of white wine and cooked about half off before adding the stock/apricots. Cooked in Dutch oven for 4hrs. Served over couscous. Paired with a Rioja. Dinner was *perfection*
I made this for guests and it was a disaster. I followed the directions exactly, adding a bit more spice as other suggested. It was incredibly gamey and basically inedible - it literally smelled like a farm! My husband ran out at the last minute and got lamb chops and I served them instead. It was a total waste. Seeing the other reviews I'm not sure what happened, but I won't be making this dish again!
Made this as directed except used a boneless leg of lamb as this was all I could find. Halved the recipe as I was only cooking for one! Cooked for 2 hours in the oven and the lamb was so tender! Absolutely wonderful flavors
For those who were worried about their ceramic tagine, it was fine in the oven! I read that ours would be fine under 500 degrees, so it would be best to double check the user manual/manufacturer’s advice!
Cooked in pressure cooker. Used lamb leg which didn't seem fatty enough when browning. I doubled the spices and increased the liquid by half. I've been cooking tagines for 20+ years and this came out among the very best.
Don't change a thing, this is perfect as is
Great recipe. Love the diversity of ingredients vs normal Italian underpinnings
So not getting how guests eat the lamb with the bits of bone...are they just supposed to gnaw around it? Thanks,
Made this for Dov And Cathy and flavors were great, but I cooked too long and broth had become too dry. Changes: I used half apricot and half prunes (half cup of each), which was good, prunes definitely added to flavor nicely. We used the wrong cut of lamb and it ended up being a little too dry, should be shoulder or a fattier cut. Did not use cilantro, does not seem necessary. Used paraeley and amines to garnish…
Absolutely delicious. Used beef shank, doubled broth and spices in order to have more of a stew. Plenty of room to add sweet potatoes or squash. Can’t wait to make it again!
Amazing recipe, so so tasty. The meat melts in your mouth. We pretty much followed the recipe as written, except that we used a bit more stock and doubled the spices. Let it sit for a few hours after cooking, and served it with rice and a chickpea salad with herbs. Will definitely make this again.
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