![Spiced Chickpea Stew With Coconut and Turmeric](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/11/28/dining/28Romanrex1/merlin_143092557_a19cb00a-d1f1-4d42-83be-e4ac865d2f96-mediumThreeByTwo440.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
Spiced Lamb Skewers With Lemony Onions
![Spiced Lamb Skewers With Lemony Onions](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2019/07/03/dining/01Roman1/merlin_157085166_9eb86bcb-a02c-4bdb-ac67-50de1be9aec0-articleLarge.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
- Total Time
- 25 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 1½ to 2pounds boneless lamb leg or shoulder, excess fat trimmed, meat cut into 1½-inch pieces
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 1tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2teaspoons ground turmeric
- 1small red onion, thinly sliced
- 1teaspoon ground sumac (optional)
- 5tablespoons fresh lemon or lime juice
- 1cup full-fat Greek yogurt
- Olive oil, for drizzling
- 1cup cilantro, tender leaves and stems
- ½cup pitted black olives, finely chopped
- Lavash, pita or flatbread, for serving
- Pickled cabbage, cucumbers, peppers or a mix, for serving
Preparation
- Step 1
Season lamb with salt and pepper. Add cumin and turmeric and toss to coat. (This can be done up to 24 hours ahead, if you like.)
- Step 2
If you’re using a charcoal grill, build the fire so it’s screaming hot. This lamb is to be cooked hot and fast so it can stay nicely medium-rare, so the hotter the better. If you’re using a gas grill, set it on high. Bring a clean platter, cutting board or baking dish out to the grill for the skewers to rest in after cooking.
- Step 3
Combine onion, sumac (if using) and 3 tablespoons lemon juice; season with salt and pepper and toss to combine. Set aside.
- Step 4
Combine yogurt and remaining 2 tablespoons lemon juice; season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Step 5
Skewer the lamb onto wooden or metal skewers, 2 to 4 pieces per skewer.
- Step 6
Once the grill is hot, cook the skewers on all sides until deeply browned and lightly charred all over, 2 to 3 minutes per side (less time for smaller pieces), moving the skewers around as needed to prevent excessive flare-ups. (If you’ve trimmed most of the fat away from the lamb, the flare-ups shouldn’t be too bad.)
- Step 7
Transfer the skewers to the platter, cutting board or baking dish to rest for a few minutes and drizzle with olive oil. Serve with the dressed onions, lemony yogurt, cilantro, olives, lavash and any pickled vegetables or peppers you like.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
Ok-so I don’t have access to a grill. So I’m going to set this up on a grill pan on the top of my stove.
I just made Schlesinger and Willioughby’s simple lamb kebabs. The recipe is very similar, hot fire, quick grill on all sides. I separately grilled multicolored, peppers, red onions and those Campari tomatoes on separate skewers and served it with Kohlrabi And carrot slaw. I am moving towards Sam Sifton’s no recipe, recipes!
Lamb kebabs work well close up to the broiler too.
This would also be a great recipe with venison. By the way, there are a lot of us out here who eat primarily venison and not just with “down home” recipes but gourmet, amazing recipes you and your readers would appreciate. It would be nice if you included it more in your comments and recipes.
I've answered my own question by cooking it according to the recipe. Delicious!! My one comment would be that to me, lamb shoulder has the most lamb taste that any other cut. Apparently they have bred out the gamey taste of lamb that I grew up with. But lamb shoulder, to me, has that great lamb taste. This recipe, however, masks that taste with the cumin and tumeric. Nonetheless, this was great!
Whoa. This is delicious just as is. Adding cherry tomatoes to the lamb skewers makes the most delicious sauce on the platter. Threw grated garlic, lemon juice, salt and warm spices into the yogurt. Mopped it all up with a pile of middle eastern flatbread. A keeper and a crowd pleaser.
We used chicken thighs instead of lamb. After rubbing the thighs with the salt, pepper, cumin, and turmeric, I coated them with olive oil BEFORE grilling them .... using medium rather than high heat. The meat was so good. The onion and yogurt toppings were easy to put together and both were much appreciated by our group. So, if price matters, good chicken thighs are a fine choice.
Lamb is not venison.
This was disappointing. I made the lamb & condiments per the directions without improvising, Used lamb shoulder (which I like because of its lamb-ness), but the cumin & tumeric completely overwhelmed the flavor of the lamb. The yogurt enhanced by the lemon juice, salt and pepper was underwhelming. The one highlight was the red onion preparation with the lemon juice, sumac, salt and pepper. I would have never thought to pair red onions with lemon juice, but It was a really delicious condiment.
Delicious! We used leg of lamb for this. Menu we decided on had a cucumber yogurt soup, so we didn’t make the dressing and and ate them together. I also added garlic to the rub, which we had marinating for /- 20 hrs. Served with pickled homemade onions, the olives and cilantro as recommended, plus a medley of veggies. Yum!
One of the best recipes I have done in awhile. Made a few changes...left out the olives, substituted tiny sweet cherry tomatoes. Cucumbers I bought were the tiny persian style, which I quartered. Then used Labnah instead of Greek Yogurt, & finally added mint leaves, with cilantro leaves, of which I topped the entire lavash-filled-pocket. The whole combination is so yummy and fresh tasting, plus it takes very little time to put together. Pickled onions and cabbage were great, in the mix.
Mutton is normally harvested between and 2 and 3 years, after 3 years it is super muttony and tough. Lamb bred in the US is also much milder (and quite often larger) than lamb from New Zealand, Australia or South Africa. My advice if you are new to lamb is get US raised and pass on New Zealand lamb until you decide if you like it and get used to cooking it.
Delicious. I made a double recipe, 5 lbs of lamb after trimming fat, for 12 people. Everyone liked it.
Remarkable flavor and quick to fix. I do not recommend making it indoors, however. After the fire trucks left, the neighbors flooded over to see what “smelled so bloody good.” Joking, but not entirely. “Screaming hot” makes a lot of smoke…
Garlic
Just looked at, and reread several times. What does one do with the spice mix that was “set aside”?
Reggie W - you ask what to do with the spice mix set aside. I assume that is the onion & spice mix of step 3 or yogurt and spice mixt of step 4? See Step 7 and the steps 3 & 4 mixtures are mentioned: "Step 7 Transfer the skewers to the platter, cutting board or baking dish to rest for a few minutes and drizzle with olive oil. Serve with the dressed onions, lemony yogurt,..."
I would add a pomegranate glaze made from a little pomegranate molasses and some water broth.
I used a selection of pickles from the Whole Foods olive bar.
Delicious! We used leg of lamb for this. Menu we decided on had a cucumber yogurt soup, so we didn’t make the dressing and and ate them together. I also added garlic to the rub, which we had marinating for /- 20 hrs. Served with pickled homemade onions, the olives and cilantro as recommended, plus a medley of veggies. Yum!
I believe the lamb is one year or less old. There is a more delicate flavor and it is much more tender than mutton which is usually harvested at 3 years or more old. Mutton is tougher and gamier and takes longer to cook. A lot of people who say they can't stay the taste of lamb have usually only eaten mutton.
Mutton is normally harvested between and 2 and 3 years, after 3 years it is super muttony and tough. Lamb bred in the US is also much milder (and quite often larger) than lamb from New Zealand, Australia or South Africa. My advice if you are new to lamb is get US raised and pass on New Zealand lamb until you decide if you like it and get used to cooking it.
We used chicken thighs instead of lamb. After rubbing the thighs with the salt, pepper, cumin, and turmeric, I coated them with olive oil BEFORE grilling them .... using medium rather than high heat. The meat was so good. The onion and yogurt toppings were easy to put together and both were much appreciated by our group. So, if price matters, good chicken thighs are a fine choice.
I did made this with ground lamb as kofta in a small fry pan, with the two simple sides. Forgot to drizzle with olive oil, that would have helped, but still pretty good for quick Sunday night. In the end I think this is one of those recipes that encourages improvisation, and venison (as per comments below) sounds great. Though I can't say that if I had the good fortune to have venison steaks I'd marinate them in "zesty Italian"...
One of the best recipes I have done in awhile. Made a few changes...left out the olives, substituted tiny sweet cherry tomatoes. Cucumbers I bought were the tiny persian style, which I quartered. Then used Labnah instead of Greek Yogurt, & finally added mint leaves, with cilantro leaves, of which I topped the entire lavash-filled-pocket. The whole combination is so yummy and fresh tasting, plus it takes very little time to put together. Pickled onions and cabbage were great, in the mix.
This was disappointing. I made the lamb & condiments per the directions without improvising, Used lamb shoulder (which I like because of its lamb-ness), but the cumin & tumeric completely overwhelmed the flavor of the lamb. The yogurt enhanced by the lemon juice, salt and pepper was underwhelming. The one highlight was the red onion preparation with the lemon juice, sumac, salt and pepper. I would have never thought to pair red onions with lemon juice, but It was a really delicious condiment.
Great recipe! I served it Grilled Lebanese Flatbread (see Mark Bittman's recipe) and the whole family loved it - fresh bread and meat on a stick!
Whoa. This is delicious just as is. Adding cherry tomatoes to the lamb skewers makes the most delicious sauce on the platter. Threw grated garlic, lemon juice, salt and warm spices into the yogurt. Mopped it all up with a pile of middle eastern flatbread. A keeper and a crowd pleaser.
Separately thread some green pepper, onion and tomato on skewers and char them to serve alongside and you’ve come almost full circle back to shish kebab. Of course you’d have to marinate that lamb a bit first with wine or vinegar and onion, some parsley perhaps, but I imagine the aroma of this dish will attract your Armenian neighbors whether you do or not. Just don’t omit the sumac!
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