There is so much I want to say about this dish, but I think I need to start by saying that I think this is the absolute best dish I have ever made. I know! Big promises! I have no doubt that my husband and son probably have other favorites, but this dish just knocked my socks off.
I don’t recall how my best friend and I started talking about Persian food, but somehow it got me craving Persian flavors with inspirations from Mediterranean and Moroccan cooking (yeah, yeah, I know Morocco is on the Mediterranean!). Which country these flavors actually stem from, I have no idea. I honestly feel like I grabbed flavors out of several different countries and melded them together to make this delicious stew.
Last winter I added a lamb and orzo stew. My husband absolutely loves that recipe. I like it but am more lukewarm on it (I shouldn’t say that about my own dishes!). I mean, it’s good but it’s very one-dimensional to me. This, on the other hand, is beyond multi-dimensional. I’ve found the fourth dimension with this dish.
To be honest, I was skeptical as all heck when I started randomly throwing ingredients into my slow cooker… a little bit of this… a little bit of that… oooo, how about some of this this??? But my first bite of this stew, I melted into my chair. It is sooo good!
I love game meat… lamb, venison, duck, plus most exotic meats I have the pleasure of sampling. I think my favorite was kangaroo, which my son and I tried at a fabulous Australian restaurant in Singapore. It was AMAZING! The thing with gamey meats, though, is providing the right flavors to accentuate the meat. I mean, chicken, pork, beef, etc. can be paired with most flavors: sweet, savory, umami, sour, etc. Arguably, so can game meat. But game meat takes a little extra finesse to compliment the meat. It’s really easy to make a delicious tasting dish that doesn’t actually do anything for the game meat you’re using!
With venison and duck, I find a sweeter fruit sauce is one of the most delicious ways to compliment the meat ~ raspberries, oranges, or even the pomegranate syrup I recently made with duck breast. Lamb, however, works nicely with a lot more different flavors. I’ve made delicious Greek-inspired lamb burgers, traditional lamb stew, and the classic rack of lamb, all of which have different flavors that compliment the meat!
For leg of lamb, I like to go a bit more sweet and savory, so in this dish, I added sweet potatoes, apricots, honey, cinnamon sticks, and coriander to compliment the savoriness of red wine, turmeric, and tomatoes. But what I think gives this stew a unique edge is cutting the sweetness and savoriness will a little bit of sour/tartness from lemon zest, lemon juice, and my secret weapon, tamarind paste.
Have you used tamarind paste before? If not, let me forewarn you that if you use too much, it is very tart. But used in just the right way and it lends itself beautifully to a whole plethora of dishes. I had an amazing tamarind soft shell crab in Hoi An, Vietnam that I am still trying to recreate… I’m hoping for success during this year’s soft shell season! I only used 1 tablespoon of tamarind paste in this dish to compliment the flavors without taking over.
Okay, so the absolute MUST for this dish is searing the lamb before throwing it in your slow cooker. I’ve read some food bloggers who have suggested this as an “optional” “extra step”… I don’t know wtf they’re talking about. Searing meat before slow cooking it is not optional. NOT OPTIONAL!!! If you want tender meat that melts in your mouth, then searing it is an absolute necessity! Any fatty side should be seared longer to start breaking down the fat.
And listen, I know if you google whether it’s necessary to sear meat before slow cooking, the reviews are almost consistently that it’s optional. I urge you, then, to try it both ways and let me know what you think. I have tried slow cooking meat that hasn’t been seared first and it was tough and chewy. So I am 100% a proponent of searing meat first. It’s what has given me success in my beef stroganoff and gave me success in this dish!
Lastly, are the herbs. Now, I will cook with fresh herbs much of the time… allowing the herbs to infuse their flavors into the dish. But, I have also found that adding fresh herbs in after the meal has cooked is a real game changer! Obviously choosing the right herb to compliment the dish is essential, but from there, each bite is a pop of freshness that syncs so nicely with the dish! For this dish, I opted for fresh mint, cilantro, and dill. And oh my! 😍
Dish this over basmati rice, sprinkle over some feta, and this is an absolutely amazing dinner. This makes for the perfect Sunday dinner, but since you can cook this on the stovetop for an hour and a half OR throw it in your slow cooker, it’s easy to make any night of the week! I consider myself a good cook and inventive recipe maker, but I still cannot get over just how delicious this recipe was!
Enjoy!
Persian Style Lamb & Sweet Potato Stew with Apricots & Herbs
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Middle-Eastern, Sunday Dinner
- Cuisine: Dinner
Ingredients
2 – 3 lbs boneless leg of lamb, cut into 1” to 2” pieces
1 large yellow onion, diced
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into ½” cubes
6 oz dried apricots
1 – 15 oz can diced tomatoes
2 cups beef stock
1 cup red wine
3 cinnamon sticks
2 bay leaves
6 – 8 sprigs thyme
¼ cup honey
1 TB coriander
1 TB turmeric
1 TB tamarind paste
2 tsps ground cumin
½ tsp black pepper
salt – to taste
zest & juice of 1 large lemon
2 –3 tsps red pepper flakes
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To Serve
feta
3 TBs mint, roughly chopped
handful cilantro, roughly chopped
handful dill, roughly chopped
basmati rice
Instructions
Heat a large cast iron pan over medium heat. When hot, work in batches to sear the lamb pieces on all sides (about 30 to 60 seconds per side ~ as the pan gets hotter, the time will get shorter). Remove and place in a large pot.
Once all the lamb is seared, but not cooked through, add the onions to the pan. Stir, scrapping up any browned bits. Cook for about 4 to 5 minutes, or until lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant ~ about 30 seconds. Remove and place in the pot.
To the pot, add in the sweet potatoes, apricots, canned diced tomatoes, beef stock, red wine, cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, thyme, honey, coriander, turmeric, tamarind paste, ground cumin, black pepper, and a pinch of salt. Stir until well-combined. Cover and bring the pot to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the lamb and sweet potatoes are tender.
Add the lemon juice and zest and red pepper flakes. Stir, then season to taste with salt.
Serve over basmati rice with mint, cilantro, dill, and feta sprinkled on top.
Enjoy!
Notes
Slow Cooker Method: follow the directions up to searing the lamb. Instead of placing the seared lamb in a pot, place it in the pot of your slow cooker. Cook the onions and garlic as directed. Scoop the onions and garlic into the pot. Then cook the sweet potatoes for 5 to 10 minutes until seared. Place into the slow cooker and then follow the remaining directions as given. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, or on high for 4 to 5 hours.
Keywords: Persian stew, Persian lamb stew, Persian beef stew, Persian lamb stew with apricots, lamb and sweet potato stew, lamb stew, slow cooker stew, slow cooker lamb stew, mediterranean lamb stew
Thanks For Sharing this amazing recipe. My family loved it. I will be sharing this recipe with my friends. Hope the will like it.
★★★★★