Jeeps, kakis... and Mutton Stew

Cooking from Africa is mighty challenging. When I started to think about what I could cook to the theme of AFRICA, I realised I hardly knew a thing about it. Of course I was thankful I had friends to share the brain work with, who would do their own little research on what makes food in Africa, African.

L brought the other stew for the night. While it was meant to be a lamb stew, it quickly turned into a mutton stew because he didn't realise how expensive lamb was going to be. Together with the dish came an ah-soh-like rave about how wonderful (and cheap) Giant hypermart is. Ask him where you can get some elusive ingredient you've been hunting down for ages and he'll quickly offer 'GIANT!'

Even though the lamb was replaced by its less regarded sister - mutton, the stew was scrumptious. I was heady with herbs and spices, but in a good way. The added chickpeas and sliced almonds brought with them some very welcomed crunch. This is really a labour of love as the mutton will be relatively tough until they have been nursed into resignation given sufficient time. Evidently, there are also many steps to this recipe, but I'm sure would be worth your while.

'Goes great with almonds! I've cooked this twice and I've always used a hotter oven and a longer time, otherwise the meat won't be tender.' - Lawrence

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

2.5 pounds boneless lamb shoulder, trimmed and cut into 1.5 inch cubes

salt and black pepper

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 medium-large onions, chopped coarse

4 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through a garlic press

3 tbsp unbleached all purpose flour

1.5 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

0.5 tsp ground coriander

0.125 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

2.25 cups low sodium chicken broth

1 can (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes

1 cup dried apricots, roughly chopped

2 bay leaves

6 fresh cilantro sprigs

1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

0.25 cup minced fresh cilantro or parsley leaves

0.25 cup toasted silvered almonds (optional)

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Method

Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 300 degrees.

Season the lamb generously with salt and pepper to taste

Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a large oven-proof dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add half of the meat so that the individual pieces are close together but not touching.

Cook, not moving the pieces until the sides touching the pot are well browned, 2 to 3 mins.

Using tongs, turn each piece and continue cooking until most sides are well-browned, about 5 mins longer.

Transfer the meat to a medium bowl, add another 1 tbsp of the oil to the pot and swirl to coat the bottom.

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Brown the remaining lamb in the same manner, transfer the meat to the bowl and set aside.

Reduce the heat to medium, add the remaining 1 tbsp of oil and swirl to coat the bottom.

Add the onions and 0.25 tsp salt and cook, stirring frequently and vigorously, scraping the pot bottom with a wooden spoon to loosen any browned bits, until the onions have softened, about 5 mins.

Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 secs. Add the flour, cumin, cinnamon, ginger, coriander, and cayenne (if using) and stir until the onions are evenly coated and fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes.

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Gradually add the broth, scraping the pot bottom and edges with the wooden spoon to loosen the remaining brown bits and spices, and stirring until the flour is dissolved and the liquid is thick.

Stir in the tomatoes, apricots, bay leaves, and cilantro sprigs (if using) and bring to a simmer.

Add the lamb and accummulated juices, pushing down the meat to submerge the pieces.

Return to a simmer, cover the pot and put in oven for 1.25 hours.

Remove the pot from oven and stir in chickpeas. Cover and return the pot to the oven.

Cook until the meat is tender and the chickpeas and heat through, about 15 minutes.

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If serving immediately, spoon off any fat that rises to the top.

The stew can be covered the refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Spoon off the hardened fat and bring back to a simmer over medium-low heat.

Discard the bay leaves and cilantro spirgs. Stir in the minced cilantro and adjust the seasonings. Serve immediately, garnishing each bowl with almonds, if desired.

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If you can't find boneless lamb shoulder, you can purchase blade or arm chops and remove the meat yourself. Figure that 4.5 pounds of chops will yield the 2.5 pounds of boneless meat needed for this recipe. A variety of fried fruits - pitted rpunes, dark raisins, golden raisins, or currants - can be substituted for the apricots. serve this over couscous or basmati rice.