North African-Inspired Ground Lamb Stew with Chickpeas, Preserved Lemons and Olives

Tasty Boy loves keema (which is what ground meat is called in Hindi and Bengali). Not a particular keema recipe, but any form of ground meat. So I have 3 to 4 favourite keema recipes that I tend to rotate on a bi-weekly basis and constantly tinker with for variety. I came up with this recipe in a fit of boredom with my existing repertoire. It’s inspired by many of the stewed meat recipes by May Bsisu and Claudia Roden, but doesn’t strictly adhere to either of them. This is a colourful, tangy, one-pot mish-mash of North African and Mediterranean flavours, which beautifully enhance the sweet gamy-ness of lamb, and is perfect by the bowlful, sopped-up with a pillowy mound of couscous or rice.

 Ingredients
3 tbsp whole Coriander
1 tbsp whole Cumin
3 tbsp Olive Oil
2 Bay leaves
1 large Onion, sliced
2 whole Cinnamon sticks
3 whole Cardamom pods
6 cloves Garlic, roughly smashed
3 Carrots, peeled and chopped into 1”-thick chunks
2 lbs ground Lamb
2 tbsp Harissa powder
1 tsp Chilli powder
1 tsp freshly ground Black Pepper
2 tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 lbs canned Chickpeas, drained and thoroughly washed
2 whole Preserved Lemons, cut into quarters
2 cups Olives, whole
Salt (to taste)
1 cup Parsley, roughly chopped
4 cups Water
1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1. In a large, flat-bottomed pot, dry-roast the cumin and coriander together over high heat for 3-4 mins until golden brown. Remove spices from pot and grind them with a mortar and pestle. Set aside. 
2. In the same pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add bay leaves, onions, cinnamon and cardamom, and gently fry for 4-5 mins until the onions are glossy and translucent. Add garlic and carrots and continue frying for another 5 mins. 
3. Add ground lamb and cook for 5-7 mins until the lamb has lost its pinkish colour. Then add harissa powder, ground coriander and cumin, chilli powder and black pepper, stir well, and continue cooking for 5 mins. 
4. Add tomatoes, chickpeas, preserved lemons, olives, salt and parsley and stir well. Add water and bring to a brisk boil, then lower heat, put the lid on the pot, and simmer for 45 mins-1hr, stirring occasionally. If the pot starts to get dry add ½ cup of water at a time, as required. 
5. Turn off heat and let sit for 15-20 mins. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and serve over couscous or rice.

Claudia Roden's Pistachio Cake

This is a gorgeous recipe from Claudia Roden’s book Arabesque. I made it for the first time a few weeks ago for my Valentine’s Eve dinner and it turned out deliciously moist and luscious. When I took the first bite, I immediately thought of Mama who loves pistachios. I made it again tonight so she can have it with her tea tomorrow when she arrives in New York.  

For the syrup:  

1½ cups sugar  

¾ cup water  

1 tbsp lemon juice  

2 tbsp rose water  

For the cake:  

5 eggs, separated  

1 cup superfine sugar  

1½ cups pistachios, ground finely  

1/3 cup pistachios, chopped very coarsely  

To serve: 

¾ cup clotted or heavy cream (optional) 

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Make the syrup first. Bring the sugar, water, and lemon juice to a boil and simmer until the sugar is dissolved, then stir in the rose water. Let the syrup cool, then chill it in the refrigerator. 

Beat the egg yolks with the sugar to a pale cream, then add the ground pistachios and mix very well. Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold them in gently. Pour into a greased and floured non-stick cake tin 9-10” in diameter and sprinkle the coarsely chopped pistachios on top. Bake in an oven pre-heated to 350ºF for about 45 minutes. 

Turn the cake out into a deep serving dish. Make little holes over the top with a fork and pour over the syrup. The holes will let it soak in quickly. 

Serve, if you like, with clotted or heavy cream.
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Recipe copyright © 2005 by Claudia Roden.