Khoresh-e Khalal - Persian Lamb Stew with Dried Limes, Black Barberries, and Slivered Almonds
Khoresh-e Khalal is a flavourful lamb stew from the Kermanshah province in western Iran.
The black barberries give the dish a pleasant hint of sourness. The sun-soaked limes add further tartness and irresistible fragrance, while the slivered almonds add texture, making each spoon full a multi-sensory adventure.
Black barberries can be hard to find if you live outside of Iran. In my opinion, it’s completely acceptable to replace them with the more common red barberries. One missing ingredient shouldn’t prevent you from preparing this delicious dish.
Serve this mouthwatering lamb stew with aromatic Persian saffron rice.
You can download this recipe as a printable PDF for a small fee here.
Cook the most popular Persian dishes at home with the help of my e-book.
Time
Prep: 10 min
Cook: 1 h 30 min
Total: 1 h 40 min
Ingredients (serving 4)
500g/1.1lbs lamb leg or shoulder
Lamb bones, that come with the meat (optional)
1 medium sized onion
4 cloves garlic
6 tbsp rosewater or 1 tsp rosewater essence, diluted with water
5 tbsp slivered almonds
4 dried limes
4 tbsp tomato paste
4 tbsp vegetable oil
3 tbsp dried black barberries (You can use red barberries if you don’t have black ones)
1 tbsp sugar (optional, if you like to balance your stew)
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp saffron, ground
Salt to taste
Method for cooking Khoresh-e Khalal
Prep the ingredients
Transfer the slivered almonds to a small bowl. Add the rosewater (or rosewater essence, combined with 5 tbsp water) to it and set it aside until later.
Transfer the ice cubes to a glass. Bloom the ground saffron by sprinkling it over the ice cubes. Set it aside in a warm place to melt into saffron water.
Cut the meat into 4cm / about 1.5-inch cubes.
Skin off and finely chop the onion and garlic.
Searing the meat
Sear the lamb pieces over high heat in 4 tbsp vegetable oil until golden brown on each side. Remove the meat from the pan.
Caramelising onion and garlic
Gently caramelise the onion over low to medium heat in the same oil you seared the meat in. Add more oil if needed. After about 15 minutes add the garlic and gently fry them together for a few more minutes.
Get the stew cooking
Keep the heat on low.
Return the meat to the pan with the caramelised onion and garlic.
Add the tomato paste, turmeric and black pepper. Combine everything well.
Add the bones if you have any.
Poke the dried limes with a fork, so that the stew can absorb their incredible flavour. Be sure to protect the hand holding the dried limed with multiple layers of kitchen towel or an oven glove. Add them to the pan.
Add 470ml/2 cups of freshly boiled water.
Season with salt and let the stew simmer for 1h 15 min or until the meat is perfectly tender.
Add more boiled water if needed at any time.
After 1h and 15 min of letting the stew simmer, add the sugar, soaked almonds, black barberries and saffron water to the stew.
Stir the ingredients in and let the stew simmer for a final 15 minutes.
Serve your delicious Khoreshte Khalal
Serve this mouthwatering lamb stew with aromatic Persian saffron rice. Enjoy!
I hope you enjoyed this recipe. I’d love to see your Khoresh Khalal! Feel free to tag me with @igotitfrommymaman on Facebook or Insta so I can take a look and give you a thumbs up!
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