Festive Saffron Lamb Yakhni Pilaf

Festive Saffron Lamb Pilaf  Making a festive lamb pilaf, needs one key factor, lots of patience and low and slow cooking. Not the kind that can be delegated to the slow cooker. Today’s dish is called Lamb Yakhni Pilaf.

A signature recipe from Kashmir. With a little simplification.

The Story of Lamb Yakhni Pilaf

I use a lamb shank for this recipe. To get the base I cook this for a long time. This is  to create a broth and base that has all the flavor acquired from hours of slow cooking. At this point, I remove chunks of meat from the lamb shank, discard the bone and keep aside. Until I am ready to cook the rice and the rice gets tossed in. Done in less than 30 minutes. A lamb yakhni pilaf is all about the broth or the yakhi.

Forgiving Flavors

The key is that the lamb is quite forgiving, so once put together it can cook by itself without much fuss. It is not a super simple dish. However by breaking up the steps it does make it doable for a special meal on a weeknight without much fuss or ado. Often, that is the key to making the special meal workable on a weeknight. Breaking apart the recipe. With Diwali, round the corner, if your table includes meat this might be a meal to consider.

Lamb PilafVisiting Family and Space

I recently visited my brother-in-laws new house at the outskirts of Albany. My concept of space might never be the same. Ah! the debate between space and inching towards Manhattan. Much as I love the vibe and pace of the city, I realize I cannot possibly afford anything remotely close to child rearing space in the city. Our home is smaller by most Westchester standards. Possibly on some days more chaotic that the standard New York City home. It is most likely for keeps.

Spices

Well, back to the dish of hand, it can certainly is a regal dish originating in the Kashmiri tradition of cooking. I have added more yogurt in this version as I feel that it takes away a little of gamey taste of lamb, if you cook with goat meat or want to leave it out, it is fine, you will have a lighter tasting pilaf.

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Festive Saffron Lamb Yakhni Pilaf

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours

Total Time: 2 hours, 10 minutes

Festive Saffron Lamb Yakhni Pilaf

An rich and elegant dish of slow cooked lamb pilaf, cooked in its own seasoned broth. This is a variation of the Kashmiri recipe for Yakhni pulao.

Ingredients

    For the Lamb
  • 2 large onions, halved and thinly sliced into half moons
  • 1/3 cup oil
  • 1 tablespoon freshly ground ginger
  • 1 tablespoon freshly ground garlic
  • 11/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 cup Greek Yogurt, well beaten
  • 11/2 teaspoons red cayenne pepper
  • 1 cup water
  • 11/2 teaspoon garam masala
  • 1 to 2 lambs shanks (about 3 pounds)
    • For the Rice
  • 2 blades mace
  • 1 stick cinnamon
  • 3 pods cardamom
  • 3 cloves
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 4 to 6 small potatoes, peeled
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 11/2 cups basmati rice, rinsed and dried
  • 3 to 4 bay leaves
  • 11/2 teaspoons whole peppercorns bruised
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 tablespoon rosewater (optional)
  • Sliced Almonds to garnish

Instructions

  1. Heat the oil and add the onions and cook the onions slowly, stirring frequently for about 10 to 15 minutes, until the onions are golden. Remove about half the onions and set aside.
  2. Add the ginger and garlic and cook for 2 minutes.
  3. Add in the salt and the lamb shank and mix well. Stir in the yogurt, cayenne pepper and the water and garam masala. Bring the mixture to a simmer, reduce the heat and cover the pot tightly and let the lamb simmer for about 11/2 hours, until the sauce is fragrant and the lamb is very tender.
  4. At this point, remove the lamb shanks and break off the meat in chunks. You can set this aside to use when needed. I actually skim off the extra fat before I am ready to cook the rice.
  5. Grind the mace, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves into a powder.
  6. Heat the oil and add in the bay leaves and the whole peppercorns and the potatoes and mix well. Stir in the salt and the ground spices. Add in the reserved lamb and the skimmed cooking liquid and cover and cook for about 10 minutes.
  7. Add in the rice and water and saffron. Please note, if you have less than 1 and ½ cups of cooking liquid, add in more water. You should have 2 and half cups of liquid for the rice.
  8. Cover and cook the rice on low for 25 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the rice rest for about 5 minutes.
  9. Remove the lid, add in the rosewater if using, fluff the rice and garnish with the almonds before serving.
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