A lamb joint on a wooden board with a pot of red chunky sauce, a couple of forks and some flatbread

Slow-cooked lamb shawarma

Name: Slow-cooked lamb shawarma
Total time: 5 h
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 3 onions 1 chopped, 2 thickly sliced; 4 garlic cloves peeled; thumb-sized piece ginger peeled and chopped; 50ml olive oil; 1 lemon juiced; 1 whole lamb shoulder (about 2.5kg); tahini yogurt, flatbreads or pitta and soft herbs to serve; 1 tbsp cumin seeds; 1 tbsp coriander seeds; 2 tsp fennel seeds; 1 tsp ground turmeric; ½ tsp ground cinnamon; ½ tsp ground ginger; pinch of ground cloves; 75g pickled chillies from a jar drained, stems removed; 1 garlic clove chopped; 2 large roasted red peppers from a jar drained and chopped; 1 tbsp red wine vinegar

Anna Glover

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Serves 4

Easy

Total time: 5 hrs

+ marinating

A star rating of 5 out of 5.4 ratingsRate

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This lamb shoulder is slathered with a punchy marinade of garlic, ginger, cumin, fennel, turmeric and cinnamon, then slow-roasted for a fall-apart texture and served with homemade harissa

Gluten free

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Alternatives

Complete the dish

Try this slow-cooked lamb shawarma, then check out our slow-cooker leg of lamb, slow-cooked chicken shawarma, mushroom shawarma, Turkish gozleme, Turkish lahmacun and more Turkish recipes.

Ingredients

Nutrition

3 onions

1 chopped, 2 thickly sliced
4 garlic cloves

peeled
thumb-sized piece ginger

peeled and chopped
50ml olive oil
1 lemon

juiced
1 whole lamb shoulder (about 2.5kg)
tahini yogurt, flatbreads or pitta and soft herbs

to serve

SHAWARMA SPICE MIXTURE

1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp coriander seeds
2 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp ground turmeric
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
pinch of ground cloves

PICKLED CHILLI HARISSA

75g pickled chillies from a jar

drained, stems removed
1 garlic clove

chopped
2 large roasted red peppers from a jar

drained and chopped
1 tbsp red wine vinegar

Nutrition: per serving

kcal1028
fat77.2g
saturates31.5g
carbs9.5g
sugars5.5g
fibre4g
protein71.8g
salt1.4g

Method

step 1

For the spice mixture, toast the cumin, coriander and fennel seeds in a dry frying pan until fragrant. Cool slightly, then pound with a pestle and mortar or spice grinder until finely ground. Reserve 2 tsp of the mixture, then add the rest to a blender along with the chopped onion, garlic and ginger. Pulse until a paste forms. Add the turmeric, cinnamon, ground ginger, cloves, olive oil and lemon juice, then season well.
step 2

Pierce the lamb all over with the tip of a sharp knife and put in a large container or sealable food bag. Rub the marinade into the meat on all sides, then chill for at least 12 hours or up to 48 hours.
step 3

Heat the oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3. Arrange the onion slices in the bottom of a roasting tin and put the lamb on top. Pour 500ml of water around the lamb in the tin and cover with foil. Roast for 4 hours, checking the water halfway through and topping it up if it is drying out.
step 4

Remove the foil and turn up the oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5 and roast for 30 minutes to crisp the skin and turn the crust deep golden brown.
step 5

To make the harissa, whizz the ingredients in a food processor with the reserved spice mixture. Add a pinch of sugar to balance the saltiness in the pickled chillies or some seasoning, if you like. Shred the lamb with two forks, then serve alongside tahini yogurt, flatbreads or pitta, herbs and the pickled chilli harissa.

Check out more of our best lamb recipes

Roast Leg of Lamb Recipe with Caper Butter and Mint Sauce

Authors

Anna Glover profile

Anna GloverSenior food editor

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