Xawaash Braised Lamb Shanks
Updated Oct. 3, 2024
- Total Time
- 3¼ hours
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Cook Time
- 3 hours and 10 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 2lamb shanks (about 2½ pounds)
- 2teaspoons fine sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1tablespoon olive oil
- 1tablespoon xawaash (see Tip)
- 10whole garlic cloves, peeled
- 1large white onion, peeled and diced
- ½cup cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
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Preparation
- Step 1
Coat lamb shanks with ½ teaspoon salt and a few cranks of black pepper; set aside.
- Step 2
In a large pot over medium-high heat, warm up olive oil until it shimmers. When the oil is hot, lightly sear lamb shanks on both sides, about 30 to 60 seconds per side. Add the xawaash, garlic, onion, cilantro and the remaining 1½ teaspoons salt; cover with about 9 cups of water (or until lamb shanks are completely covered).
- Step 3
Bring to a boil over high, turn down the heat to medium, cover and cook for 3 hours. (Be sure to periodically check the water level, adding water as needed to ensure the meat stays submerged for the first two hours of cooking time.) When time is up, the meat should be very tender.
- Step 4
Gently remove the lamb shanks from the pot and place on a plate. If there is a lot of broth leftover, boil down the excess liquid over high, uncovered, for 10 minutes, until reduced to a glossy gravy. Pour this gravy on top of the lamb shanks.
- Step 5
Serve over white rice. Lamb shanks can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.
- To prepare your own xawaash blend, add 8 teaspoons ground cumin, 2 teaspoons ground coriander, 1 teaspoon ground black pepper, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves, ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon and ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom to a small nonstick pan. Toast over low heat, stirring continuously, for 1 minute or until the spice mix becomes fragrant, then stir in 1 teaspoon ground turmeric. Makes 4 tablespoons.
Private Notes
Comments
Cooking the lamb at Medium for 3 hours will ruin it. Simmer it over low heat, or put in in a 300F oven until tender. On a positive note, the spice mixture is fantastic. You'll find lots of uses for it. I like to sprinkle it on eggs, and it's a great addition to either carrot or squash soup.
Great recipe, very forgiving and tasty. We used 1.35 kg of shanks (4 total), added a touch extra xawaash and a little additional salt and it was delicious. Be careful to not add too much water or you can be waiting longer than expected to obtain the glorious gravy. Top it off with some fresh coriander (cilantro) at the end. Would also work well with couscous instead of rice.
Made it as written, it is great - recommended.
Made this delicious meal as the recipe stated. I kept temperature a little lower the med/low
Incredibly tender meat. It was a good cooking technique but definitely some acidity missing in the flavour in my opinion!
Great recipe, very forgiving and tasty. We used 1.35 kg of shanks (4 total), added a touch extra xawaash and a little additional salt and it was delicious. Be careful to not add too much water or you can be waiting longer than expected to obtain the glorious gravy. Top it off with some fresh coriander (cilantro) at the end. Would also work well with couscous instead of rice.
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