Sameh Wadi’s Lamb Shanks With Pomegranate and Saffron
- Total Time
- About 3 hours
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:6 servings
- 6lamb shanks, about 1 pound each
- Sea salt
- Grapeseed or canola oil
- 6cups coarsely chopped yellow onions
- Scant ½ cup sliced garlic cloves
- ¼cup grated fresh ginger
- 1½tablespoons ras el hanout (see note)
- 2teaspoons saffron threads
- 1teaspoon ground ginger
- 1teaspoon ground black pepper
- 6cups chicken stock or water
- 4cups pomegranate juice
- 1tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 2teaspoons pomegranate molasses or grenadine
- Seeds of 1 medium pomegranate
- ¼cup cilantro, roughly chopped
- ¼cup pistachios, chopped
- Flaky salt, like Maldon or fleur de sel, for sprinkling
Preparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 325 degrees. Season lamb shanks with salt.
- Step 2
In a large ovenproof pot with a lid, heat a thin film of oil. Working in batches to avoid crowding, and adjusting the heat to prevent scorching, brown the lamb shanks thoroughly over medium-high heat, about 3 minutes per side. Set aside on a rimmed baking sheet.
- Step 3
Add onion, garlic and ginger to the hot pan, sprinkle with salt and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions start to become translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Step 4
Add the ras el hanout, saffron, ginger and pepper; cook for 1 minute, stirring continuously, until the spices smell fragrant. Add 1 cup stock and bring to a boil. Cook until syrupy, about 3 minutes, using a wooden spatula to scrape any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Step 5
Return the lamb and any drippings from the baking sheet to the pot. Add the remaining stock and the pomegranate juice. Bring to a boil, then cover and bake for 2 to 2½ hours, or until the lamb is very tender. Remove from the oven and place on top of the stove.
- Step 6
Transfer the lamb shanks to a baking sheet and cover with foil. Let the cooking liquid cool for 15 minutes, then skim off and discard the fat that has risen to the surface. Simmer the liquid until reduced to a sauce, stirring frequently, about 20 minutes.
- Step 7
Season to taste with salt, then add the vinegar and pomegranate molasses a few teaspoons at a time, until the sauce is balanced to your liking between sweet and sour. Return the shanks to the sauce and bring to a simmer, spooning the sauce over the shanks until the meat is hot and richly glazed.
- Step 8
To serve, place the lamb shanks on a platter or individual plates, and sprinkle with the pomegranate seeds, cilantro, pistachios and salt.
Tip
- Ras el hanout is a North African blend that can have as many as 30 spices. Buy it at a Middle Eastern market or spice specialist, or use ½ teaspoon each ground cumin, coriander, caraway, white pepper, allspice, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom and turmeric, and a healthy pinch of cayenne. Middle Eastern markets also carry pomegranate molasses, or use date syrup or sherry vinegar as a stand-in for the molasses.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Tom Dorrance
Leave the cilantro out. It's drowning out all the other flavors. Maybe parsley would work for color. Use only 1 tbsp oil. Don't forget the pomegranate juice ($10 for 1 quart). Don't skimp on the pomegranate juice. It brightens up an otherwise heavy and flat sauce. Needs a lot of salt. Use an imersion blender on the sauce.
Lucy
We completely disagree with Tom on the cilantro- it’s a great addition, which we used again when remaining sauce was served as soup. Our only problem with this recipe is the time/effort involved. It took two of us (working well together) more than 3 hours.
KW
HIgh Pressure for 50 minutes, then 15 minutes Natural Release
pat
lacking pomegranate juice, I braised the shanks and onion in leftover Nero d'avola wine, added a dash of maple syrup to adjust the sweet/tartness, did not add any stock so didn't need to reduce the sauce. Flavors married all day. Garnished with finely chopped mint, pomegranate pips, and pistachios roasted with carrots and fennel. Brown rice to accompany. Yum!
Bruce J
Two teaspoons saffron threads? Packed or loose? This is not a dish for the timid budget.
Sue L
Did someone say this was winter food? Right! Does the fact that I'm making it (half the recipe, and in my toaster oven) as I type, in the middle of a 90° East Coast heat wave, say something about my sanity? Right again--but not what you think! The extreme temps and resulting demands on the power grid have me terrified of outages, and my MO is "Winter foods beat spoiled foods, whatever the weather." BTW, the recipe's a real keeper--one more reason to look forward to winter!
SirFreddy
I only had about 1 teaspoon of saffron but it was delicious anyway. I did not add pistachios because I didn't have them. It is a lot of work but I would make it again for company. Don't leave out the pomegranate syrup because it makes a big difference.
HG
Wonderful winter-y dish! Agree with prior reviewer on using immersion blender for the sauce.
KOW
Made with 3 lamb shanks instead of 6. Halved the liquid, but kept the spice quantities as directed. Substituted parsley for cilantro because my man can't tolerate cilantro. Used pomegranate concentrate reconstituted. Skipped the pistachios because I didn't have them. The result was divine. The best lamb shank I've made.
Rainy Day
I would love to have directions for cooking this in an Instant Pot. I just got one and am not really comfortable making the adjustments myself. Anyone have any suggestions?
Stephanie R
This recipe is really not worth the effort. I think you could just throw the lamb shanks in a crock pot and save the hassle. It seems to call for way too much liquid of all sorts. There is no way that amount of liquid reduces down to a sauce in 20 minutes as stated without adding some sort of thickener. I will not be making this again.
Lydia
I made this with goat shanks instead of lamb and a DIY pomegranate “juice” from watered down pomegranate molasses and it still turned out beautifully. I thought it was just so ever slightly heavy on the saffron but that could have been the variety I used (Kashmiri from Kalyustan’s on Lexington). Well worth the effort!
ReganK Paris
I have a similar recipe (from the BBC) for a whole leg of lamb, that takes a lot longer. It simmers the lamb in pure pomegranate juice, not half juice/half stock, and I prefer it that way (no need to add the pomegranate molasses at the end, and a whole lemon, ground with the zest, as a marinade keeps it from being cloyingly sweet. Also, every Mediterranean/Middle Eastern lamb recipe I know features cinnamon, so I threw a stick in to simmer in the sauce and don't regret it!-)
Elisabeth
Love this recipe, it not a lamb person. What’s other meats would you gravitate too?
Gail
I made this last week and it was amazing! I had no problem finding Ras el hanout. It was so good. Every time I smell the package, I smell a different spice. Will have to find more recipes to put it in.
Alice Davis
I would cook this in my tajine and eliminate a lot of the work except browning meat and cooking onions. And Id throw in a chopped preserved lemon. I use a tajine about once or twice a year but cooks these dishes wonderfully and faster than you'd think. BTW never really understood saffron and agree on the expense. I might cut it or eliminate entirely as there are so many flavors in there already but perhaps I am a cretin. Hooray for a good Middle Eastern market though!
DDee
When I discovered Ras el hanout the clouds parted in heaven and angels sang. intoxicating fragrance. I use it in cooking meats, veggies, eggs. I have resisted rubbing it into my skin like perfume- but who knows try it. you'll love it
Michele
Followed all directions up to 5. At step 5 I placed the lamb and sauce in a crock pot and cooked it on low for 8 hours. I then removed all of the sauce, added a tablespoon of starch because I was not confident the sauce would thicken after reading other reviews. In 20 minutes, with constant storing and low heat the sauce cooked down, thickened and was absolutely delicious. The lamb came out perfect.
Michael Swartz
We made this dish for Christmas dinner. It was delicious. Flavorful and colorful with a delicious sauce, succulent meat and festive spirit with spices recalling the three wise men. We didn't find it extra hard work. We were lucky enough to find fresh grated ginger at the store, and I'm lucky to have a hubbie that chops onions like a food processor. All in all ... It was a perfect Christmas dish.
KOW
Made with 3 lamb shanks instead of 6. Halved the liquid, but kept the spice quantities as directed. Substituted parsley for cilantro because my man can't tolerate cilantro. Used pomegranate concentrate reconstituted. Skipped the pistachios because I didn't have them. The result was divine. The best lamb shank I've made.
lois shelton
coudl you use chicken or pork rather than lamb
Boudin King
Any thoughts about doing this in a tagine?
Yusuf
Cilantro gives a great flavour to middle eastern cooking .
SirFreddy
I only had about 1 teaspoon of saffron but it was delicious anyway. I did not add pistachios because I didn't have them. It is a lot of work but I would make it again for company. Don't leave out the pomegranate syrup because it makes a big difference.
Nehal
This was a surprisingly easy dish to recreate with ingredients all in my cupboard..was surprised about ras al hanout, ginger, saffron AND pomegranate coming together as they are all from very different regions in the middle east (and very different styles of cooking) and not usually combined in one dish but the dish was divine. Meat falling off the bone.. I did reduce from 6 shanks to 4 and cut the liquids down by a third. Worked great. Saffron i added in a little rose water and that brought ou
Sanaz
I removed as much fat as possible from the shanks, used the spices I had available in my pantry, added juice in several steps so it never get too watery. No need to simmering the source separately and I love the result. It was my first time to buy pomegranate juice and I realized it is made from concentrate. Next time I only use pomegranate paste and water instead of juice. Saffron is a delicate spice But you don't need lots of it. Just a dash of saffron at the end and it smells and taste great.
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