Afghan Spinach Lamb (plus a note about moong dhal)

I was persuaded by someone I met at the EC in Vienna (Alexandru Butean) that I really ought to be vegan if I care about animal welfare, since after all factory farmed animals suffer whether eaten or milked.  But I'm a pretty bad vegan, since I'll occasionally even eat the animals if they are living the best lives they can, like the sheep at the local farmers' market.

I got introduced to Afghan food by Ahmed Wali Karzai, who ran an awesome restaurant, the Helmand, at the end of my street in Chicago in the 1980s. I only learned it was his restaurant from his NYT obituary. Apparently the Obama administration people always started visits to him by chatting about doing business in Chicago... I still miss that restaurant, not only because of the food, but because it had the most awesome, least intrusive wait staff I've ever experienced.

This recipe didn't start out that much like Karzai's, but we adjusted it a bunch and got closer.


AFGHANI LAMB WITH SPINACH
Modded from a version SUBMITTED to epicurious BY BENKAMOBI

INGREDIENTS
1 lb Lamb stew meat (down from 2 1/2 originally)
1/6 c Olive oil (down from 1/3)
One large Onion; diced large (originally 3/4 lb, which is about the same)
4 ts Chopped garlic
2 ts Turmeric
1/4 ts Nutmeg
1 ts Ground cardamom (up from 1/4 ts -- I crushed whole cardamom in a mortar with the red pepper)
1 ts Crushed red pepper
1 ts Cinnamon (up from 1/2, and I used Cassia cinnamon)
16 ozs tomatoes - chopped (was 32 oz Can, I used real ones)
.75 c Beef stock (was 1.5)
2/3 lb spinach; wash & drained (was 1/3 lb, I used frozen whole leaf)
1 c Yogurt (originally 1/2 c, we use coconut / vegan yogurt)
1 tb lemon juice (was originally Grated lemon peel)
Salt; to taste
1/4 c cashews (was supposed to be Pine nuts* *Roasted at 350 F. for about 3 minutes. but we didn't have any nor did the nearby Indian market.)
You may want to make cornbread too, see below.

PREPARATION

preheat the oven to 350F
chop the onion & garlic
measure, grind up & mix the spices with a mortar and pestle (or into a small bowl)
prepare the tomatoes and beef stock into another bowl / large measuring cup
set the spinach out to thaw if it's frozen

Sear lamb in the olive oil in a cast-iron skillet or Dutch oven. Add the onions; saute them for 2 minutes; then add the garlic and saute it for 1 minute. Put in the turmeric, nutmeg, cardamom, crushed red pepper and cinnamon and saute the mixture for 1 to 2 minutes more, being careful not to burn the onions or garlic. Add the tomatoes and stock and stir. Cover the dish (or put in a covered dish) and bake at 350 F. for about 1 hour, until the meat is tender and begins to break up. Remove the dish from the oven and add the spinach, stirring until the spinach is wilted and blended in. Allow the stew to cool slightly. Add the yogurt, lemon peel and salt to taste. Sprinkle with roasted pine nuts.

This came out super liquidy. At first we had it on brown rice, but it was more than twice what we needed for a meal, so the second time after reheating we significantly upped the cinnamon, lemon, spinach, salt, and added fresh yogurt, AND served it on fresh cornbread, and THEN it was awesome.



I used to make moong dhal in the 1980s and 1990s but I hadn't had time for a while so forgot the recipe, but then wanted to make it again. It turns out there are also afghan versions of this, but the one I put together (for a new year's party) was most informed by these three versions:

  • https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3188673/yellow-split-pea-dhal (main source)
  • https://www.connoisseurusveg.com/yellow-split-pea-dal/ (helped get hotness right. This is the Afghan version.)
  • https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/moong-dal-recipe/ (justified use of butter not oil :-)

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