Adeni Zurbian (spiced rice & meat)

Recipe No.: G-16

Gulf120 minServes 6

Zurbian is an Adeni dish of lamb marinated in yogurt and spices, topped with rice and saffron and cooked in its steam. It is said that the name is close to "biryani" because of Aden's trade links with India, but nothing confirms this. It is served at gatherings and in Ramadan on one big tray.

Ingredients for Adeni Zurbian

• For the meat
• 1 kgbone-in lamb, cut into medium pieces
• 3potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 3onions, thinly sliced (2 fried, the rest blended)
• 1 cupplain yogurt and 5 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 tbspzurbian spice mix (cumin, coriander, turmeric, cardamom, clove, cinnamon, black pepper)
• ½ cupoil or ghee, and salt
• For the rice
• 2 cupsbasmati rice, soaked 30 minutes and drained
• 3cardamom pods, 2 bay leaves and 1 cinnamon stick in 1.5 litres salted boiling water
• A pinch ofsaffron steeped in ¼ cup hot water
• To garnish
• Fried onion, chopped coriander and raisins

Method

1. Fry the onions in the oil until browned and set half aside for garnish.
2. In the same pot, brown the lamb and the potatoes for 8 minutes and take out the potatoes.
3. Blend the remaining onion with the yogurt, garlic, spices and salt, add to the lamb and simmer for 1 hour (or 30 minutes in a pressure cooker) until tender.
4. Boil the rice in the water with cardamom, bay leaves and cinnamon until ¾ cooked (7 to 8 minutes) and drain.
5. Lay the potatoes over the lamb, then the rice, and sprinkle with saffron water and half the fried onion.
6. Cover tightly (with a cloth under the lid) and cook on low for 20 minutes, then rest 10 minutes.
7. Turn it out onto a wide platter or spoon it in layers and garnish with fried onion, coriander and raisins.

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