Instant Pot Middle Eastern American Lamb Stew

Recipe provided by | FEASTING AT HOME

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Servings: 4 Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 1 hour and 15 minutes


INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons olive oil, butter or ghee

1-1/2 -1-3/4 pounds American Lamb stew meat ( shoulder) cut onto 1 ½ inch cubes

1 onion, diced

4-6 garlic cloves, rough chopped

1 teaspoon of each: salt, pepper, cumin, coriander,

turmeric, cinnamon, and cumin seeds ( seeds are optional, add another teaspoon ground cumin if no seeds)

1/2 teaspoon chili flakes ( Aleppo Chili flakes are nice) and more for garnish

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (or red wine vinegar)

2 tablespoons honey or brown sugar

1 1/4 cups chicken stock or broth

1 x 15 ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1/4 cup raisins or dried apricots (chopped), or even dried currants

DIRECTIONS

Serve with cooked quinoa, cous cous or basmati rice & garnish with fresh Italian parsley or cilantro leaves and extra chili flakes.

Turn the Instant Pot on and set it to the Sauté function. Heat the butter or oil and saute the onions for 3-4 minutes until fragrant. Add the lamb, garlic, salt and all the spices and saute for 5 more minutes until fragrant. Add the vinegar, tomato paste, honey, stock, chickpeas and raisins and stir until combined.

Cover and set the Instant Pot (or pressure cooker) to the “meat stew” setting, or pressure cook for 1 hour on normal/high.

Let the pressure release and give a stir. The lamb will be tender and break apart easily.

Serve over quinoa, rice or cous cous with some fresh cilantro or parsley.

The leftovers taste even better the next day as the flavors have more time to meld.

Notes

Alternatively, you can cook this on the stove top in a oven proof dutch oven. Pre heat the oven to 325. Brown the onions in the ghee or butter then add the garlic, lamb, salt and spices, cooking for 5 -6 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients – all except the raisins, and bring to a simmer. Cover and place in the oven and bake 2 hours, adding the raisins about an hour or 1 ½ hours into the baking time.

After two hours the lamb will be supper tender. If you like a little more browning, give a quick broil to the pot uncovered.

Instant Pot Middle Eastern Lamb Stew