Lamb Stew

These past few days, it has been raining quite hard. We love watching heavy downpours when we are staying at home, curled up in a blanket, and having no need to go outside. These heavy rains coincide with the Gu which is the main rainy season (April to June) in Somalia. Back there, we used to love sitting in the veranda, watching and listening to the rain.

Weather like this calls for comfort food and what comfort food is better than Anjero with a nice, aromatic, and deeply flavourful lamb stew. OK, there are some of you out there who have not had lamb or do not like the strong flavour of lamb. Rest assured. This is one lamb dish you really want to try. The aromatic spices, herbs, and the earthy flavour of the root vegetables temper some of the taste of the lamb. Still not convinced? In that case, substitute the lamb with chicken or beef, or make it vegetarian, and you will still end up with a stew that will make your taste buds and tummy really thankful.

This dish is about adding the different ingredients each at its right time. The lamb should be soft and tender, and the vegetables should retain their shape. The potatoes should not be cut into large cubes, since potatoes take longer to soften in acidic liquids like tomato sauces.

As some of you have noticed, we use more oil when cooking stews. The oil is important as it will “fry” the stew and give it a nice, caramelly taste. When the stew is ready, the oil separates and floats at the top, making it very easy to remove. Adding enough oil also helps in preventing the stew from sticking to the pot and burning. That is the rationale for the extra oil we use when cooking stews or tomato sauces in general.

Then it was time to sit down and do what Somalis have been doing for a very long time: scooping the stew on top of Anjero. Wait, do not sit down yet. Turn on some Qaraami music, a Somali musical style played with Kaban (Oud). The word Qaraami comes from the Arabic word غرامي which means romantic. What is most important to know though, is that Qaraami goes really well with maraq (stews).

Apart from Anjero, this stew can also be served with Soor (grits), plain rice, Sabaayad (chapati), or a nice, crusty bread. Somalis would also eat this with pasta and it would make an amazing sauce instead of regular pasta sauce.

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