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Zurbian
Yemen
Yemen's feast rice. Cooked for weddings and Eid. The hawaij spice blend is the defining flavour of Yemeni cooking.
Yemeni lamb and saffron rice — a layered dish of spiced lamb and fragrant rice cooked together with saffron, dried lemon and whole spices. Yemen's great celebratory rice dish.
Prep
20 mins
Cook
90 mins
Difficulty
Medium
Calories
470 kcal
Serves
6
Calories are an estimate based on ingredients used
Ingredients
1kglamb shoulder, bone in
500gbasmati rice
pinchsaffron in warm water
3dried limes, pierced
2onions, diced
2 tsphawaij spice mix: cumin, coriander, cardamom, black pepper
50gghee
raisins and nutsto garnish
Method
1
Brown lamb with onion and hawaij. Add water. Simmer 45 minutes.
2
Par-cook rice. Layer over lamb. Add saffron water and dried limes.
3
Cover tightly. Cook on low heat 35 minutes.
4
Garnish with raisins and nuts.
Chef's Tip
The dried limes are essential — they give zurbian its distinctive sour, smoky note.
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Some recipe photos courtesy of Openverse and Wikimedia Commons contributors, used under Creative Commons licenses.