Lamb Shank Tagine With Dates
Published January 7, 2014
Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times
- Total Time
- 3½ hours
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
3 large lamb shanks, about 4 ½ pounds
Salt and pepper
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, sliced, about 2 cups
Small pinch saffron
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 2-inch piece cinnamon stick
2 teaspoons dried ginger
½ cup chopped dates of any kind, plus 24 whole Medjool dates
½ cup golden raisins, soaked in hot water to soften for 30 minutes and drained
½ cup pomegranate seeds
Cilantro sprigs, for garnish
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 to 6 servings)
33 grams carbs; 235 milligrams cholesterol; 848 calories; 20 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 24 grams saturated fat; 50 grams fat; 4 grams fiber; 1035 milligrams sodium; 65 grams protein; 24 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Trim shanks of excess fat, then season generously with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, combine garlic, fresh ginger, paprika and cumin, and smear over shanks. Leave shanks at room temperature to season for at least an hour. (Or you can wrap and refrigerate several hours, or overnight; return to room temperature before proceeding.)
- Step 2
In a Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed soup pot, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add onion, saffron and cayenne, and sprinkle with salt. Cook for 5 minutes, until somewhat softened. Stir in tomato paste and cook 1 minute. Lower heat to medium, add seasoned shanks and let cook with onions, turning occasionally, until meat and onions are lightly browned, about 10 minutes.
- Step 3
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Add cinnamon stick, dried ginger, chopped dates and water to barely cover (about 3½ to 4 cups) to the pot. Bring to a simmer, cover pot with a tightfitting lid and place in oven. Bake for 30 minutes, then turn heat down to 350 degrees. Check sauce and add water if level of liquid is below meat. Continue baking for another hour, checking liquid level occasionally, then test meat by probing with skewer or paring knife. It should be quite tender and almost falling from bone, but cooked no further. (Tagine may be prepared to this point up to two days ahead. Reheat gently in a covered pot on the stovetop, adding a little more water as necessary.)
- Step 4
Remove meat from pot and place in deep, wide serving bowl. Skim off any surface fat from cooking liquid in pot. Add whole dates to pot and simmer for a few minutes to reduce sauce slightly. Pour sauce and dates over meat. To serve, garnish with raisins, pomegranate seeds and cilantro sprigs.
Private Notes
Comments
If your lamb shanks aren't cut small enough, you'll end up using a lot of water (8-10 cups) to make sure they're covered during the baking step, which lead to me boiling the stock down for 2 hours. I removed the meat from the bones and left the bones in the stock to add flavor, and it all came out delicious, but just took a lot longer than expected.
Moral of the story: if your shanks are larger than 5" long, they're too long.
The first time I made this, following the recipe scrupulously, it was a big disappointment-too sweet, overpowering any other flavor. I tried it again today, eliminating the chopped dates entirely, upping the heat slightly and halving the medjool dates at the finish. Also used 4 cups of chicken broth for added richness, came up about three quarters of the height of the meat, which was plenty for a good braise. Added raisins and pomegranate seeds at the end. Lovely meal.
No need for shanks to be covered. Just make sure there is always some liquid in the pot. The steam will cook the shanks nicely.
Cut by 1/3 because I only had 2 lamb shanks. Made 4 modifications based on personal taste (love dates but way too many for me). Add carrots last 30 minutes. Added 1 tsp Turkish hot tomato paste. I had it and the recipe just seemed to want more tomatoe paste. I didn’t have pomegranate arils so I drizzled a little pomegranate molasses. I’m sure the arils would have been better but such is life. We have to make do occasionally. Excellent. I served with asparagus but next time will probably either do roasted cassava or couscous. Cook time was spot on. In fact final 1/2 hour ?after i added 2 medium sliced carrots was probably 15 min overkill. Meat truly fell from bone.
I simplified this by doing all the cooking on the stove. Because my husband does not like boiled meat, I only added enough water to cover the bottom of the pan by an inch. I steamed the lamb shanks in the Scanpan sautoire for 1-2 hours. I turned them twice after each side carmelized in the onion garlic ginger date sauce. The results were delicious. The meat was tender but not stringy and the sauce full of flavor. We both loved it.
Very delicious dish! I made a few tweaks based on comments. The only thing I did that had not been mentioned is that I included salt in the spice rub in step 1. I like others prefer “fall off the bone” level of doneness so left it cook for an additional hour. This also allowed the broth to reduce nicely.