Wedding Pilaf (Turkish Rice with Meat)

Meat and broth

• 2 tbsp Sunflower oil
• 1 medium Lamb leg bone-in
• 1 large Yellow onion
• 1 ½ tsp Ground cumin
• 2 tsp Sweet paprika
• 2 tsp Fine sea salt
• 1 tsp Black pepper
• 1.25 liters Beef stock, hot

Pilaf

• 60 g Butter
• 300 g Basmati rice

1. Heat the sunflower oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Season the lamb all over with 1 tsp of the fine sea salt and 0.5 tsp of the black pepper, then brown well on all sides, 8 to 10 minutes.
2. Reduce the heat to medium and add the onion, stirring until softened and lightly golden, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in the ground cumin and sweet paprika for 30 seconds until fragrant.
3. Pour in the beef stock and bring to a gentle simmer, scraping up any browned bits. Cover and simmer on low until the lamb is very tender and pulls easily from the bone, about 60 minutes.
4. Lift the lamb out to a plate and leave until cool enough to handle, then pull the meat from the bone and tear into bite-sized pieces; discard the bone. Strain the cooking liquid into a saucepan, pressing the onion to extract flavour, then keep the broth hot on low heat.
5. Rinse the basmati rice in a colander under cold water until the water runs mostly clear, then drain well. In the Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat and stir in the rice until the grains look glossy and smell lightly nutty, 2 to 3 minutes.
6. Stir the lamb back into the rice, then add 750 ml of the hot broth. Season with the remaining fine sea salt and black pepper, bring to a gentle simmer, then cover and cook on the lowest heat for 15 minutes until the liquid is absorbed.
7. Turn off the heat and leave the pilaf covered for 10 minutes to steam and finish cooking. Fluff gently with a wooden spoon, adding a splash of the remaining hot broth if you want it looser, then serve hot.

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