When cutting the lamb for the skewers, keep it small so the pieces once threaded on skewers have an opportunity to go crispy and gnarly on the outside and beautifully tender inside. If you’re feeling up to it, make your hummus from scratch or give a store bought tub a little kick with a squeeze of lemon and some freshly grated garlic.
Serves 4 
1h + marinating time 28oz lamb leg, diced into chunks
5 cloves garlic, grated
1 heaped tbsp ras el hanout
2 tbsp olive oil
Handful flat leaf parsley or coriander leaves
7oz tub hummus
4 large pitta bread
For the lemon and saffron yoghurt:
A small pinch of saffron threads
7oz greek yoghurt
1 tbsp boiling water
2 garlic cloves, finely grated
Zest of ½ lemon
Sea salt and ground black pepper
For the pickled onion:
2 red onions, finely sliced
1 tbsp coriander seeds
Juice of ½ lemon
A pinch of sugar
800g lamb leg, diced into chunks
5 cloves garlic, grated
1 heaped tbsp ras el hanout
2 tbsp olive oil
Handful flat leaf parsley or coriander leaves
200g tub hummus
4 large pitta bread
For the lemon and saffron yoghurt:
A small pinch of saffron threads
200g greek yoghurt
1 tbsp boiling water
2 garlic cloves, finely grated
Zest of ½ lemon
Sea salt and ground black pepper
For the pickled onion:
2 red onions, finely sliced
1 tbsp coriander seeds
Juice of ½ lemon
A pinch of sugar
This is my version of an Indian classic; ‘ka kesar’ means ‘with saffron’. From the glorious Nizam Hyderabadi palaces to the Moghul territories of Lucknow, Delhi and Agra across to Kashmir, Lahore and Karachi and back to Persia, biryani has many regional variations. Lamb, hogget, mutton – even goat – are all traditional. The key is undoubtedly the beauty of the basmati rice and a slow, ‘dum’ cooking method. ‘Dum’ refers to cooking in a sealed pot; traditionally the pot is sealed with dough but here we use a tight-fitting lid.
This recipe is taken from Fresh Spice by Arun Kapil, published by Pavilion Books. Recipe photography by Yuki Sugiura.
