Almost Turkish Recipes

Artichoke Heart and Lamb Stew (Kuzu Etli Enginar)


























Artichoke and lamb stew is a very common dish in the western Aegean part of Turkey, where Turk and Greeks lived together for years. The original recipe requires artichoke heart, lamb, onion, and, the most important of all dill. Yet, I find the mix of just artichoke and lamb to be very heavy, so I modified the recipe by adding carrot ands green peas.


























serves 4-6

1 pound lamb
8-10 small or 4-6 big peeled artichoke hearts, cut into 4-6 pieces

1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped in half rounds
1 pound fresh green peas or 1 can green peas
1/2 bunch dill, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil or 4 tbsp butter
1 1/2 tbsp flour
juice of 1 1/2 lemon
1 tsp sugar
water
salt

-Soak chopped artichoke hearts in a bowl with lemon juice until you cook them. Otherwise, they will darken.
-Heat olive oil or butter in a broad pot and add lamb. Stir for a couple of minutes until it's cooked on each side.
-Add onion and carrot. Stir until onion is softened. Add flour and stir for another minutes.
-Add artichoke, green peas, lemon juice, sugar, and salt. Add water to barely cover vegetables.
-Bring to a boil, and then cover and simmer on low for almost an hour.
-Add dill after your turn it off.
-Serve with rice or bread.

8 comments:

  1. Thank you for your WHB entry, Burcu! Sounds like an excellent autumn dish!

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  2. Burcu, our 2 peoples do share in liking lam & artichokes. I love this with an Avgolemeno sauce!

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  3. Hey Peter, I never had artichokes with avgolemono sauce; sounds interesting. Do you have a recipe?

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  4. At our home on a Greek island in the Northern Aegean, Artichokes Braised with Lamb (or Veal) is a common spring dish. I generally add potatoes rather than carrots and peas to the artichokes and meat, but I'll try your suggestion next time I make it, thanks! For Artichokes Avgolemeno, I braise artichoke hearts with potatoes, onions, and herbs, and finish it by whisking in a mixture of eggs and lemons. Yum!

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  5. It does sound good. I haven't heard of the idea of dill with lamb, but of course that's what's in Tzatziki, so it makes sense. I like your idea of carrots and peas too.

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  6. Anonymous12:53 AM

    Absolutely beautiful!

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  7. I love that this is so simple to make. I have some lamb in the freezer that I need to make, and I adore artichokes, so I'm going to try it. Thanks for the delicious idea.

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  8. Anonymous6:38 AM

    My family and I loved this stew. Easy to make and very delicious. The dill gives this dish a distinctive flavor. What a wonderful way to eat artichokes!

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