Hummus Kawarma (Lamb) with Lemon Sauce

Yotam Ottolenghi, thank you for this recipe! I have several of his cookbooks, and I think this is my favourite recipe out of all of them. It comes from Jerusalem, which is filled with awesome recipes along with beautiful photos of the food and culture.

There is so much flavour in this dish – the lamb is marinated in herbs, and then it is served on top of hummus and drizzled with a delicious lemon sauce. Completely addictive!

In the colder seasons I serve this with another favourite recipe, roasted cauliflower and butternut squash. In summer I would switch to a refreshing fattoush salad.

You can substitute the hand-chopped lamb with ground lamb, but the hand-chopped meat has a much nicer texture to it. And it’s really easy to chop the meat yourself.

This recipe serves 6 people for an appetizer or small meal. Pita bread is nice served with this.

What you need:

• one recipe of hummus

kawarma ingredients:

• 300g neck fillet of lamb (which I couldn’t find, so I just used a piece of top round)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon crushed dried za’atar or oregano leaves
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
• 1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley, plus extra to garnish
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter or ghee
• 1 teaspoon olive oil

lemon sauce ingredients:

• 10 grams flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped (also delicious without parsley)
• 1 green chile, chopped finely
• 4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

optional toppings:

• pine nuts
• pomegranate seeds

What you do:

1. Chop the lamb finely. Combine all the kawarma ingredients except the butter and oil. Mix well, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Combine all the ingredients for the lemon sauce.
3. Heat the butter and olive oil in a large frying pan. Add the lamb, in two or three batches, and stir as it fries. It only needs about 2 minutes to turn nicely light-pink inside.
4. To serve, make a mound of hummus on the plate, and use a spoon to create a well in the middle. Spoon some of the lamb into the well, and top with a generous amount of the lemon sauce. Garnish with more parsley or other optional toppings.

Enjoy it while it’s warm!