Recipe byThe ZestyPlate Kitchen
Fragrant spiced lamb and basmati cooked with cinnamon, sweet apricots and toasted pine nuts, finished with fresh mint. A warming one-pot meal.
This Turkish lamb pilau is everything cooked in one pan: tender lamb and fluffy basmati simmered with cinnamon, sweet dried apricots, toasted pine nuts and a scattering of fresh mint. That mix of savoury meat, sweet fruit and warm spice is genuinely comforting. Best of all, it is a full meal from a single pan in under an hour.
Jump to recipe
Prep 15 min
Cook 25 min
Total 40 min
Easy
Scale:
- Handful Pine Nuts
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 Large Chopped Onion
- 2 Cinnamon
- 500g Lamb
- 250g Basmati Rice
- 1 Lamb Stock
- 12 Dried Apricots
- Handful Mint
Preparation
- Dry-fry the pine nuts in a large pan until lightly toasted, then tip them onto a plate. Add the oil to the pan and fry the onion and cinnamon together until they begin to turn golden. Raise the heat, stir in the lamb and fry until it changes colour, then add the rice and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
- Pour in 500ml boiling water, crumble in the stock cube, add the apricots and season to taste. Lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 12 minutes until the rice is tender and the liquid absorbed. Toss through the pine nuts and mint and serve.
Tips from the ZestyPlate Kitchen
- Toast the pine nuts before anything else so they stay golden and crunchy.
- Brown the lamb properly before the rice goes in; it builds the base flavour.
- Once the rice is on, leave it to steam undisturbed so it cooks evenly and stays fluffy.
- Stir the mint and pine nuts in right at the end for a hit of freshness and crunch.
Frequently Asked Questions
Basmati, which cooks up light and separate. Give it a rinse first to wash off excess starch.
Yes. Raisins, sultanas, dates or chopped figs all stand in for the apricots and keep that sweet and savoury balance.
It reheats well with a splash of water to loosen the rice. Add the mint and pine nuts fresh as you serve.
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