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Halal-conscious recipe

Lamb steaks with Moroccan spiced rice

Mary Cadogan's Halal lamb steaks or chops, grilled and served with basmati cooked with a Halal or vegetable stock cube, then fried with onion, garlic, pine nuts, cumin, coriander, dried apricots and herbs.

  • Cuisine Moroccan
  • Meal Main
  • Difficulty Easy
  • Yield 2 plates
  • Time 30 min
  • Last updated

Each method follows published technique for the dish, and every Halal substitution is checked against the ingredient pages we cite. Photographs come from our ingredient library rather than the finished dish.

Printable view
Lamb chops searing over flames on a charcoal grill, with metal tongs
Photograph from our ingredient library: lamb chops on a grill, not the finished dish from this recipe.

Photo: domdomegg · CC BY 4.0

Why Halal checks matter here

The dish is 2 lamb leg steaks or 4 to 6 chops, which are Halal only from a Halal-slaughtered animal, with rice cooked in water seasoned with half a stock cube or 1 tsp stock powder.

Lamb leg steaks or chops are simply seasoned and grilled, and served with basmati rice that is first simmered with a little stock, then fried with onion, garlic, toasted pine nuts, cumin, coriander and chopped dried apricots and finished with fresh herbs. The source gives it a Moroccan flavour. Two things need a Halal source: the lamb, and the stock cube or powder, for which a Halal-certified or vegetable one works (see stock cubes).

It follows Mary Cadogan's lamb steaks with Moroccan spiced rice for BBC Good Food, which serves two. The onion and the nuts can be frying while the lamb is under the grill.

Serve with lemon wedges for squeezing over.

Halal-critical ingredients

  • Lamb steaks or chops Lamb is Halal only from a Halal-slaughtered animal, and lamb without a Halal mark doesn't say how the animal was slaughtered. Buy the lamb from a Halal butcher or in a certified pack. See Lamb.
  • Stock cube or powder The UK's mainstream stock cubes contain uncertified chicken or meat fat. Use a Halal-certified stock cube or powder, or a vegan vegetable one. See Stock cubes.

Safe substitutes

  • Lamb of unknown slaughter → Halal lamb leg steaks or chops
  • ½ mainstream stock cube → ½ Halal-certified or vegetable stock cube

Allergens

pine nuts

Ingredients

Rice

  • 100 g basmati rice
  • ½ Halal-certified or vegetable stock cube (or 1 tsp stock powder)
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, chopped
  • 1 tbsp pine nuts
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 4 dried apricots, chopped
  • to finish chopped parsley or coriander

Lamb

  • 2 Halal lamb leg steaks (or 4 to 6 lamb chops, depending on size)
  • 1 lemon, cut into wedges

Method

  1. Cook the rice. Put the rice in a pan with water to cover generously and add the stock cube or powder. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 10 to 12 minutes until tender. Drain well.
  2. Grill the lamb. Heat the grill and season the steaks or chops. Grill for 3 to 4 minutes on each side until cooked to your liking.
  3. Fry the aromatics. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a pan, add the onion and fry gently for 5 minutes until lightly coloured. Add the garlic and pine nuts and fry until the nuts are lightly toasted.
  4. Finish the rice and serve. Stir in the spices, then add the apricots and rice and mix well, heating everything through. Stir through the parsley or coriander and serve with the lamb and lemon wedges for squeezing over.

How this recipe was researched

Method adapted from BBC Good Food's 'Lamb steaks with Moroccan spiced rice' by Mary Cadogan (serves 2: 100 g basmati rice simmered 10 to 12 minutes in water to cover generously with ½ stock cube or 1 tsp stock powder, then drained; 4 to 6 lamb chops, depending on size, or 2 lamb leg steaks, seasoned and grilled 3 to 4 minutes a side; meanwhile 1 chopped onion fried gently 5 minutes in 1 tbsp olive oil, then 1 chopped garlic clove and 1 tbsp pine nuts until the nuts are lightly toasted, 1 tsp each ground cumin and coriander, 4 chopped dried apricots and the rice heated through; chopped parsley or coriander stirred in; served with the lamb and lemon wedges). We specified Halal lamb and a Halal-certified or vegetable stock cube or powder; the third step is split into frying the aromatics and finishing the rice. Nothing else needed changing. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.

Technique and ingredient sources

  1. Lamb steaks with Moroccan spiced rice — BBC Good Food Retrieved:

    By Mary Cadogan, with a Moroccan flavour. Serves 2, prep 10 minutes, cook 20 minutes: basmati simmered with a stock cube and drained; lamb steaks or chops grilled 3 to 4 minutes a side; onion, garlic, pine nuts, cumin, coriander and dried apricots fried and the rice stirred through with herbs. We specified Halal lamb and stock.

  2. Lamb analysis — isithalal.food Retrieved:

    What makes lamb Halal: the slaughter.

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