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Halal-conscious recipe

Moroccan-style barbecued leg of lamb

Mary Cadogan's Moroccan-style barbecued leg of lamb with a Halal leg: butterflied, marinated in spiced butter, garlic, lemon and harissa, seared and cooked over indirect heat, and served with a harissa and coriander yogurt.

  • Cuisine Moroccan
  • Meal Main
  • Difficulty Advanced
  • Yield 8 portions
  • Time 3h 20m
  • 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 a 2½ kg butterflied leg of lamb, which is Halal only from a Halal-slaughtered animal, served with 300 g Greek yogurt, which needs a gelatin check.

A butterflied leg of lamb is rubbed with melted butter, olive oil, cumin, coriander, paprika, thyme, garlic, lemon and a little harissa, left to marinate, then seared hard on the barbecue and finished over gentler indirect heat. It is rested, sliced thickly and served with a cool yogurt sauce of harissa and fresh coriander. The lamb needs a Halal source, and the Greek yogurt should have no gelatin on its label.

It follows Mary Cadogan's Moroccan-style barbecued leg of lamb for BBC Good Food, which serves eight. The lamb can marinate overnight in the fridge, as the source suggests.

Serve in thick slices with the yogurt sauce, and couscous if you like.

Halal-critical ingredients

  • Leg of lamb 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 leg from a Halal butcher or in a certified pack. See Lamb.
  • Greek yogurt Plain yogurt is milk fermented with cultures, but gelatin turns up in set, low-fat and dessert yogurts. Choose a yogurt with no gelatin on the label. See Yogurt.

Safe substitutes

  • A leg of lamb of unknown slaughter → A Halal leg of lamb, butterflied

Allergens

milk (butter, Greek yogurt), gluten (couscous, optional)

Ingredients

Lamb and marinade

  • 50 g butter, melted
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 2 tsp ground coriander
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • 1 tbsp thyme leaves
  • 3 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1 lemon, zest and juice
  • 1 tsp harissa
  • 2½ kg Halal leg of lamb, butterflied

Sauce

  • 1 tsp harissa
  • handful fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped
  • 300 g Greek yogurt with no gelatine
  • to serve couscous (optional)

Method

  1. Make the marinade. Mix the butter and oil in a bowl, then stir in the spices, thyme, garlic, lemon zest and juice. Add the harissa, 1 tsp salt and plenty of black pepper, and mix well.
  2. Marinate the lamb. Put the butterflied lamb in a large shallow dish, spoon over the marinade and rub it all over the meat with your hands. Cover loosely with foil or cling film and leave for at least 2 hours, or overnight in the fridge.
  3. Sear on the barbecue. Light the barbecue with plenty of coals. When it is ready, add the lamb fat-side down and cook on a fairly high heat for 5 minutes until well browned. Turn and cook for another 5 minutes to brown the other side.
  4. Cook over gentler heat. Move the coals to the sides of the barbecue to reduce the heat under the meat and cook more gently for 30 to 40 minutes, turning occasionally. The source says this timing gives pink meat.
  5. Rest. Lift the meat onto a large board, cover tightly with foil and leave to rest for 10 to 15 minutes.
  6. Make the sauce and serve. Fold the harissa, a little salt and the coriander into the yogurt. Cut the lamb into thick slices and serve with the sauce, and couscous if you like.

How this recipe was researched

Method adapted from BBC Good Food's 'Moroccan-style barbecued leg of lamb' by Mary Cadogan (serves 8: 50 g melted butter and 3 tbsp olive oil mixed with 2 tsp each ground cumin, coriander and paprika, 1 tbsp thyme leaves, 3 crushed garlic cloves, the zest and juice of a lemon, 1 tsp harissa, 1 tsp salt and black pepper; rubbed all over a 2½ kg butterflied leg of lamb, covered and marinated at least 2 hours or overnight in the fridge; cooked fat-side down on a hot barbecue 5 minutes, turned for another 5, then over indirect heat 30 to 40 minutes, turning occasionally, for pink meat; covered with foil and rested 10 to 15 minutes; a sauce of 300 g Greek yogurt with 1 tsp harissa, a little salt and a handful of chopped coriander; sliced thickly and served with the sauce and couscous if you like). We specified a Halal leg of lamb and a gelatine-free yogurt; nothing else needed changing. The rest time is the source's two-hour minimum marinade plus the 10-minute minimum rest. The source sets the meat's doneness by time ('this timing will give you pink meat'). Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.

Technique and ingredient sources

  1. Moroccan-style barbecued leg of lamb — BBC Good Food Retrieved:

    By Mary Cadogan. Serves 8, prep 20 minutes, cook 50 minutes, plus at least 2 hours marinating: a butterflied 2½ kg leg rubbed with butter, oil, cumin, coriander, paprika, thyme, garlic, lemon and harissa; seared 5 minutes a side on the barbecue, then 30 to 40 minutes over indirect heat; rested 10 to 15 minutes; a harissa and coriander yogurt sauce. We specified Halal lamb.

  2. Lamb analysis — isithalal.food Retrieved:

    What makes lamb Halal: the slaughter.

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