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Sharhat ghanam

Imad Alarnab's sharhat ghanam, Syria's homely cousin of lamb shawarma: thin slivers of Halal lamb neck marinated in yogurt, baharat, Aleppo and Urfa chilli, flash-fried and served on warm pitta with tahini sauce and a sumac onion and parsley salad.

Syrian · Main · Easy · 5 pittas · 225 min

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.

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Why Halal checks matter here

The dish is 1 kg of lamb neck, which is Halal only from a Halal-slaughtered animal, marinated with a spoonful of yogurt and served on shop-bought pitta.

Halal-critical ingredients

• Lamb neck: 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.
• 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.
• Pitta: Some industrial breads use L-cysteine (E920) as a dough conditioner; its source is not always stated. Choose pitta without E920, or certified. See L-cysteine.

Ingredients

Lamb

• 1 kg Halal lamb neck, sliced into very thin strips
• 1 heaped tbsp yogurt, gelatin-free
• ½ tbsp Urfa chilli flakes
• ½ tbsp Aleppo chilli flakes
• ¼ tsp ground cardamom
• 1 tbsp baharat
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 50 ml olive oil, plus extra for frying

Salad

• ½ red onion, thinly sliced
• 2 spring onions, thinly sliced and soaked in cold water
• 1 tsp sumac
• 100 g flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 1 tomato, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
• to taste salt

Tahini sauce

• 100 g tahini
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp flaky sea salt
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 60 g lemon juice
• 100 g iced water

To serve

• 5 pitta breads without E920, or certified
• pinch each sumac and chilli flakes

Method

1. Marinate the lamb. Mix the sliced lamb neck with the rest of the lamb ingredients and leave in the fridge overnight, or for at least 3 to 4 hours if you're short of time.
2. Make the salad. When the lamb is ready to cook, mix all the salad ingredients together and season with salt. Set aside.
3. Make the tahini sauce. Whisk together all the tahini sauce ingredients except the iced water. Whisk in the iced water steadily; the tahini will seize at first, then loosen and turn smooth as you keep whisking.
4. Cook the lamb. Cook the lamb in a shallow pan over a very high heat for 3 minutes, adding a few splashes of olive oil if it sticks, then take it off the heat.
5. Serve. Warm the pittas and put one on each plate. Top with a generous handful of lamb and a drizzle of tahini sauce, then the salad, and finish with a pinch of sumac and chilli flakes.

Allergens

sesame (tahini), gluten (pitta), milk (yogurt)

How this recipe was researched

Method adapted from Great British Chefs' 'Sharhat ghanam' by Imad Alarnab, who describes it as a more homely version of lamb shawarma, known in Syria as sharhat ghanam, and a staple of his restaurant, Imad's Syrian Kitchen (serves 5; easy; 45 minutes plus 3 to 24 hours for marinating. Lamb: 1 kg lamb neck sliced into very thin strips, marinated overnight, or at least 3 to 4 hours, with a heaped tbsp yogurt, ½ tbsp each Urfa and Aleppo chilli flakes, ¼ tsp ground cardamom, 1 tbsp baharat, 2 minced garlic cloves, 1 tsp each salt and black pepper and 50 ml olive oil; cooked 3 minutes in a shallow pan over a very high heat. Salad: ½ thinly sliced red onion, 2 sliced spring onions soaked in cold water, 1 tsp sumac, 100 g chopped parsley, a chopped tomato, 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses and salt. Tahini sauce: 100 g tahini, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp flaky salt, 2 tsp minced garlic and 60 g lemon juice whisked, then 100 g iced water whisked in until smooth. To serve: 5 warmed pitta breads, a pinch each of sumac and chilli flakes). We specified Halal lamb, a gelatin-free yogurt and pitta without E920 or certified; the published steps are followed in order. Great British Chefs gives the total time only; we split it from the method into 40 minutes of preparation and 5 of cooking, with the 3-hour minimum marinade as rest. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.

Photograph from our ingredient library: chicken shawarma wraps, not the finished dish from this recipe.