Turkmenistan - Lamb and Rhubarb Stew

Lots of fun reading on Turkmenistan, which is a country in Central Asia. They have the fourth largest gas resources in the world therefore receive free gas, electric and water from their government. Nice :p

This recipe seemed the most interesting because we've only ever had rhubarb as a sweet ingredient.

Ingredients:

3/4 lb lamb
 2 tablespoons sesame oil
1  onion
3 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup water
1 cup beef  stock
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup fresh mint
1 teaspoons sugar
3 cups fresh rhubarb

Heat the oil in a pan and sear the lamb. Put it aside for later. Chop the onion and saute in the pan until soft.

Add the garlic, chilli powder, salt & pepper.

Add the stock and water then bring to the boil. 

Put the lamb back in the pan, also add the nutmeg and sugar. Simmer for about an hour.

Add the chopped mint and stir well. Cook for 5 minutes.

Chop the rhubarb into small pieces and add to the pan. Cook for a further 5 minutes until the rhubarb starts to go soft.

 We had ours with mashed potato.

What an interesting flavour! The lamb and gravy was delicious with the mash. As I was adding the rhubarb I felt like I was ruining a nice lamb stew but I'm glad I tried it. The rhubarb was like celery in texture but had a sharp, sour and almost sweet flavour. It went well with the pepper in the stew to make for a very flavourful dish. It was nice to try something different and reminded me again why I do this blog, to experience foods I wouldn't usually come across. Overall, a lovely filling meal.