Sudan – Stuffed Lamb

Sudanese food is a mixture of Arabic and African cuisine explains Sayed. Chili peppers (very good, very hot!) are popular as is a simple red lentil dish with tomatoes.

Many of the vegetables used in the Sudan are not available in Ireland but the ingredients for this lamb dish are readily available. It is cooked on very special occasions and celebrations. The original recipe calls for a whole (small) lamb but you could always use a more manageable cut of lamb and adapt the recipe!

Speaking in Russian, Sayed and his wife Yana discuss different types of Sudanese food and then translate into English for me. As we talk about learning new languages it transpires that Sayed, who did his medical training in St Petersburg, is fluent in Arabic, Polish and Norwegian and has a good working knowledge of some five other languages.

Ingredients

Lamb (whole lamb or smaller cut)

Marinade

  • Sour cream
  • Onion
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Lemon

Stuffing

  • Rice
  • Eggs

Clean the lamb and marinade for 24 hours. To make the marinade finely chop the onion, mix with sour cream, salt, pepper and lemon.

The following day boil the rice and eggs. Shell the eggs and leave whole. Stuff the lamb with the rice and eggs. If using a whole lamb you then sew the chest up with a thick needle and thread.

Roast the lamb at a low temperature. Cooking time will depend on the size of the joint.