Haneeth — Print Recipe — The Culinary Codex

A whole lamb leg slow-roasted for hours until the meat is so tender it falls off the bone at the gentlest touch, perfumed with cardamom, saffron, and dried limes. This is Saudi celebratory cooking at its grandest.

Ingredients

1 whole lamb leg (2.5kg)
2 cups basmati rice, soaked
1 tbsp baharat spice blend
1 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp saffron threads, dissolved in 2 tbsp warm water
2 dried limes, pierced
1 large onion, quartered
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbsp ghee
1 tsp salt
3 cups water
Toasted almonds and raisins for garnish

Instructions

1 Rub the lamb leg all over with baharat, cardamom, salt, and crushed garlic. Place in a large roasting pan on top of the quartered onion.
2 Add dried limes and water to the pan. Cover tightly with foil and the lid. Roast at 160C for 3 hours until the meat is extremely tender.
3 Remove the lamb and strain the cooking liquid. You should have about 3 cups of richly flavored broth.
4 Cook the soaked rice in the lamb broth with saffron water and ghee. Cover tightly and simmer for 18 minutes until fluffy and fragrant.
5 Mound the saffron rice on a large serving platter. Place the whole lamb leg on top as the centerpiece.
6 Garnish with toasted almonds and golden raisins. Serve communally, pulling the tender meat apart by hand.

Did You Know?

In traditional Saudi celebrations, haneeth was cooked underground in a pit lined with hot stones, a method still practiced in some rural areas today.