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Eid al Adha (Festival of the Sacrifice) is an important, festive day in the Muslim community, and Moroccans have a long list of traditional dishes which might be made during eid or in the days which follow.
L’ham M’hammar or Lham Mhammar (Roasted Meat) with lamb or beef is one of them, and it’s one of the first special occasion recipes a Fassi (from Fez) girl will learn to master after watching her mother and aunties make it every single eid.
L’ham M’hammar is not reserved exclusively for eid, however. You’ll also find it served at big family gatherings or other special occasions such as wedding or birth celebrations.
What Is M’hammar?
In Moroccan cooking, the word m’hammar refers to two things:
- Meat or poultry which has been roasted in the oven or fried for a crispy texture and to acquire a coppery mahogany color; and/or
- The color ahmar, which in Arabic means red . Generally this comes from the use of paprika in the sauce or the marinade.
In the case of this recipe for L’ham M’hammar, the word refers to both. The meat (l’ham) is both roasted and reddish (m’hammar) in color.
A note to novice Arabic speakers: Please don’t confuse the word m’hammar with h’maar, which means donkey. To an untrained ear, the words can sound similar.
Tender cuts of meat such as beef or lamb shoulder or leg of lamb are preferred, and large sections of rack of lamb work fine as well. You can also use the same base recipe to cook a m’hammar of chicken, but you’ll need to adjust the cooking time.
Although not much effort is required to make Moroccan roasted lamb, you do need time—time to marinate the meat, time to braise it, and time to oven-roast it for browning. Plan ahead because shortcuts are not an option here.
Long marinating and slow cooking are key to a tender, flavorful result, and the onions added during braising must reduce to a paste-like confit known as daghmira. Your patience will be rewarded, and you’ll be pleased to know that m’hammar works beautifully as a make-ahead dish that’s also freezer friendly.
In the very old days, the braised meat used to be browned stove top in clarified butter instead of roasting. The oven method below, however, is the one I remember from my childhood. I’d see my parents using a home oven for a few kilos (kilograms) of meat or a public oven for larger quantities.
L’ham M’hammar Recipe – Moroccan Roasted Lamb or Beef with Onion Confit
Ingredients
For the Meat and Spice Rub
- 3.3 lbs. lamb or beef shoulder with bones, cut into 5 large pieces - (can also use leg or rack of lamb)
- 2 to 4 cloves garlic, - pressed or finely chopped
- 1 tsp smen - (or ghee or olive oil)
- 1 1/2 tbsp sweet paprika
- 1 tsp salt, - or to taste
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp ground white pepper
For Braising
- 18 oz. of yellow onions, - finely sliced or chopped
- 1 pinch saffron threads
- 1/3 to 1 cup water
- 2 to 3 tbsp oil, - mixed olive and vegetable oil
For Garnish
- 3.5 oz. almonds - blanched and fried
Instructions
- Combine the spice rub ingredients in a bowl or with pestle and mortar. Rub the mixture over the meat and massage it thoroughly. Cover and leave in the fridge for at least 6 hours or overnight.
- When ready to cook, transfer the meat to a heavy-bottomed, deep pot or pressure cooker. Add the sliced onions, saffron threads, water and oil. (Note: Use 1/3 cup water if preparing in a conventional pot and 1 cup water if preparing in a pressure cooker.)
- If cooking in a regular pot, cover and simmer the meat for about 2 hours or until tender, checking occasionally to add a little water if the liquids appear to be drying out. If cooking in a pressure cooker, cover and cook with medium-low pressure for about 80 minutes or until tender, swirling the pot occasionally to be sure that liquids remain and the meat and onions aren’t burning. Interrupt to add a little more water only if necessary.
- The meat is cooked to proper tenderness when you can easily pinch it off the bone. When done, remove it from the pot and cover with plastic so it doesn’t dry out.
- If you are serving this dish in the next hour, place the meat in a 400° F (200° C) preheated oven for about 20-25 min, turning it occasionally to brown it on all sides. Adjust the browning to your liking.
- In the meantime, continue cooking the onions, stirring frequently and taking care not to scorch them, until they have reduced to a paste-like texture. The cooking oil should be the oil liquid you see in the pot.
- To serve, place the meat in a warm dish and surround it by the onion paste (daghmira). Traditionally it is eaten by hand directly from the platter, using pieces of bread in lieu of a fork.
Notes
- This is a great do-ahead dish which will keep in the fridge for a week or longer in the freezer. Refrigerate or freeze the meat (after the braising step) and the reduced confit of onions separately. The meat should be then thawed and roasted when needed and the confit of onion should be heated separately on the stove.
- Moroccan tea is often served immediately afterward as it’s believed to help with digestion.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is provided as a courtesy and is only an estimate obtained from online calculators. Optional ingredients may not be included in the nutritional information.
About the Author
Nada Kiffa is Contributing Editor at Taste of Maroc. A native of Casablanca with strong Fassi roots, she writes about Moroccan and international cuisine at Ainek Mizanek.
Rosemary
Monday 9th of October 2023
I followed directions exactly which is In usual for me. I used a boneless leg of lamb which I marinated overnight. I braised on the stove for two hours expecting the lamb to be super tender the way other meats would be.it wasn’t. I wrapped the meat and refrigerated for about 5 hours until dinner. It took quite a while to reduce the vast amount of liquid from the onions. No biggie. I also refrigerated those and removed the hard fat from the top before reheating. Before serving I quickly bronzed the lamb on my grill about three minutes a side. It was super dry. I wish I’d saved some of the cooking liquid because the only thing that saved it were the onions. Next time I would simply grill to medium or perhaps sous vide and then brown.
Christine Benlafquih
Monday 9th of October 2023
Hi Rosemary. I can think of several things that might have affected your outcome. 1) Did you cut your boneless leg of lamb into pieces? The recipe ingredient list specifies that the meat be cut into large pieces. 2) Did you stop braising after two hours or did you continue cooking until the meat was very tender? The instructions say "...for about 2 hours or until tender, checking occasionally to add a little water if the liquids appear to be drying out." You want the lamb to be very tender when you remove it from the pot, "tender enough to fall off the bone" per the recipe description, so simmering/braising would continue past two hours for as long as necessary to reach that point. 3) Reducing the onions to a paste-like consistency (daghmira) can take some time, depending on the amount of liquid remaining in the pot. 4) When reheating cold meat in the oven hours later or the next day, make sure it's wrapped in foil so it doesn't dry out; once heated through, the foil can be removed for browning. You can also reheat the meat in the pot with the daghmira (add a little water if necessary) then transfer the meat to the oven for browning.
tobi
Sunday 9th of May 2021
Trying it out now, justmarinated the lamb shoulder.... just one question. What do to with the almonds? Just add them for decoration? Cheers! Tobi
Christine Benlafquih
Sunday 9th of May 2021
You can toast or fry the blanched almonds and use them as garnish. They add delicious and complementary crunch to this and other savory dishes.
Vanna Martin
Saturday 10th of October 2020
How many onions is 18 oz? Thanks
Christine Benlafquih
Sunday 11th of October 2020
Two large onions (the size of a navel orange or softball) or three medium onions (size of an apple or baseball) should be about right. However, I wouldn't worry about the exact weight of onions for this recipe. If you don't have a kitchen scale, you can approximate the equivalent with the onions you have on hand. This post on Dads Cook Dinner has a chart and photos: https://www.dadcooksdinner.com/onion-size-big-large-onion/
Eva
Saturday 29th of August 2020
Hi! It sounds delicious! But what amount of sliced onions please? Not specified on the ingredients list! Thanks
Christine Benlafquih
Saturday 29th of August 2020
The onions (18 oz./500 g) were listed with meat at the top of the ingredient list. However, to make things more clear, I've moved onions to ingredients that are added at braising time. Hope that's helpful.