Harees

Ingredients

• 500g whole or cracked wheat (harees wheat)
• 800g boneless lamb shoulder
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4 cardamom pods
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 2.5 tsp fine salt
• 2 litres water, plus more as needed
• 100g ghee
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 0.5 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tbsp caster sugar (optional)
• Fried onions, to serve

Before you cook

• Rinse the wheat and soak it in plenty of cold water for at least eight hours or overnight.
• Cut the lamb into large chunks and trim off any hard sinew, but keep the fat.
• Tie the cinnamon stick, cardamom pods and peppercorns into a small square of muslin.
• Drain the soaked wheat.

Steps

1. Put the drained wheat, lamb, spice bundle and salt into a large heavy pot.
2. Pour in the water, which should sit about five centimetres above everything.
3. Bring the pot to a boil over high heat.
4. Skim the foam from the surface with a slotted spoon until the liquid is clear.
5. Reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting and cover the pot.
6. Cook the harees for four to five hours, stirring every thirty minutes and adding hot water whenever the mixture looks dry.
7. Check after four hours; the wheat grains should have burst completely and the meat should shred at a touch.
8. Fish out the spice bundle and discard it.
9. Beat the harees hard with a sturdy wooden spoon or a potato masher, pressing against the side of the pot.
10. Keep beating for eight to ten minutes until no whole grains and no strands of meat remain and the mixture is thick, pale and glossy.
11. Taste and add more salt, then stir in the ground cinnamon and cumin.
12. Add the sugar if you like the slightly sweet Emirati style.
13. Spoon the harees into a wide shallow bowl and smooth the surface.
14. Melt the ghee in a small pan and pour it over the top so it pools in the dips.
15. Scatter over fried onions and serve very hot.