Name: Shelled Wheat Berries Simmered with Lamb (Habbiyya bil-Laham)
Yield: Makes 4 servings
Cuisine: Iraqi
Ingredients: 2 cups (475 ml) tomato sauce, optional; 2 tablespoons oil; 1 onion, quartered; ½ cup (4 oz/115 g) whole chickpeas, washed and soaked overnight; or 1 cup (8 oz/225 g) cooked whole chickpeas; ½ teaspoon turmeric; 2 cups (16 oz/450 g) shelled wheat berries, washed and soaked for a few hours, drained; 2 lamb shanks (about 2½ lb/1.25 kg), trimmed and cut into halves, crosswise (ask the butcher to do this for you, or just cut the meat around the middle of the bone); 1 tablespoon salt

Preparation info

Makes
4
servings

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Delights from the Garden of Eden

By Nawal Nasrallah

Published 2019

About

A specialty of the northern region, known and loved all over the country. It calls for shelled wheat berries, usually available at Middle Eastern or international groceries. Wheat cooked this way has a lusciously creamy texture and is a meal by itself.

Shelled barley may be substituted. Traditionally, lamb shanks are used in cooking these grains, but any cuts of meat on the bone, veal shanks, or chicken, skinned and trimmed, may be substituted. Alternatively, you can leave out the m