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Tajikistan Lamb with Spinach

A lamb stew cooked with onions, garlic, spices, tomatoes, stock, spinach, yogurt, and topped with pine nuts.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 17 ingredients
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Why it works: Turmeric and cardamom match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 667 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Tajikistan Lamb with Spinach

Oven350°F
Timeabout 1 hour

Ingredients

Directions

Make the stew

  1. Sear lamb in olive oil in a cast-iron skillet or Dutch oven.

  2. Add onions and sauté for 2 minutes.

  3. Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute.

  4. Add turmeric, nutmeg, cardamom, crushed red pepper, and cinnamon; sauté for 1 to 2 minutes, careful not to burn onions or garlic.

  5. Add tomatoes and veal stock; stir.

  6. Cover and bake at 350°F for about 1 hour, until meat is tender.

  7. Remove from oven, add spinach, stir until wilted.

Finish and serve

  1. Let stew cool slightly. Add yogurt, lemon peel, and salt to taste.

  2. Sprinkle with roasted pine nuts.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1084Calories
77 gProtein
72 gFat
38 gCarbs

Counts 16 of 17 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 16 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Lamb100g cooked294
Beef100g cooked250
Pine Nut1 oz (28g)191
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Yogurt170g plain Greek100
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Turmeric1 tsp ground (3g)9
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Spinach1 cup raw (30g)7
Cardamom1 tsp ground (2g)6
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Vealnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Turmeric + cardamomtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together667 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Nutmeg + cardamomtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together249 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  4. Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,665 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  5. Turmeric + nutmegtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together372 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Lamb
Becomes tender during slow braising, giving the stew its main body and meaty texture.
Onions
Soften and sweeten as they sauté, building the savory base of the stew.
Canned tomatoes
Add acidity and liquid that combine with the stock to form the sauce.
Spinach
Wilts into the hot stew, adding leafy body and a mild green flavor.
Yogurt
Adds tang and creaminess that mellows the spiced, rich sauce.
Olive oil
Carries the spices and browns the lamb, adding fat and surface flavor.

The step that matters

Sautéing the spices. Ground spices bloom in hot fat and release aroma, but they scorch quickly. Keep the heat moderate and stir constantly so the onions and garlic brown lightly without burning, which would make the stew bitter.

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lamb, meat, olive, onion, garlic, turmeric, cardamom):

  1. Cuminfits better
  2. Corianderfits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Nutmegthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lamb, meat, olive, onion, garlic, turmeric, cardamom. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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