NYC Halal Truck Lamb Platter

In this version of the iconic street food recipe, tender seasoned lamb is served as a rice bowl with turmeric rice and topped with lettuce, tomato, spiced Greek yogurt sauce, hot sauce and pita bread. This also happens to be my typical late night food order these days when walking home from the subway. The spiced ground lamb is seasoned with a combination of salt, paprika, cumin, coriander, curry powder and pepper. This lamb bowl makes a great easy lunch or dinner.

What does it mean when meat is halal?

Halal means “permissible” in Arabic, meaning it is accepted under Islamic law. The animal must be slaughtered under certain guidelines and the cuts of meat must not come from forbidden areas like the hindquarters of an animal or forbidden animals like pig.

Ingredients in this lamb platter

• Ground lamb – When buying lamb, look for meat that has a soft pink to red coloring, it will be freshest. If you aren’t using your lamb right away unwrap it from the butcher paper and add it to an airtight container and refrigerate. In this recipe the lamb is seasoned with a blend of spices like paprika, cumin, coriander, curry powder, cinnamon, salt and pepper.
• Turmeric – Turmeric is added to the rice to both season it and give it the bright yellow color. Be careful when cooking with turmeric as it’s known for a lot of health benefits and great flavor but it can also cause a bright yellow stain on anything that it gets on. Lighter colored cooking utensils can be cleaned using two parts hot water to one part bleach or vinegar. 
• Basmati rice – Basmati rice is an aromatic long-grain white rice. It is used in many Mediterranean and middle eastern recipes but can easily be swapped out for long-grain white rice.
• Greek yogurt – Full-fat (5% fat) Greek yogurt is combined with coriander, cumin, white pepper (to keep the color white but it can be swapped for black pepper), vinegar and lemon juice. The sauce can be left unseasoned in a pinch.
• Romaine lettuce – I prefer chopped romaine to the finely shredded iceberg lettuce some carts serve.
• Tomatoes – I use cherry tomatoes because they have a thicker skin than diced tomatoes and add a nice texture. The can easily be swapped with diced Roma tomatoes.
• Hot sauce – I use a vinegar-based hot sauce like Crystal Louisiana hot sauce. The acidic vinegar sauce complements the other flavors in the bowl.

Steps to make lamb platter

Step 1:

Make the turmeric rice in a pot or rice cooker.

Step 2:

Mix the ground lamb with the spices.

Step 3:

Cook the seasoned lamb mixture and in a pan until golden brown and cooked through.

Step 4:

Make the yogurt sauce.

Step 5:

Divide the lettuce among 4 bowls. Top each with a scoop of the rice, lamb, tomato, hot sauce and the spiced yogurt sauce. Serve with a side of pita bread.

Tips for this recipe

• Ground lamb can dry out quickly when cooking so make sure you add the lamb to a very hot pan and cook it quickly at the higher temperature. Remove it from the pan and transfer to a serving bowl to keep it from over-cooking.
• You can also substitute ground beef or thinly sliced pieces of lamb shoulder seasoned and quickly cooked in the pan. 
• The meat can be seasoned ahead of time and refrigerated until ready to use to develop deeper flavors or seasoned just before cooking for a quicker meal.
• For a more simplified version of the recipe substitute any rice of choice for the turmeric basmati and leave the Greek yogurt unseasoned for a quicker version of the sauce.
• Omit the pita for a gluten free version.

Other Recipes to Try

If you enjoy this recipe, I recommend checking out some of these:

• Shawarma-Spiced Pulled Leg of Lamb Tacos
• Falafel Bowl with “Tabbouleh” Rice
• Crispy Persian Jeweled Rice Tahdig

NYC Halal Truck Lamb Platter

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Prep Time 30 mins

Cook Time 20 mins

Serves 4

US Customary – Metric

Ingredients:

For the turmeric rice:

• 1 cup basmati rice
• ¾ cup diced yellow onion
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric
• 1/8 teaspoon cardamom
• 1½ cups chicken stock
• Kosher salt, to taste

For the lamb:

• 1½ pounds ground lamb
• 1 shallot, minced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon ground coriander
• ½ teaspoon curry powder
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

For the spiced yogurt sauce:

• 1 cup Greek yogurt
• ½ teaspoon ground coriander
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

For serving:

• 3 cups shredded romaine lettuce
• 1 cup diced tomato
• Vinegar based hot sauce of choice, for serving
• Pita bread, for serving

Instructions:

For the turmeric rice:

• Add the rice, onion, turmeric, cardamom and chicken stock to a medium sauté pan or rice cooker. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat. Once boiling, cover the pot and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook until all the water has been absorbed and the rice is tender. Fluff the rice mixture with a fork and season to taste with salt.

For the lamb:

• In a large mixing bowl, toss the ground lamb with the shallot, garlic, lemon juice, salt, paprika, cumin, coriander, curry powder, ground cinnamon and black pepper. Be careful not to over mix.
• Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat, add the olive oil and heat through. Add the lamb mixture and sauté until golden brown and cooked through. Remove from sauté pan and set aside in a covered bowl until ready to serve.

For the spiced yogurt sauce:

• In a medium bowl whisk together the Greek yogurt with the coriander, cumin, white pepper, salt, vinegar, lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of lukewarm water until completely combined. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

For serving:

• Divide the lettuce among 4 bowls. Top each with a scoop of the rice, lamb, tomato, hot sauce and the spiced yogurt sauce. Serve with a side of pita bread.

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