The Food Gatherer's Note: This aromatic recipe from Sabrina Ghayour uses a really exotic mix of herbs, from rose petals to lime powder, all of which are available from Yasar Halim in Palmers Green or Haringay.
Serves 6
INGREDIENTS
5kg (5lb 8oz) shoulder of lamb
2 heaped tbsp sumac
4 tbsp dried edible rose petals
1 tbsp ground cumin
1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tbsp dried lime powder (or add 1 extra tbsp sumac)
vegetable oil
2 tsp crushed sea salt
TO PREPARE
Preheat the oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas mark 3.
Place the lamb shoulder in a roasting tin lined with nonstick baking paper.
Put the sumac, rose petals, cumin, cinnamon and lime powder into a spice grinder or small food processor and process until the rose petals are ground as finely as you can manage.
Drizzle a little oil on to the lamb and rub it all over the joint to create a surface for your spice mix to stick to, then season generously with the sea salt.
Roast in the oven for 4 hours, then remove the lamb, cover with kitchen foil and leave it to rest for 10 minutes before serving.
To serve, you can literally take a fork and gently pull the lamb apart or be all fancy and rather unnecessarily use a knife to slice it.
Serve with a green salad, potatoes or rice.