Maria Nasir
The idea behind the festival is to be grateful to God for abundance of His blessings and to honour the willingness of the prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his young first-born son Ismail (Ishmael)a as an act of submission to God’s command and his son’s acceptance to being sacrificed before God intervened to provide Abraham with a Lamb to sacrifice instead.
The sacrificial animal is, therefore, considered sacred, not just the choice cuts but from ‘nose to tail.’ The offals are cooked and cherished as Eid party specials. Among the most popular are fried or barbecued lamb liver, lamb trotters stew and curried tripe.
Offal is a collective name given to the internal organs and entrails of a butchered animal. While some people shrink at the very thought of eating offal, others include this in their routine diet or even consider it a delicacy.
Apart from aesthetics and psychological hindrances, people avoid offal because most parts are very high in cholesterol.
But think of all that cost to raise an animal and then throw away half of it when those parts could provide many families a wholesome meal.
Advocating offal eating in an article in New York Magazine, Lidia Bastianich said, “We have to eat the whole animal if we respect the world of the living.” And in the same article
Mario Batali agreed, “The animal isn’t something you just kill and take the chops from.”
So I decided to share these offal recipes with you, starting with Lamb Liver on Skewers with Peanut Sauce.
It’s traditional in Pakistan to serve lamb liver or kaleji as breakfast on Eid-ul-Azha, right after the sacrifice. It’s the quickest to cook and most delicious when fresh. It also provides energy till the long and laborious process of distributing meat among the needy, the neighbours and the extended family is done. Usually we pan fry lamb liver for breakfast, but this Eid, inspired by Indonesian lamb Satay, I’ve prepared a recipe of Lamb liver on skewers with sweet and spicy peanut sauce. Happy Eid all and Enjoy!
Ingredients:
For Lamb Liver on Skewers:
2 tablespoons ginger garlic paste
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
Vegetable oil to brush the grill/ skillet or frying pan if not grilling on an open BBQ.
For Peanut Sauce:
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 teaspoons red chilli paste or to taste
4 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/2 cup warm water
1/4 cup toasted peanuts
This Is What You Do:
Cut lamb liver into bite size cubes, add ginger garlic paste, lemon juice, salt and all the spices. Leave in the marinade for 10 minutes.
Heat a greased grill, skillet or frying pan on medium heat. Thread 4-5 pieces of lamb liver onto the skewers. Place them on the grill for 8-10 minutes or till the meat is just done and still tender. On open fire BBQ, it will take even shorter time to cook. It will continue to cook for a while, even when removed from heat. Overcooked liver gets tough and chewy.
Add all the ingredients to food processor except hot water. Process till combined, add hot water slowly while the motor is still running till you achieve the desired consistency. Drizzle over hot skewers just before you serve.