Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Leksour (Lamb Stew on Pancakes)
A spiced lamb and vegetable stew spooned over thin millet-and-wheat pancakes, rolled and eaten by hand.
Mauritanian · medium · serves 4
prep 25 min · cook 75 min
~738 cal · 43g protein · 85g carbs · 24g fat · 9g fiber · 6g sugars · 10g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Leksour is a Mauritanian dish of thin savoury pancakes topped with a spiced lamb and vegetable stew, a speciality associated with the northern oasis town of Ouadane. It joins West African ingredients, Saharan spicing and French technique in one plate, the way so much of Mauritanian cooking does.
The pancakes are made from and wheat flour and the stew from lamb, carrot, potato and pepper in a broth. It is shared communally, the stew rolled up in the pancakes and eaten with the right hand.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally dairy-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
500 g lamb stew meat, cubed
1 1/2 cups wheat flour, for the pancakes
3/4 cup flour
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, chunked
2 potatoes, chunked
2 bell peppers, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
2 tbsp
3 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
1
Whisk the wheat and millet flours (or the gluten-free flours) with salt and water into a smooth thin batter and rest it while you cook the stew.
2
Brown the lamb (or chickpeas and mushrooms) in the oil, then add the onion, tomato and ras el hanout and cook until fragrant.
3
Add the carrots, potatoes, peppers and water to cover and simmer until the meat and vegetables are tender.
✎ Chef’s note
Let the stew simmer gently and unhurried so the lamb turns spoon-tender and the broth deepens.
4
Cook ladles of batter into thin pancakes in an oiled pan, then arrange them on plates and spoon the stew over to serve.
Mauritanian home cooking, Nouakchott.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Nouakchott. Nouakchott is a desert-edge capital where mechoui, whole lamb roasted slowly, marks celebrations. Mauritanian cooking joins Saharan and West African habits in thieboudienne-style fish and rice, camel meat and milk, and sweet mint tea.
🗺️
Mauritania. Mauritanian cuisine reflects Saharan nomad life, spiced rice with fish or meat (thieboudienne-style), grilled lamb, dates, and camel's milk. Couscous and sweet mint tea anchor a desert table of hospitality.
🌍
Africa. Much of what reads as timeless African cooking is younger than the Atlantic crossings. Maize, cassava, groundnut, chilli and tomato all arrived from the Americas after 1500 and pushed older crops aside; millet, sorghum, teff, yam and fonio are the ones that were already here, and the map still shows the join.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Mauritania
MéchouiWhole lamb (or a shoulder) slow-roasted with cumin and salt until falling off the bone, desert feast food.
LakhSteamed millet couscous under cool sweetened curdled milk and fresh grated coconut, the Sahelian sweet Mauritania makes to mark the end of Ramadan.
Maru wa LahméMeat and vegetables simmered in a mustard-scented broth, then rice cooked in that broth, the generous communal lunch of the Mauritanian table.
Browse all Mauritania recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Whisk.
Storing it: Best fresh and hot. Keep batter covered in the fridge for up to a day, and rewarm cooked ones in a dry pan.
Make it a Mauritania meal
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Frequently asked questions
What is Leksour (Lamb Stew on Pancakes)?
A spiced lamb and vegetable stew spooned over thin millet-and-wheat pancakes, rolled and eaten by hand.
Where does Leksour (Lamb Stew on Pancakes) come from?
Leksour (Lamb Stew on Pancakes) is a Mauritanian dish from Nouakchott, Mauritania.
Can Leksour (Lamb Stew on Pancakes) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Leksour (Lamb Stew on Pancakes) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Leksour (Lamb Stew on Pancakes) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Leksour (Lamb Stew on Pancakes) take to make?
About 100 minutes total (25 minutes prep, 75 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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