~889 cal · 76g protein · 7g carbs · 61g fat (estimated, per serving)
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Spice-crusted shredded lamb on rice with lime
🇴🇲 Muscat
True shuwa spends a day or two in a sand pit while whole villages wait; this version borrows the spice paste and the wrap, and lets a slow oven stand in for the desert. The vinegar-bloomed spices are pure Muscat souq.
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Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
Ingredients
Serves 6 —
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4 lbs lamb shoulder, bone-in
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2 tbsp each cumin + coriander seeds, toasted and ground
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1 tbsp red chili powder
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2 tsp turmeric
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1 tsp cardamom
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1/2 tsp cloves
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8 cloves garlic, crushed
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1/4 cup white vinegar
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1/4 cup neutral oil
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enough to wrap banana leaves (or parchment + foil)
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for 6 basmati rice + limes, to serve
Instructions
1
Work the ground spices, garlic, vinegar, oil, and salt into a dark paste; massage deep into the slashed lamb (or celeriac). Marinate overnight.
2
Wrap tightly in banana leaves, then foil — the parcel is the oven within the oven.
3
Roast at 275°F for 4 hours (90 minutes for the plant version) without opening.
4
Rest 20 minutes, unwrap at the table, and shred — it should surrender at a touch.
5
Serve over rice with lime and the parcel juices. Eat with the people you’d wait two days beside a sand pit for.
Omani Eid tradition, oven-adapted.
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🌏 While it simmers — know your destination
📍
Muscat. Where Eid means shuwa rising from the sand oven.
🗺️
Oman. Frankincense coast where feasts cook underground for days.
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Asia. From street-cart woks to slow monastery kitchens.
The story behind this dish is up top — worth a read while the pot works.
👩🍳
Richard Moore & Kelsey Tucker
Recipes cooked, tested, and researched by the creators of Spin the Globe. How we build our recipes →
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