Sautéed and quickly braised with whole cumin seeds, garlic, lemon juice and crushed red pepper flakes, normally mild-mannered celery upstages the supposed star of this dish, ground lamb. Recipe below.
First, let’s talk about the elephant in the room. Celery? Stealing the spotlight from lamb? Yes. As I sit here writing this post about this dish cooked and eaten last night, I am Pavlov’s dog, and he is going to town on that bell. And it is because of the celery.
Celery is woefully underrated, I think, largely because people mostly eat it raw. Cooked, it can become a valuable ensemble player. In soups, it adds a fresh note; in a pot of chili, it amplifies the taste of the cumin and provides nice, slightly crunchy bites. And, as in the case of Lamb with Cumin and Celery, it can burst with big, bright flavor.
I often talk about what inspires the dishes we cook and share here. This one started with a smell. We were shopping in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. As we approached the appropriately named Cumin—a “modern Nepalese Indian” restaurant—the unmistakable, powerful fragrance of celery and cumin filled the air. Even though we’d just had lunch, I was prepared to eat again, asking them to just bring me whatever was causing that amazing smell.
Instead, we dutifully finished our shopping, and I tucked that flavor/scent combo away in the culinary lobe of my brain, knowing I would try to do something with it. Poking around online, I found a number of recipes using celery and cumin, but interestingly, only one Indian-inspired recipe, for a side dish. I used that recipe as a starting point, but wanted to turn it into a main course. One of our favorite cumin dishes is lamb with cumin we’ve had in a few Chinese restaurants. Lamb sounded like a perfect addition here.
And it was. It added an umami-rich protein base to the dish, making it a satisfying one-dish meal. But the celery stole the show, with big, lemony, crunchy bites made even livelier with the cumin and garlic. Wow.
Lamb with Cumin and Celery
Serves 2 to 3 (or more—see Kitchen Notes)
3 tablespoons canola oil, divided
2 teaspoons whole cumin seeds, divided
12 ounces ground lamb
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup water
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 large clove garlic, minced
7 ribs of celery, sliced into 1/3-inch pieces on a diagonal (3-1/2 cups)
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (or more—see Kitchen Notes)
2 scallions, thinly sliced on a diagonal
cooked basmati or white rice (or noodles—see Kitchen Notes)
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet or sauté pan over medium flame. Add 1/2 teaspoon of the cumin seeds and the ground lamb. Season with salt and pepper and brown the lamb, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until just browned, 2 or 3 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer lamb to a bowl with a slotted spoon. Drain fat from pan and wipe with a paper towel, but don’t wash.
Combine water, lemon juice, garlic and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a small bowl and set aside. Heat remaining oil in the same pan over medium-high heat. Add remaining cumin seeds, crushed red pepper flakes and celery to pan and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring frequently.
Reduce heat to low and pour water/lemon juice/garlic mixture over celery. Cover pan and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Return lamb to pan, cover and cook until lamb is heated through 2 to 3 minutes. Serve over rice and top with sliced scallions.
Kitchen Notes
How many servings? As a main course, served with rice, it easily serves 2 (and possibly 3) diners. As part of a multi-course meal, it can serve 4 to 6.
Spicing things up. We like things hot here, but for this dish, we used just 1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes. That gave it a nice little bit of heat that sneaks up on you, almost politely. Feel free to turn up the heat with more pepper flakes.
Rice? Noodles? Rice is an easy call for this dish, but you could also cook some spaghetti or other noodles and toss them with the finished dish at the end, perhaps adding a little pasta water if things get too dry.
That is one of your most inventive dishes yet, Terry B, and it sounds fantastic. My brain’s tastebuds are doing backflips just reading this post!
I agree that celery is underrated! I was browsing through my old copy of Jane Grigson’s Good Things recently and reread her section on celery — and of course she made my mouth water with hunger and desire, as she so often does. I’ve been toying with the idea of doing a series of recipes featuring celery sometime next year, and you’ve helped me decide. 😉 Anyway, really nice recipe. All of the flavors play so well together. Thanks for this.
Thanks, Christina! I kind of think of my cooking style as having a magpie eye. I’m always on the lookout for shiny objects—ideas, techniques and ingredients that catch my eye. I snatch them all up and kind of throw them together, add a few things of my own and see what comes out.
Happy to find a fellow celery fan, Kitchenriffs. I look forward to your celery series! And I hadn’t heard of Jane Grigson, I’m embarrassed to say. So many cookbooks, so little time. I just ordered her Vegetable Book from the library. Thanks.
Sounds genius.
I’m going to skip this recipe as I’m not a fan of lamb but I honestly can’t say I’ve given ground lamb a fair chance. When we were kids we often had sauted celery with dinner. It was tasty but like you said, I like it better as an ensemble player. I’m sure lamb lovers would like this dish.
Thanks, Altadenahiker!
Randi, is it even legal for someone from Canada to not care for lamb? How did your family make sautéed celery? What flavorings? Now that I’ve done this version, I’m ready to try more.
Apparently I’m the only one. My parents and sister love it.
It was only sauteed in butter. Very plain.
Randi, that sounds good as is. But also try adding a little lemon juice at the end. It adds a wonderful tangy note.
It makes it so much better to read your blog when there’s a grocery just around the corner. Fantastic recipe! Can’t wait to try it!
Thanks, John. I hope you like it. And thanks for commenting—it gave me a chance to discover your beautiful blog! We recently spent a day on Whidbey Island during a recent, too short visit to Seattle. So lovely.
Hi Terry B, the thought of that Lamb with Cumin and Celery has me drooling. I love how simple yet, how delicious it looks. Perfect. Must try it this week.
Thanks, Terry!
Finally had the kitchen to ourselves, and this was the recipe we made. A true delight that’s now in our repertoire of “sure-to-please” dishes. Even in the morning, I can smell cumin and cooked lamb.
Great blog! Found you through Altadena Hiker.
Thanks, Amy!
So glad you liked it, John! And glad Altadena Hiker brought you here. We visited Whidbey Island last fall, and I was delighted to see your photos on your blog.
Just found this post and it looks delicious. I might make it tonight! Only issue is I have some other veg I need to use up before I go away and wonder if things like mushrooms and maybe carrots would spoil the flavour? Also have you ever freezed this dish? How does celery freeze? I’m excited to try it though. Thanks for the recipe!
Áine, mushrooms and carrots would certainly change the flavor profile a bit, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. That’s one of the fun things about cooking, is getting to experiment and play. I haven’t frozen the dish because, honestly, we never have leftovers. Once celery has been cooked for the dish, it would probably freeze just fine. But I’d never freeze uncooked celery—it would totally lose its crunchy snap.