Lamb Shawarma

I first came across Lamb Shawarma recipe in Food & Wine magazine. Chef Chris Hanna's recipe had intense, strong flavor with complex spices hitting your palate just right. Since then, I have modified the recipe and made it simpler to use. I have also started cooking it in oven instead of grill. I use a cast iron skillet, so I can transfer it from oven to the cook top to finish the roasting. You can use any roasting pan that you can transfer from oven to cook top.

This recipe cooks enough for 3 people, with some leftovers for late afternoon snack next day.

Ingredients:
2 lb boneless leg of lamb
1/2 cup plain yogurt
Juice of 1/2 a lime
Salt & ground black pepper to taste
2 tsp coriander powder (or ground coriander seeds)
1 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp ground red pepper
1/2 tsp garam masala (this Indian spice is optional - add it for spicier version)

Ingredients for roasted onion and pepper:
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1 green pepper, thinly sliced
1 tsp canola oil
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp coriander powder (or ground coriander seeds)

Mix all the ingredients, except the lamb together to create the marinade.
Cut the lamb into thin slices. Coat it completely with the marinade. Cover it and refrigerate at least overnight, or preferably, for 1-2 days.
Heat the oven to 475F. Keep the cast iron skillet in the oven to heat. When the oven is preheated, pull the skillet out, layer the lamb in it (make sure it's a single layer - you may have to cook it in phases depending on the size of your skillet), top it with marinade, cover it with aluminum foil, and cook for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and cook on the cook top till all the water is absorbed. Cook some more to brown the meat.

After keeping the lamb in the oven, mix onion, green pepper and other ingredients for roasted onion and pepper on a baking tray. Keep it in the oven on a separate shelf while the lamb is cooking. Cook for 30 minutes, turning once.

Serve Lamb Shawarma with roasted onion & green peppers, yogurt-tahini sauce and Syrian pita bread.