Spiced Lamb Shoulder Shawarma Bowl

Ingredients

• 900 g lamb shoulder, boneless
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• salt and black pepper
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 0.5 tsp cayenne
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 250 g cooked brown rice or bulgur wheat
• 150 g cucumber, diced
• 150 g cherry tomatoes, halved
• 60 g rocket
• hummus, pickled chillies, and flatbread, to serve

Method

1. In a bowl, combine the cumin, ground coriander, cinnamon, turmeric, smoked paprika, cayenne, minced garlic, olive oil and the lemon juice with a generous pinch of salt and plenty of black pepper. The oil carries the spices and the lemon juice softens the garlic — you want a thick, rust-red paste that smells alive, not dusty.
2. Season the lamb shoulder all over with salt, then rub the marinade into every crevice and fold. Cover and chill overnight if you can — the salt and acid need time to work into the meat. A couple of hours will do, but overnight is where the flavour properly lands.
3. Heat the oven to 160°C fan. Sit the lamb fat-side up in a roasting tin, pour 100 ml of water around it, and cover tightly with foil. The water keeps the base moist and the foil traps the steam — that's how the shoulder gives up and goes tender.
4. Slow roast for 3 hours, until a fork slides in with zero resistance and the meat is collapsing into itself. If it's still tight, give it another 20 minutes — shoulder tells you when it's ready.
5. Pull off the foil and turn the oven up to 200°C fan for a final 20 minutes. You're after a deeply burnished top with crackling edges — the spices on the surface will toast and bloom in the dry heat, which is where the shawarma character comes from. Watch it in the last 5 minutes; the garlic and spice crust can tip from bronzed to bitter quickly.
6. Rest the lamb for 15 minutes, uncovered. Then shred it with two forks straight into the spiced resting juices in the tin so every strand soaks them back up. Taste a piece — adjust with salt now, while it's still hot, not at the table.
7. Divide the rice or bulgur between four bowls. Scatter over the rocket, cucumber and halved cherry tomatoes. Season the grains and veg with a small pinch of salt — unseasoned grains will drag the whole bowl down.
8. Pile the glossy, juice-soaked lamb on top. Add a generous spoon of hummus alongside, a few pickled chillies, and tuck a warm flatbread in at the edge. Finish with a heavy drizzle of tahini and a shower of torn mint over each bowl.