Uzbek Dimlama: Layered Summer Vegetable and Lamb Stew with Peak-Harvest Peppers

Heat the oil in a heavy Dutch oven or kazan over medium-high heat and brown the lamb in batches, about 4 minutes per side, until deeply colored. Leave the browned meat in the pot.

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 2 pounds bone-in lamb shoulder, cut into large chunks
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil or lamb fat
• 2 large onions, thickly sliced
• 4 carrots, cut into thick diagonal coins
• 1 1/2 pounds waxy potatoes, cut into large wedges
• 3 bell peppers (mixed red and green), cut into wide strips
• 4 ripe tomatoes, thickly sliced
• 1/2 small green cabbage, cut into 3 thick wedges
• 8 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 2 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt
• 1 cup packed fresh cilantro and dill, roughly chopped

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a heavy Dutch oven or kazan over medium-high heat and brown the lamb in batches, about 4 minutes per side, until deeply colored. Leave the browned meat in the pot.
2. Turn off the heat and begin layering, which is the entire technique of this dish. Scatter the onions over the lamb in an even layer and season with a third of the salt, the cumin and the coriander.
3. Add the carrots in the next layer, then the whole garlic cloves, then the potato wedges, seasoning lightly as you go.
4. Layer on the peppers, then the tomato slices, and finally lay the cabbage wedges over the top like a lid. Season with the remaining salt and press everything down firmly.
5. Add no water at all. The vegetables release more than enough liquid, and adding any will produce a thin, boiled stew instead of a concentrated one.
6. Cover with a tight-fitting lid, set over low heat, and cook undisturbed for 1 hour and 45 minutes to 2 hours. Resist lifting the lid, which lets out the steam doing the work.
7. Check that the lamb is fully tender and the potatoes yield easily. If there is a lot of loose liquid, uncover and simmer for 10 minutes to concentrate it.
8. To serve traditionally, invert the pot onto a large platter so the layers arrive upside down with the lamb and its juices on top, then shower generously with the chopped cilantro and dill.
9. Dimlama takes its name from the Uzbek word for steaming, and it belongs to the same Central Asian tradition as plov, cooked in a rounded kazan over a low fire for hours at a time. What separates it from an ordinary stew is that nothing is stirred and no liquid is added, so each vegetable steams in its own juices and keeps a distinct identity instead of dissolving into a common sauce. Uzbek cooks build the layers by density, hardest at the bottom and leafiest on top, and the cabbage lid is functional rather than decorative because it traps the steam. It is the dish that appears when late-summer gardens produce far more peppers, tomatoes and cabbage than a household can use, which makes it perfectly suited to the peak of the harvest.

Nutrition (estimated, per serving)

• Calories: 560 kcal
• Protein: 34g
• Fat: 28g
• Carbohydrates: 42g
• Fiber: 8g
• Sugar: 13g
• Sodium: 980mg