Oven baked Lamb

This recipe is a reminder of dinner parties hosted by my mother, when all we got was the smallest taste of the tastiest dish. She did not serve it with Jasmine rice, but this is what I serve up at my dinner parties. Serves 4-6.

30ml olive oil
2 red onions finely chopped
2T ground cumin
1t paprika
1T freshly grated ginger
1t cinnamon and 1 cinnamon stick
3 cloves
1 bay leaf
1kg good quality lamb cut into cubes
1 cup good quality vegetable stock
100g prunes
1T honey
50g flaked almonds
3T Italian parsley chopped

Preheat the oven to 160C.

Heat 2T of oil in a large saucepan. Cook the onions until translucent. Add the cumin, paprika, ginger, cloves and cinnamon and stir. Add the lamb, tossing it in the spices and sealing the outside of each piece. Stir in the stock and add the cinnamon stick and bay leaf. Bake in the oven for 2 hours.
Cover the prunes with water and soak for 30 minutes. Drain and add to the meat together with the honey and almonds. Garnish with parsley and serve with rice and green beans.

Lemony Jasmine Rice
250g jasmine rice
450ml water
1t salt
30ml peanut or olive oil
1T olive oil
25ml lemon juice
rind of 1 lemon
salt and pepper to taste

Place the rice, water and salt in a saucepan. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes until the rice is tender and the water has been absorbed. Remove from the heat, transfer to a serving bowl and cool.
Heat the oil in a pan, add the rice and stir fry. Sprinkle over the lemon juice and olive oil, and mix together. Remove from the heat and add the lemon rind. Serve immediately.