Pressure Cooker Persian Lamb Shanks with Eggplant and Tomatoes (Khoresht Bademjan)
What did you do on summer vacation? I ate my way down the Northwest coast, traveling from Portland, Oregon to Yosemite National Park, California.One of the best meals was at Maykadeh Persian Restaraunt in San Francisco. The kids and I had great kebabs, and the eggplant dips and fresh-baked flatbread were a revelation. But the best thing at the table was my wife’s order, Khoresht Badjeman. Lamb Shanks braised with eggplant and tomatoes, full of sweet spices, and served with a side of basmati rice.
Here’s my take on this Persian classic. As usual, I used pressure to speed up the cooking time. No pressure cooker? No worries. See the Notes section for standard cooking instructions.
Recipe: Pressure Cooker Persian Lamb Shanks with Eggplant and Tomatoes (Khoresht Bademjan)
Equipment:
- 6 quart or larger pressure cooker (I used my Cuisinart Electric Pressure Cooker)
Pressure Cooker Persian Lamb Shanks with Eggplant and Tomatoes (Khoresht Bademjan)
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
Pressure Cooker Persian Lamb Shanks with Eggplant and Tomatoes (Khoresht Bademjan) recipe – a taste of Persia from my pressure cooker
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 4 (1 pound) lamb shanks
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 large eggplant, peeled and cut into 2 inch chunks
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 large leek, cleaned and white part minced (or substitute a large onion)
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1 cup chicken stock (preferably homemade) or water
- 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- Juice of 1 lime
Instructions
- Brown the lamb shanks: Season the lamb shanks with 2 teaspoons salt. Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil over medium-high heat in the pressure cooker pot until shimmering. Add half the shanks and sear for 6 minutes, giving the shanks a quarter turn every two minutes to brown them on all sides. Remove the browned shanks to a bowl. Add the second batch of shanks to the pot, and sear for 6 minutes. Add the second batch of shanks to the bowl.
- Brown the eggplant: Salt the eggplant and add it to the pressure cooker pot. Sauté, stirring often, until the eggplant is lightly browned, about 6 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon to same bowl as lamb shanks.
- Saute the aromatics: Add 1 tablespoon oil to the pot, and heat until it is shimmering, about 1 minute. Add the leek, tomato paste, salt, turmeric, cinnamon, and black pepper to pot. Saute, stirring often, until the tomato paste browns and the leek softens, about 3 minutes.
- Build the stew: Stir 1 cup of chicken stock into the leek and tomato paste mixture, then carefully scrape the bottom of the pot to loosen any stuck tomato paste. Stir in the eggplant, lamb shanks, and any juices in the bowl. Pour the crushed tomatoes over the top of the lamb shanks, but don’t stir. (Tomatoes on the bottom of the pot may scorch.)
- Pressure Cook the Stew: Lock the lid on the pressure cooker and bring it up to high pressure. Cook at high pressure for 35 minutes (45 in electric PC), then let the pressure come down naturally, about 20 minutes.
- Serve: Remove the shanks from the pressure cooker to a serving platter. Stir the lime juice into the eggplant-tomato mix in the pot, taste, and add salt and pepper if needed. To serve, ladle the eggplant-tomato mix onto a plate and top with a lamb shank.
- Category: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: Persian
Aromatics, spices, and eggplant
Searing the shanks
Browning the eggplant
Sauteing the aromatics
Everything in the pot
Notes:
- Serve with basmati rice or couscous.
- If you’re in a hurry, you can skip the browning steps for the lamb and eggplant, and start with sauteing the aromatics. This cuts about 15 minutes from the total cooking time. I like the extra layers of flavor that are built up by browning the lamb and eggplant, but I also know what it’s like to be in a hurry on a weeknight.
- No pressure cooker? No worries. Use a heavy bottomed dutch oven with a lid, and increase the amount of chicken stock to 2 cups. Follow the instructions right up until “lock the lid”. Then, instead of pressure cooking, bring the pot to a boil, and cover with the lid. Move the pot to a preheated 350*F oven and bake for 2 hours, until the lamb shanks are tender.
What do you think? Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
Related Posts:
Pressure Cooker Massaman Beef Curry
Pressure Cooker Cochinita Pibil (Yucatecan pit cooked bork)
Pressure Cooker Lamb Stew with Guinness and Barley
My other Pressure Cooker Recipes
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Hi there.
This week’s Food on Friday is all about lamb! So it would be great if you linked this
in. This is the
link . Have a good week.
I have been looking for just such a recipe to justify buying a Kuhn-Rikon. Why did you cook it in an electric pressure cooker instead of the Kuhn-Rikon? Would the recipe change? Please tell me I can still make it with a KR…
Don’t worry – you can cook this recipe (and any of my pressure cooker recipes) in a Kuhn Rikon. The only change is mentioned in the recipe – 30 minutes at high pressure in a KR, or other stovetop PC, versus 40 minutes in an electric PC (electric PC cooks at a lower pressure, so it takes longer.)
No real reason for electric vs stovetop; electric was a little more convenient on a busy weeknight, but I use both electric and my Kuhn Rikon stovetop PC all the time.
Thanks for replying Mike!
I was about to make my first major cookware purchase – a 12″ triple ply Cuisinart saute pan on sale for $80 – but the 2+ hour duration for cooking Khoresht Bademjaan got me thinking about pressure cookers. After discovering your wonderful site and seeing the wide variety of recipes that can be cooked fast in a pressure cooker I am now inclined to go for the Kuhn-Rikon on sale.
I was briefly tempted by the cheaper Instant Pot (also on sale) with the stainless steel insert and options for sauteing but after seeing some of the negative reviews, KR seems like a safer choice. The overwhelming majority of the reviews on Amazon were positive but I don’t want to risk getting dragged into fights with customer service.
I’ve got both an Instant Pot and a K-R (the massive family style stockpot.) I love them both. KR’s customer service has been helpful; I’ve never needed support with the Instant Pot, so I can’t speak to that.
I have made khoresht badamjan with chicken and beef and am about to make it with bone in lamb stew meat. My former mother-in-law (from Iran) cooked it many times. Never, though, with lamb shanks. I was anxious to make it with a pressure cooker to save time, although I did discover a recipe that does not require much more time than a pressure cooker as opposed to 2 1/2 hours before you even put the eggplant in.
Is there some reason why the eggplant is cubed and why you use one big eggplant rather than the smaller variety, which normally are recommend? Most recipes call for cutting lengthwise slices.
I used the larger eggplant because small ones are hard to find out of season where I live. I cubed the eggplant because it was easier to brown in the pressure cooker pot that way. Good luck!
This sounds amazing! Would other cuts of lamb or meat work well in this recipe?
Lamb shoulder would work great; lamb leg would be OK. Don’t use lean cuts, like chops or rack.
I am Persian but I have never made Khoresht Bademjan. It’s not really my favorite, but my husband loves it. My first Instant Pot is being delivered today, and he’s skeptical about yet another kitchen appliance but I think I’ll win him over with eggplant & lamb shanks. 😉 THANKS!
Lamb and eggplant! Count me in. Pinning it. Thanks Mike.
I’m just back from escorting a trip to Iran three days ago and fell in love with this lamb and eggplant dish immediately! I’m eager to try your recipe. It’s already in the pressure cooker building pressure! Already smells like I remember! Thanks
Hi Mike — Can’t wait to try your khoreshteh-bademjan recipe. I’ve cooked it many times the old-school way on the stove, stewing for hours.
Two tips from my dearly departed Persian Grandma:
1. Eggplant tends to be a bit bitter unless you sweat out the excess liquid from the raw aubergines. Simply cut lengthwise (which works better when you layer the shanks with the eggplant on top in the pot, the traditional way) and put the slices on a cutting board. Sprinkle well with salt on both sides and let the eggplant sit for about an hour. Then use a paper towel to remove the salt and the bitter juices that have emerged from the slices. This extra step makes a huge difference in the final layering of flavors of the khoreshteh-bademjan.
2. Like all khoreshts, this eggplant stew will be even more delicious the next day. I usually cook it one day ahead of when I want to serve it to the eagerly waiting khoresht fans…
Thanks for the recipe! I’ll be cooking it in my Instant Pot tonight to serve for my mom on Mother’s Day tomorrow!