Birria

 From 'The Road to Mexico' by Rick Stein
 
Birria If you're not used to having slow-cooked lamb stew for brekfast, then don't even think about coming to Mexico!

Ingredients
  • 1 guajillo chilli, stem removed and seeds shaken out
  • 1 pasilla chilli, stem removed and seeds shaken out
  • 5 ripe tomatoes, quartered and hard cores removed
  • 5 cloves garlic, unpeeled
  • ½ medium onion, peeled
  • 60ml cider vinegar
  • 2 tsp dried oregano
  • ½ tsp cumin seeds, ground
  • 4 allspice berries, ground
  • 1.5kg lamb shoulder, on the bone, cut into 4-5 chunks
  • 1½ tsp salt
  • 10 turns black peppermill
  • 3 tbsp lard
  • ½ medium onion chopped
  • 200ml lamb stock
    • To Serve
  • Large handful coriander, roughly chopped
  • 12-16 corn tortillas
  • 2 limes, cut into quarters
 
Recipe
  1. Heat a dry, heavy-based frying pan over a medium heat. Toast the chillies for a minute or so on each side until fragrant but not coloured, then put them in a bowl of 300ml just-boiled water. Leave them to soak for about 20 minutes to soften.
  2. Char the tomatoes, garlic, and peeled onion half in the pan until they are covered in black spots, then set them aside until cool enough to handle.
  3. Peel the tomatoes and garlic, then put them in a blender with the charred onion half, the drained soaked chillies, cider vinegar, oregano, ground cumin, and ground allspice berries. Process to make a smooth sauce.
  4. Season the meat with salt and pepper. Heat the lard in a large flameproof casserole dish over a high heat, and brown the meat in batches, turning it to brown on all sides.
  5. Add the chopped onion and brown it for a few minutes, then add the blended sauce and simmer for 5-10 minutes.
  6. Add the stock, cover the casserole dish with a lid and bring the contents to a boil. Immediately turn down the heat and leave to simmer very gently for 2 hours.
  7. When the meat is tender and falling off the bone, remove it with a slotted spoon. Shred the meat with 2 forks and discard the bones.
    1. If there is a lot of sauce remaining in the pan, boil it hard to reduce so there is enough to loosely coat the shredded meat. Put the meat back in the pan and stir to combine.
  8. Scatter over the chopped coriander, and serve with warmed tortillas and lime wedges.