2 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon whole allspice
2 tablespoons black peppercorns
2 whole green cardamom pods
2 whole black cardamom pods
12 whole cloves
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
4 teaspoons coriander seeds
1 teaspoon thyme
2 tablespoons turmeric
1 bay leaf

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large white onion, sliced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound lamb, sliced
5 ounces tomato paste
12 cups chicken broth
19 ounces canned chickpeas
1 cup yellow split peas or lentils
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

2 eggs
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon harissa

1. Lightly toast cumin seed in a dry skillet over medium heat until fragrant, then combine with rest of spice mixture into a mortar and pestle or spice grinder until fine. Set aside.
2. Heat a large soup pot over medium heat and add the olive oil. Lightly brown the onions, then add the garlic, stirring to combine.
3. Stir in the prepared spice mixture, lamb and tomato paste, then add the chicken broth, raise heat and bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, covered, until lamb is very tender, about an hour and a half.
5. Add the chickpeas, lentils and cilantro and cook until tender, about another hour.
6. When soup is ready to be served, beat eggs with lemon juice and stir in the harissa. Blend a tablespoon or two into a serving of soup to serve.

Makes 6 servings

I'm never really sure how to make use of leftover lamb, other than just eating it as is. A portion of the Cinnamon Clove Lamb was still fairly rare, so I decided to throw it into soup and soften up all the meat. Unsure of what to do with the flavor, I started flipping through the takeout menus kicking around the apartment and found one for an Iraqi lamb soup called Harira. This is another one of those recipes that have like 30 ingredients but 29 of them are spices. It's definitely easy to prepare, it just looks a little overwhelming.

The soup smelled a lot like pumpkin pie baking in the house, from the combination of the cinnamon and cloves. There is a general autumn warmth to the dish, with the mild gaminess of the lamb and all of the aromatic spices. When the soup was finished it was fairly thin. It had an alright flavor to it, but something was missing. As an afterthought I threw in a bit of Arborio rice to thick it up a bit and I thought that helped to bring the flavors together more. A lot of the spice flavor seemed to get lost in the cooking process. After taking this for lunch for a few days I'd grown quite tired of it. This definitely didn't hold up as a favorite soup, though it was definitely unique.