Jaghur Baghur (Persian Lamb Liver and Onion Sauté)

• fresh lamb liver (about 350 g), trimmed and sliced
• 1 lamb heart (about 150 g), trimmed and sliced
• 500 g onions, half yellow and half red, sliced into rings
• 2–3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 stalk green garlic (or 8 cloves garlic), chopped
• ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
• ½ tsp advieh (Persian spice mix)
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 2 tsp chilli-garlic sauce (or 1 tsp hot chilli powder)
• ½ tsp salt
• Lemon juice: juice of ½–1 Seville (sour) orange or lemon

Method

The cook speaks Persian; every step is written here in English. Tap a time to watch that step in the video. For subtitles, tap CC in the video, then Settings › Subtitles › Auto-translate › English.

1. Slice the onions into thin rings. 4:40
2. Trim the liver and heart: peel off the thin outer membrane, cut out the tubes and veins, then slice into thin bite-size strips. 5:50
3. Heat a wide pan well, add the oil and then the onions, and cook over medium heat, stirring, until soft and lightly golden. 9:15
4. Turn up the heat, add the liver, heart and garlic and stir-fry until the meat just changes colour. 12:55
5. Season with the chilli sauce or chilli powder, turmeric, advieh, black pepper and salt, and stir for a minute or two. 14:25
6. Squeeze in the sour orange or lemon juice, toss, cover briefly and cook only until the liver is done but still tender; overcooking makes it tough. 16:10
7. Serve hot as a meze, with extra sour orange to squeeze over. 18:35

Tip. Liver is extremely high in vitamin A, so keep it an occasional dish and avoid it in pregnancy. Throw out any liver with flat worm-like flukes. Traditionally eaten with flatbread; the cook allows up to 1 tbsp tomato paste.

The method is a summary in our words — the video shows every step.