Jordanian Zarb: Lamb Cooked in a Pit
Zarb is not grilling — it is cooking in trapped steam. The pit is heated with wood for an hour, the tray goes down inside and the pit is sealed completely with earth, so the heat stays in and no steam escapes. That is what makes the lamb fall apart without drying.
- Prep
- 90 min
- Cook
- 180 min
- Total
- 270 min
- Calories
- 620
Zarb is an old Bedouin method from the Jordanian desert, still used at camps and on trips today. The principle is simple: a pit, heated stones, and a sealed tray. And if you are not in the desert, an oven gets you remarkably close — on one condition.
Method
-
1
Marinate
Mix the yogurt, oil, spices, garlic and salt and rub it thoroughly into the lamb. Leave it at least an hour, and preferably overnight.
⏱ 65 min -
2
Dig and heat the pit
Dig a pit about seventy centimetres deep, line it with stones, and burn wood over them for a full hour until the stones glow.
⏱ 60 min -
3
Load the tray
Rake out the excess embers, lower in the tray — meat on a rack with the vegetables underneath so they catch the juices — and cover it with a metal lid.
⏱ 10 min -
4
Seal it completely
Cover the pit with a sheet and bury it with earth completely, until no smoke escapes at all. Any gap ruins the cook.
⏱ 8 min -
5
Wait
Leave it two and a half to three hours without opening. Opening the pit drops the heat and effectively stops the cooking.
⏱ 170 min -
6
The oven version
Use a deep tray with vegetables underneath and meat on a rack, and seal it with two tightly crimped layers of foil. Bake at 160°C for three hours, then remove the foil and raise to 220°C for twenty minutes to brown.
⏱ 200 min -
7
Serve
Serve over rice or bread, scattered with almonds and pine nuts, alongside yogurt and dukkah.
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Tips that actually matter
- The seal is the entire recipe. Any steam that escapes means dry meat.
- Meat above, vegetables below — the juices run down and season everything underneath.
- In the oven: two tight foil layers, a long gentle bake, and browning only at the very end.
- Do not open early. Every look costs you roughly twenty minutes of cooking.
People also ask
Zarb, mandi or madhbi — what's the difference?
Zarb sits in a pit sealed with earth, heated by stones. Mandi also uses a pit but with embers below and the tray suspended. Madhbi is grilled on an exposed hot stone. Zarb is the steamiest and the most tender.
How close is the oven version?
Very close on tenderness and flavour, and short only on smoke. To narrow the gap, place a small cup with a lit piece of charcoal inside the tray for five minutes before sealing it.
Why did my lamb come out dry?
The seal was not tight, or the heat was too high. Zarb is slow cooking in trapped steam: gentle heat and a complete seal.
Cook mode
Jordanian Zarb: Lamb Cooked in a Pit
-
1
Marinate
Mix the yogurt, oil, spices, garlic and salt and rub it thoroughly into the lamb. Leave it at least an hour, and preferably overnight.
-
2
Dig and heat the pit
Dig a pit about seventy centimetres deep, line it with stones, and burn wood over them for a full hour until the stones glow.
-
3
Load the tray
Rake out the excess embers, lower in the tray — meat on a rack with the vegetables underneath so they catch the juices — and cover it with a metal lid.
-
4
Seal it completely
Cover the pit with a sheet and bury it with earth completely, until no smoke escapes at all. Any gap ruins the cook.
-
5
Wait
Leave it two and a half to three hours without opening. Opening the pit drops the heat and effectively stops the cooking.
-
6
The oven version
Use a deep tray with vegetables underneath and meat on a rack, and seal it with two tightly crimped layers of foil. Bake at 160°C for three hours, then remove the foil and raise to 220°C for twenty minutes to brown.
-
7
Serve
Serve over rice or bread, scattered with almonds and pine nuts, alongside yogurt and dukkah.
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