Moroccan lamb shank soup with filled ‘vetkoekies’

30 ml (2 tbsp) olive oil
3 lamb shanks (about 600 g -700 g)
2 onions, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
10 ml (2 tsp) ground cumin
10 ml (2 tsp) ground coriander
2, 5 ml (½ t) ground ginger
2, 5 ml (½ t) ground cinnamon
2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
1 turnip, cubed
250g sweet potatoes, cubed
2 x 410g cans whole tomatoes in sauce
2 liters of water, more if needed
125 ml (½ cup) pearled barley
500g brown lentils
A handful of fresh parsley, chopped

1 Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Brown the shanks in it until golden brown.
2 Add the onion, garlic, cumin, coriander, ginger and cinnamon and fry another 3 minutes.
3 Add the carrot, celery, turnip and potato.
4 Add the whole tomatoes, water, barley and lentils. The vegetables and meat must be covered with water. Depending on the size of your pan, you may need to add more water. Reduce the heat and simmer for 2 hours.
5 Sprinkle with fresh parsley and serve with the stuffed vetkoekies.

Stuffed vetkoekies

Serves 10-12 vetkoekies

500 g (875 ml) flour
5 ml (1 teaspoon) salt
10 g (1 packet) instant yeast
375 ml (1 ½ c) lukewarm water
15 ml (1 tbsp) olive oil
15 ml (1 tbsp) fennel seeds
200 g mozzarella cheese
10 rosa tomatoes, halved
A handful of basil leaves
flour + extra for rolling
oil for deep frying

1 Mix the flour, salt and yeast. Make a well in the center of dry ingredients, add the lukewarm water little by little and mix thorough.
2 Knead for about 10 minutes. And let it rise in a warm place until double in size (about 30 min.). Knee and cover with a damp cloth.
3 Heat the olive oil, add fennel seeds and fry for 3-4 min. Set aside to cool.
4 Cut the mozzarella cheese into blocks and marinate in the cooled fennel oil.
5 Divide the dough into 12 equal balls. Work with one at a time and cover the rest with a damp cloth.
6 Heat enough oil (about 15 cm deep) in a pan for deep frying. Test if the oil is hot enough by adding a piece of bread to the hot oil – the oil is ready when the bread turn golden brown in 40 sec.
7 Roll a ball of dough on a clean, lightly floured work surface out to about palm size. Insert a piece of mozzarella cheese, tomato and a basil leaf in the middle and fold into a neat little ball covering the filling. Roll the ball in extra flour and repeat the process until you formed 8 balls.
8 Deep fry the balls in medium hot oil until golden brown and drain on paper towels. Serve with Moroccan lamb shank soup.