Lamb Spleen / Goat Spleen


Two Lamb Spleens [Lamb Melts (markets); Tilli (Hindi); Manneral, Suvarotti (Tamil)]

These are usually labeled "Lamb Melts" in the markets to avoid the rather anatomical "Spleen". It is most used in North African cooking, but also anywhere sheep and goat are featured meats. The larger of the two photo specimens of was 6-1/2 inches long, 4 inches wide and 1 inch thick, weighing 5-1/2 ounces. The smaller in the photo shows the flat back side.

Goat Spleen, popular in India, is pretty much identical in appearance and cooking properties, but not much available in North America.

More on Lamb Innards.


Spleens are most commonly combined with kidneys, livers, lungs and other sheep innards in recipes, but in Morocco they are often split open and stuffed. In flavor it's similar to liver but milder, but its texture is is chewy rather than soft and crumbly like liver.

Buying:

  These can be found labeled "Lamb Melts" in markets serving Turkish, Armenian, Middle Eastern and North African, and any other communities that are big on sheep and goat.

Prep:

  Some recipes call for peeling away the skin and tendons, but spleens sold in markets here are cleaned and ready to go. Their may be a small amount of fat to cut away. There is an outer membrane, which is a little annoying, but removing it is rather difficult to do. Because of the soft texture, it is best to place the spleens into the freezer compartment until stiff to make them easier to slice evenly. T can take 1-1/2 hours or more.

Cooking:

  Like Squid. Spleen must be cooked a very short time, or a rather long time. For stir frying, cut fairly thin and fry the minimum time to cook through, less than 10 minutes. If wet cooked, at 10 minutes they have the texture of a very soft, springy rubber and cannot be chewed. At 1-1/4 hour they're still a little chewy, but quite edible.

Recipes:

  If you search for recipes on the Internet, search for "Lamb Spleen". "Lamb Melts" will get you only hundreds of descriptions of dishes where "the lamb melts in your mouth" and no recipes for spleen.

Health & Nutrition:

  Spleens are very high in dietary iron and promote red blood cells, but is a problem for a few people who have a condition called hemochromatosis.

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