Tag: Stew

This dish is one of my childhood favourites, and the first couple of times I made it for my kids they absolutely loved it, now they constantly ask for it so I find myself cooking it as often as once every fortnight.

You’re going to love this dish, yes it’s relatively easy to make but it’s packed full of flavour. There’s the sweetness of the peas, the richness of the sauce, and the tasty spices, you can taste it all in this moreish dish.

I start by prepping the ingredients – the picture below summarizes the ingredient list (Salt, sweet paprika, turmeric, seven spices, garlic, onions, carrots, and frozen green peas), and we will need to add the lamb cubes. You could also substitute the lamb with beef meat if you prefer.

Worth noting that the original recipe calls for the use of tomato paste, however, the high acidity of this particular ingredient has been triggering acid reflux in some of my family members, so I choose to omit it where I can and find a replacement for it. For my recipe, I’m using a teaspoon of sweet paprika instead of tomato paste, its subtle flavour and beautiful colour enhance the taste and the appearance of the dish by slightly colouring the sauce.

Also, turmeric is optional in this recipe, it certainly did not feature in the traditional Lebanese recipe, however, I like to sneak in a teaspoon or so of freshly grated or thinly sliced turmeric where I can! It’s a good anti-inflammatory and antioxidant source, and if used in small quantities it won’t really change the taste of the dish! You might want to wear some gloves though before you handle turmeric because it’ll taint your finger/fingernails for a couple of days! My little son got really worried the first time he looked at my orangy-fingers and asked me if we need to get the doctor to check them out, but now he smiles each time he sees them and asks me if I’ve been chopping “tchumic” (his own cute way of pronouncing Turmeric!)

In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil and butter on medium heat until the butter melts. We combine the olive oil with the butter to prevent the butter from burning.

Fry the onions, stirring constantly, for about 4 – 5 minutes until they soften, then add the garlic and fry for a minute or 2.

Add the meat cubes, season with salt and pepper and a tablespoon of the Seven Spices mix. Sear the meat on all sides, while stirring regularly to prevent it from burning.

Add the lamb bones (if using) to the pan, along with the remaining tablespoon of seven spices and sear well and keep stirring to prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the pan and burning.

Add the sliced fresh carrots and mix to coat with the spices, then add water to the pan to cover the meat and bones, bring to a boil then gently simmer on medium-low heat for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

When the sauce thickens a bit and the meat is falling off the bones, add the green peas for 5 minutes on medium heat, then take off the heat.

NOTE: Using bones in the pan will yield a richer and more flavorful dish. You could discard these before serving or you could serve them if they contain meat or marrow, but if you prefer not to use them altogether then you can use beef or chicken stock instead of the water in the previous step.