Marak Laham, Salona Laham, Meat Stew

This delicious stew is a regular lunch staple at my home.  I use lamb because this is preferred by us at home and when I cook with lamb the meat is more tender.  You could use beef if you wish but here in the UAE the beef available never cooks tender no matter what method I use to cook it.  It always turns out chewy and stringy.  

The stew is very versatile in that you can cook it with or without vegetables and you can make it is thick or thin as you like.   It can be served with plain white rice or flat bread. 

I finally got around to taking pictures and uploading them.  Much more pleasing to the eye and you will know what the end product will look like!  I will try do that to all the new recipes I post from now on, InshaAllah.

 

2 cups of chopped purple onions

2-3 cloves of minced garlic

1-inch cube of ginger, grated

2 cups chopped tomatoes

1 medium-sized capsicum (green bell pepper) chopped

½ cup finely chopped parsley

¼ cup corn oil

1 kilo lamb stew meat with bone, cubed into 2-inch pieces

1 ½ teaspoons Madras Curry powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon ground loomi aswad

½ teaspoon ground cardamom

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground red kashmiri chili powder

2 cubes of Maggi Chicken stock

1-2 green chilies, whole

1 loomi aswad (dried black lemon), whole

¼ cup tomato paste

1 ½ liters of water (about 6 cups)

* Potatoes, calabaza squash, zucchini, okra, carrots (see the star below)

Salt to taste

In a medium-sized cooking pot, heat the corn oil.  When hot add the chopped onion.

When the onion is translucent, add the lamb cubes.  Stir often and sauté the lamb until it is nicely golden brown on all sides.

Add the minced garlic and grated ginger.  Stir to mix.

Add the chopped tomatoes and all of the ground spices.  Mix together and sauté until the tomato becomes very soft (like a mushy consistency).

Add the capsicum/bell pepper and the chopped parsley.  Stir.

Add the tomato paste and water.  Stir.

Add the green chilies and the whole piece of loomi aswad.

Bring the stew to a boil and then lower the flame to very, very low.  Let the stew simmer, covered, for 1 ½ hours or until the lamb is tender.

After the lamb is tender, the liquid level should be at half the pot.  At this point you will need to add more water or boil until the liquid level is half of the pot.

* You can now add your vegetables.  For my large family, I will usually add 3 large potatoes.  Each potato is quartered and added to the pot after the lamb becomes tender.   If you wish to add a mixture of vegetables you can use:

                1 large potato, quartered

                1 carrot cut into 1 ½ inch chunks

                1-2 small squash

                Potatoes and carrots are the usual combinations though that I have

                seen.

If you add vegetables to your stew, you will need to add approximately 30 minutes to the cooking time.

After adding the vegetables, bring the stew to a soft boil and after 10 minutes, taste and adjust for salt.  When I cook with potatoes I will add an additional 1 teaspoon of salt (but this is for my family).  Softly boil for an additional 20 minutes or until the potatoes are soft.

Your stew is now ready to enjoy!  Serve with plain Basmati rice or Khobuz Irani (if you are in the UAE) and a nice green salad made from a mixture of local-grown greens!

Mitchboos, Machboos, or Makboos with Chicken or Lamb

Mitchboos, as I call it, is actually the boiling of rice in stock.  It can be made from chicken, lamb, fish or shrimp.  Mitchboos is delicious using any of the mentioned meats.  The recipe is quite simple and uses ingredients that are readily available here in the UAE or can easily be found at your local Indian grocery store. 

 

Ingredients:

1 chicken (750grams to 1kg) cut up into 8 pieces or 1 kg of lamb stew meat with bone

 

2 cups of chopped onions

3 cloves, or more, of grated garlic

1 inch cube of grated ginger

2 cups of chopped tomatoes

½ cup of chopped cilantro (kuzbara)

1 green bell pepper, chopped

 

1 teaspoon of Madras curry powder (I use the Ship brand)

1 teaspoon cumin powder

1 teaspoon tumeric powder

1 teaspoon of dried black lemon powder

½ teaspoon cardamom powder

½ teaspoon cinnamon powder

¼ teaspoon red Kashmiri chili powder

2 Maggi chicken stock cubes

1 teaspoon of salt, optional

 

1 green chili pepper

1 whole dried lemon ball

3 cups of water

 

2 cups of Basmati rice (gently rinsed three times and left to soak for at least 30 minutes)

 

 

In a large pot, sauté the onions and the chicken (or lamb) until nicely browned.  Avoid burning the onions.

 

Add the garlic, ginger, tomatoes, cilantro, and bell pepper.  Mix the ingredients well and sauté for about one minute.

 

Now add the spices and stir very well.  Turn the heat to low and cover with lid.  Leave it to cook for about 10 minutes.

 

Now add the green chili, the whole dried lemon, and the water.  Let this stew gently boil for 45 minutes if you are using chicken (or 1hr 45 minutes if you are using lamb).  You will want the meat you are using to be thoroughly cooked and tender.

 

Now you will need a colander and another pot because you will strain the stew.  Put the meat mixture back into your cooking pot.  Add the rice.  Do not stir!

 

Measure the stock and it should be 3 cups of stock, if not, add more water and stir.  Now add this to the pot with the meat and rice.  Gently stir because you do not want to break up the rice kernels.

 

Bring the mitchboos to a boil and then turn the fire to lowest setting (I call it turning the fire to low-low).  Simmer on this very low fire for 17 minutes.  Turn off the fire and remove the lid so that the steam will escape and will the mitchboos will not turn soggy.

 

Gently remove the mitchboos onto a large platter.  Gently break up the rice so it will not look packed together on your serving plate. 

 

Serve with pickled onions, a plate of fresh greens (locally called roowaid, jarjeel).

 

Enjoy!

Harira Soup

This soup recipe is originally from Morocco.  I tried this recipe during Ramadan 2008 and all my children loved it.  I made this soup again today because it is rainy and cold outside.  This is an excellent cold weather soup. 

I did not have all of the ingredients so I substituted the cubed lamb meat with ground beef.  Also, I did not have the brown lentils so I substituted it with mung beans and the soup still turned out terrific.  Here is the recipe.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1/2 kilo cubed lamb (or 1 pound of cubed lamb or ground beef or ground lamb)

1 teaspoon ground tumeric

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 Maggi stock cubes

a pinch of ground red chili powder (cayenne pepper)

3 tablespoons of cooking oil

1 large onion, chopped

medium tomatoes, chopped

1/2 cup cilentro, chopped

8 cups of water

¾ cup brown lentils (or substitute with ¾ cup of mung beans or split green peas)  

 1 15oz can of garbanzo beans, drained

1 cup of vermicelli noodles

Juice of 1 lemon

2 eggs, beaten (optional)

 

In a large cooking pot, heat the cooking oil and saute the lamb until nicely browned.  Add the onions and sauté until the onions are soft and transparent.  Add the tomatoes, all the spices, lentils, and Maggi stock cubes.  Stir well.  Add the water.  Bring to a boil and then simmer until the lamb is tender (about 2 hours).

 

Add the can of drained garbanzo beans and the vermicelli.  Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 30 minutes.

 

Stir in the lemon juice and the eggs.  Cook for a minute.

 

Serve hot.  This soup is excellent the next day if there are any leftovers!

Fried Kabab Patties

This untraditional kabob recipe was something I tried out during this Ramadan 2008. It is untraditional in the sense that these kabobs are not grilled but rather fried. These kababs are really easy to make. They are absolutely delicious and very filling. Try having these with Laban Up, yogurt for dipping, and a small salad. Yummy!

Kabab Urouq

Step One:
2 cups of flour
1 tsp of yeast
1/4 cup of warm water
1 tsp of sugar
1 tsp of flour

In a large bowl, add the flour and set aside.
In a small bowl, add the warm water, yeast, sugar, and flour. Mix well and keep in a warm place for about 20 minutes. The yeast mixture will be ready when has risen by about an inch.

Now it is time to add the yeast mixture to the flour. Slowly add in the water. Your batter should be very thick. If it isn’t thick you can add flour by the tablespoon until it is very thick.

Set aside the flour mixture in a warm place for 30 minutes.

Step 2:
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 cloves of grated garlic1
/2 cup finely chopped tomato
1/2 cup finely chopped bell pepper
1 bunch of finely chopped cilentro (kuzbara)
1/4 cup of grated carrot
1/4 cup of grated potato
500 grams (1 pound) of minced beef or lamb or chicken or 3 cans of tuna
1 egg

Add all of the above ingredients in a large bowl and mix very well. (I use my hands). Keep this mixture aside until the batter has risen.

Step 3:
Now it is time to add the vegetable and meat mixture to the batter. Mix it very well.

Heat a wok or deep frying pan with enough oil to fry.

You will need two dinner (tablespoons) to make the kabobs. With one spoon you will scoop up the kabab mix and the other spoon will be used to scoop off the kabab mix into the oil.

Fry the kababs on low heat to cook the inside and then turn the heat to medium to brown the outside. This takes about five to seven minutes to cook one batch of kababs. Drain on paper towels and keep warm.

This recipe makes about 50 kababs. Any leftovers can be microwaved the next day and they are still delicious!

Enjoy!