Bamia Mareg

Bamia Mareg
Iraqi Okra Stew

Ingredients

Olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 clove (or more) garlic, peeled and minced
Stew beef or lamb with or without bones (I usually use a little less than a
pound, but it depends on how many people you are cooking for.)
salt
pepper
noomi basra (optional)
1 6oz can tomato paste
1 bag frozen chopped okra, or chopped cleaned fresh okra (the BEST way
to make it is if your middle east store has frozen baby okra from Egypt in
their freezer section-- these are about 1 inch long and extremely delicious
and not fibrous like larger, older okras)
water


1. In olive oil in a saucepan, fry onion over medium heat until soft or
transparent. Add garlic and fry for a minute or two longer.
2. Add stew meat and brown. Add salt, pepper, and tomato paste, stirring
around so the paste breaks up and takes on a dark red hue (dont burn it!)
3. Add water and noomi basra; cover and boil gently over medium
fire for 1 hour to 1.5 hours. Alternatively, the meat may be browned
and boiled by itself until very tender, cutting out this step.
4. Add okra, and boil gently until tender and the stew is thicker than
a soup but thinner than a pasty stew.

** serve over bastmati rice, with a nice salad like fattouch**

Groundnut Stew

Groundnut Stew
(West Africa)


2 cups chopped onions
2 tbsp peanut or veg oil
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 tsp fresh garlic, minced
2 cups chopped cabbage
3 cups sweet potatoes, cut in one inch cubes
3 cups tomato juice
1 cup apple or apricot juice
1 tsp salt
1-2 tsp cilantro
2 chopped tomatoes
1 1/2 to 2 cups chopped okra
1/2 cup peanut butter
3-4 ounces of sliced, cooked chicken for EACH meat eater (this recipe is for 6 servings, but you might have veggie ppl in your house)

Saute the onions in the oil for about 10 minutes. Stir in the cayenne and garlic and saute for a few more.
Mix in the juices, salt, sweet potatoes, cilantro and tomatoes. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes, until the sweet potatoes are tender. Add the okra and cabbage and simmer 5 minutes more.
Stir in the peanut butter and simmer gently until ready to serve. Add more juice or water if stew is too thick.
Just before serving, in a saute pan, stir fry chicken in a little oil over medium high heat until no longer pink, or add already cooked chicken to the meat eater's portion and it will heat on its own.

Serve with rice

Note-- alongside serve any of the following-- hard boiled eggs, chopped scallions, chopped fresh parsley or cilantro, cubed papaya, sliced bananas, mangos, pineapples, or oranges, grated coconut, whole or crushed peanuts.

Gumbo Stew (Burkina Faso)

Gumbo Stew
(Burkina Faso)


Brown :
1 lb ground beef (500 g)

Add and cook until soft:
1 large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced

Add:
4 c cooked tomatoes or tomato sauce
2 c fresh or frozen okra, chopped (my fav okra is from the middle east stores in my area-- they come frozen and theyre very very small- less than an inch long and theyre delicious and not fibrous at all)
1 tsp salt
1 tsap crushed red pepper
1 tsp chili powder

Simmer 20 minutes

Add:
2 c fresh or frozen spinach, or other dark greens, chopped

Simmer 5 minutes

Serve over hot rice or with Nshima