Lubia Matbookha

Green Beans and Meat Stew

"Yakhneh", or in my village, "tabakh"

This is Claudia Roden's recipe, taken from The New Book of Middle Eastern Food, a variation on okra and beef stew.

1 3/4 pounds green beans
3 Tablespoons sunflower or vegetable oil
2 large onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 3/4 pounds beef, lamb or veal stew meat, cut into 1 1/4 inch cubes
1 pound tomatoes, peeled and sliced (or use equivalent canned in winter)
1 - 1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste
Salt and pepper
juice of 1 lemon

Wash and trim the green beans.
Heat the oil in a large pan and fry onions until soft and golden. Start on low heat with the lid on, then uncover and turn up the heat to medium. Add the garlic and coriander and put in the meat. Turn the pieces until they change color all over.
Add the tomatoes, cover with water, and stir in the tomato paste. Season with salt and pepper, stir well, and simmer over low heat for 1 - 1 1/4 hours. Stir in the green beans, adding water if necessary, and cook for 20 minutes, or until the meat and okra are tender and the sauce is reduced.
Add lemon juice and serve hot with rice (or roz bi shaghria).

The Dove's relatives might have used allspice instead of coriander.

Comments

[panasianbiz]

I stumbled across your blog while I was doing some online research. I've seen this recipe before, or at least one like it, that did indeed use allspice as the "secret ingredient."