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Vegitable Stew
Ghormeh-Sabzi
(4 servings)
Ingredients:
• Fresh parsely (ja`faree) 1 bunch.
• Fresh cilantro or 1 bunch.
• Fresh Leak (tareh farangee) 1 bunch (use only the green
stems).
• Fresh chives (tareh) 1 bunch, or substitute stems of one
• Fresh fenugreek (shanbelileh) 1 bunch, or substitute 1 table
spoon
• of dried shanbelileh.
• 1 pound stew meat (beef, lamb, veal, etc.), cubed.
• 4 dried lemons (limoo amAnee) or,
• 1 table spoon dried lemon powder (gard-e leemo amAnee).
• 1 medium onion, finely diced.
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric (zard choobeh).
• 3 tablespoons cooking oil.
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice (optional).
• 1 cup of pre-soaked dried beans, or substitute 1 can.
• A touch each of salt, pepper and crushed red peppers (if you
like it spicy).
Directions:
Wash the meat and let it drain.
Cut off the heads of the leaks and scallions and put the stems
along with the rest of vegetables in a kitchen stringer,
thoroughly wash and drain them.
Using a cutting board, while repeatedly bunching up all
vegetables together, finely chop the vegetables. The smaller the
pieces the better. If you have a food processor, you could use
it in place of the manual labor :-)
Place the chopped vegetables in a pot, with heat setting on high
and frequently stir the vegetables until all their excess water
has evaporated.
Add two table spoons of cooking oil and continually stir fry the
vegetables until they turn a browinsh color. This process should
take about 15 minutes. Take the pot off and put it aside. During
the stir fry process, you may add a bit more oil if needed. When
finished, the vegetables resemble dried ones with no water
remaining in the pot.
In another pot, add about one table spoon of cooking oil and the
chopped onions and stir fry until they turn a golden brown
color. Add the meat, stir fry for a few minutes, add salt,
pepper and turmeric and let the meat fry with the onions for a
few minutes. If you are using dried beans, at this point drain
them and add them to the mixture. Turn the heat setting to
medium.
Next poke a hole in each of the dried lemons and add them to the
mixture (or add the powdered kind). Add about two cups (12 oz)
of water, place the lid on the pot and let it boil for another
15 minutes.
Add the fried vegetables into the mixture, turn the heat setting
to medium-low and let it cook. The cooking time required from
this point on is about an hour. Half way through this period, if
you are using canned beans, add them into the mixture. Once the
meat is separated when poked by a fork, the stew is ready. This
stew is served over white rice.
If you like the sour taste, you may add a table spoon of lemon
juice towards the end of cooking.
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