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Bamia بامية – Middle Eastern Okra and Meat Stew

May 8, 2019 · 7 Comments

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Okra and Meat Middle Eastern Stew

A delicious stew made with okra and tender meat cubes in a tomato sauce. This is the best bamia I’ve had, and this is coming from a newly converted bamia lover.

Man, I used to hate bamia. I couldn’t stand it. If my mom was cooking bamia, you knew that day I’d be eating rice with yogurt. There is something about the slightly slimy texture that just turned me off. Then I got married. My husband is Saudi, but his mom is hard core Palestinian and she can COOK. I was proud of myself for being relatively accomplished in the kitchen, and I would lovingly present dishes of lasagna, green curry, chili, and pasta to my husband until one day he put his plate down with a sigh. “Rice.” he said. “Have you heard of rice?” My husband loves his old fashioned Arabic dishes so I knew that the time had come for me to tackle them

Arabic food- a myriad of cuisines.

Arabic cuisine is delicious to be sure, especially food from the Levant (Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon). I’m fully aware I’m being completely biased here, since I am Palestinian myself so I apologize to all my Khaleeji followers-trust me your cuisine has a dear place in my heart as well. I have an uncommon appreciation for cheese sambosa, karak and rangeena.

Arabic cuisine is definitely a lot more time consuming than a 30 minute throw together pasta or other Western dishes. I was a little intimidated starting out, and still am of a lot (musakhan and mansaf are on the list) but I had to perfect bamia because it is my husbands favorite food in the world. I practiced, failed a lot, then I started to enjoy cooking it and even eating it.

It will never be my favorite food in the world (hello chocolate chip cookies), but I finally see the appeal. And the version below is a good one! I tried to pin down the measurements as much as I could, but Middle Eastern cooking is a whole bunch of “a little bit of this, a pinch of that, more of this” so feel free to add/reduce spices to your desired taste. I also like a thick tomato sauce, so I add a lot of tomato paste- completely modifiable! This is a great base, but tweak however you want. Enjoy!

Bamia (Middle Eastern Okra and Meat Stew)

Farah Abumaizar
A lightly spiced traditional Middle Eastern dish of tender meat and okra in a tomato sauce.
5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 20 mins
Cook Time 45 mins
Total Time 1 hr 5 mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine Middle Eastern
Servings 6
Calories 250 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 500 g meat cubes beef or lamb
  • 1-2 packs tomato paste 200 g each
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 tsp seven spices
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric
  • 1/4 tsp cumin
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • olive oil to coat the pan
  • 2 packs frozen okra slightly thawed
  • 3 tomatoes diced
  • 2 onions chopped
  • 5 cloves garlic roughly sliced
  • 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • pinch sugar
  • 10 cloves garlic crushed
  • 2 bunches coriander finely chopped

Instructions
 

  • In a pressure cooker, add the meat cubes, one of the diced onions, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, seven spices, and 1 small container tomato paste. Cover with water until it comes about an inch above the meat. After it comes to pressure, cook for 25 minutes or until meat is cooked through and tender and remove from heat.
  • Coat a large deep skillet or wok with olive oil, and add the second diced onion and the sliced garlic. Sautée until slightly softened, then add the okra (it’s fine if it isn’t completely thawed). Sprinkle with some salt and pepper, turmeric, and cumin, and keep stirring over medium high heat for around 10 minutes or until cooked through and beginning to turn golden brown.
  • Add the chopped tomatoes and cook for another 5 minutes or until tomatoes begin to release their juices. Taste for seasoning.
  • Add the okra mixture to the cooked meat in the tomato sauce. Put the pan back on the heat, and if you feel it’s too watery, add 1/2-1 container of tomato paste (I almost always end up adding this). Add the sugar (optional) and vinegar and let it simmer over low heat for around 10 minutes.
  • Drizzle a separate small skillet with olive oil, and fry the chopped coriander and garlic over medium heat for a few minutes until the garlic starts to turn golden. Add this on top of the okra stew.
  • Serve with rice of choice and enjoy!

Notes

Note:
You can brown the meat in some olive oil before boiling, which will add flavor, but to be honest I always do it without to save time and effort and it tastes just fine! Also, you can of course make this without a pressure cooker, it’ll just take more time. If making in a normal saucepan, let mixture come to a boil, then cover and simmer until meat is cooked through around 45 minutes-1 hour.
 
Note 2:
Keyword healthy, okra, meat

If you liked this recipe, you might like:

Middle Eastern Stuffed Zucchini

Mujaddarat Bulgur

Lebanese Chicken and Potatoes

Did you make this? Tag @everylittlecrumb or hashtag #everylittlecrumb and I’ll share your images!

Healthy, Main Meals, Recipes arabic, beef, dinner, lunch, meat, middle eastern, stew, vegetable

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Yosra Emamizadeh says

    May 9, 2019 at 10:42 am

    Your bamiah is one of my favorites ❤️ What I really liked about it was the tenderness of the meat and the okras’s peeeerfect amount of firmness ( not all gooey and mushy).
    Miss u

    Reply
    • Farah Abumaizar says

      May 9, 2019 at 7:17 pm

      I miss you more! I’m so happy you liked my bamia and want to cook more for you come over thanks !

      Reply
  2. N says

    May 13, 2019 at 9:59 am

    5 stars
    Looks great

    Reply
  3. Aldana Almutairi says

    September 17, 2019 at 11:10 pm

    Love this my grandma makes a similar dish ! 🙂

    Reply
    • Farah Abumaizar says

      September 18, 2019 at 8:55 am

      Aw!! Nothing like a Tata’s food ❤️❤️❤️

      Reply
  4. Tina Kevorkian says

    November 15, 2019 at 4:24 am

    Have you tried this in an instant pot?

    Reply
    • Farah Abumaizar says

      November 18, 2019 at 8:34 pm

      Unfortunately I haven’t! Instant pots still haven’t come to the Middle East and I so wish I had one!

      Reply

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Farah Abu Maizar | Food Lover
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Ingredients:
For the rice:
1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
3-4 onions thinly sliced
1 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
1.5 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 cup water
1 heaped tbsp tomato paste
Additional 3 cups water
2 cups of basmati rice, soaked and rinsed

For the fish:
2 tbsp vegetable oil
800g white fish fillet, like hammour cut into 4-6 pieces
1 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp paprika powder
big pinch salt and pepper

To garnish:
Toasted almond slivers
Chopped parsley

Method:
For the rice:
-Heat the oil for the rice in a large pot over medium high heat, then add the sliced onions. Cook, stirring occasionally until onions have caramelized into a deep golden brown.
-Remove the onions from the pot, and reserve a big handful for garnishing the rice. Place the remaining caramelized onions in a blender, add 1 cup of water, the spices for rice, and the tomato paste and blend until a thick sauce forms.
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For the fish:
-Heat the oil for the fish in a large skillet. Mix together the spices for the fish fillets and sprinkle both sides evenly with the spice mixture. When oil is hot, add the fish to the skillet and cook for a few minutes a side or until white and flaky and cooked through.
Assemble:
Place all the rice in a serving platter and top with the fish, the reserved caramelized onions, toasted nuts and parsley! Enjoy!!
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Handful semi sweet chocolate chips

Method:
Combine all 5 ingredients in a medium bowl. Stir to combine. Place in the refrigerator for 15-30 minutes so they are easier to roll.

Roll into 12-14 balls and store in fridge for up to one week. Enjoy!

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INGREDIENTS:
 
4 eggs, room temperature and separated (yolk from white)
1 1/2 cups sugar 300 g
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
1-2 tsp orange blossom water
zest of 2 oranges
1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
1/2 cup room temperature butter 113 g
2.5 cups all purpose flour 312 g
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup fresh orange juice

INSTRUCTIONS:
 
Preheat oven to 350 F (180C) and prepare your cake pan by lightly greasing and lining with parchment paper or flouring. I used a 9 inch springform pan, you can also use a bundt cake.
Using your fingertips, work the orange zest into the sugar until the sugar has moistened and turned fragrant and changed into a pale yellow/orange color.
In the bowl of a mixer fitted with paddle or whisk attachment, mix the egg yolks, orange zest scented sugar, vanilla, and orange blossom water on medium high speed for 2-3 minutes or until pale yellow and fluffy.
Add the oil and the butter and mix until well combined.
Add the flour and baking powder and mix until just combined, then add the juice and mix until combined.

In a separate bowl (either with a handheld mixer, or transfer the cake batter to another bowl and thoroughly wash and dry the mixer bowl) use an electric whisk to whisk the egg whites on medium high speed for 2-4 minutes until they form peaks that hold their shape.
Fold the egg whites into the cake batter with a rubber spatula, I like to do this in three additions. Take care not to deflate the egg whites.
Pour batter into prepared cake pan and bake for 50-60 minutes or until skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. If the outside of the cake is browning too rapidly and the inside still isn't cook, cover loosely with foil for the remainder of the baking time. Start checking at 40 minutes, every oven is different.
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