Comforting & hearty…a true winter dish!
The recipe doesn’t take a lot of prep time and you have a choice regarding cooking time. Cooking in a normal pot will take around 1 to 2 hours depending on the cut of meat and size of the cubes to get the meat braised and tender. You can cut this time down to 20 or 30 minutes (if you like your meat extra tender!) by using a pressure cooker like I do!
If, like me, you are calorie conscious or just want a lighter alternative, instead of deep frying your potatoes, roast them in the oven with 2 tbsps of oil or use an Acti-Fry; which is how I do it. It’s great as I get fried potatoes using only 2 tsps of oil!
The recipe has some guide photos which aren’t the best looking as I am not a professional photographer but it will give you an idea of how things should look.
Bon appetit! 🙂
My Mom's Kabab Batates
Ingredients:
- 700gms Braising beef (rump كولاطه or chuck سن or topside وش فخده ), washed & cut into medium sized cubes, fat removed
- 2 medium sized onions; quarter then half each quarter crosswise to get what looks like large square slices of onion.
- 1 full tbsp ghee (30gms)
- 650 gms potatoes, peeled, washed and chopped into cubes
- 10 large garlic cloves, bashed with a knife (don’t cut them afterwards)
- 1 beef stock cube
- ½ tsp Ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ tsp Mixed Spice (middle eastern mixed spice like El Doha الضحي brand)
- Salt & Black pepper to taste
Oil for frying the potatoes:
- Deep pot quarter to half filled with oil for regular frying.
- 2 tsps (10 ml) oil if using an Acti-Fry.
- 2 tbsps (30 ml) oil if roasting in the oven. See notes below.
Method:
- Have all your ingredients prepped and ready to go 🙂
Bashed Garlic - Heat a large deep non-stick pot on a high heat. Add the ghee to melt and get really hot. It will start to ripple and you will see white smoke.
- At this point, add half the beef cubes to the pot, still keeping it on a high heat and do not stir. You want to sear the meat not boil it. Once the bottom is seared give it a stir to start searing the top of the meat. About 5 minutes. If the meat is browning too quickly adjust heat to medium-high.
- Now add the rest of the beef and just make sure all the meat is touching the bottom of the pot. Give it 3 minutes then stir. You want the beef to be a deep brown color and its ok if you see brown bits sticking to the bottom. That’s full of flavor!
- Once any liquid released from the meat has evaporated and you have nice browned beef, turn the heat down to medium & add the onions, and stir for a minute or 2.
Stirring the onions with the beef - Add the bashed garlic and give it a few stirs.
- Now add the cinnamon, mixed spice and a little bit of salt and pepper and give a good stir. We will adjust seasoning at the end of the cooking.
If using a pressure cooker:
- Add just enough water to cover the beef (or to the minimum of your pressure cooker as per its manual) as there is no real evaporation.
- Now add the stock cube and stir till it melts. Close the pressure cooker lid securely and bring up to pressure.
- Once at pressure, lower the heat completely and cook for 20 to 30 minutes.
- 30 minutes will give tender but almost shredded meat which I like – if you are not sure start with 20 minutes and check. If the meat is done to your liking, great, if not just give it an extra 10 minutes at pressure.
If using a regular pot:
- Add 1.5 litres of water or more as water should cover the beef a bit as it can cook for almost 2 hours.
- Now add the stock cube and stir till it melts and bring to the boil.
- Once it comes to the boil, decrease the heat to low and leave to gently simmer for 1 hours. Give it a stir every half hour or so to make sure that it still has enough liquid to keep it from catching at the bottom. You shouldn’t need to add extra water as we don’t want too much liquid in the final dish.
- After the 1 hour is up, check the meat, If the meat is almost done to your liking, great, if not give it an extra 30 minutes and check again. Depending on the meat it can take up to 2 hours.
- Half an hour before the meat is finished, start frying the potatoes. Heat the oil and then fry the potatoes till dark golden brown and crisp then drain on kitchen paper. (If using an Acti-fry, add 2 tsps oil to your potatoes and fry for 30 to 40 minutes. If the meat is in a pressure cooker then start the Act-Fry straight after the meat starts cooking). If oven roasting, start to preheat your oven 45 minutes before your meat is finished. See notes below for oven roasting method.
- Once your meat is cooked to your liking, turn the heat back to high to get rid of excess liquid. We want it almost like a very thick gravy sauce with almost no liquid.
- Taste and adjust salt and pepper.
- Add the fried potatoes and give a few quick stirs to make sure the potatoes are all coated with the meat and sauce.
- Serve immediately with rice. (Steamed basmati rice goes really well with this)
Notes:
- Serve immediately as this dish doesn’t like to wait, the potatoes will go soggy.
- To roast your potato cubes in the oven; preheat the oven to 200 C. Put the potato cubes in a large baking tray and pour in 2 tbsps oil and then mix with your hands to make sure all your potatoes are coated with the oil. Arrange the potatoes all in a single layer on the tray. Place the potatoes in the hot oven to brown and crisp for 30 to 40 minutes. Check after 20 minutes by taking out of the oven and turning the potatoes to make sure all sides are browning evenly. The smaller you cut your potato cubes, the quicker they will cook, so take care!
Riham's Messy Kitchen! 