Okra with Beef

Okra with beef is a popular dish in Egypt; a wonderful combination of tender beef and baby okra.

In Egypt, Okra is known as bamya and it’s a very popular vegetable. In England it’s also sometimes known as ‘Ladies’ Fingers’.

Stewing beef is ideal for this slow cooking method

Stewing beef is an ideal choice for the long, slow cooking method of this dish, which renders the meat beautifully tender with a rich flavour.   For those who like using a slow cooker this recipe would work perfectly cooked by that method. 

The secret to this recipe for okra and beef

The secret to this recipe is the long cooking period which renders the beef beautifully tender. The rich tomato cooking liquid enhances the flavours of the beef, and the herbs and spices bring the flavours together. Okra then adds the finishing touch with its freshness and crunch.

These quantities will provide a good meal for up to about 6 people

For this recipe I choose to use frozen baby okra, this cuts out a lot of prepping time as they don’t need topping and tailing. They are also very young and tender, which I prefer. Larger okra can have a tendency of becoming gelatinous (slimy) when they’re cooked. Some people love this and think it’s the best thing about them, for others it’s not what they choose. It’s a bit like marmite, you either love it or you don’t. As I said I prefer to use these frozen baby versions but you could use fresh if you prefer.

Preparation time about  20 minutes

Cooking time about 2 – 2  ½ hours

Ingredients

• 1kg stewing beef (cut into about 3cm cubes)
• a little vegetable oil for frying
• 1 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
• 2 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 5 garlic cloves, finely chopped or grated
• 2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes 
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 tbspn ground cumin
• ½ tspn chilli flakes
• 1 bay leaf
• salt and pepper
• 750 ml water
• 3 stock cubes
• ½ tspn ground cumin
• 500 g frozen baby okra – defrosted
• juice of a lemon
• handful of fresh coriander – separate the stalks from the leaves and chop

Here’s how to make Okra with Beef

first brown the meat

Put a large frying pan on the stove to heat.  When it’s sizzling hot, fry the meat a few pieces at a time and add a drizzle of oil to sear (brown) them giving them a lovely rich colour. 

*If you add too much meat at one time the temperature of the pan will drop and rather than of browning the meat they will start to loose moisture and instead just start to boil and go more of a grey colour.

When one batch of the meat is browned empty them out of the frying pan and put them into a large cooking pan.

Continue frying batches of meat until they are all browned.

Put the pan containing the meat over a medium flame.

Add the onions and sauté

Add the ghee and the onions to the pan and cook them, stirring frequently, until they begin to soften. Then add the garlic.

After just a couple of minutes, add the chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, cumin, chilli flakes, bay leaf, water and crumbled stock cubes.  Also add the chopped stalks of the coriander at this point, but don’t add the fresh leaves until the end of cooking.

Boil the kettle and pour enough boiling water over the meat to fully cover it.

You will need to check this several times throughout the cooking process.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Bring the mixture to the boil and then reduce the heat down to a low simmer. 

Simmer for about 2 hours

Cover the pan and continue simmering for about two hours. Checking it about every half hour to make sure it has adequate liquid. If more liquid is needed, add a little more water.

To check when the meat is cooked, get a piece of meat out of the pan and put it on a plate, if it’s ready you should be able to cut through it easily with just a spoon.

Add the okra

Add the okra and cook for another 5–10 minutes. You don’t want to cook the okra for too long otherwise it will lose its structure and become very soft.

Add the lemon juice and remove from the heat.

Almost done

Sprinkle in the chopped coriander just before serving and stir.

This dish is usually served with rice.

*As an alternative, this is wonderful served as a really substantial soup, as a lunch or   supper dish.  In which case you would follow the same recipe, but use only half the quantity of meat and serve it with warm bread. 

This dish could be prepared the day before. if you do this, don’t add the okra or coriander until the last 10 – 15 minutes of cooking, as they will lose their fresh colour and aroma.

This is a fantastic dish; bursting with flavour. I do hope you’ll enjoy it.

Let me know how you get on with it.

Keep on sending in your photos, I love hearing from you.