Okra with meat stew recipe

This is a delicious dish from the Levant, where it is called “bamieh bil lahme”, literally okra with meat. This vegetable combines very well with beef or lamb, but the variant with chicken is also very common, especially in Greece or Turkey.

Heat a little olive oil in a pot. Chop and fry the onion and garlic over moderate heat. Add the meat cut into bites, raise the heat and continue cooking for about 5 minutes until it has sealed. Add the spices and a bay leaf and a small amount of broth or water that just covers the ingredients. Bring to a boil and then continue over very low heat for 60 to 90 minutes.

After that time, add the tomato paste, the crushed tomato, optionally 2 tablespoons of pomegranate molasses and the frozen okra. Mix and continue cooking over moderate heat for an additional half hour.

If we use canned okra, it will suffice to add it at the end of cooking (5 to 10 minutes will suffice).

Season with salt and pepper and ideally serve with a few coriander leaves or parsley, if not, and accompanied by rice or pita bread.

Tips and tricks:

1. Another cooking method is to add the tomato to the broth and boil slowly for an hour and a half. However, this will probably force us to gradually add more broth, since the evaporation of the liquid will cause the tomato to start sticking to the bottom of the pot.
2. The above method works perfectly if we prefer to bake the recipe. In that case, it is necessary to cover the container to retain moisture, otherwise the meat and tomato would turn too dry.
3. Meat cuts for stew or soup generally require a long cooking time (at least two hours) to be tender. Make sure during that time that the broth has not evaporated completely.
4. Once the okra is added, continue cooking until it’s tender or “al dente”. We definitely want to avoid a doughy texture of overcooked okra.
5. This recipe will be very tasty with its few basic ingredients, even without pomegranate molasses. But the so-called “7 Arabic spices” will give a special touch to the final result. There is no single recipe for this spice mix, but it is basically made up of black pepper, cumin, coriander seeds, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, and cloves. This combination matches generally any red meat dish.
6. The smallest okra is generally more valued.
7. Although it’s less common to find, if you have a package or string of dehydrated okra, then it has to be rehydrated before cooking. It will suffice to boil it separately for a few minutes. Then add it to the stew and cook for about 20 minutes (or until it is tender).
8. For a vegetarian option, you can simply skip the meat. Okra cooked with onion, tomato and garlic, and usually accompanied by rice, is a much appreciated side dish in both Greece and Turkey.
9. For a similar alternative that requires less time, check out this easy and delicious Chicken Okra Stew.