Nothing smells like home like this pot of fork tender, Egyptian meat stew or Kebab Hala.
Kabab Hala means pot kebab. Unlike the common kebab that is typically grilled on charcoal, in this recipe, the meat cubes are slowly cooked on the stove top, or even better, in a slow cooker .
Dry the meat cubes with paper kitchen towel
Coat the meat cubes in coarse salt and pepper
The salt and pepper will give the meat cubes a wonderful brown crust
In our household, this iconic dish is usually served with white vermicelli rice.
Special thanks to El Namlya @elnamleya, the Egyptian Cooking Club, and its member Doa’a Al Baz @doaa.albaz for bringing this recipe to the limelight this month.
According to Doa’a, her mother does an additional step. She fries potato fingers half way through and adds them to the stew to cook while absorbing the luscious sauce of the meat.
My grandma used to do the same but she used to call this dish “Potatoes and Meat Fondant” which alludes to the tenderness of the meat and potatoes.
My family recipe is slightly tweaked from Doa’a’s in terms of cooking methods and flavorings.
I swapped in my slow cooker for the stove top to spare babysitting the stew while it’s cooking. And while Doa’a only uses salt and pepper to season the stew, I like to add my favorite assortment of warm spices.
I will be ecstatic if you try this easy recipe in your kitchen and let me know your feedback.
Like and share and I will be forever grateful.
For more iconic recipes from my Egyptian kitchen made easy, follow my IG account @cheznermine.
Kabab Hala bel Batates: Egyptian Meat Stew & Potatoes
Serves 6 people
INGREDIENTS
- 1/2 kg meat, cut into cubes
- Â 1/2 kg chopped onions
- 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- Â 1 tablespoon butter
- Â 1 tablespoon oil
- 2 teaspoons of seven spices
- Â Salt and pepper
- 3 bay leaves
- Â 2 cups boiled water
DIRECTIONS
- Â Prep the meat. Dry the meat cubes with kitchen towel. Coat them in a mix of kosher salt and coarsely ground pepper.
-  Brown the meat. Add the butter and oil to a heavy bottom pot on medium heat and then brown the meat in batches and not all at once to avoid steaming the meat. Flip the meat cubes several times until they get a nice brown crust. Add the onions and garlic and sauté with the meat until they sweat and start to caramelize which gives this stew an edge. Watch that the onions and garlic don’t burn and spoil the stew flavor.
- Transfer the stew to the slow cooker, add the spices and enough hot water or stock to barely cover the meat. Let it cook for two to three hours until the onion collapses into a velvety sauce and the meat is fork-tender.
- Shallow fry the potato cubes in a frying pan coated with oil until they have a golden crust. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain the excess oil. Add them to the meat stew in the last 20 minutes of cooking time to cook through.
- Serve the stew hot with vermicelli rice, and garnished with fresh parsley.