Kabab Halla (Egyptian Beef Stew in Caramelized Onion Sauce)
Kabab Halla is a slow-cooked beef stew bathed in a velvety caramelized onion sauce—pure comfort, especially when scooped up with rice or warm baladi bread.
Do you like this recipe? Please click here to rate it 🙏
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ pounds boneless beef chuck, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
- Himalayan salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 4 tablespoons 30 ml ghee or a combination of oil and butter
- 4 medium yellow onions, 8 ounces, 225 g each, thinly sliced (about 8 cups)
- 3 medium cloves garlic, minced (about 2 teaspoons)
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon sweet paprika
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 3-inch cinnamon stick
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½ cup homemade beef stock
For Garnish
- Roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley, to garnish (optional)
For Serving
- Cooked white rice, preferably Egyptian misri or other long-grain rice such as basmati, for serving
- Aish Baladi (Egyptian Pita Bread) , for serving
Instructions
- Pat beef dry with paper towels and season all over with Himalayan salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- In a Dutch oven or a large, heavy-bottomed pot, heat ghee over medium-high heat until shimmering. Working in batches to avoid crowding the pan, add beef in a single layer and cook until evenly browned on all sides, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a clean plate. Repeat with remaining beef.
- Add onions to the Dutch oven and cook, stirring often, until they begin to soften and brown, about 5 minutes; add additional ghee or oil if pot becomes too dry. Add the garlic along with the allspice, cayenne, coriander, paprika, cardamom, cumin, and nutmeg, and continue to cook, stirring, for 1 minute. (You don’t need to caramelize the onions all the way as they will brown further during the slow cooking process.)
- Return the beef and any accumulated juices to the pot. Stir in the broth along with the cinnamon stick and bay leaves. Bring to a boil then cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer, covered, until meat is tender, 2 to 2 1/2 hours, checking every 20-30 minutes to make sure that the braise does not become dry and adding more water or broth if necessary (you want the braise to be moist but the meat should not be submerged in excess liquid). Once meat is tender, uncover, increase heat to medium-low, and simmer gently to reduce the sauce until thick and jammy, 20 to 30 minutes; season with salt, if needed. The braise is ready when the meat is fork-tender and the onions have completely melted into a thick sauce.
- Transfer to a deep serving dish. Garnish with fresh parsley leaves, if desired, and serve hot with vermicelli rice and fish baladi.
Nermine's Notes
- The buttery flavor of ghee is preferable, but a combination of butter and canola/olive oil will work too.
- The cooking time of this beef braise depends on the meat cut used. So adjust the cooking time accordingly and add more water or broth if necessary.
- Kabab halla can be made 1-3 days in advance and kept refrigerated.
- You can make a big batch of kabab halla and freeze it in zipper-lock bags.