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Bamia Iraqi
Serves 4 Prep 15 min Cook 1 hr 45 min Total 2 hr Type Meal Origin Iraq

Bamia Iraqi

Iraq's lamb-and-okra stew: small whole okra slow-cooked with cubed lamb in a tomato-and-tamarind broth sharpened with dried lime, finished with crushed garlic and coriander sizzled in oil (taqliya). Served over fluffy timman ahmar (Iraqi red rice). A weekday dinner, deeply savoury, classically Iraqi.

Serves 4 Prep 15 minutes Cook 1 hour 45 minutes Units Rate

Overview

Lamb shoulder is browned hard; onion is softened; garlic, baharat and tomato paste join. Stock, tamarind, dried lime and tinned tomato deglaze. The lamb is braised for 75 minutes. Small whole okra goes in the last 25 minutes (long enough to soften, short enough not to disintegrate). Taqliya, crushed garlic and coriander sizzled in oil, is drizzled over at the end.

Ingredients

  • 700 g lamb shoulder (cut into 4 cm chunks)
  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil (or samna)
  • 2 onions (chopped)
  • 8 garlic cloves (split: 4 crushed for the stew, 4 finely chopped for taqliya)
  • 2 tablespoons Baharat (or 1 tsp each: ground cumin, coriander, allspice, black pepper, cinnamon)
  • 2 tablespoons tomato puree
  • 1 (400 g) tin chopped tomatoes
  • 2 tablespoons tamarind paste
  • 2 dried black limes (loomi, pierced)
  • 1 ½ teaspoons salt (to taste)
  • ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 600 ml hot stock
  • 600 g small whole okra (fresh or frozen, no need to thaw)

Taqliya

  • 3 tablespoons samna (or butter)
  • 4 garlic cloves (very finely chopped)
  • 1 small bunch fresh coriander (chopped)

To serve

  • 4 servings cooked timman ahmar (Iraqi red rice) or plain basmati
  • Lemon wedges

Method

Stage 1 - Brown

  1. Pat lamb dry; salt lightly.
  2. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a heavy pot; brown lamb in batches.

Stage 2 - Base

  1. Soften the onion 8 minutes.
  2. Add 4 crushed garlic cloves; cook 30 seconds.
  3. Add baharat; toast 30 seconds.
  4. Stir in tomato puree and tinned tomato; reduce 5 minutes.

Stage 3 - Slow cook

  1. Return the lamb. Add tamarind, dried limes, salt, pepper, hot stock.
  2. Cover; simmer on low 1 hour 15 minutes until lamb is tender.

Stage 4 - Okra

  1. Add okra whole, push into the sauce.
  2. Cook uncovered 20-25 minutes until okra is tender but holds shape; sauce reduces and clings.

Stage 5 - Taqliya

  1. Heat the 3 tablespoons samna in a small pan over medium.
  2. Add the chopped 4 garlic cloves; sizzle 30 seconds (gold, not brown).
  3. Off heat, stir in chopped coriander.

Stage 6 - Serve

  1. Spoon stew over rice; drizzle the taqliya straight from the pan over the top.
  2. Lemon wedges alongside.

Notes

  • Small whole okra: Sliced okra gets slimy; whole pods stay firm. Look for finger-length okra.
  • Tamarind + loomi: The dish's identity. Iraq's signature sour notes.
  • Taqliya last-second: Pour while still sizzling for the aroma hit at the table.

Storage

  • Refrigerate 4 days; reheats well.
  • Freezes 3 months.

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Saudi Arabia's national dish, the one platter you'll meet at almost every gathering from family lunch through wedding banquet. You brown chicken pieces or lamb shoulder hard in a heavy pot, then build a base of onion, garlic and ginger softened in the same fat, with tomato and a spoonful of baharat (or a dedicated kabsa spice mix) blooming until the kitchen fills with cardamom and cinnamon. The protein simmers in tomato and stock until it's tender and pulling away from the bone, then long-grain rice goes in to cook absorption-style in the same liquid, drinking up every layer of flavour the broth carries. You finish with almonds toasted in butter, raisins plumped briefly, and a fresh salsa of tomato, onion, chilli and parsley spooned on the side to cut the richness. Eaten communally from the centre platter, with hands or a long spoon.

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