Nyama Stew
Zimbabwe's weekday plate: chunks of beef slowly braised with onion, tomato and garlic till the gravy is dark and clinging. Eaten with sadza.
Overview
Onion and garlic fry in oil until soft, beef chunks brown alongside, tomatoes (fresh and tinned) go in with stock and seasoning, and the whole pot simmers low and slow for an hour and a half. The lid stays mostly on. By the end the meat falls when you push it and the sauce coats every piece. The point is the sauce more than the chunks; sadza scoops both.
Ingredients
- 700 g beef shin (or stewing chuck, cut into 3 cm chunks)
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 onions (large, finely sliced)
- 4 garlic cloves (crushed)
- 4 tomatoes (large, grated, skins discarded)
- 1 tablespoon tomato puree
- 1 beef stock cube (or 2 teaspoons salt)
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 fresh chilli (split, optional)
- 500 ml hot water
- Fresh coriander (to finish)
Method
Stage 1 - Brown the meat
- Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a heavy pot over medium-high heat.
- Pat the beef dry; brown on all sides in batches, transferring to a plate as you go. Don't crowd the pan.
Stage 2 - Build the base
- Add the remaining oil; soften the onions over medium heat 8-10 minutes until pale gold.
- Stir in the garlic, paprika and pepper; cook 1 minute.
- Add the grated tomato and tomato puree; reduce until thick and oil pools at the edges (5-7 minutes).
Stage 3 - Braise
- Return the beef and any juices. Crumble in the stock cube. Add chilli if using.
- Pour in the hot water; bring to a simmer.
- Cover and cook on the lowest heat 1 hour 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Beef should be fork-tender; sauce thick and clinging.
- If the gravy is thin, uncover for the last 10 minutes to reduce.
Stage 4 - Serve
- Taste and adjust salt. Scatter coriander.
- Serve with sadza and muriwo une dovi.
Notes
- Slow and low: Hard chunks of shin need 90 minutes minimum. Rushing this gives leathery meat in pale sauce. The reward for waiting is the gravy.
- Grated tomato: Better than chopped here. The skins discard; the flesh dissolves into the sauce. Use a box grater.
- Sadza is the point: Serve in a wide bowl with the sadza beside it; the diner scoops both with the right hand.
Storage
- Refrigerate 3 days. Reheat covered with a splash of water over low heat; better the next day.
- Freezes 2 months.
Recipes mentioned here
Dovi
Chicken thighs are browned in oil; onions and garlic are softened alongside. Tomato, paprika and peanut butter go in to build the sauce; water loosens it and the pot simmers covered until the chicken is falling off the bone and the sauce coats a wooden spoon. Spinach goes in for the last few minutes. The peanut butter must be smooth and unsweetened.
Muriwo Une Dovi
Onion is fried soft in oil; tomato softens to a jammy base; greens (covo, kale, spring greens or cavolo nero) wilt down and braise with a little water; smooth peanut butter is added towards the end, thinning to a glossy sauce. Salt, pepper, maybe a squeeze of lemon. Eaten with sadza.
Sadza
Cold water and a slurry of maize meal go into the pot first; the pot comes to a boil and thickens to a loose porridge (rapoko / first thickening). More dry meal is added in handfuls, stirred hard with a wooden mugoti (paddle), until the mixture is too thick to stir easily and pulls cleanly from the sides of the pot. The pot is covered and steamed for 5 minutes to finish.
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