Last week, that fateful day, I got super sick. Fever, flu, body pain, the works.
I was in a vegetative state on the couch, found solace from my tissue box and heaps of warm lemon/ginger water.
I don’t know how, but somehow I mustered up the will and energy to make something yummy. Something that would be close to the culinary equivalent of a big fat hug as Nigel Slater feels about potatoes.
I know what you’re thinking, she is probably talking about chicken soup, for her poor sick soul. But no, not this time. I wanted Saloona, that’s Arabic for curry in our Khaleeji dialect. Luckily, I had some protein in the form of “breakfast steak” tucked away in my freezer. I say luckily because it means that I don’t have to throw in chunky meat with bones into the pressure cooker. Mainly because I had no energy for this process.
Flash fried beef
Almost ready
So here’s to my speedy Beef Saloona for the soul:
mins
- ½ cup chopped leeks
- 1 chopped celery stick
- 1 Tbsp coconut oil
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 2 choped carrots
- 2 chopped potatoes (I kept the skins on)
- 1 cup tinned tomatoes with paste
- 1tsp garlic/ginger paste
- 1 cup of snowpeas
- 1 Tbsp Bzaar (Khaleeji mixed spice consisting of ground coriander, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon)
- ½ a deseeded scotch bonnet Chilli (to help with my sinuses and wake up those dead tastebuds)
- A packet of beef chunks with bones (I used what I had and it was chopped up fillet pieces)
- 1 tsp saffron threads
- In a hot pan with coconut oil, sear off the beef for a minute and set aside on a plate.
- In the same pan, on a medium saute the leeks, garlic/ginger paste, scotch bonnet and celery.
- Add in potatoes, carrots, saffron and bzaar mix.
- Stir well so the flavours start coming together.
- Throw in the seared beef, tomatoes and 2 cups of water. Cover and let simmer for 10 minutes.
- Lastly, turn off the heat, add the frozen peas and snow peas and cover the pan so it cooks in its own steam, but still maintains a crunch.
- This would typically be served with white rice, but I mostly eat brown rice nowadays and it was just as comforting.
- I was not in the right frame of mind to take detailed step by step pics, but I’m sure you empathise 🙂
Wishing you lots of Love & Yum
xx
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