Enjoy this Lebanese bamieh recipe that my grandmother sometimes made when I was a child. It's simple and delicious served with rice.
I think okra is one of those love-it or hate-it vegetables. I grew up eating it so I love it. Whether it's Louisiana gumbo or jambalaya, even simple sauteed or fried okra is so tasty to me.
So today I'm sharing a Lebanese okra dish called Bamieh. It's an okra and beef stew that you serve over rice similar to Lubbe or the eggplant and beef stew I shared a while back.
One of the major differences is that there are no tomatoes in this one. In fact, if you search Google for Bamieh you will find most, if not all, have tomatoes in their stew. I'm sure that's delicious too. It's just not how my grandmother made it.
Like many Middle Eastern stews, it starts with beef cubes browned in olive oil with salt, pepper, and a dash of cinnamon. This one also has some crushed garlic too.
Then you need to add some beef broth or just water and let the beef cook until it is tender. You can use a pressure cooker or instant pot for this stage but if you're home and don't have those a big heavy pot works just fine.
Later you add the okra (fresh is best but frozen works too) lots of lemon and more garlic.
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As with all the Lebanese stews we serve it with beautiful golden long grain rice that is made with a pinch of turmeric in the water.
If you're an okra lover this may be a new way to cook this tasty vegetable. I hope you love it.
Okra and Beef Stew aka Bamieh
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds okra
- 1 pound round steak or eye of the round cut into 1/2 inch bite-sized pieces
- 4 cloves of crushed garlic divided into 2
- 4 cups beef broth
- 2 lemons
- dash of cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
Instructions
- In a large heavy-bottomed pot brown the beef in olive oil.
- Sprinkle on a dash of cinnamon, salt, and pepper.
- Add half of the garlic and stir well making sure the garlic does not burn.
- Add the juice of one of the lemons and the beef broth.
- Reduce heat and simmer covered for 1 hour or until the meat is tender.
- Add the okra, the remaining garlic, and the juice and zest of the second lemon.
- Bring to boil. Then reduce the heat medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Serve with rice.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although attempts have been made to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
Lulu
Thank you for this recipe! I recently developed a tomato allergy, which made it challenging for me to replace it in many dishes, but I love bamieh and will definitely give this version a try. So far I've managed to do well subbing sumac, red peppers, or lemon for tomato in some dishes, so I'm sure this will taste great, especially since it was passed down to you from your grandmother. Blessings to you!
Patti Estep
Lulu, though I have heard of Bamieh being made with tomatoes we have never had it and I really love this recipe so I hope you do too.