Hilib Suqaar (Beef and Vegetable Sauté)
Published March 28, 2024
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Prep Time
- 15 minutes
- Cook Time
- 45 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
- 2tablespoons olive oil
- 1large white onion, halved and sliced
- 1pound boneless beef stew meat, cut into ½-inch cubes
- Salt
- 5garlic cloves, minced
- 4teaspoons xawaash (see Tip)
- 1large russet potato, peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes
- 1handful cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
- 1medium red bell pepper, halved, stemmed, seeded and sliced
- 1medium green bell pepper, halved, stemmed, seeded and sliced
- Muufo or rice, for serving
Preparation
- Step 1
In a large skillet over medium heat, heat up the oil until shimmering, 1 minute. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 6 minutes.
- Step 2
Turn the heat to medium-high, stir in the meat and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until meat is browned on all sides, 3 minutes. Mix in the garlic, xawaash and ¼ cup water. Turn heat back to medium and cover the pot. Cook until the meat is tender, about 15 minutes.
- Step 3
Once the meat is tender, add the potatoes, cilantro and 1 teaspoon salt. Cover and cook over medium heat for 8 minutes. Add in both bell peppers and ¼ cup more water. Cover again and simmer until potatoes are tender, adding additional water as needed, 10 to 15 minutes.
- Step 4
Serve the suqaar immediately, with a flatbread like muufo, or over rice. Hilib suqaar can last 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator.
Tip
- To prepare your own xawaash blend, add 8 teaspoons ground cumin, 2 teaspoons ground coriander, 1 teaspoon ground black pepper, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves, ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon and ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom to a small nonstick pan. Toast over low heat, stirring continuously, for 1 minute or until the spice mix becomes fragrant, then stir in 1 teaspoon ground turmeric. Makes 12 teaspoons.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
François
Excellent, and I really recommend making the hot sauce mentioned in the description. Other than heat it brings some welcome acidity to the meal.
Lucy
Really enjoyed the final product. Great comfort food and easy. But I stewed the meat with the onions much longer. Recipe specifically calls for stew beef but total cook time is just half an hour or so. Not likely to be long enough to get it tender. I stewed the beef, spices, and onions for at least 2 hours, then proceeded with recipe. Great result. Would have been too tough otherwise.
Anthony
Made this with bone-in lamb stewing meat. It was a tasty meal. Followed the recipe (see notes below) aside from adding a handful of spinach and half a minced jalapeno that were hanging around. (It's a stew after all!). 1. As others have noted, it will take at least 30 minutes for the meat to become tender - 45 if it's bone-in. 2. I used about a cup of water in total as the stew tends to thicken up and dry out as it cooks. 3. Next time I will fry the onions separately from the meat.
Joseph
I seeded a Jalepeno instead of green pepper and added it earlier. I also used beef stock instead of water. Turned out really well. The basbaas was essential -- although my family members ate it without. Great recipe. Many thanks.
ShannonW
Tasty and a little quicker with top sirloin instead of stew meat (though more expensive, of course). Definitely make the basbaas cagaar for freshness/acidity and not just for spice...I'm not a hot sauce person but the extra flavor was essential to round this out.
SoCalMtns Sharon
I really don’t enjoy the flavor (or aroma) of cloves. Can I not use it without seriously affecting the balance of flavors? Is there a substitute that I can use?
Joann Mariani
I have the "soap gene" so I omitted the coriander, but other than that made the recipe as written - delicious!
Esther
Has anyone tried making this in an instant pot?
Anthony
Made this with bone-in lamb stewing meat. It was a tasty meal. Followed the recipe (see notes below) aside from adding a handful of spinach and half a minced jalapeno that were hanging around. (It's a stew after all!). 1. As others have noted, it will take at least 30 minutes for the meat to become tender - 45 if it's bone-in. 2. I used about a cup of water in total as the stew tends to thicken up and dry out as it cooks. 3. Next time I will fry the onions separately from the meat.
Mike Linton
The flavor was good but I don't think stew meat is the best choice. It never good as tender as I would hope.
Joseph
Try baking soda for 10 minutes then wash off. Normally stew meat is almost impossible to make tender but this trick helped.
Cornmaiden
I made this for Sunday dinner. I used shaved beef because I didn't think the cooking time was long enough for beef stew meat to become tender. Didn't have green pepper, but used red, yellow and orange sweet peppers. Bought the xawaash spice online. This dish was delicious and I will definitely make it again. I used about a tsp more spice than called for. When I reheated the leftovers, I added some crushed red pepper flakes to heat and change it up some.
Lucy
Really enjoyed the final product. Great comfort food and easy. But I stewed the meat with the onions much longer. Recipe specifically calls for stew beef but total cook time is just half an hour or so. Not likely to be long enough to get it tender. I stewed the beef, spices, and onions for at least 2 hours, then proceeded with recipe. Great result. Would have been too tough otherwise.
Shrubber
I had time and Penzey’s nearby so toasted whole spices, then broke out the mortar and pestle. Heady! Used some to toss with cut-up chicken thighs and let sit while I prepped the rest. Added the chix with the peppers to finish on simmer for 20 . Skipped the spuds as my wife and I are mostly carbless and served over raw spinach and a pile of cilantro. Another great dinner-in-a-bowl from NYT. Next time peanuts? Toasted pepitos?
François
Excellent, and I really recommend making the hot sauce mentioned in the description. Other than heat it brings some welcome acidity to the meal.
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