Green Beans with Lamb Tagine or Loubia Khadra bel Lham, is a simply flavoured yet tasty summer stew.
Simple food is good food.
Using in-season green beans and only a few other basic ingredients you likely already have at home, this green beans with lamb stew is easy to prepare.
The recipe comes courtesy of my Algerian mother in law. I asked her a few weeks before Ramadan how she cooks her djouez Loubia. Djouez being another word for Tagine or stew.
She readily gave me a short list of ingredients including only salt and pepper for seasoning/spicing, and a method.
You may be suprised at the lack of spicing, this being a North African recipe and all.
I have said before on the blog; each country/region/city/house spices differently in the Maghreb and I’m guessing in the rest of the world too?!
Here at home in Algeria, my Mother in law uses very little spice and her food is always ‘Bnin‘ delicious.
This deliciousness is partly due to her always using seasonal ingredients in her cooking. In this recipe: green beans a.k.a string beans, tomato, courgette.
Using a squishy over-ripe tomato in this recipe is more or less essential. It’s easier to peel, trickier to grate but the natural sweetness of a ripe tomato is what marries well with the green beans.
My mother in law and therefore I, parboil the green beans while preparing the remaining ingredients for the stew.
I think it’s to remove any bitterness from the vegetable. Don’t quote me on that, I merely do as I’m told.
On this occassion I used small-medium chunks of tender Lamb rump, for its mild meaty flavour and quick cooking. More often I make it with bone-in Chicken pieces, which are just as mild and quick to cook.
My recipe makes 2 healthy portions. You can easily double the recipe. I would advise not to double the tomato concentrate though (it’s more for colour than flavour) and simply use a big onion instead of a medium.
I did promise myself I would make this a short post. Although you do get a minimal amount of photos today!!! Off to the recipe…
Ingredients
- Large handful of green beans, trimmed and snapped in half if long
- 4 small-medium chunks of halal lamb rump (or 2 pieces of halal chicken on the bone)
- 1-2 tablespoon sunflower oil
- 1 medium onion, half grated, half thinly sliced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon tomato concentrate
- 1 medium tomato, peeled and grated
- 1 medium potato, peeled and cut into eigths
- 1 small courgette, partially peeled trimmed and quartered.
Instructions
- Boil green beans In a medium saucepan half-full with water while preparing the other ingredients.
- In a 2 litre cooking pot with lid over medium heat saute lamb and grated onion with salt for a few minutes until meat is sealed.Stir in black pepper and tomato concentrate and saute a minute or so more.
- Drain beans.
- Add potato and courgette pieces , stir. Top with green beans followed by grated tomato and sliced onion. Add water just enough to cover the beans. Cover and bring upto a boil then reduce to a simmer. Cook 30-40 minutes until lamb and vegetables are tender and sauce is significantly reduced. Serve.
