Delicious lamb and beef vegetable stew. Known as dagara (tagara), the dish was invented by a wise wife to save her husband from a curse. (Read the text for a fun background story!)
1 clay pot, glassware, or baking pan if using an unglazed clay pot, soak it ahead of time
Ingredients
4-6beef or veal cutletssmaller, alternatively use chuck, round, or sirloin, cut into chunks
1poundlamb ribs or chopsyou'll have 3 pounds of meat in total (about 1.5 kilograms)
2-4tablespoonsstock powderor Vegeta, or 2-3 crushed bouillon cubes
salt and black pepper to taste
Oilfor searing and seasoning
4potatoeslarge, Russet, or Yukon gold; peeled and quartered
.5-1poundgreen beanspreferably flat green beans, ends cut off
5-6whole garlic clovespeeled
1yellow or white onionlarge, quartered
3-4bell pepperslarge, or local babura or Italian sweet peppers, or bull's horn peppers; deseeded, and quartered
2tablespoonsbuttersliced
2-3carrotslarge, peeled, cut into sticks
(Optional) 1-2 cups boiling water
Instructions
Preheat oven to 480°F (250°C). Season meat with 1 tablespoon of oil, salt, and black pepper. Let it sit for 5 minutes. (You should have about 3 pounds of meat in total)
Heat plenty of oil in a frying pan over high heat. Once it's sizzling, brown meat on each side for approximately 2-4 minutes per side. (You may have to do it in batches. Later batches will need less time as the oil gets hotter.) Remove meat from the pan, and pour the remaining oil into the pan you plan to use for baking (a clay pot is preferred, but use what you have).
Layer ingredients in the pot in the following order: onion, garlic, meat, peppers, potatoes, carrots and beans. Top with butter. Optionally add one to two cups of boiling water. Cover tightly with a lid, or foil (pierce it in a few places so some of the steam can escape). Bake for 30 minutes.
Lower heat to 390°F (200°C) and bake an additional 30-45 minutes.
Serve with homemade bread. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. Reheat using your preferred method, or in the oven at 300°F (150°C) for 10-15 minutes. Add liquid if necessary. Reheat only once! Freeze up to 2 months after it cools down completely, in an airtight container. Thaw at room temp, then reheat (once!). Some taste will be lost.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Info
Nutritional information is an approximation.
Video
Water was not added in the video, but as of lately, we've been adding it for extra stew.