Egyptian kamounia recipe

Kamounia is surprisingly not cooked that often in many Egyptian homes. It is basically beef stew with cumin and Egyptian tomato sauce. I noticed that there is a Tunisian kamounia as well that is very traditional in Tunisia. The only difference between the Tunisian and the Egyptian version is the usage of harisa and bell peppers in the Tunisian one. Regarding flavors, kamounia is very delicious and easy to prepare. It tastes a lot like beef stew but with cumin flavor highlighting the dish. Hope you like it!

Ingredients

2 lbs beef stew cubes
1 onion chopped in 1/4 inches
4 minced garlic cloves
1 diced tomato
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon 7 spices
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon or pinch of ground cardamom
1 lime juice
2 or 3 bay leaves
3 tablespoons olive oil or unsalted butter if you do not care 😉
salt and pepper
1/2 to 1 cup of water

Wash and pat dry the beef cubes.
In a medium bowl, mix the chopped onions with paprika, salt and pepper, rub well.

Squeeze 1 lime juice on the meat.
sprinkle little bit of salt and pepper on the beef.
Add the 7 spices and the onions mix on the beef and rub them together well.

In a pot, warm up the butter or the olive oil.
Add the garlic and the beef with the onions.
Brown the beef a little bit.

Add the tomatoes and the tomato paste.
Stir the meat with the tomato paste a couple of times to cover the meat with the tomato paste.

Add about 1 of water or little bit less. Make sure not to add a lot of water. We will add little by little to make sure sauce is not too watery.
Add the cumin, bay leaves and the cardamom.
Add a little bit of salt and pepper, we will adjust it at the end when done.
Bring to boil.
Cover, lower the heat to the lowest and simmer for 1 hour. (it depends on the meat cut)
Keep checking for the sauce, if it needs more sauce, add little by little of water.
Check for the meat when done, it usually takes max of 90 minutes but not less than 75 minutes with the American beef stew cut.
Adjust salt and pepper then Enjoy!