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⚠️ Heads-up: 4 of these ingredients (Tomato Passata, Egyptian Rice, Ghee, Fresh lamb/beef (UK butcher)) are not in our shop yet. Request them → or grab from a UK supermarket while we source.
“Bamiya done right is glossy, not slimy. The trick is the lemon early and the heat low. My mother served it Friday lunch with rice and a small bowl of pickled lemon on the side — that combination is engraved in me.”
— Dr Hany, Zambahola
— Dr Hany, Zambahola
🎤 Recipe credit: The video below is by Sana Awal Matba5 — we don’t reproduce the chef’s recipe text. Our notes are written from scratch with metric/cup conversions and UK substitutes for our diaspora and UK readers. Watch the original on the Sana2oula Matba5 channel. · 429K views.
Ingredients
| Ingredient | Metric | UK Cups | Notes / UK substitute |
|---|---|---|---|
| Okra, frozen babyبامية صغيرة | 400 g | ColdAlex Okra Zero is small & trimmed — perfect. | |
| Lamb or beef stewing meat | 400 g | Cubed. | |
| Onion, finely chopped | 1 large | ||
| Garlic, crushed | 5 cloves | ||
| Tomato passata | 400 ml | ||
| Tomato paste | 2 tbsp | ||
| Lemon juice | 2 tbsp | ||
| Ground coriander + cumin | 1 tsp each | ||
| Ghee or olive oil | 3 tbsp | ||
| Salt, pepper, chilli | to taste |
Method
- Brown the meat well in ghee, in batches. Set aside.
- In the same pan, soften onion 6 min. Add garlic and spices, stir 30 seconds.
- Add tomato paste, fry off 1 minute — it should darken slightly. Add passata and 500 ml hot water. Return the meat. Simmer covered 1 hour until tender.
- Add the okra straight from frozen. Squeeze in the lemon — this is the anti-slime trick.
- Simmer uncovered 15–20 min more until the okra is just tender and the sauce glossy. Don’t stir aggressively.
- Rest 5 min. Serve with Egyptian rice and a wedge of lemon.
🛒 Shop the ingredients on Zambahola
Most of what you need is on the shelf. Items still being sourced are flagged below.
Okra Zero (Frozen)
ColdAlex 400g
Cumin Powder
SARA 75g
Ground Coriander
100g
Garlic Powder
75g
Tomato Passata
Coming soon · request
Egyptian Rice
Coming soon · request
Ghee
Coming soon · request
Fresh lamb/beef (UK butcher)
Coming soon · request
🎤 Listen instead — the Bamiyah (Okra Stew) podcast
A few minutes on the history, the ratios, and the chef’s little secret — generated with NotebookLM.
Audio coming — we will embed the NotebookLM podcast here within 24 hours.
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