‘Budmo’ Crimean Beef Stew
Adapted from Budmo!: Recipes from a Ukrainian Kitchen by Anna Voloshyna. The author writes in her headnote that she first tried this stew in a small Tatar restaurant in Crimea. She never had the chance to return after Russia annexed the country, so she recreated the dish from memory. She suggests serving it with buttery rice and pickled tomatoes. Budmo! was one of Cooks Without Borders’ Best New Cookbooks of 2022.
If you want to simplify and quicken the process by using canned rather than dried chickpeas, you can substitute two 15.5 ounce cans for the 1 cup of dried. Skip steps 1 and 4, drain the chickpeas and add them in step 5.
Serves 6.
Ingredients
1 cup dried chickpeas, rinsed and picked over
2 pounds boneless beef chuck, cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons canola oil or sunflower oil, or more as needed
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, with their liquid
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground fenugreek
1/2 teaspoon red chile flakes
6 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves, plus more for serving
Pickled Red Onion for serving
Instructions
1. Put the chickpeas into a medium bowl, add 4 cups of water and leave to soak at room temperature overnight.
2. The next day, pat the meat dry with paper towels and season generously with salt. In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium- high heat. Working in batches to avoid crowding, add the meat and brown, turning as needed, until golden brown on all sides (or even just most of them), about 1 or 2 minutes on each side. (Note: Don’t feel like you need to sear them hard; they’ll be more tender if you don’t.) Transfer to a large plate, medium bowl or small sheet pan and repeat with the remaining meat, adding more oil if needed.
3. When all the meat is browned, add the onion to the pot, lower the heat to medium, and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent and soft, about 10 minutes. Return the meat to the pot and add the tomatoes, wine, and 1 cup water. Raise the heat to high, bring the stew to a boil, and then lower the heat to medium-low. Stir in the sugar, coriander, fenugreek and chile flakes and season with 1 teaspoon salt and 9 or 10 grinds of black pepper. Cover and simmer until the meat is very tender, about 1 1/2 hours.
4. Meanwhile, drain the chickpeas, transfer them to a medium saucepan, and add water to cover by about 2 inches. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium so the chickpeas simmer without boiling over. Cook until soft but not mushy, about 40 minutes. Drain and reserve.
5. When the meat is very tender, add the chickpeas and garlic to the pot, stir well and simmer for 5 more minutes to merge the flavors, adding more water to the pot if needed to thin to a good stew consistency. Stir in the cilantro, then taste and adjust the seasoning, adding salt and pepper as needed. Simmer for just 3 more minutes to blend the flavors, then remove from the heat. Serve the stew topped with the pickled onion and cilantro.
'Budmo' Crimean Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried chickpeas, rinsed and picked over
- 2 pounds boneless beef chuck, cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons canola oil or sunflower oil, or more as needed
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, with their liquid
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon ground fenugreek
- 1/2 teaspoon red chile flakes
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves, plus more for serving
- Pickled Red Onion for serving
Instructions
- Put the chickpeas into a medium bowl, add 4 cups of water and leave to soak at room temperature overnight.
- The next day, pat the meat dry with paper towels and season generously with salt. In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium- high heat. Working in batches to avoid crowding, add the meat and brown, turning as needed, until golden brown on all sides (or even just most of them), about 1 or 2 minutes on each side. (Note: Don’t feel like you need to sear them hard; they’ll be more tender if you don’t.) Transfer to a large plate, medium bowl or small sheet pan and repeat with the remaining meat, adding more oil if needed.
- When all the meat is browned, add the onion to the pot, lower the heat to medium, and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent and soft, about 10 minutes. Return the meat to the pot and add the tomatoes, wine, and 1 cup water. Raise the heat to high, bring the stew to a boil, and then lower the heat to medium-low. Stir in the sugar, coriander, fenugreek and chile flakes and season with 1 teaspoon salt and 9 or 10 grinds of black pepper. Cover and simmer until the meat is very tender, about 1 1/2 hours.
- Meanwhile, drain the chickpeas, transfer them to a medium saucepan, and add water to cover by about 2 inches. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium so the chickpeas simmer without boiling over. Cook until soft but not mushy, about 40 minutes. Drain and reserve.
- When the meat is very tender, add the chickpeas and garlic to the pot, stir well and simmer for 5 more minutes to merge the flavors, adding more water to the pot if needed to thin to a good stew consistency. Stir in the cilantro, then taste and adjust the seasoning, adding salt and pepper as needed. Simmer for just 3 more minutes to blend the flavors, then remove from the heat. Serve the stew topped with the pickled onion and cilantro.
