Şile — Tomato and Lamb Stew with White Rice

⏱ 115 min · 🍽️ 4 Servings · 🧂 15 Ingredients

Ingredients

  • 600 g boneless lamb shoulder
  • 2 piece onions
  • 3 clove garlic
  • 2 tbsp neutral vegetable oil
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 tbsp red pepper paste (Turkish Biber salçası; mild or hot)
  • 400 g chopped tomatoes (fresh or canned)
  • 800 ml water
  • 1 piece cinnamon stick
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 0.5 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1 tsp baharat (Arabic spice blend; gluten-free according to the pack)
  • 2 piece waxy potatoes
  • 0.5 piece lemon (juice)
  • white rice to serve, as needed (see recipe Birinc bi şehriye — White Rice with Toasted Vermicelli)

Instructions

  1. Pat the lamb dry, trim off any thick fat and cut the meat into cubes of about 3 cm. Peel and finely dice the onions; peel and finely chop the garlic.
  2. Heat the oil in a heavy pot and brown the lamb cubes well on all sides; if space is tight, do this in two batches so that the meat fries rather than stews.
  3. Add the onions and fry, stirring, until soft and lightly golden.
  4. Stir in the garlic, tomato paste and red pepper paste and toast, stirring, until the paste darkens and smells fragrant, without letting it burn.
  5. Add the chopped tomatoes, water, cinnamon stick, salt, pepper and baharat and bring everything to the boil. Put the lid on and braise over a low heat, stirring now and then.
  6. Meanwhile, peel the potatoes and cut them into cubes of about 2 cm. Add them to the stew and continue braising, covered, until the potatoes and meat are tender and the lamb can easily be pulled apart with a fork.
  7. Remove the cinnamon stick. Season the stew with the lemon juice, salt and pepper; if the sauce is too thick, add a splash of hot water; if it is too thin, let it reduce uncovered for a few more minutes.
  8. Pile the white rice onto plates or a platter and serve the hot stew with plenty of sauce over or beside it.
  9. Tip: Instead of potatoes, peas often go into the pot, cooking for the last 10 minutes, and instead of lamb you can use beef shoulder, which braises for about 20 minutes longer. The stew is easy to make ahead and can be frozen for up to three months; the potatoes become a little softer in the process. Cool leftover rice quickly, put it in the fridge within two hours at the latest and use it up within a day.
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Şile — Tomato and Lamb Stew with White Rice – Recipe and image AI-created, editorially reviewed
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Şile — Tomato and Lamb Stew with White Rice

A Kurdish classic served in every Kurdish region: Şile is the everyday stew with plenty of sauce that is ladled over white rice, and almost every family cooks this simple version with lamb, tomatoes and potatoes. In Iraq such stews are called Marga in Arabic. The lamb braises slowly until tender, cinnamon and baharat give the deep red tomato sauce a warm spiciness, and a squeeze of lemon freshens it up at the end.

⏱

Cook time

115 min

🍽️

Servings

4

🧂

Ingredients

15

View Original ↗

Nutrition

per serving

534 kcal

Calories

29 g

Protein

37 g

Fat

20 g

Carbs

Ingredients

For 4 servings

Estimated cost~€2.40 · ~€0.60/serving
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Instructions

  1. 1

    Pat the lamb dry, trim off any thick fat and cut the meat into cubes of about 3 cm. Peel and finely dice the onions; peel and finely chop the garlic.

  2. 2

    Heat the oil in a heavy pot and brown the lamb cubes well on all sides; if space is tight, do this in two batches so that the meat fries rather than stews.

  3. 3

    Add the onions and fry, stirring, until soft and lightly golden.

  4. 4

    Stir in the garlic, tomato paste and red pepper paste and toast, stirring, until the paste darkens and smells fragrant, without letting it burn.

  5. 5

    Add the chopped tomatoes, water, cinnamon stick, salt, pepper and baharat and bring everything to the boil. Put the lid on and braise over a low heat, stirring now and then.

  6. 6

    Meanwhile, peel the potatoes and cut them into cubes of about 2 cm. Add them to the stew and continue braising, covered, until the potatoes and meat are tender and the lamb can easily be pulled apart with a fork.

  7. 7

    Remove the cinnamon stick. Season the stew with the lemon juice, salt and pepper; if the sauce is too thick, add a splash of hot water; if it is too thin, let it reduce uncovered for a few more minutes.

  8. 8

    Pile the white rice onto plates or a platter and serve the hot stew with plenty of sauce over or beside it.

  9. 9

    Tip: Instead of potatoes, peas often go into the pot, cooking for the last 10 minutes, and instead of lamb you can use beef shoulder, which braises for about 20 minutes longer. The stew is easy to make ahead and can be frozen for up to three months; the potatoes become a little softer in the process. Cool leftover rice quickly, put it in the fridge within two hours at the latest and use it up within a day.

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