Name: Beef Stew (Fahsa)
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Cuisine: Yemen
Ingredients: ½ cup (120 milliliters) water; 2 tablespoons ground fenugreek; Red zahawiq (see note); 1 cup (240 milliliters) chicken stock; 1 to 2 tablespoons green zahawiq (see recipe); 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped; 1 red pepper (hot or sweet), seeded and chopped; 2 tablespoons olive oil; 1 onion, chopped; 2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil; 1½ cups (150 grams) chopped green onions; 1½ kilogram beef stew meat, cut into 2-cm cubes; 1 medium tomato (300 grams), cut into 1-cm cubes; 5 cups (1180 milliliters) water; 1 tablespoon Yemeni spice (see note); 5 cloves garlic

Preparation info

4 to 6
servings

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

The Cuisine of Life

By Center for International Private Enterprise

Published 2019

About

Fahsa is a traditional Yemeni stew often prepared with spiced beef or lamb. It’s served boiling hot in a stone dish called a harda, topped with a hulba, a whipped fenugreek sauce, and eaten with bread, especially for lunch. Fahsa is particularly famous in Sana’a. If you have a stone pot, that is ideal here, as it retains heat and keeps the fahsa boiling hot. If not, use a heavy-bottomed pot, such as cast-iron or a Dutch oven. Start the hulba first — the ground fenugreek needs to soak for 2