Bamia Recipe - How to make Iraqi Okra Stew

Learn to make the super healthy and delicious Baimya (aka Bamia), a hearty okra based Stew that’s available amongst many middle eastern cuisines including Afghan, Turkey, Lebanese, etc. Today we’re making the Iraqi version, which is my favourite version.
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INGREDIENTS:
For the Okra Stew (Bamia)
• 800g of baby okra (frozen or fresh)
• Small cuts of Lamb shank or largely diced lamb - 500g
• 2 heads garlic - one whole, one peeled and segmented
• Tomato paste - 3 heaped table spoons
• 1L of tomato puree - use two 400 g cans of whole tomato blended + approximately approx. 400ml water.
• Salt to taste - around 1 table spoon
• 1 table spoon of stock powder or 1 cube of stock
• Pepper - 1 teaspoon
• Ghee or oil for cooking as required.
For the rice:
• 2 cups long grain basmati rice
• Water for boiling and steaming the rice
• Salt to taste
• 2 table spoons ghee
TIPS:
• Baima can be made out of fresh or frozen okra. Frozen okra is available from your middle eastern or Asian grocers.
• Avoid cutting your okra! This makes the whole stew slimy - small whole okra are always the best.
• Never add spices to your bamiya other than salt and pepper - this will ruin the bamiya - the true flavour comes from the fresh garlic infusing into the broth which is accentuated with salt.

[@ComsicHatM]

Bro you be saving my life and ma childhood, ain't too many iraqis in Alaska 😂😭

[@TheArabAussieCookingChannel]

Pleasure to be of service 🫡, enjoy your bamia

[@rozaayyyy]

When the meat came out of the pressure cooker👌🤤

[@ErinWinslow]

Okra is popular in South Carolina, USA too!

[@khawlaalkhazraji14]

Oh my God, this looking so yummy and you made it looks so easy to make 👍

[@TheArabAussieCookingChannel]

Thank you, only because I was lucky to work with an amazing cook 😊

[@nidiashalabi2036]

This looks absolutely amazing! Will be making it soon 🤤

[@mnazz18]

Excellent!!!

[@queensabina9983]

Will try it thanks dear💗

[@TheArabAussieCookingChannel]

Definitely worth try 😊

[@kamalal-naimi5808]

Brilliant recipe. Made it today. The whole family were full of praise. It was absolutely delicious. I would only recommend adding a little bit of either squeezed lemon juice or citric acid crystals to give it that added tang. That's how we normally have it in Iraq. This a definite keeper of a recipe. Thank you x

[@TheArabAussieCookingChannel]

Alif afiya ☺️

[@b0ngoBing0bang0o]

I was looking for this as normally it is included in maraka/stews!!! However it’s been a nice change today to leave it out, i like the option now so thankyou for showing this! 😊

[@NesttieSA]

Tham k you hun, I love iraqi Bamia dish😍😍

[@NZ_Kiwi]

Shukran 🙌 Its always been so daunting for me to attempt to make this amazing & tasty dish but with your help it turned out great 🏆😊🙏

[@TheArabAussieCookingChannel]

I'm so glad 😊, enjoy your bamia! 💛

[@NZ_Kiwi]

@@TheArabAussieCookingChannel 😍

[@saharhadawi4405]

It looks delicious 😋I wish you all the best 🙏

[@TheArabAussieCookingChannel]

Thank you 😊⚘

[@minaa280]

Wow this looks amazing 👏👏👏

[@TheArabAussieCookingChannel]

Thank you! It really is delicious

[@arthurvandeman]

ubetcha, must try. ta.

[@nasrinesmaiel1456]

Thanks from iran ❤

[@TheArabAussieCookingChannel]

My pleasure Nasrin 😊

[@user-tg6je3mf2t]

😍😍😍😍

[@moezkhan7602]

Bil aafiyeh! I am making some now haha 🥰

[@TheArabAussieCookingChannel]

Alif Afiyeh! 😊

[@ilovegingers4ever]

Thankyou for sharing this ❤

[@TheArabAussieCookingChannel]

My pleasure 🙏

[@mdmustafa8731]

Very good

[@TheArabAussieCookingChannel]

Thank you 😊

[@malaliaus]

👏👏👏⚘⚘⚘👏👏👏👏🥰🥰🥰

[@SweetestIRAQIRose]

Hi lovely! This looks amazing I would really love to try it ☺️
Just had a couple of questions if that’s ok:
When boiling the meat the first time (without pressure cooker) how long approximately do you leave it?
And when adding the garlic, do you add a whole garlic head that wasn’t peeled? Sorry, I watched it a few times now and I’m still confused. Never added this much garlic before 😅 does this garlic melt away in the stew, or does it stay as chunks?

[@TheArabAussieCookingChannel]

For the shanks, fill the pot with cold water, let it come to a first boil, then stop cooking and drain. I.e. as soon as it starts boiling you can turn the heat off.
When adding your garlic, it's 2 whole bulbs - one peeled and segmented the other whole, unpeeled. The key to delicious bamia is lots of garlic and lots of tomato paste, trust me 😊
Hope this helps xx

[@escapetofantasy9173]

What stock powder did you use?

[@TheArabAussieCookingChannel]

I used chicken but you can use any stock of your choice - beef, vegetable or chicken stock :)

[@allya4253]

How long did you leave the meat in the pressure cooker for?

[@dalyaaraci4828]

She tells you in the video 45 min + or until the meat is soft

[@TheArabAussieCookingChannel]

Total of 1 hour, or until the meat is soft bit you need to add the okra after 40 mins. All explained in the video 😊

[@karlzberg7]

If you don’t have a pressure cooker, do you just cook for longer on a medium heat? X

[@TheArabAussieCookingChannel]

That's exactly right Karly, just cook for longer until the meat is falling off the bone 👌

[@markn9619]

what kind of stock powder?

[@TheArabAussieCookingChannel]

You may use vegetable or chicken based stock powder

[@markn9619]

@@TheArabAussieCookingChannel if i dont have tomato purée, how many roma tomatoes do i need to make the purée? i also dont have a blender but have a food processor

[@TheArabAussieCookingChannel]

@markn9619 4 tomatoes blended in a food processor works 🙂

[@markn9619]

@@TheArabAussieCookingChannel came out really watery looking and there was still chunks of tomatoes still in there that wasn’t blended.

[@kawsarhassan2513]

My meat always comes very hard! Not soft? what am I doing wrong x

[@TheArabAussieCookingChannel]

Hmmm sounds like you need to cook it longer by boiling🤔

[@nidiashalabi2036]

If on a regular pot (as opposed to a pressure cooker), the lamb can take up to three hours depending on the cut. It’s best to use a pressure cooker to save time and to tenderize it.
For best flavor, I would put it on a slow cooker in the morning for 8 hours on low, as the slow cooking process REALLY brings out all the flavors as they have intensified for hours. It will be delicious any way you cook it, but the longer it cooks definitely really intensifies the flavors.

[@user-im9vm9bq4z]

how are youuuuuuuuu

[@user-im9vm9bq4z]

hi

[@TheArabAussieCookingChannel]

Hiii 😊

[@urameshiyusuke5282]

Bzmati rice or Basmati rice? 😂

[@TheArabAussieCookingChannel]

Definitely Bzmati mate 😊

[@moab4511]

No freaking way that's iraqi bamia .. please use ribs instead of shank and regular oil instead of gee and no pressure cooker .

[@TheArabAussieCookingChannel]

We prefer shanks, ghee and a pressure cooker on this side of Iraq 😉