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Beef shin stew with spiced sweet potato dumplings and couscous

Preparation time
1-2 hours

Cooking time
over 2 hours

Serves
Serves 4


By Matt Tebbutt
From Saturday Kitchen

Ingredients

For the beef shin stew

  • 800g/1lb 12oz beef shin, cut into 4cm/1.5in pieces
  • 6 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 garlic bulb, peeled and chopped
  • 2 thyme sprigs
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 beef tomatoes, chopped
  • pinch saffron, soaked in 2 tbsp freshly boiled water
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 1–2 tsp ground cumin
  • 2 tsp ground turmeric
  • 500ml/18fl oz beef stock
  • 1 butternut squash, peeled and diced
  • 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
  • 1 spring cabbage, cut into 8 wedges
  • 2 courgettes, chopped
  • 400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the dumplings

  • 500g/1lb 2oz sweet potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp smoked sweet paprika
  • ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 50g/1¾oz plain flour

For the batter

  • 200g/7oz plain flour
  • ½ tsp ground turmeric
  • 1 tsp fast-action dried yeast
  • 200ml/7fl oz warm water
  • salt
  • oil, for deep-frying

To serve

  • 200g/7oz natural yoghurt
  • 4 tbsp harissa paste
  • 2 tbsp chopped fresh mint
  • couscous, cooked to packet instructions

Method

  1. To make the beef, season the beef shin with salt and pepper and seal all over in a frying pan until browned. Remove from the pan.

  2. Heat the oil in a casserole and cook the onion, garlic, thyme, bay leaf, tomatoes, saffron and spices for 8–10 minutes. Add the beef to the pan, cover with the stock and 1 litre/1¾ pint water and cook slowly for 1½ hours.

  3. Add the butternut squash, carrots and cabbage to the pan. Cover and cook for another 25 minutes before finally adding the courgettes and chickpeas. Simmer for 15 minutes until cooked through. Season with salt and pepper.

  4. To make the dumplings, boil the sweet potatoes in a large pan of boiling water for 15 minutes or until soft. Mash then add to a large bowl.

  5. Add the remaining dumpling ingredients (except the oil for frying) to the bowl and mix together until well combined. Set aside in the fridge to firm up for at least an hour.

  6. When ready to cook, form the dumpling mix into small quenelle shapes.

  7. To make the batter, mix the flour and turmeric together in a bowl. Mix the yeast with the warm water in a bowl and pour into the flour mixture. Mix well, cover and leave to activate somewhere warm for 1 hour.

  8. Heat the oil in a large heavy bottomed pan to 180C. Dip the sweet potato dumplings in the batter and deep-fry on all sides for a few minutes until golden, about 2–3 minutes. (CAUTION: hot oil can be dangerous. Do not leave unattended.)

  9. In a bowl, mix the yoghurt and the harissa paste until combined.

  10. Serve the dumplings with the yoghurt on the side. Garnish with the mint leaves and serve alongside the stew, dumplings and couscous.

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