Sumagiyya

Ingredients

• 600g stewing beef, cut into 2cm cubes
• 60g ground sumac
• 400ml hot water, for steeping
• 500g Swiss chard
• 400g cooked chickpeas
• 150g tahini
• 3 tbsp plain flour
• 8 garlic cloves
• 2 tsp dill seed
• 2 red chillies
• 100ml olive oil
• 1 onion
• 2 tsp fine salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• Warm pita bread, to serve

Before you cook

• Stir the ground sumac into the 400ml of hot water and leave it to steep for 30 minutes
• Separate the chard stalks from the leaves, then slice the stalks into 1cm pieces and shred the leaves
• Chop the onion finely
• Crush the garlic to a paste with a pinch of salt
• Crush the dill seed roughly in a mortar
• Finely chop the chillies

Steps

1. Warm 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a heavy pot over high heat.
2. Brown the beef cubes in two batches for 4 minutes each, until they are well coloured on at least two sides.
3. Return all the beef to the pot with the chopped onion, bay leaf, half the salt and the pepper.
4. Pour in 700ml of water and bring it to a boil, skimming the foam that rises.
5. Lower the heat and simmer covered for 1 hour, until the beef is tender enough to break with a spoon.
6. Strain the steeped sumac through a fine sieve into a bowl, pressing the solids hard with the back of a ladle, then discard the grounds.
7. Whisk the tahini and flour into the strained sumac liquid until you have a smooth, loose batter with no lumps.
8. Heat 3 more tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan and cook the chard stalks for 5 minutes, until they lose their squeak.
9. Add the chard leaves and cook for 3 minutes more, until they wilt down and the pan is dry.
10. Tip the chard and the chickpeas into the beef pot and stir them through.
11. Pour in the sumac and tahini mixture in a steady stream, stirring constantly so it does not catch.
12. Cook over low heat for 15 minutes, stirring often, until the stew thickens to the consistency of a loose porridge and loses its raw flour taste.
13. Heat the last of the olive oil in a small pan and add the garlic paste, crushed dill seed and chopped chillies.
14. Fry for 40 seconds, until the garlic just turns blond and the dill smells sweet.
15. Pour the sizzling garlic and dill oil into the stew and stir it in with the remaining salt.
16. Serve the sumagiyya warm rather than piping hot, in shallow bowls, with pita for scooping.