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One-Pot Wonders

Fasoolya Khadra

by:
March 13, 2021
4.5
8 Ratings
  • Serves 6-8
Author Notes

This is a Jordanian recipe - one of my favorites. It's meant to be eaten over rice, which generally means white rice. Many people (including me) put plain whole-milk yogurt on the side. Amazing. —Susan

Test Kitchen Notes

We were a bit skeptical of this traditional Jordanian dish - especially for summer - but boy were we wrong. This is one of those recipes, like pot au feu, that seem to defy the laws of cooking by coaxing an intensely flavorful sauce from water rather than broth or wine. Here, beef and beans soften into lushness, enveloped by a silky gravy of tomatoes, garlic, coriander and cumin. We used cheap stew meat, which still required almost two hours of cooking, and sturdier-than-average green beans, which held up nicely even after nearly double the recommended cooking time. We followed Susan's advice and ate the stew with a dollop of yogurt on the side, and we encourage you to as well. - A&M —The Editors

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Ingredients
  • 1 pound stew beef
  • 1 pound green beans
  • 1 pound tomatoes - can be in a can
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • salt
  • pepper
  • coriander
  • cumin
Directions
  1. Rub the beef with salt and pepper, place in a covered skillet, and cover with water. Stew it until it is brown.
  2. Remove the ends from the green beans. Cut them into 1 1/2 inch pieces.
  3. When the beef is finished, remove one cup of the broth and reserve it. Put the green beans in alongside it, and stew them until they are cooked to your taste.
  4. Chop tomatoes and food-process with the beef broth and crushed garlic until smooth. Add this mixture to the green beans and beef. Salt and pepper generously, and add about 2 teaspoons each of cumin and coriander. Let it simmer for about an hour. For the most delicious flavor, let it sit on the stove for a while after that hour and reheat later.
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18 Reviews

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sffoodie52 August 20, 2021
Good and easy! Will make it again and again.
Gail 🐝. September 18, 2015
I maybe a little late for an answer.
Is it ground cumin or cumin seeds ?
Sarah E. February 11, 2015
Just made this two nights ago and it was delicious - thank you for the recipe! Whole Foods was out of stew meat so the butcher kindly offered to cut up a sirloin steak for me and the recipe was fantastic with the high quality meat. The cut was a bit fattier than stew meat would have been, but the taste was wonderful, probably more similar to how the dish would turn out using lamb. I used pre-ground coriander which was still flavorful though I'm sure grinding your own would make the dish extra special. I used the full 28 oz box of diced tomatoes so did not have to add additional water during cooking. It cooked perfectly in 1 hour. I served it over white basmati rice--and agree with previous comments that if you are not serving with anything else, servings are closer to 3-4 than 6-8. Will definitely make again!
gabby December 17, 2014
Wow, so close to my Assyrian grandmother's stew (sherwa/shurwa/kurush). So close I had to look over your recipe so closely. She swore by boiling meat and skimming the water as you go to clean the meat. Might say something about the quality and care of meat in her childhood, but can make a flavor difference (especially if you use lamb).
procrastibaker September 3, 2014
I made this last night and had to stop myself from going back to scoop more into my bowl. Used three cloves of garlic, about 1.5T each of cumin and coriander, and used fresh tomatoes, since they're in season, and served it with just some crusty bread on the side to scoop up the gravy. I didn't have quite enough time to stew it until the meat was completely tender, so some chunks were still a little tough (I was using cheap stew meat), but that's just how it goes on a late worknight. The result was a rich, satisfying, easy dinner for a cold, gray evening here in the Bay. I'll be making this over and over again.
UhOhSarah January 21, 2014
I've made this many times with cauliflower instead of beans. One of my favorites!
S.K. December 16, 2013
I make this all the time except for the cumin and coriander. It's a universal middle eastern comfort food dish, I'm Assyrian and our version is to cook the beef in some butter, add another garlic and use the best quality tomatoes, most use from the can but now that they make diced tomatoes in a cardboard box like material I like that much better. The only spices I add are salt and pepper. I let it simmer for about an hour and its to die for. Oh also, I pour it over my buttery basmati rice too. Yum! yum! yum!
Andrea R. July 3, 2013
Loved this dish! I kept the top on the pot in all three stages (browning, adding green beans, and simmering), and I still needed to add a little extra water. I also used half a can of whole tomatoes. And I served it over Cumin-Scented Rice from How to Cook Everything. The stew and the rice were all we had for dinner, along with some wine, so, for me, this recipe serves 4.
Gibson2011 September 13, 2012
Pretty good. Reminds me of a recipe for Swiss Steak that my mom used to make. I too had to cook the beef for closer to two hours to get it tender.
Suzieque June 18, 2012
This recipe turned out great. I did leave the top on during the browning phase and when cooking the green beans, but left it off after adding the tomato puree. I did not used canned tomatoes and used a blender instead of a food processor to mostly liquefy it.
I never knew that you could brown meat in water until this recipe came along. So, I definitely learned something new.
FriendlyFoodie March 6, 2012
I made this over the weekend and it was good, but I would not say great. I toasted and ground my corriander and cumin seeds, but it seemed like it still needed something more, perhaps some form of acid to punch it up a bit. There was definitely more flavor on day 2 and the green beans held up nicely even with the long cooking time.
JohnL January 5, 2014
I agree, not great. I'm mystified what went wrong in my kitchen; in spite of nice tender hunks of chuck and rich-looking sauce, this tasted like a bad crockery pot recipe or canned beef stew with overcooked green beans in a blah tomato sauce (and I added extra spice).
xsus1234 February 16, 2012
This tasted delicious. But it was still quite watery? I used canned tomatoes but removed them from the juice before weighing. I did leave the top on through-out the cooking process. Should I have used fresh tomatoes or left the cover off during the cooking process?

Thanks so much
Truly S. March 22, 2012
Maybe to avoid having too much liquid: before step three. separate meat from all liquid, not just one cup as recipe says, maybe strain liquid or... not,chefs perogative, reserve the one cup aside as recipe request in step three, then take the remaining strained liquid and reduce it down on the stove to concentrate the flavor. Then proceed to step three. adding desired amount of liquid "broth" to green beans and stew meat. etc.
lapadia June 26, 2011
Love the ingredients used in this recipe, and a very appetizing photo!
ThinkingChair January 7, 2011
We made this right after Christmas when we wanted something completely different from all that blandness. It was easy and delicious. I did increase the spices a bit since I had quite a bit of liquid. Both myself and my 11 year old son loved it! Thanks!
Tony S. September 20, 2010
So simple but so good! Very similiar to a Lebanese recipe called Lubee Ah Laham. Just replace the beef with lamb and the coriander and cumin with cinnamon and perhaps a pinch of allspice.

J-Dizzle June 24, 2010
This is a great recipe....love it! have also made it with lamb...yummmm! Thanks!!