Recipe: Maraq

Maraq (pronounced MUH-rak) is a dish from Somalia. Most of the group had three and even four helpings of this. Even the ones who never go past one helping (of anything but KD, ahem), finished it with a decent amount of enthusiasm. The recipe comes from the cookbook "Extending the Table". I may have tweaked it a bit to suit my family, I can't remember. This is what's on my recipe card, at any rate.

Ingredients:

1 onion
1 lb stewing beef
2 large tomatoes
1 cup cubed squash
1 small zucchini
3 carrots
1/2 cup tomato paste (I don't always add this; I didn't this week)
1 cup water
1 green pepper
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon cumin
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro
another cup of water

Method:
1. Sautee onions in large pot. Add beef and brown. (Don't hurry this. The browned beef really adds richness to the flavour of the stew, particularly if you're going to finish the dish in a slow-cooker!)

2. Add chopped tomatoes, cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

At this point, you can dump this and all other ingredients into a slow-cooker and cook on low for 6 - 8 hours, making sure to scrape up and include any crusty bits from the bottom of the pot. If using a slow-cooker, you may not need the second cup of water.

If using the stove-top:
3. Add squash, zucchini, carrots, tomato paste and a cup of water. Turn to high and boil for two minutes.
4. Add remainder of ingredients and simmer till meat and vegetables tender, about 1 hour. (It can be cooked much longer, if you don't mind very soft vegetables, but it can't really be cooked less than an hour.)

It freezes very well, too!