Meat Stew

Ingredients:

2 lbs beef
2 1/2 Onions
12 small Tomatoes
2 cups Brown rice
1 cup of Cooking oil
1 large Potato
Handful String beans (12 -15)
3 small Carrots
8 hot green peppers (the larger type)
2 teaspoons of Curry
2 Bay leaves
4 clovesof Garlic
1" piece of Ginger
5 Cloves
a pinch of Anise
a pinch of dried Rosemary

Wash the meat, then cut it up into 2" cubes. Try and make them as even as possible, so that they cook evenly.

Blend the half onion, garlic, ginger, anise, rosemary and cloves until very smooth.

Pour over the meat. Add 2 teaspoons of salt, the 2 bay leaves and 1 maggi cube. Toss and make sure all pieces are covered well. Leave to marinate in the fridge for at least an hour. (you could alternatively leave in the fridge overnight).

Place the meat in a pot and steam until it is tender. Add water when it runs low in the pot.

Heat the cooking oil in a pan and fry the meat.

When it turns dark brown it is ready. Remove quickly so it doesn't burn. Fry in batches if necessary.

Pick and wash the rice. Cook as you would regular rice. If you are not sure, better err on the side of caution and use less water than you normally would and only add more, as you need it.

Blend the tomatoes and peppers.

Peel the Potato, scrape the carrots and remove strings from the beans.

Cut the string beans on a slant, about 1" long pieces. Cut the carrots to match the shape of the beans. Bring a pot of water to the boil, then add the carrots and boil for about 3 minutes then add the string beans and boil for and additional 1 minute. Pour off the Hot water, then run under cold water and drain in a colander.

Cube the potato into half inch cubes. If the are too small, the tend to break up in the stew. You want to still have chunks you can bite on.

Slice the 2 onions.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the cooking oil and fry the onions.

When they turn translucent, add the curry and fry until the edges begin to brown.

Add the blended tomatoes.

Fry until almost sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Add the stock from the meat and simmer.

Add the pieces of fried meat,

and the cubed potatoes, plus 2 cups of water,  cover and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and let it simmer down until the stew thickens and the potatoes are cooked.

Serve with the brown rice and steamed vegetable.