Bamya with Chicken

This recipe is an old family recipe handed down from my grandmother to my mum and from my mum to me. It is one of my favourite Cypriot / Mediterranean dishes and for me it is comfort food of the highest caliber.

It uses an ingredient, okra, which is not seen very often in western style food, but it is a widely used vegetable in Middle Eastern/African and Asian (and Cajun style) cooking.

Okra, these ones came out of the freezer - frozen from fresh. The top have been trimmed off these ones.

Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
1 brown onion, coarsely chopped
6 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
4 Chicken thigh fillets (skin off), cut into 3 x 3 cm pieces (large chunks)
500 - 750 g okra (fresh or frozen)
1 can diced tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 - 1 1/2 cups of chicken stock (you can use a stock cube)
1 tsp ground cumin
juice of 1 lemon
1 1/2 cup basmati rice (400 ml)
salt & pepper

Preparation
(for the rice)

1. Add 3 cups of water (800 ml) to a pot and bring to boil.
2. Season with salt
3. When water is boiling, pour in rice and stir once. Put lid firmly on, reduce heat to lowest possible and cook for 12 min. Leave the lid on during entire cook, no peaking.
4. When the 12 minutes is up, check if there is still any water in the pot, if yes cook for a further 2 min, if dry, turn off heat and leave rice to steam under the lid until served.

Preparation for Bamya

1. chop onions, garlic and chicken thigh fillets
2. trim top of okra to remove the stem-like part of the vegetable
3. heat olive oil in a wok or big pot
4. add onions & garlic with a little salt and fry for 2-3 minutes
5. add chicken pieces and brown on all sides
6. add cumin, diced tomato, tomato paste and stock, stir and bring to the boil
7. once boiling, add okra, juice of lemon and salt & pepper to taste
8. simmer for 25-30 min
9. taste and season to taste again if needed
10. serve steaming hot on top of rice

Enjoy!

Okra has just been added to the pot.

Bamya has been stewing for 25-30 minutes and is ready. Notice how the sauce has thickened up as well.

Serve with basmati or parboiled rice - YUM!