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Jelbana: photo of the dish
Illustrative photo: IssamBarhoumi — CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Everyday meals

Jelbana

A Tunisian stew of meat and chickpeas or peas, flavoured with harissa and cumin, very comforting. Jelbana is traditionally served over a bed of semolina or with bread.

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Ingredients

Ingredients

Spices & seasoning

Optional extras

On the side

Instructions

  1. Cut the meat into 3 cm pieces. Finely chop the onion and garlic.
  2. Heat the oil in a large casserole and brown the meat on all sides, in small batches.
  3. Add the onions and garlic, let them colour for 5 minutes, then stir in the tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes.
  4. Pour in the water, add the cumin, paprika, salt and pepper, then cover and simmer gently for 40 minutes.
  5. Add the carrots cut into rounds and cook for another 10 minutes.
  6. Stir in the peas and harissa, then continue for 10 minutes until the vegetables are tender and the meat is melting.
  7. Adjust the seasoning, sprinkle with chopped coriander and serve piping hot.

Variations and tips

Chickpea version. Replace the peas with 300 g of cooked chickpeas for a more rustic version, or make it vegetarian by leaving out the meat.

More ideas

Original Ecomely recipe.