Persian Okra Stew (Khoresh Bamieh)

Persian Okra Stew (Khoresh Bamieh) is a comforting, tomato-based stew made with tender okra and slow-cooked beef or lamb. It’s an easy and flavorful way to enjoy okra—perfect served over basmati rice for a cozy, satisfying meal.

The colder seasons seem to spark this conversation of “comfort foods.” Of course, comfort foods are different for everyone. For our family, it usually evokes images of Persian stews.

They are warm, hearty, full of vegetables and meats of your choice, and always served with fluffy, aromatic basmati rice. Can you smell the saffron????

Okra is an under appreciated vegetable, in my opinion. Luckily, I love it! It is especially delicious in this Persian stew, khoresh bamieh.

Ingredients you need

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• Beef stew meat: You can also use beef shanks or lamb shanks. Remember with the shanks, because of the bone, they will require more cooking time.
• Fresh okra: I prefer fresh okra, of course, for this stew. But if you can not find fresh okra, you can use frozen as a substitute. Just remember, that frozen vegetables, once thawed and cooked, are much softer in texture so do not overcook.
• Onion: A simple brown onion is all you need for this dish.
• All purpose flour: I dust my meat with a little flour to help create a crust and thicken the stew. You can skip this or use rice flour, for a gluten-free option.
• Persian dried limes: Limoo Omani offers a unique sour flavor. I use the whole dried lemons in the soup and crush it up for the meat purée. My husband’s family likes it more sour so I typically serve it with ground limoo omani on the side.
• Pantry staples: Extra virgin olive oil, beef broth, tomato paste, and canned diced tomatoes.
• Seasonings: salt, pepper and turmeric.

Step-by-step directions

1. Sauté the onions. Cook the chopped onions in hot oil until they start to soften then add salt, pepper and turmeric.
2. Brown the meat. Season stew meat with salt, pepper, turmeric and dust with flour. Brown the seasoned meat with the onions.
3. Add broth. Stir in beef broth and using a wooden spoon, scrape up browned bits of meat from the bottom of the pot. Stir in tomato paste until combined.
4. Add tomatoes. Carefully pierce the dried limes with the tip of your knife to help the hot juice get in and soften the limes faster. Stir in the tomato paste and diced tomatoes, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 2 hours.
5. Add okra. Thirty minutes prior to serving, fry okra in batches until lightly browned. Add okra to the rest of stew, gently mixing it in. Cook 15-20 minutes.

Expert tips and recipe FAQs

All of Persian stews are served over a bed of chelo (Persian basmati rice). It is usually white rice, even yellow saffron rice. Sometimes stews are served alongside flavored rice dishes, pollo. But it is usually accompanied with plain white rice or even brown basmati rice.

Along with the rice, Persian stews are served with green salad, a platter of fresh herbs (sabzi khordan), cucumber tomato salad (salad shirazi) and/or yogurt with cucumbers (mast o khiar).

And if you are an okra fan like me, try my pickled okra recipe and my potato gumbo.

On a side note, in farsi, bamieh means “okra.” So khoresh bamieh is a this okra stew I just shared with you. Bamieh is also known for a sweet dessert we serve. It is a fried dessert that is crunchy on the outside, but soft and moist inside. It is soaked in a sweet syrup scented with rosewater.

I’ll save the bamieh dessert for another post!

Persian Okra Stew (Khoreshteh Bamieh)

Laura Bashar | Family Spice

Persian Okra Stew (Khoresh Bamieh) is a comforting, tomato-based stew made with tender okra and slow-cooked beef or lamb. It’s an easy and flavorful way to enjoy okra—perfect served over basmati rice for a cozy, satisfying meal.

5 from 2 votes

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 3 hours hrs

Total Time 3 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Persian

Servings 6

Calories 337 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 ½ lb beef stew meat cut into 1-inch chunks
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ½ teaspoon dried turmeric
• 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 small onion chopped
• 1 ½ cup beef broth
• 3 tablespoon tomato paste
• 3 dried limes halved*
• 14 oz canned diced tomatoes with juice
• 1 ½ lb okra

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Instructions

 

• In a large bowl mix together stew meat, ¼ teaspoon salt, ⅛ teaspoon black pepper, ¼ teaspoon turmeric and flour.
• Heat a large dutch oven over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon olive oil.
• When oil is hot add chopped onion.
• Cook until onions start to soften, approximately 7 minutes then season with ¼ teaspoon salt, ⅛ teaspoon black pepper and ¼ teaspoon turmeric.
• Cook for 2 minutes, then add stew meat and brown all sides, approximately 7 minutes.
• Stir in beef broth.
• Using a wooden spoon, scrape up browned bits of meat from the bottom of the pot.
• Stir in tomato paste and canned tomatoes. Add dried limes.
• Reduce heat to low and simmer for 2 hours. Stew can be refrigerated 3-4 days before serving at this point. Flavor is enhanced the longer it sits.
• Thirty minutes prior to serving, clean and stem okra. Pat dry with paper towels.
• Heat large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon olive oil.
• Fry okra in batches until lightly browned.
• Add okra to the rest of stew, gently mixing it in.
• Cook 15-20 minutes. If you overcook okra, they turn mushy.
• Serve over white basmati rice.

Notes

You can also substitute the beef stew meat with 2 ½ lbs of lamb shanks (with bone) or 3-4 lb fryer chicken (cut up). For vegetarian stew, substitute beef broth with any vegetable broth and add ½ cup yellow split peas in step 10. 

* If you can not find dried limes, substitute with ¼ cup lemon juice

TO STORE: Store any leftover stew in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days.

TO FREEZE: You can also freeze leftovers. Transfer to a resealable bag or freezer safe container and freeze for up to 4 months.

Nutrition

Serving: 1-2 cupsCalories: 337kcalCarbohydrates: 16.2gProtein: 39gFat: 12.5gSaturated Fat: 3.5gCholesterol: 101mgSodium: 479mgFiber: 5.2gSugar: 5.4g

Keyword bamieh stew, khoresh bamieh, khoresht bamieh, okra stew, persian okra stew, stewed okra with tomatoes

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