Fahsa Saltah from Yemen

This is the traditional lunch dish in Yemen.  It contains something called hulba which is made from fenugreek.  However, that is not always easy to come by so I have come up with an alternative you can try which will give a similar flavour.  The meat in this dish could be lamb or beef.  This is ideal for a slow cooker as you want the meat to be literally falling apart.  Put it on in the morning and eat it when you come home from work.

1 tablespoon oil
3 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 onion finely sliced
1 green chili finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon salt
1 beef stock cube
500g beef cut into cubes
5 cups water
Hulba alternative
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon fennel
1 capsicum finely chopped
1 clove garlic finely chopped
1 green chili finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon water
Put the oil in a large pot or slow cooker.  Saute the onion, garlic and chili until soft.  Add the beef cubes and lightly brown.  Add in the water, stock cube, turmeric, salt, coriander and cumin.  Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat and allow to simmer for about 2 hours, until you can break the meat apart with a fork.
For the hulba put everything in a food processor and blend it until you have the consistency of a thick cream.
Remove your fahsa saltah from the heat and stir in the hulba.  You don't have to use all the hulba as it is quite spicy.  3 Tablespoons should do it.  Eat with naan or slices of fresh bread.
Cindy Vine is a South African currently living and working in Kyiv in Ukraine. She is the author of Hush Baby, Defective, C U @ 8, Not Telling and The Case of Billy B. All her books are available on Amazon in both print and Kindle format. http://cindyvine.com