A Rhodope mountain stew of beef cooked slowly in a sealed clay pot with whole shallots, carrots, red wine and allspice, until the onions melt into a dark, glossy sauce around meat soft enough to cut with a spoon.
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 1 kg beef shin or chuck (or pork shoulder), in 4 cm cubes
- 600 g shallots or small pickling onions, peeled and left whole
- 3 carrots, cut into 2 cm rounds
- 6 garlic cloves, whole
- 4 tbsp sunflower oil
- 300 ml dry red wine
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 3 bay leaves
- 6 allspice berries
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 tsp dried savory
- 2 tsp salt
- 200 ml hot water
- 150 g plain flour, for the sealing dough
- 90 ml cold water, for the dough
- 6 slices crusty bread, to serve
Nutrition (estimated)
high confidenceRecipe total: 4815 kcal · P 308.5g · C 324.3g · F 220.2g
Estimated from 17 of 17 ingredients
Approximate estimate, calculated from the ingredients.
Steps
Steps
- 1Season the meat with half the salt. Heat the oil in a frying pan over high heat and brown the meat in two batches for 5–6 minutes per batch until well coloured, then transfer it to a large clay pot of about 3 litres.
- 2Lower the heat to medium, brown the whole shallots in the same fat for 5 minutes until golden in patches, and add them to the pot with the carrots and garlic.
- 3Take the pan off the heat, stir in the tomato paste and paprika, then pour in the wine and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom. Bring to the boil and let it bubble for 2 minutes.
- 4Pour the wine over the meat, add the hot water, bay leaves, allspice, peppercorns, savory and remaining salt, and stir gently. The liquid should come about two-thirds of the way up — the shallots release more as they cook.
- 5Knead the flour and cold water into a stiff dough, roll it into a rope and press it around the rim of the pot, then press the lid onto it to seal.
- 6Put the pot into a cold oven and only then set it to 160°C — a clay pot put straight into a hot oven can crack.
- 7Cook for 3 hours without opening. The sealed lid traps the steam, so the meat braises in its own juices and the sauce reduces without drying out.
- 8Take the pot out, break the dough seal with a knife and check that the meat breaks apart with a spoon; if not, cover with foil and cook for 30 minutes more.
- 9Rest for 10 minutes and serve from the pot at the table, with bread to mop up the sauce.
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Questions and answers
How long does Chomlek take to make?
About 230 minutes: 30 min prep and 200 min cooking.
What ingredients do you need for Chomlek?
17 ingredients: beef shin or chuck, shallots or small pickling onions, carrots, garlic cloves, sunflower oil, dry red wine, tomato paste, sweet paprika, bay leaves, allspice berries, black peppercorns, dried savory and 5 more.
How many servings does this Chomlek recipe make?
6 servings. The servings buttons above the ingredients rescale every amount.
How many calories are in a serving of Chomlek?
About 803 kcal, with 51.4 g protein, 54 g carbohydrate and 36.7 g fat. This is an estimate from the ingredients, not a lab analysis.
What cuisine is Chomlek?
Chomlek comes from Bulgarian cuisine.
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