Fasolia bi Lahme
White beans and lamb stewed with tomato and a great deal of garlic and coriander. The everyday winter pot, eaten over rice.
Image note: Illustration, generated by AI · not a photograph of this dish
Salt goes in late. Beans cooked in salted liquid from the start keep tough skins however long they simmer, because salt firms the pectin in the skin before the inside softens — so the pot is seasoned once the beans are already tender, and they come out creamy instead of chalky. The lamb goes in first and gets a head start, since shoulder needs longer than a soaked bean does and the two want to arrive at the same moment.
What People Ask
How long does Fasolia bi Lahme take to make?
20 minutes of preparation and 1 hour 35 minutes of cooking, so 1 hour 55 minutes in all, plus up to 8 hours of soaking if your ingredients need it (the method says when). The recipe serves 6.
How to Make Fasolia bi Lahme
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If you are using dried beans, drain off their soaking water, cover them with fresh water and boil hard for 30 minutes while you work through the next three steps, then drain. Brown the lamb in 2 tbsp oil over high heat in two batches, about 8 minutes, until properly coloured. Lift out.
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Soften the onions in the rest of the oil 8 minutes, then add the garlic and half the coriander and cook 2 minutes.
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Stir in the tomato purée and cook 2 minutes until it darkens.
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Return the lamb with the tomatoes, ground coriander, allspice, pepper and water. Simmer covered 60 minutes, with the boiled dried beans in the pot if you are using them.
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Add the tinned beans, if using, and simmer a further 30 minutes, uncovered for the last 10 so the sauce reduces.
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Only now stir in the salt. Taste and adjust.
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Finish with the remaining fresh coriander and serve over rice with lemon.
Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.
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Worth Getting Right
- Salt at the end. Early salt keeps bean skins tough.
- The lamb needs an hour before the beans join it.
- Uncover at the end to thicken the sauce rather than adding flour.
Swaps and Variations
- An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.
What to Serve With It
Plain rice · Flatbread · A raw onion and sumac salad
Keeping and Reheating
Refrigerated for 4 days, better on day two. It freezes for 3 months.
Fasolia bi Lahme Nutrition
Per serving, an approximate calculation from the ingredient list. Treat it as a rough guide: a drained tin is counted at its full weight, liquid included, so those lines run high; garnishes, greasing and other items with no amount are not counted. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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