Tunisian · Dinner

Kamounia

Liver or beef stewed slowly with an aggressive quantity of cumin — kamoun — until the sauce is dark and thick. One spice, used at a volume that would be a mistake anywhere else.

2 hr to 2 hr 5 min total 2 hr to 2 hr 5 min start to finish Serves 6 servings Easy
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Kamounia

Photograph credit: كمونية by Touzrimounir · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · this resized copy is shared under the same licence

Three tablespoons of ground cumin is not a typo. Kamounia is named for the spice and is one of the very few stews built on a single dominant flavour, so cutting it back produces something anonymous. Half goes in early to cook down into the sauce and lose its dustiness, half goes in at the end for the sharp top note. If using liver, it is added only for the final ten minutes — an hour of simmering turns liver to rubber.

How to Make Kamounia

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  1. Brown the beef in the oil over high heat in two batches, 8 minutes. Lift out.

  2. Soften the onions 8 minutes, then add the garlic and cook 2 minutes.

  3. Stir in the tomato purée and harissa and fry 2 minutes until the oil runs red.

  4. Add half the cumin, the ground coriander, bay, salt and pepper, and cook 1 minute.

  5. Return the beef with the water and simmer covered 75 minutes, until tender.

  6. Uncover and reduce for 15 minutes, until the sauce is dark, thick and clinging. If using liver instead, add it now and cook only 10 minutes.

  7. Stir in the remaining cumin and the lemon juice off the heat, scatter with parsley, and serve with bread.

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A Few Pointers

  • Three tablespoons of cumin. That is the dish.
  • Half early, half at the end.
  • Liver goes in for ten minutes, never an hour.

Ingredient Swaps

  • 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.

Serve It With

Khobz tabouna · Slata tounsia · Harissa

Leftovers and Storage

Refrigerated for 4 days. It freezes for 3 months. Liver versions do not reheat well.

Kamounia Nutrition Facts

Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.

374Calories
27gProtein
8gCarbs
26gFat
2gFibre
2gSugar
800mgSodium

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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 .