Kabab halla is a traditional Egyptian recipe that makes an appearance at many, many celebrations. Best part? It’s so easy to make, and perfect when made ahead!
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
What is Kabab Halla?
Kabab halla (كَباب حلة) can be loosely translated as meat in a pot. It’s a dry-ish beef and onion braised dish in which the beef and onions are slow cooked until the meat is fork tender and the onions have broken down to produce a rich, aromatic and silky sauce.
This iconic Egyptian dish is a favourite comfort food for many. And despite its simplicity, kabab halla often makes an appearance on the celebration table, whether that’s birthdays, Eid for the Muslims and Christmas or the Epiphany Feast for the Coptic Christians.
You may also have come across it written as kabab hala, with a single l. Looking at the Arabic spelling, it should be translated with just a single l. But because of the huge emphasis on the H, it comes out sounding like halla. It really is more Haa – la.
The Recipe
Kabab halla is such an easy recipe to cook at home. And like many braised dishes, it’s even better the next day, so a great make ahead dish for entertaining.
This is what we’ll be doing:
- Slice the onions.
- Brown the beef.
- Add everything into the pot and cook for about 2 hours, until the meat is done.
That’s it. Super easy.
The Ingredients
Kabab halla requires the most basic of ingredients, for the most part. The only one that you might not have access to is Baharat, the Middle Eastern 7-spice mix. But that’s easily made at home, more below.
Let’s take a look at some of the ingredients that need clarifying.
Beef
I love slow cooked dishes because they are a great way of using up less expensive cuts of meat with maximum flavour. You can use any collagen-rich cuts of beef for cooking kabab halla. Just ask your butcher, if you’re not sure.
My favourite cut of meat for cooking kabab halla any many stews is the chuck. It’s sourced from around the shoulder of the cow and is low on price but high on flavour because of its fat content. Here in the UK, it is also sold as braising steak and is popularly found as mince.
Cuts of meat have different terms in different parts of the world, so when cooking recipes, you may need to do a search online to get the equivalent name for where you are.
Onions
We use a whole lot of onions to cook up this Egyptian braised beef recipe. This is because the onions are a big part of the final sauce in kabab halla.
They should be the equivalent of the beef in weight. So if you’re using 500 g beef (1.1 lb) , you want 500 g onions. I kg beef (2.2 lb) = 1 kg onions. Simple.
I like using regular brown onions for this, but you can use red, if you prefer.
Baharat
Baharat is an aromatic spice mix from the Middle East. It is also called Middle Eastern 7-spice mix or Lebanese 7 spices. There really isn’t a single formula or recipe; every family or cook is going to have their own version.
Depending on where you are, you should find baharat in the spice aisles next to all the other spices. Failing that, make up your own, with my recipe here. It uses basic spices like coriander, cumin, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, nutmeg and black peppercorns. I also give you optional spices to add to make it your own version.
Ghee
Ghee, as you’ll know, is clarified butter. The Egyptian version is called samna baladi, which can be translated as traditional ghee or fat. It’s made from water buffalo milk and is pretty white in colour.
I use regular ghee, which works beautifully in this Egyptian beef recipe. You can use butter, if you like, or even olive or vegetable oil.
How to Serve Kabab Halla
Kabab halla is traditionally served with Egyptian rice, a simple dish of lightly flavoured rice and vermicelli noodles. I’ll be doing that recipe next, so look out for it. In the meantime, we have so many Middle Eastern rice dishes here on LinsFood, including the Persian rice and vermicelli dish, Reshteh Polo.
Kabab halla is also wonderful served with any kind of of bread. That can be Middle Eastern flatbreads or baguettes and other Western style ones.
Kabab Halla Recipe (Egyptian Braised Beef and Onions)
Ingredients
- 1 kg beef suitable for slow cooking, see article above
- 1 kg onions pre peeled weight about 1.2 kg, see article
- 2 Tbsp ghee or salted butter or EV olive oil
- 1 tsp baharat see article
- 2 bay leaves dried or fresh
- ½ tsp salt
- 125 ml water
- freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Peel the onions. Then halve and slice them, but not too thinly.
- Cut the beef into large cubes, about 5cm/2" all around.
- Heat the ghee in a Dutch oven, large saucepan or slow cooker and brown the beef all over for about 2 minutes each side.Do this in 2 batches so as not to overcrowd the pot.
- Add the onions, give it a good stir, scraping the bottom of the pot to release all the delicious flavours. Add the baharat, bay leaves and salt and stir well.Bring to a simmer. Then reduce the heat to its lowest setting, cover and cook for 30 minutes. As we've not added any water, we want to check it to ensure it hasn't dried up.
- At 30 minutes, give it a stir and add the water. Bring it back to a simmer, cover and cook for another 45 – 60 minutes until the beef is cooked and is fork tender. This means a fork will glide through the beef pieces easily.Stir every 20 minutes or so, to stop it from catching.
- Check seasoning and add more salt if necessary, and finish off with a sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper.Serve as mentioned.It will keep in the fridge for 3 days.
Just wanted to drop a quick thanks. Love the simplicity of this, making it again tomorrow. And now going to check out the rice you just published on youtube.
My pleasure, Rhys. Saw your comment on YT, much appreciated. You’ll love the rice.
This looks quite delicious, aromatic and easy to make. Would lamb too work for this and In that case do we cook it for 2 hours or less?
Lam would work just as well, Renu. I’d cook it for 1 1/2 – 2 hours, until the meat is done.