Main course
Chomlek (veal and onion stew)
A slow winter stew of veal and whole small onions, made at New Year in Bitola and Prilep.
Recipe from Туѓино Јабано
- Prep
- 30 min
- Cook
- 3 hr 20 min
- Total
- 3 hr 50 min
- Fasting
- Not suitable
Ingredients 15 ingredients
Method
- Heat the oven to 150°C. Pat the veal dry, season it with salt and brown it in the oil in a heavy casserole, a few pieces at a time, so the pan stays hot enough to colour the meat rather than steam it.
- Lift the meat out. Add the peeled onions whole and roll them in the fat for five minutes until they take a little colour on the outside.
- Take the pan off the heat before the paprika goes in. Paprika scorches in seconds over a direct flame and turns the whole dish bitter; the residual heat is enough to bring out its colour.
- Return the meat, stir in the tomato purée, then pour in the wine and vinegar and let them bubble for two minutes. Add the stock, bay leaves, peppercorns and chilli, and bury the garlic heads in the middle.
- Bring to a simmer, cover tightly and put it in the oven for three hours. Do not stir it — the onions should stay whole, and stirring breaks them.
- Check after three hours. The meat should give under a spoon and the sauce should be glossy and just coating, not soupy. If it is thin, uncover it and give it another twenty minutes.
- Stir the butter through off the heat, taste for salt, scatter the parsley and serve with bread for the soft garlic.
If you cannot find it
Substitutions that work outside Macedonia.
- Kokar (walnut-sized onion bulbs)
- Pickling onions or small shallots; choose them all the same size so they cook evenly.
- An earthenware chomlek sealed with dough
- A heavy cast-iron casserole with a well-fitting lid; a sheet of foil under the lid seals it.
- Veal from a young beast
- Beef shin or chuck, which needs about an hour longer in the oven.
