African oxtail stew

This recipe will easily give you a wonderful fragrant stew every single time – with depth of flavour, texture that clings so adoringly to rice, and that mesmerising red colour that makes your feast look rich.

Credit: Minjiba Entertains

• serves

  5-6

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  3 hours

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 10 red capsicum (bell peppers)
• 15 tomatoes, chopped
• 1 Scotch bonnet or habanero chilli (pepper), or to taste
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 thumb-length piece fresh ginger, minced
• ½ cup sunflower oil
• 2 large red onions, chopped
• 6 sprigs fresh thyme (see Note)
• 1.8 kg (4 lb) oxtail, seasoned and boiled (or beef shank cut into cubes)
• 1.1 L (2 pints) homemade beef stock (from boiling the beef)
• Jollof rice, to serve

Instructions

1. Blend capsicum, tomatoes, chilli, garlic and ginger together in a blender or food processer.
2. Heat sunflower oil in a large pot. Add onion and cook to soften and start to caramelise. Add half the thyme and the blended tomato mixture and cook until it is reduced to a thick gravy.
3. Add the beef stock, oxtail or shank, and the remaining thyme and stir well.  Cover and simmer until the meat is tender (about 3 hours total). If the stew gets too thick while cooking, add more stock.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.