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Labadja

Labadja is a traditional Malian recipe for classic dish of minced meat in a butter sauce with dates, powdered fish and onion served on a bed of rice. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Malian version of: Labadja.

prep time

15 minutes

cook time

50 minutes

Total Time:

65 minutes

Serves:

4

Rating:

Tags : Beef RecipesVegetable RecipesMali Recipes

This is a classic Northern Malian dish made from a mixture of minced meat and boiled rice in a butter sauce. It relies on fakoye which is the Malian name for jute mallow (known as Melokhia in Egypt) which acts as a thickener. The leaf is dried for fakoye spice blend. If you can't find fakoye/Melokhia you can substitute dried baobab leaf (as is done in the Senegalese version of this dish). If you live in Europe you can used the dried leaves of common mallow (Malva sylvestris) a relative of jute mallow with similar flavour profile and properties. To make fakoye combine 2 tbsp dried and powdered mallow leaves with 2 tsp ras al hanout. Typically mutton or goat would be used, though here I have used beef shin. Note that if beef is used, then it would be zeebu beef, which is paler and less flavourful than European beef.

Ingredients:

500g beef (in this case, I used shin, but any of the tougher cuts of meat can be substituted)
6 tbsp butter
1 onion finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tomato, quartered
1/2 green bell pepper, finely chopped
2 tbsp of Fakoye spice blend
4 tbsp dried dates, chopped and soaked in 6 tbsp warm water
1 tbsp powdered dried fish
salt and freshly-ground black pepper
rice, to serve

Method:

The beef needs to be tenderized beforehand. In Mali, they pound it in a mortar and pestle. Then it goes in the pot with the butter.

After browning the beef (about 5 minutes), toss in the onions, garlic and green bell pepper. Continue cooking for 5 minutes then scatter over the Fakoye powder, season to taste with salt and black pepper and add the tomato. Cook for a couple of minutes, then add the dates and their soaking liquid.

Stir to combine, top up the water, as needed, then bring to a boil. Cook for about 40 minutes, until the meat is tender. Serve on a bed of rice.