Bamya

We may be heading into summer on this side of the world, but some days you wouldn't know it. A warm sunny day was followed by a huge gale and flooding. As luck would have it, I had to venture out and take the family cat to the vet's for a little vacation while we headed out of town for the weekend.

What started out as a quick trip down the road, turned into something of a drama when the garage door wouldn't open. A phone call to the previous owner of our townhouse set me on the right trail and eventually I had power restored, the door motor up and running and eventually the door opening as well. Quick on paper, but it took about 20 minutes.

Our suburb was formerly a swamp and even now the drainage can't always cope. There were lots of little lakes at the roadside.

One day it's salad and then along comes the cold and we're back to winter fare. The original for today's recipe, Bamya, was given to me by the wife of a Egyptian diplomat. I've served it numerous times, sometimes with lamb as the main ingredient, sometimes with beef. In its latest permutation, venison was the meat of choice.

Deer are now farmed in New Zealand and you can read more about it at http://www.nzgib.org.nz/pr/index.cfm. It is readily available in different cut as my local supermarket. For today's dish I bought it already diced.

No matter what meat you choose, there are two ingredients that are a vital part of this recipe - ground cumin and okra.

Okra is related to the hibiscus and originated in West Africa.

It is known by numerous names - bamya, lady's fingers, bhindi, gombo etc - and is used in Eastern and Western cuisine. In New Zealand, ours frequently comes in from the islands. I found some at a local market garden outlet and no douibt it was an import.

Okra has a real affinity for tomatoes and they, too, are part of this dish.

Bamya

1kg diced lamb, beef - or venison!

1 tablespoon oil

2 large onions, chopped

1 can tomatoes in tomato juice

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon salt

500g okra

Brown the meat in batches and place it in a casserole dish. Saute the onions until translucent and add them to the meat with the tomatoes (crushed), tomato paste, cumin and salt and add sufficient water to just cover the meat. Cover and place in a pre-heated, 180C oven and cook for about 90 minutes.

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