afoona
Classic Homemade Cholent
Meat

Classic Homemade Cholent

Classic Ashkenazi cholent with beef, legumes and potatoes – a Shabbat stew that cooks slowly all night long

⏱ 12 hr 20 min🍽 4 servings 🌍 Israeli👩‍🍳 Afoona🧩 2 parts

👨‍🍳 Method

For the Fried onion

  1. 1
    Heat the olive oil in a heavy pot over high heat.
    ⚙ Pan-fryingStovePot
  2. 2
    Add the onion and fry 5 minutes, stirring now and then, until the onion is soft and translucent and starts to turn golden at the edges. If it browns too fast, lower the heat.
    ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove
    💡Add by cooking time: what needs long (onion, carrot, meat) goes in first, and what burns fast (garlic, dry spices) goes in last, only until fragrant.
  3. 3
    Add the garlic and fry about 30 seconds to 1 minute, just until fragrant. Don't let the garlic brown.
    ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove
    💡Garlic burns quickly and turns bitter. Add it only after the onion has softened, over medium heat, and add the next ingredient as soon as it smells fragrant.

To assemble

  1. 4
    Preheat the oven to 120°C (250°F).
    ⚙ Preheating the OvenOven
    💡Put things in the oven only once it's reached temperature, after the heating light has gone off: an oven that hasn't reached temperature changes baking times, and the bake burns outside or stays underbaked.
  2. 5
    Add the meat and fry 3–4 minutes per side, until browned.
    ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove
  3. 6
    Add the beans, red beans and chickpeas to the pot, and place the potatoes and bones around the meat.
  4. 7
    Add the turmeric, cumin, paprika, salt and black pepper and pour in the water until it covers everything.
  5. 8
    Bring to a boil and skim off the foam.
    Stove
  6. 9
    Cover the pot and put it in the hot oven for 12 hours or more.
    OvenPot
    💡In the last two hours, check the water in the pot; if it's low, add only boiling water, so the hamin doesn't cool down in the middle of cooking.
  7. 10
    Serve the hamin hot, straight from the pot, with bread.
1187calories
83 gprotein
103 gcarbs
38 gfat
● protein 31%● carbs 38%● fat 32%

Per serving (576 g), of 4 servings

For the Fried onion · To assemble ·

A button hides that part of the recipe, in print too. Another click brings it back. The choice is kept for this recipe.

⚖ About the ingredients

🔧 Tools needed (3) · 🍳 One cooking vessel

  • Oven · 💡 Workaround, changes the dish: Toaster oven (Fits one small pan; good for small batches) · Air fryer (Small batches only, no runny batters) · Pot (Only for covered stews on the stovetop, no browning on top)
  • Stove · 💡 Workaround, changes the dish: Portable hot plate (one weaker burner) · Camping gas stove (One burner, outdoors) · Electric pressure cooker (multicooker) (One pot, no real shallow frying)
  • Pot · Also works: Deep skillet (sauté pan) (less liquid, faster evaporation) · 💡 Workaround, changes the dish: Wok (For quick cooking)

By the steps, as the recipe is built now: another version or addition can change the list.

🛒 Shopping list