Safardjaliya

Preparation

1. Step 1

   Put the meat with the onions, butter or oil, salt, pepper, ginger, and saffron in a large pan and cook, turning over the meat, for about 5 minutes. Cover with water and simmer, covered, over low heat for 1 1/2 hours, or until the meat is very tender, adding water if it becomes too dry. Remove the lid at the end to reduce the sauce.

   Step 2

   Wash and scrub the quinces. Have ready a pan of boiling water with the juice of 1/2 lemon. Cut the quinces into quarters (you will need a big strong knife and plenty of force, as they are very hard). Do not peel them, but cut away the blackened ends, and drop them at once into the acidulated boiling water (the lemon stops them from going brown). Simmer for 15–30 minutes, until tender. The time varies greatly, and you must watch them, as they can fall apart very quickly. They should not be too soft. Drain, and when cool enough to handle, cut out the cores.

   Step 3

   Put them in the pan with the meat, flesh side up. Sprinkle with cinnamon and pour a little honey on each. Squeeze the extra lemon, if using, over the stew. Cook for 5 minutes, then turn the quinces over and cook a few minutes more.

2. Variations

   Step 4

   A Lebanese version is flavored with 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1 teaspoon crushed cardamom seeds instead of the spices used above. Small meatballs—made with 1/2 pound ground beef or lamb blended to a paste in the food processor with 1 grated onion and 1 cup bulgur—are sometimes added.

   Step 5

   Instead of the quinces, pears or sharp green apples, peeled and quartered and sautéed in butter or oil or a mixture of both, may be added to the stew towards the end of the cooking.

   Step 6

   Chicken is also cooked with quinces in the same way as lamb.