This month's recipe is for Sajiyeh, a traditional Jordanian and Palestinian stir-fry often cooked outdoors over an open flame. It offers a simple yet flavorful combination of seared meat and peppers that highlights the rustic, communal spirit of Levantine cuisine.

Sajiyeh is a skillet dish enjoyed in Jordan and Palestine. Typically, it's cooked in a "saj" (from where it gets its name) on an outdoor wood or charcoal fire—then eaten immediately with flatbread. Cooking the dish on an outdoor fire allows the use of very high heat and imparts a smoky flavor. Different regions use different ingredients, but even the most elaborate ones use only a handful of easy-to-find ingredients. The core ingredients are meat, peppers, and onions. The meat used is either lamb, goat, or beef. Palestinian versions of Sajiyeh often use "Arabic 7-Spice" (baharat), a finely powdered mixture of allspice, black pepper, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, cumin, and nutmeg. It can be bought pre-prepared at Balboa Market.

The iron cooking pan, the "saj," is not only found in nearly all Levantine homes, it is an essential cooking item even among Bedouin pastoralists. It is a unique cooking vessel in that both sides of the pan are used. The convex (dome) side is used to cook flatbreads, while the concave side is used as a skillet for cooking dishes such as sajiyeh. Sajiyeh is a communal dish and is often eaten at outdoor gatherings direct from the pan!

Cook’s notes:

We attempted to cook sajiyeh on our ceramic top stove using a cast iron pan and, despite being on the highest setting, while the initial temperature was okay, the stove failed to keep the temperature high enough to properly sear the meat or cook the onions and peppers fast enough. Using a portable butane stove, a gas stove, a good induction stove, or the traditional choice of a grill or open fire would certainly be better. The goal is to sear the meat quickly so the juices don't escape, and the onions and peppers should not be overcooked; they should remain a little crunchy for sajiyeh. However, while the texture was not optimal, the taste was still divine!

The traditional oil used to cook sajiyeh is ghee, which imparts a distinct flavor to the dish. Other high-temperature neutral-tasting oils can be substituted.

Some cooks add smoked paprika if they cook sajiyeh indoors to add a smoky flavor.

Some versions call for a splash of pomegranate juice as a finishing touch.

The meat for this dish is either cut into small bite-sized cubes or thin strips.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds beef, lamb, or goat, cubed or sliced
• 2–3 bell peppers (mixed colors), cut into strips
• 1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 1 tomato, finely chopped or diced
• 4 garlic cloves, sliced or finely chopped
• 2 Tablespoons of ghee (or neutral oil)
• 1 Teaspoon salt (divide as you cook)
• 1 Tablespoon Arabic 7-Spice (or make your own!)
• ½ Teaspoon black pepper (divide as you cook)

Preparation:

1. Heat a wide skillet until very hot.
2. Add the ghee (or oil).
3. Add the meat in a single layer.
4. Let it sear, moving it about to brown all sides.
5. Add the garlic and cook for half a minute.
6. Add the seven-spice, salt, bell peppers, and onion and stir-fry until the vegetables just begin to soften.
7. Add the tomato and cook for one more minute.

Serve with Saj bread if available, otherwise pita/flatbread (Sajiyeh is traditionally served with bread), plain yogurt or Labneh (yogurt, parsley, and mint), hummus, and lemon wedges.

Sahtein (صحتين)!

Recipe by T. Johnston-O'Neill
Photos by Shari K. Johnston-O'Neill