Dimlama (Layered Meat and Vegetable Stew)

Method

1. 1

   Cut the vegetables for layering: thick rings for the onion, and the carrots, potatoes, tomatoes and peppers into large chunks.

2. 2

   Set the meat in the bottom of the heaviest lidded pot you have, seasoning it with salt and cumin.

3. 3

   Layer the onions, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes and peppers on top in that order, salting and cumin-ing each layer as you build it up.

   💡 Keep the juiciest vegetables — tomatoes, peppers — nearest the top. As they collapse they baste everything underneath.

4. 4

   Blanket the whole pot with the whole cabbage leaves, tucking them in like a lid within the lid.

5. 5

   Press the lid on tight and set the heat as low as it goes. Cook 2 hours undisturbed — no peeking, no stirring, no water.

   💡 Opening the lid releases the steam that IS the cooking. Trust the pot.

6. 6

   Check that everything is fork-tender, then taste the juices at the bottom and adjust the salt.

7. 7

   Serve in deep plates, the vegetables mounded and their juices ladled generously over the top.