That Translator Can Cook: Margat Bamya

A traditional Iraqi stew comprising okra, lamb/goat, and other vegetables in a tomato-based broth. It’s usually served with rice or bulgur, onion, and green pepper.

Image Source: YouTube

I haven’t had margat bamya yet, and quite frankly, I’m not sure I ever will-unless I’m a guest in someone’s home, of course. I’m just not really an okra person: I was that Northern student in the Deep South who never ate fried okra. Sorry not sorry.



I want to preface this post with that my information about margat bamya and Iraqi cuisine in general comes from Nawal Nasrallah; an independent Iraqi scholar, food writer, and author of ‘Delights from the Garden of Eden’ (and from an article about Nasrallah’s work).

A lot of the dishes that Iraqis cook today are quite similar to the ones that people cooked in ancient Mesopotamia and medieval times. A Babylonian culinary tablet, dated c. 1700 BCE, was all about stews. Okra (‘bamya’ in Arabic) was mentioned in ancient Assyrian cuneiform tablets dealing with herbal medicines. The different names that people call okra show how similar some cultures can be: people in ancient Iraq called okra “ubanu” (lit. “finger”) and in English, okra is sometimes referred to as “lady’s fingers.”

There are many health benefits from eating okra because okra:

• is rich in nutrients, particularly vitamins K and C.

• contains antioxidants, mainly polyphenols, which improve heart and brain health.

• may lower heart disease risk: it contains mucilage, which helps prevent cholesterol from being absorbed by your body.

• may have anticancer properties: it contains lectin, which may inhibit the growth of cancer cells.

• may lower blood sugar, but it may also interfere with common diabetes medications.

• is beneficial for pregnant women because okra is a good source of folate and 1 cup of okra provides 15% of a woman’s daily needs for folate.

One tip Nasrallah has to get rid of the slime when cooking with fresh okra is to cut off both ends, making sure that holes show, and washing it under running water for a long time; or you could wash them under running water for a little bit, then boiling them for 5 minutes at most (make sure that the okra is still bright green). She also suggests that, after buying a large quantity of okra, you prep it this way beforehand and freeze it until you need it. I would add that you should only freeze it if you boil the okra; whenever I’ve frozen fresh fruit or vegetables, they don’t turn out well when they thaw.

Here is how to make this hearty stew (recipe belongs to Jewel of Paradise [جوهرة الجنة]).

Ingredients

• 0.5 kilo of frozen okra

• 0.5 kilo of goat meat

• 0.5 kilo of tomatoes, crushed [with a blender]

• 3 tablespoons of tomato paste

• Oil

• Salt

• Lemon salt or citric acid

• 1 head of garlic, peeled

• Water

• 1 very small onion, finely minced

Instructions

First, start boiling the meat. After it is done cooking, strain the meat from the broth and set the broth to the side. Pour some oil in a pot and sauté the onion a little bit. Add the okra and let it simmer on low heat. Only move the pot; don’t stir the okra so that it doesn’t get damaged.

Add the garlic and the tomato paste, then sauté them a bit. Pour the crushed tomatoes into a strainer, then add them and the meat to the okra. Let the pot boil for a bit on medium heat.

After letting it boil, look to see how thick the stew is. Add the broth: if you like a thick stew, add a little bit of broth; if you like your stew runny, add all the broth. Let it simmer on medium heat until everything is fully cooked, then add the salt and citric acid. Turn off the stove.

Serve with rice, chili peppers, appetizers, Iraqi pickled vegetables, and bread. Usually, we like to mop up the stew with sliced bread, with a large platter of margat bamya on top of sliced bread. Bon appetit!

Translators’ Discussion

1. I had a bit of trouble with this phrase: حرك فقط القدر ما احرك الباميه علمود لاتنمرد. I translated it as “Only move the pot; don’t stir the okra so that it doesn’t get damaged.” The last part was particularly challenging, so if anyone familiar with the Iraqi dialect can help, it would be much appreciated.

2. I had trouble with phrasing the thickness of the stew. The recipe uses خفيفة (thin), but I felt that “if you like your stew thin” sounded weirder than “if you like your stew runny.” Most sources describe this as ‘watery’, but in my opinion, that has a negative connotation and I don’t think a recipe would say “if you like your stew watery.” Any culinary translators or chefs who would like to weigh in?