Tag Archives: medieval middle eastern redaction

Wasfat ‘Ukhraa Lilhawm fi Alkhali: Meat in Vinegar (Another Recipe For)

When I did this dish the first time, it was completely wrong.  I had to redo the marinade and the cooking.  I left the spicing the same and now the chicken isn’t all vinegar with a hint of spices.  You can now taste the spicing and a hint of vinegar now.

Meat inVinegar (Another Recipe For)

Translation:

Another recipe, for meat: wash the meat well and put it in vinegar, keep it and marinate it in ghee flavoured with asafetida.  Mix the meat with potherbs of all kinds and put it into a cooking pot.  When it is well-cooked, add lime juice, pepper and fresh ginger and serve it. (The Nimatnama Manuscript, pg. 13).

Ingredients:

2 lbs chicken (or meat of your choice)

1 1/2 C. Vinegar

1/2 C. Ghee

1/2 tsp. Asafetida

1 tsp, ground cumin, coriander and dried parsley

1 1/2 tsp turmeric

1 Tbs. chopped ginger

1 Tbs. lime juice

1 tsp ground pepper

Redaction:

Normally you’d use a whole chicken (with skin and bones) or if you prefer red meat 2 lbs of your choice.  Here I used 4 chicken thighs with skin and bones roughly 1.5 lbs. 

The meat was put into a clay pottery pot.  Here I added the vinegar. 

The vinegar is both balsamic and generic white cider. 
I wanted a little sweet to the tart bite. You can go either way depending on what your taste is, as no particular type of vinegar is specified.  Marinade for 4 hours or overnight.

*Asafetida is very potent.  A little goes a long way and will make your hands and kitchen smell…unusual.  If you don’t have any on hand, use garlic. 


Spices shown are ground.  Don’t be afraid to play with whole spices if you have those on hand!

 Put the chicken into a baking dish. Next add the pot herbs.  Here I combined cumin, coriander, mint and turmeric together. 

I like the flavors and they go well with lime and ginger. Place in the oven for 45 minutes at 350 or until the meat is well cooked and tender.

I used a clay pot both times.  One more period than the other.  Add ghee (clarified butter) and the asafetida* (also known as the Devil’s Stink Weed) together.  Pour into the baking dish.

Once you pull the meat from the oven add the lime juice, ginger and ground pepper to taste.  Eat!