A lot of my recipes are often inspired by a Prophetic Tradition or from traditional nourishment that was taught by Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine or Greek Medicine.
This particular recipes was inspired by two hadiths.
A’isha the wife of Allah’s Apostle (ﷺ) said:
When there was any bereavement in her family the women gathered there for condolence and they departed except the members of the family and some selected persons. She asked to prepare talbina in a small cauldron and it was cooked and then tharid was prepared and it was poured over talbina, then she said: Eat it, for I heard Allah’s Messenger (may peade be upon him) as saying: Talbina gives comfort to the aggrieved heart and it lessens grief. (Sahih Muslim, Book 26, Hadith 5491)
Umm Al-Mundhir said:
“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) entered upon me, while `Ali was with him, and we had a cluster of unripe dates hanging.” She said: “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) began eating, and `Ali ate with him. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said to `Ali: ‘Stop, stop, for you are still recovering.’ So `Ali sat and the Prophet (ﷺ) ate.” She said: “I made some chard and barley for them, so the Prophet (ﷺ) said: ‘O `Ali eat from this, for indeed it will be more suitable for you.” (Graded Hasan, Jami’ At-Tirmidhi, Vol. 4, Book 2, Hadith 2036)
“Ibn al-Qayyim said: Thareed is composed of meat and bread. Meat is the best of those foods that are eaten with bread, and bread is the best of foodstuffs. If they are combined, there can be nothing better than that.
Zaad al-Ma’aad, 4/271.
Al-Nawawi said:
The ‘ulamaa’ said: it means that thareed is better than broth, and thareed with meat is better than broth without thareed, and the thareed that has meat is better than broth. What is meant by better is that it is more nutritious, more filling, easier to digest, more enjoyable and easier to eat; a person may eat his fill of it quickly, and so on. It is better than all kinds of broth and all kinds of food.” (https://islamqa.info/en/7181)
The warm, soothing swiss chard, barley and meat stew
What better way to nourish my family on a cold, wet fall day than to combine prophetic foods that are praised for their nutritional and healing benefits.
Ingredients
- Garlic (3-5 cloves)
- Swiss chard (half bunch)
- 1lb meat pieces with bones (lamb, goat, veal or beef)
- ¼ cup barley flour
- 6 cups of water
- Salt & Black Pepper to taste
- Herb and Spice mix (see instructions)
Instructions
Nourishing meals can be quite simple and require very little active cook time. I love this dish because it is precisely that: Simple, nutrient-dense and easy to make.
- Rinse meat with bones. Combine with meat and water in the pot and bring it to a boil. Remove scum before adding any herb or spice mix.
- The herb and spice mix is entirely up to you. I use different mixes in my house, depending on what nutrients I want to infuse in my cooking and depending who i’m cooking for in my house. Check out my Herb and Spice Mix Post to learn more about how to make your own flavours.
- Simple Herb and Spice mix when in a rush. After you have remove the scum, add 1 tablespoon of fennel seeds, 7 cardamom pods (crushed to open them up), 7 clove buds, 2 bay leaves, 1 cinnamon stick and ½ a star anise. Add your salt and black pepper to taste.
- Let the meat cook over low-medium heat (depending on the intensity of your stove) for about 90 minutes. Check to see when meat is soft and falls apart easily. Once at that stage, you can turn off the stove.
- In a separate pot, add the meat chunks and the broth from the first pot (straining it so none of the spices/herbs are in the soup). (you can skip this step if you have a spice infuser ball that allows you to insert all spices into the pot like this one). If you have this ball, you can keep everything in the first pot and just continue with the following steps.
- Add chopped swiss chard (be sure to thoroughly wash it before adding it to the soup.
- Add chopped garlic
- Add barley flour
- Let it cook for another 15-20 minutes on low heat until the swiss chard turns dark green and barley flour is completely assimilated into the stew. (the longer it boils, the less barley clumps you will see). Be sure to dissolve any remaining clumps with a fork.
- Serve warm with toasted, buttered sourdough to make this dish a complete meal.