Egyptian Stewed Tomato Sauce
Dim?a Musabika
Region: Egypt
Category: Basic Recipes and Sauces
Season: Any
Difficulty: Easy

The Nile delta has been a productive agricultural area feeding Egypt since ancient times. Once the tomato arrived from the New World it became as ubiquitous in Egyptian cooking as it did in all other Mediterranean cooking. So much so, in fact, that among the Bedouins of Egypt’s Western Desert, and throughout Egypt in general, vegetables are always cooked bisalsa, with a tomato-based sauce, such as the ubiquitous dim’a musabika (literally, stewed sauce). This sauce is excellent with kushary, on top of spaghetti, or with any vegetable.

Yield: Makes 4 cups
Preparation Time: 40 minutes

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil     1 medium onion, finely chopped     6 garlic cloves, crushed     One 6-ounce can tomato paste     4 cups water

2 teaspoons white wine vinegar     2 teaspoons salt     1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper     1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat, then cook the onion until translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another 2 minutes, stirring constantly so the garlic doesn’t burn.

2. Mix the tomato paste and water and add to the onion. Reduce the heat to low while you simmer the tomato sauce for 20 minutes. Stir in the vinegar, salt, black pepper, and cayenne and cook until denser, about another 5 minutes.

Posted: 01/09/2007

Referenced Recipes:

Kushary