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Sharmout (Sudanese dried beef, oven method)
Sharmout: lean beef strips cooked through, then dried hard in a low oven, ready to flavour Sudanese stews
Across Darfur and Kordofan, and in kitchens throughout Sudan around Eid al-Adha, strips of lean beef are salted and hung to dry in the hot, dry air for several days until they turn hard and dark. That sharmout is then pounded and fried with onion to give tagalia, kawal and other stews their rich, savoury depth. Air-drying raw meat at home is risky, so this safer version heats the strips to 71 °C first and then dries them slowly in a low oven, and the finished sharmout is kept in the fridge. The traditional raw air-dried version is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system. Leaving fat on the strips is the usual mistake: fat does not dry and turns rancid, so trim every bit. Chef's tip: partly freeze the beef so you can slice it into even 5 mm strips along the grain.
- Total time
- 330 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 10
Ingredients
- 3 ⅓ lb lean beeftopside or silverside, all fat and sinew removed
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper (optional)
- 1 tsp garlic powder (optional)
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Freeze the 3 ⅓ lb lean beef for 45–60 minutes until firm, then slice along the grain into strips about 5 mm thick and 2–3 cm wide. Trim off every trace of fat.
Step 2: Toss the strips with the 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp ground black pepper and 1 tsp garlic powder, cover and refrigerate for 1–2 hours. (Not counted in the total.)
Step 3: Heat the oven to 325°F (275°F fan). Lay the strips on racks set over two lined trays, not touching, and cook for 10–15 minutes, until a thick strip reaches 160°F in the middle.
15 minStep 4: Lower the oven to 167°F (140°F fan, or the lowest setting), prop the door open a few centimetres with a wooden spoon and dry the strips for 4–5 hours, turning them once, until they are dark, hard and crack rather than bend; no moist spots should remain.
270 minStep 5: Cool completely on the racks. Pack into a dry, airtight jar and keep in the fridge for up to 1 month, or freeze for 6 months.
Step 6: To use, pound or blitz the strips to coarse flakes or powder and fry them in oil with onion at the start of a stew such as tagalia or kawal.
5 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 150 kcal
- Protein
- 30 g
- Carbs
- 0 g
- Fat
- 3 g
- Fibre
- 0 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does sharmout (Sudanese dried beef, oven method) take?
- About 330 minutes in total: 30 minutes to prepare and 300 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 10 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
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