Textual Chef Textual Chef

Mermez

A traditional North African stew featuring tender braised lamb cooked with sweet onions, chickpeas, and warm spices.

95 minMediumServes 4480 cal/serving

TunisianDinnerStovetopMediterraneanHigh ProteinHigh FiberGluten-FreeNut-FreeDairy-FreeSoy-FreeEgg-FreeShellfish-FreeSesame-FreePork-FreeAlcohol-FreeCorn-Free

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1.5 lbs lamb shoulder, cubed
  • 2 large yellow onions, sliced
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • 2 tsp harissa paste
  • 1 can cooked chickpeas, drained
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp ground caraway
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3 cups water

Instructions

  1. 1

    Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a heavy pot over medium-high heat.

  2. 2

    Add 1.5 lbs cubed lamb shoulder and sear until browned on all sides, about 6 to 8 minutes.

  3. 3

    Add 2 large sliced yellow onions and 4 minced garlic cloves, cooking for 5 minutes until onions soften.

  4. 4

    Stir in 2 tbsp tomato paste, 2 tsp harissa paste, 1 tsp ground coriander, 1 tsp ground caraway, and 1 tsp salt until fragrant.

  5. 5

    Pour in 3 cups water and bring to a simmer, then lower heat, cover, and cook for 50 minutes.

  6. 6

    Add 1 can drained cooked chickpeas and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes until lamb reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees F and is tender.

Questions

How long does Mermez keep?

Refrigerate leftovers within two hours and eat them within three days. Reheat gently on the stovetop. It also freezes well for up to three months.

Can I halve or double Mermez?

Yes. As written it serves 4. Every ingredient in this entry carries precomputed half and double quantities, and the app's batch dial rewrites them inside each step. When doubling on the stovetop, use your widest pan or work in two batches so the food sears instead of steaming.

Serve it with

Cook this free in the app

Textual Chef is a plain-text cooking reference of 3,876 recipes, free to read and cook from, with no account and no paywall. In the app, this entry scales itself: half, standard, or double batch, every quantity recomputed inside the step that uses it. No ads, no life stories, no photos of somebody else's dinner.

The entries are curated and public-domain sourced, written to a fixed template and checked against it: tested quantities, one closed vocabulary of methods, and precomputed half and double batches on every line. Nothing here is a scraped blog post.

Cook this free in the appNo download needed. It opens in your browser, instantly. The kitchen tools (planner, shopping list, pantry, import) are $5.33 a month billed annually, and the first 30 days are free.