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Assyrian potato stew | shirw’it kirtopie

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This Assyrian potato stew is a family favorite. It’s super easy to make, and has such a lovely texture. It’s a tiny bit spicy and very flavorful, which perfectly complements those wonderfully starchy potatoes.

There are a few things to keep in mind to make sure it turns out perfectly, but it’s pretty impossible to mess up. Feel free to get creative with your favorite veggies, or go with the traditional peas, potatoes, and hot pepper.

tips for making a great potato stew

  1. Add your ingredients in stages: Longer-cooking ingredients should be added at the beginning, and shorter-cooking ingredients should be added toward the end. While this is a potato stew, the potatoes actually don’t spend the longest cooking. If you added them with the beef, they would turn to complete mush by the time the beef is tender.
  2. Choose a slow-cooking cut of beef: You’ll generally find containers of beef labeled “stew meat” in most supermarkets. Feel free to use those, or use another cut of slow-cooking beef. Chuck works great here, as does round or shank.
  3. Choose your potatoes wisely: You can use any potatoes here, but different potatoes will result in different textures. If you want super fluffy potatoes, which will fall apart a little and thicken the liquid they’re cooked in slightly, go for something like a russet. For potatoes that will hold their shape perfectly and will not readily fall apart, go for waxy potatoes like red potatoes. Or if you want the best of both words, go with something like a yukon gold.
  4. Use your favorite yellow curry powder, or blend your own: I’ve got a great recipe for home-blended yellow curry powder. But you can absolutely feel free to go with a pre-mixed store-bought version. Any blend will do, but ones with lots of fenugreek seeds work really well here.
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shirw’it kirtopie | potato stew

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  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 2 hours
  • Yield: 5 to 6 servings

Ingredients

  • Olive oil (not extra virgin olive oil, or use another neutral oil)
  • 1 to 1 1/4 pounds stew meat (e.g., shank, chuck, etc.), cut into small bite-sized pieces
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 medium onion diced
  • 2 tablespoons yellow curry powder
  • 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
  • 3/4 cup water (divided into 1/2 cup and 1/4 cup)
  • 2 cups frozen peas
  • 1/2 to 1 whole jalapeño, minced (depending on spice preference)
  • 1 pound potatoes, cut into large chunks
  • Cooked rice, for serving

Instructions

  1. Place a small stockpot or dutch oven over high heat for a couple minutes, and then add about 1 teaspoon of oil and swirl to coat. Add the beef, and let it sear for 2 minutes over high heat without stirring it, and then reduce the heat to medium and cook for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until any juices have evaporated and the meat is nicely browned. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste) while it cooks.
  2. Remove the sirloin to a plate, and then reduce the heat to medium-low and add about 2 teaspoons of oil to the pan. Add the onions, season with 1/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste), and cook, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes, scraping up any bits on the bottom of the pan.
  3. Add the curry powder to the onions and stir around for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Stir in the tomatoes, 1/2 cup water, and the browned sirloin, season to taste, and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat (scrape the bottom of the pot for a minute or so while you’re waiting). Once it comes to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low, and continue to cook for about 45 to 90 minutes, until the beef is very tender (it will depend mostly on the size of the pieces).
  4. Once the beef is tender, add the peas, jalapeños, potatoes, and 1/4 cup water and bring back up to a boil. While you’re waiting for it to boil, taste it and adjust the seasoning. Once it reaches a boil, cover it, reduce heat to low, and cook for about 12 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Serve over rice.

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sheet pan chicken curry

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Of all the apartment ovens I’ve had in the last ten-plus years, my current one is nearly the smallest, but also my favorite. However, it’s literally one millimeter away from being the bane of my existence. A few weeks after we moved to Hong Kong, I visited the restaurant supply shops on Shanghai Street with my carefully recorded oven measurements, holding my paper Ikea ruler up to dozens of pans to find one that would work. Maybe I was being a little ridiculous, but here’s the thing: when it comes to fitting a large metal sheet inside a small metal box, there’s no room for error. It’s not like a duvet cover that’s slightly too long, or a console that juts a quarter inch above the window line. If a sheet pan doesn’t fit, it’s not going to fit, and there’s no amount of wishful thinking that will make it work.

So finally, I found a very standard-looking 18×13-inch pan that measured up almost perfectly. It was just a hair too wide, but I reassured myself that my measurements were probably on the conservative side, and I went for it. I mean, I know, it’s only like $8US, but I absolutely hate buying stuff I don’t need, and I hate wishful thinking even more, so this was a big exception. I ran home and immediately held the sheet pan up to the oven for the moment of truth, and—guys—it FIT! Kind of! The pan brushes the sides on its way in, and it has to be jiggled back and forth on its way out after it’s (otherwise imperceptibly) warped from the heat. But I appreciate efficiency, so this makes me weirdly happy.

Anyway, that’s all just to say that as long as you have an oven that will fit one, you should absolutely own an 18×13-inch sheet pan. It’s easily one of my top three favorite kitchen tools because it’s incredibly versatile, durable, inexpensive, and it easily transitions from oven to tableware. But perhaps best of all, it makes dinner so unbelievably easy and delicious. You just throw everything together, roast it at a high temperature (between 400 and 500° F), and dinner is on the table in no time. But while it really is that easy, you do need to know a couple simple tricks to make your sheet pan dinner extra delicious.

How to make the best sheet pan dinners

1) Make sure you spread everything out into one even layer before it goes in the oven, and make sure the pan isn’t too crowded. My sheet pan recipes are all formulated for 18×13-inch pans, so if you double the recipe, make sure you use two sheet pans or work in batches. One layer ensures that everything cooks through evenly, and that you get really nice caramelization across the whole thing.

2) It’s important to cut all the components to the proper size. However, this doesn’t simply mean that everything should be cut to the exact same size. Certain ingredients will take longer to cook than others, and everything has to stay in the oven for the same amount of time, so if you cut everything into the same size, some things will overcook by the time others are done. There are a few wonderfully forgiving ingredients, which are done pretty much whenever you want them to be done (like onions, and to some extent carrots and tomatoes), but certain ingredients (like chicken breast and potatoes) are best during a relatively narrow window of doneness.

So be sure to cut longer-cooking items into smaller pieces and faster-cooking items into bigger pieces. For instance, if you were to cut the potatoes and chicken to the exact same size, the potatoes will still be a little crunchy in the middle by the time the chicken is cooked through. But if you cut the potatoes smaller than the chicken, everything will finish cooking at the same moment and dinner will be particularly delicious.

3) Don’t just sprinkle on the spices and drizzle on the oil. Instead, I like to mix the spices, salt, and oil together, and then use my hands to make sure everything is evenly coated. This leads to beautifully tempered spices, and evenly browned meat and veggies.

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sheet pan chicken curry

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  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Total Time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

1 to 1 1/4 lbs chicken breast, cut into large chunks
Salt
1/2 of 1 onion, sliced thinly
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1 pound potatoes, cut into bite-sized chunks
2 or 3 carrots (1/2 pound), cut into bite-sized chunks
2 tablespoons oil
2 1/2 tablespoons yellow curry powder
Crushed red pepper, to taste (between a pinch and 3/4 teaspoon)
2 to 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro (optional)
Rice for serving

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 500° F [260° C].
  2. Season the chicken with about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt and chill it for at least 15 minutes while you prep the rest of the ingredients.* The chicken chunks should be about twice the size of the potato chunks (see photos).
  3. Place the chicken, onion, tomatoes, potatoes, and carrots in the center of a sheet pan.
  4. Combine the oil, salt (I use 3/4 teaspoon), curry powder, and crushed red pepper, and drizzle over the chicken and veggies. Mix everything together until it’s very evenly coated, and then spread everything out into a single layer.
  5. Roast until the chicken is cooked through and the potatoes are tender, about 20 to 25 minutes (open the door after 10 minutes to check on it and let some steam out. It’s ready once the potatoes and chicken are cooked through, and the top has some charred and caramelized spots. Keep an eye on it while it cooks to make sure it’s not burning). Sprinkle with cilantro and serve with rice.

Notes

* This dry-brine step prevents the chicken from drying out while it cooks (don’t skip it!).

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