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Afogado do Divino
Beef and potato stew
Afogado: São Luiz do Paraitinga's beef and potato stew for the Festa do Divino
In São Luiz do Paraitinga in the hills of São Paulo state, the Festa do Divino Espírito Santo at Pentecost ends with a meal for everyone: huge pots of afogado, beef 'drowned' in a rich broth with potatoes, tomato, onion, garlic and herbs, served with pirão (a cassava-flour porridge made from the broth) and rice. Volunteers cook it in the town's kitchens through the night, and anyone who comes is fed. Chef's tip: brown the beef in small batches so it sears rather than stews, which gives the broth its deep colour.
- Total time
- 175 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 8
Ingredients
For the stew
- 3 ⅓ lb beef chuck or shinin 4 cm pieces
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 onionschopped
- 6 cloves garliccrushed
- 4 tomatoeschopped
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 6 ¼ cups hot water
- 1 ¾ lb potatoespeeled, in large chunks
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 handful parsley and spring onion (cheiro-verde)chopped
For the pirão
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Brown 3 ⅓ lb beef chuck or shin in 3 tbsp vegetable oil in batches over a high heat in a large heavy pot, 4–5 minutes per batch. Lift out.
20 minStep 2: Fry 2 onions in the same pot for 6 minutes, then 6 cloves garlic for 1 minute. Add 4 tomatoes and 1 tsp sweet paprika and cook for 5 minutes until saucy.
12 minStep 3: Return the beef with 2 bay leaves, 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp black pepper and 6 ¼ cups hot water. Cover and simmer gently for 1½–2 hours, until the beef is tender.
105 minStep 4: Add 1 ¾ lb potatoes and simmer for 20–25 minutes, until soft. A common mistake is adding potatoes at the start: they dissolve and cloud the broth.
22 minStep 5: For the pirão, ladle 750 ml of broth into a pan, bring to a simmer and whisk in 5 ½ oz farinha de mandioca (fine toasted cassava meal) gradually. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring, until thick and smooth like soft polenta.
6 minStep 6: Scatter the stew with 1 handful parsley and spring onion (cheiro-verde) and serve with the pirão and white rice.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 480 kcal
- Protein
- 40 g
- Carbs
- 30 g
- Fat
- 22 g
- Fibre
- 3 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does afogado do Divino take?
- About 175 minutes in total: 25 minutes to prepare and 150 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 8 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.
- What can I use instead of onions?
- 2 shallots per onion.
- What can I use instead of garlic?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
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