Tripoli Style Cholent… Forget All You Ever Knew About Cholent.
This may be a bit longer than it should, so if you just want the recipe, scroll to the bottom :-)
Quick backstory — Jews are very fond of a stew called Cholent. It’s a beef and bean concoction that is cooked overnight and is especially handy for Jewish families that respect the Sabbath rules. The pot is assembled and brought to a boil before the Sabbath comes in (Friday afternoon) and is placed on a heating plate/low fire/oven overnight to be shared with the family on Saturday’s lunch as they come back from prayers. This way, the host can serve a hearty and savory meal without breaking the cardinal rule of Shabbat which prohibits work or lighting a fire from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday (and holidays).
Over the years, the recipes have become quite diverse and this staple evolved with both the Ashkenazi Jews from Eastern Europe and the Sephardi Jews who fled the Spanish Inquisition to North Africa and the Middle East.
My family hails from Eastern Europe (Romania and Slovakia) and while our own Ashkenaz style cholent is great, it’s a bit bland and uniform. Meat (cubed chuck or similar, marrow bones), potatoes, onions, garlic, eggs, and beans (navy and/or kidney)… Some would add pearl barley or on a rare occasion kishke (click at your own risk). However, spices are for the most part just salt and pepper with maybe a touch of cumin and paprika.
No pizzazz… Nothing bold!
One day in the early 90’s my mom came across an article about a cholent cooking contest in Israel where a certain Mrs. Sa’ada won for her Triopli Style Cholent. With no photos in the article, we couldn’t be sure, but when we saw the quote from her daughter, it was clear this was Mrs. Sa’ada who lives on the 2nd floor of our building in Kfar Saba. She was always very nice but other than the occasional hello we hardly interacted. Certainly, we had no clue we were living next to a bona-fide master chef.
Mom didn’t miss a moment. She took the newspaper and rushed downstairs to the 2nd floor. The pitch was simple. Mom basically told her ‘don’t let my complexion fool you… Our family cooks with spice and does not your eat the typical pasty Ashkenaz Jewish cuisine… teach us your secrets, they’ll be put to good use!’. It took a few more pleas but when Mrs. Sa’ada realized Mom won’t stop until she gets a walkthrough of the recipe, she relented.
Since then, Cholent Night at the Lichtenfeld household has never been the same. It took Mom one or two tries to perfect the process, but since then she’s been consistently serving the absolute best cholent I’ve ever tasted. Period.
The secret, first and foremost, is chopped spinach that is sautéed for 2+ hours until it reaches a near black color. This paste is then layered liberally through the layers of the pot and makes ALL the difference in flavor. I can’t quite describe it as it no longer tastes like spinach as we know it, but it delivers a deep, umami-esque, flavor that serves as a platform to all the other flavors.
The next ‘secret’ is the rice. While Ashkenazi cholent gets its starch from potatoes and/or from pearl barley distributed with the beans, this cholent gets it from long-grain basmati rice cooked in a cheesecloth in the middle of the pot. The rice is mixed up with a full head of chopped cilantro and all the spices used throughout the dish (turmeric, cumin, paprika, ground coriander, s&p).
All in all, the ingredients are fairly straight forward and include items available at every regional supermarket.
Since moving to the States some 20 years ago, I’ve only had the opportunity to eat the dish twice (Mom only makes it when the weather is cold enough and my winter visits seem to bring on only milder weather). Otherwise, my only interaction with the dish came from the pictures with which my brother and his family would taunt us each time Old Man Winter came to visit the Holy Land and Mom made a pot.
The last time this happened took place was just a few weeks ago… I woke up on a Saturday morning to repeated vibrations of my phone heralding a procession of photos in WhatsApp. Pic after pic of my Brother and Sis-in-Law at Mom and Dad’s, wolfing down yet another pot of what should rightfully be mine too…
I raised my first to the sky and yelled: “NOOOOOOOO MOREEEEEEEE!!!!!!” (not really, don’t worry).
It was then and there that I had decided to break the stalemate and make it myself. And thus, with Mom’s expert help and live support via videoconference (I hung my phone from the spice rack, securing it with a jar of paprika to ensure she had a full view of my prep area)… I made the dish myself! Said another way, I judiciously followed her instructions without veering astray or any modification.
And yes!… It was sublime... It was everything we’ve missed. And given the winters we have here in New Jersey, you bet I’ll be making it again and again.
Recipe below.
Recipe
The dish requires some planning. You’ll need to soak the beans in water on day one, assemble the pot on day two, and eat on day three (in other words, if you plan to eat it on Saturday, start soaking the beans on Thursday).
The measurements below were for a massive pot (13 1/4 qt) which ended up yielding well over 10 servings and are approximate — you should feel free to deviate and experiment.
- 1 16oz package each of dry: kidney beans, navy beans, garbanzo beans (chick peas)
- 20 oz frozen chopped spinach
- 1/3rd cup vegetable oil (olive oil fine as well)
- 2 lbs of oxtail (osso bucco) or similar.
- 2.5 lbs of short ribs (if not available, or if you’re seeking to save a few $’s, you can also use cubed chuck or round but I strongly suggest having some bones so the marrow breaks down into the sauce).
- 6 or more eggs
- 2 cups long grain basmati rice (I’ve also used long grain brown rice with GREAT results).
- 1 head of fresh cilantro (feel free to use more)
- 10 or so cloves of garlic
- 3–4 pitted dates
- 4–5 medium size potatoes (totally optional)
- 1 medium onion
- Spices: turmeric, cumin, ground coriander, paprika (ideally smoked), sale and pepper
- Cheesecloth and butcher’s string
On day 1 (two days before eating): wash the beans in a colander with lukewarm water to remove any dust or debris. Use this opportunity to weed out any odd shaped beans or potential foreign objects (the occasional stone or different type bean has been known to infiltrate). When done, place all three beans mixed in a large bowl and cover with water until about an inch above the beans. Unless your kitchen is usually warm, there’s no need for salt. 5–6 hours later, drain, rinse and replace the water (again an inch above). If you think the beans can still expand, do this early the next morning again. Once the beans reach their maximum size drain them, wash with fresh water, and set aside.
On or before day 2 (one day before eating): drain the spinach in a colander to remove as much water as you can (don’t worry about harming the spinach texture, you’re about to fry it beyond recognition). Place the chopped spinach and the oil in a large frying pan and fry on medium/high heat for 2 or so hours. Mix every 5 minutes or so to make sure it doesn’t burn and be sure to break apart all clumps and chunks to achieve the right consistency. Add salt and if it feels the spinach dried, add more oil. I strongly suggest making twice the amount or even more and freezing the remainder for next time. This is the most annoying and time consuming part of the dish.
On day 2 (one day before eating):
- Creating the Rice ‘Bomb’: Rinse the rice in a colander to remove excess starch/dust and place in a bowl. Chop a full head of cilantro and mix it into the rice. Spice liberally with salt, pepper, turmeric, cumin, ground coriander and smoked paprika. Add a couple of tablespoons of oil to make everything stick and mix evenly. Take another similar sized bowl (or larger) and place two layers of cheesecloth across the bowl. Scoop the rice onto the center of the cheesecloth and then wrap the entire mound of rice by picking up the two opposing corners of the cheesecloth and spinning into a ‘bomb’ or a large purse. Tie the top with butcher string and cut any excess string or cheesecloth to ensure its all nice/neat.
- Assembling the pot: Take a large oven-proof pot (I used my round Le Creuset 13 qt. which I swear by) and coat the bottom with a bit of oil. Cover the bottom with a layer of the bean mixture. Place the short ribs/meat in a circle making sure to leave a large pocket in the middle to place the rice. If your ox-tail has a complete layer of fat/sinew all around, be sure to cut from top to bottom at 3–4 places around each piece — this ensures the meat will cook and remain soft. Throw around a few garlic cloves and the pitted dates (you can cut them in half). If you chose to add potatoes you can place large cubes (1 1/2 inch, peeled) around at this time. Spread a liberal amount of the fried/black spinach around and spice the entire layer (again: salt, pepper, turmeric, cumin, ground coriander and smoked paprika). Place the rice bomb in the middle and cover with another layer of beans throughout. Put another round of spinach and spices as well as the remaining garlic and dates. Place the onion (remove the coarse outer layers and trim the bottom and top) on top of the beans. Place eggs (suggest washing the exterior in water first) around the top of the pot making sure you can still cover with the lid without cracking the shells. Fill the pot with water roughly three quarters to the top (until it reaches the bottom of the top layer of beans). You need to consider the beans, rice, etc. will expand a bit.
- Cooking: Place on the stove roughly 24 hours before serving. You can cut the cook time by a few hours, if needed, but the full 24 really makes the difference. First bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer and cover. I typically cook it on the stove in a low heat until I’m ready to go to sleep at which time I place the entire pot (covered, of course) in the oven at 230F. I strongly suggest placing the pot on a baking pan first. While its unlikely, you may experience some overflow of water or oil and I assure you, its *much* easier to clean the pan than the bottom of the oven (Thanks Mom, for this awesome tip!).
Day 3 (time to eat):
After 24 hours, remove from the oven and unpack the pot. First remove the eggs and wash them in cold water briefly to make it easier to peel. Then remove the rice bomb, cut the top of the cheesecloth and place the rice in a serving dish. Lastly, you may want to debone the meat or if you have as many short-ribs as you have diners, serve with the bone. As the pic above shows, it’s a beautiful presentation with meat on the rib, but you can also mix the beef up a bit and serve it mixed with the beans. Serve and enjoy.
I suggest placing the salt shaker prominently on the table the first few times you make it as getting the salt ratio right could be a bit tricky.
