Authentic Galayet Bandora (قلاية بندورة أو مسقة بندورة)
Galayet Bandora (قلاية بندورة أو مسقة بندورة) is my most favorite Palestinian and Jordanian dish! Galayet Bandora is made in a skillet using a mixture of beef, tomatoes, peppers, onion, and spices. Traditionally served with labne, radish, green onion, and shrak. My galayet bandora recipe is so easy to make and is filled with all the delicious flavors of the Middle East.
Add your spices and cover with broth. Cover and pressure cook on high for 20 minutes and then it is ready to add straight to your frying pan!
½ tablespoon whole cloves, ½ tablespoon whole cardamom pods, 2 bay leaves, 5 cups Broth
How to cook the galayet bandora:
While the beef pressure cooks, I like to get my tomatoes started. Bring a large stock pot to a boil with water and 9 tomatoes.
9 vine tomatoes
Once you see the skin on the tomatoes crack, transfer them to an ice bath to help cool them off quicker. Once cool enough to handle, peel the tomato skins off and finely chop the tomato flesh. Drain off excess tomato water into the sink.
In a large wok or frying pan, heat 1-2 tablespoons grass fed butter or ghee.Add 1 diced yellow onion. Drizzle 1-2 tablespoons olive oil. Sauté until onion is beginning to turn golden. Next, add 1 hot pepper, cut in half and de-seeded. You can also add a diced bell pepper.
1 tablespoon ghee, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 yellow onion, 1 bell pepper, 1 hot pepper
Add the chopped tomatoes to your peppers and onions and toss to combine.Finally, remove the meat from the broth and add it to the pan along with the spices.Stir to combine the meat with the spices and vegetables. Reduce heat to low and cover your pan. cook for about 30 minutes so that all the galayet bandora flavors meld together perfectly.
1 teaspoon ground black pepper, 1 tablespoon sea salt, 1 teaspoon ground coriander, 1 teaspoon Arabic 7 spice blend, ½ teaspoon ground dried ginger, ½ tablespoon whole cardamom pods, 1 teaspoon whole cloves, 2 bay leaves
How to serve the galayet bandora:
Serve with toasted pine nuts on top and labne for dipping. You can use shrak bread to eat it and serve fresh radishes and green onions on the side.
½ cup Toasted pine nuts, Labne, Olive oil, Shrak (markouk), Fresh radishes, Fresh green onions
Video
Notes
There are 3 ways to cook your meat for Galayet Bandora:
Saute right in the frying pan with the vegetables. However, if you cook your galayet beef this way, it might take forever to get to the perfect buttery texture. I don't recommend it unless you have a bit of time to wait.
Boil in a pot of broth over the stove. This is the way my MIL makes her beef a lot of times. It works, but it takes up to 1 ½ hours to get the right beef texture.. and sometimes the pieces of beef lose their integrity.
Pressure cook! I use an instant pot, but a regular old pressure cooker works just as well. Pressure cooking your beef will give you the most perfect buttery texture in minimal time.
Nutrition facts on this recipe are just an estimate and may vary based on the ingredients you choose and varying serving sizes. Nutrition facts are only for galayet bandora and do not the serving foods (bread, labne, vegetables).