Salt-dried beef with okra, aubergine, greens and red palm oil.
Maxi Angola documents this meat version of calulu. It uses commercially prepared salt-dried beef and is separate from the fish calulu already on the site. This draft awaits kitchen testing; quantities, yield and timings are estimates for verification.
- Prep
- 25 minutes
- Cook
- About 2 hours
- Serves
- 4–6 servings
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Cuisine
- Angolan
- Course
- Main course
The recipe
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Before you start
Measure and prepare the ingredients first. Follow the texture and temperature checks in the method as well as the estimated timing.
Ingredients
Quantities change with servings; cooking times stay the same.
Equipment
- Large bowl for desalting paid link
- Heavy pot with lid paid link
- Food thermometer paid link
Method
Desalt the beef in the refrigerator following its supplier’s instructions. Drain, rinse and cut into 3 cm pieces. Desalting time varies substantially with the product; do not substitute ready-to-eat jerky.
Put the beef, garlic, optional chilli and fresh cooking water in a heavy pot. Simmer gently, partly covered, for about 75 minutes or until almost tender, adding hot water to keep the meat just covered.
Add the onion, tomato, aubergine and palm oil. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add the okra and cook for another 15 minutes.
Fold in the spinach and simmer for 10 minutes, until the meat is tender and the vegetables are cooked. The sauce should be moist, not watery. Taste before adding any salt; the cured beef may supply enough.
Chef’s notes
Choose salt-dried beef sold for cooking. Its salt level and tenderness determine the soaking and simmering time.
Tips and variations
Properly identified edible sweet-potato leaves may replace spinach if prepared according to the supplier’s directions.
Serve with
Serve the stew beside maize funge; funge shown in the photograph is a separate accompaniment.
Storage
Refrigerate at 4°C or below in shallow containers and use within 3 days. Reheat to 74°C. Refrigerate perishable food within 2 hours, or within 1 hour above 32°C.
Nutrition per serving (estimated)
Nutrition has not been calculated. Values depend on the ingredients and serving size.
Allergens
No major allergens are intentionally added; check the cured-beef label for additives and allergens.
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Questions
Can I use ordinary fresh beef? That would be a different adaptation and would not need the desalting stage.
Sources and recipe context
Kitchen testing not yet confirmed by Sixto Carreon. This is an editorial adaptation. This version specifies commercially cured beef, refrigerator desalting, quantities and cooking stages. Spinach replaces the source’s sweet-potato leaves; cassava leaves are not used.
Maxi Angola: Calulu de Carne Seca
FoodSafety.gov: safe minimum internal temperatures
The featured image was adapted from a licensed real photograph using AI-assisted background, framing and lighting edits. It is not a Sixto kitchen-test photograph. The original is a photograph of dried-beef calulu with maize funge in Angola. Photographer, licence and editing details are in Editorial Standards.
