Whether you call it stew, sishebo or casserole; a stew is the universal term for a delightful, saucy pot filled with vegetables and/or meat. During the colder winter months in South Africa, home cooks look for the best winter stew recipes to fill kitchens with irresistible, mouth-watering aromas. Delicious smells that warm your home, fill your loved one’s bellies and bring joy to everyone around the table.

A winter stew is a crowd pleaser, but if you want your community to fall in love with your cooking, you simply cannot go wrong with dombolo or dumplings. Stew and dumplings go together like mielies and peas, and pap and wors. To warm your heart and home, Knorrox has put together this handy guide so you can bring stew and dombolo to your dinner table this season.

Dying For Dombolo?

If you have never made dombolo and the prospect seems daunting: relax, we’ve got your back! We’ve developed a fail-proof method to prepare dombolo that is so flavourful and more-ish even your gogo will be impressed with your cooking.

The secret to lip-licking dombolo lies in adding a little Knorrox soup powder to your dombolo recipe. Try Spicy Chicken Stew with Dumplings for a flavour meal that the whole family will love. The soup powder will give your dumplings a meaty taste and add to their fluffy goodness.

An Easy-As-Pie Dombolo Recipe

A good dombolo recipe combines flour, maize meal, baking powder and soup powder together. Then butter or margarine is usually added to create a mixture that resembles fine breadcrumbs. Once you have the breadcrumb texture right, you just add a little cold water to form a dough which can then be rolled into dumplings. Easy-as-pie, or should we say, stew?

If you are comfortable with this method and you want to take your dumpling-making skills to the next level, check out this dombolo recipe for Chicken Stew With Spinach Dumplings. The added spinach gives your pot an iron kick which is good for your health and feels great in your tummy.

Essential Ingredients For A Winter Stew

Now that you’ve overcome your fear of dumplings, it is time to set your sights on the best winter stew recipes you can get your hands on. But, before delving into recipes, let’s talk essential ingredients. To create a stew from scratch it is important to have the right ingredients at hand. We’ve compiled a list of handy essential ingredients for a tasty stew as a good place to start if you consider yourself a novice to stews.

Create A Velvety Broth

Another great tip for newbies is this: using Knorrox beef stock cubes, you can ensure that your beef stew has a perfectly seasoned sauce. When you allow the pot to simmer on low heat, the meat is marinated in flavour for longer.

Another helpful hack is to remember to remove the lid so the sauce reduces. When a stew gently bubbles with the lid removed, the sauce thickens naturally resulting in a velvety broth, perfect for dombolo to absorb.

Stew Done Differently

If you know your way around stew, but are just looking for some new ideas, you’ve come to the right place.

Here are some of the best winter stew recipes to try out in your kitchen:

• Try a plant-based stew. Meat can sometimes be expensive and less healthy, so why not try a plant-based stew to delight your family? Try our Slow Cooked Jugo Beans Stew to get the protein punch you crave in a cost-effective way.

• Add legumes to your meat for a nutritious lunch. Adding beans to your beef stew is a healthy way to introduce delicious legumes into your family’s diet – and it is a great way to extend your meal. Try this Beef and Butter Bean Stew for a nourishing and generous Sunday lunch.

• Add a little heat to spice things up. Chilli has a way of bringing out all the flavours it is combined with. When you add a little heat to your stew it certainly becomes more interesting. Try this Mutton Stew served with Spinach using stock cubes and soup powder. The soup powder livens up the subtle flavour of the fried spinach it is served with.