The question
Do all khashlama ingredients need to fit in the Dutch oven at the start?
What we expected
The meat and onions would shrink enough during the first stage to create space for potatoes later.
What happened
After roughly 50–60 minutes the contents had settled enough to add the potatoes without forcing them into the pot at the beginning.
Verdict
For this batch, staged loading worked better than overpacking the Dutch oven from minute one.
Next time
Repeat the same staged potato addition and record the exact pot size and final liquid level.
From this cook
