Koshari

Koshari

3/4 cups brown or green lentils, washed
5 cups water or chicken broth
salt
1/2 cup fideo vermicelli (lots of ppl actually use macaroni)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup rice
1 3/4 cups water or chicken broth
salt

Garnish:

2 onions, slivered
2-4 tablespoons olive oil
Tomato sauce:
1 small onion, chopped
2 tbs olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced (ok I cheated, I usually put about 3)
1 can whole tomatoes (14-16 oz)
1 tsp vinegar
1/2 tsp cumin
salt
pepper

Green Chili Vinaigrette (I only do this sometimes)

3 cloves garlic, crushed
salt
1/4 tsp cumin
1/3 cup vinegar (recipe says wine vinegar but I only have white over here)
1/2 cup olive oil
2 serrano chilis, seeded and minced

1. Boil the lentils, covered in the salted water or broth until tender but
not sticky, about 1 1/4 hours. Drain any excess water
2. Brown the vermicelli in 2 tbsp olive oil and add the rice, stirring to
coat every grain. Pour on the 1 3/4 cups water with added salt (or broth),
cover, and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes or so (keep ur eye on it
though so it doesnt burn or form a big old crust) If using macaroni Id cook
it separate from the rice.
3. Meanwhile, slowly cook the slivered onions for the garnish in the 2-4 tbsp
olive oil until dark brown and crisp. Remove from the heat and set aside.
4. For the Tomato sauce, lightly sauté the chopped onion in 2 tbsp olive oil.
Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Whirl the tomatoes and vinegar
in a food processor or blender and add to the garlic and onions. Stir to
mix well, add cumin, season to taste with salt and pepper, and simmer,
covered for around 10-15 minutes.
5. Combine the vinaigrette ingredients separately
6. Turn the cooked rice and pasta into the lentils. If you feel that it
needs more cooking, sprinkle with a little water, cover ad simmer until its
all tender.
7. To serve, u can do a few different things. you can:
* mound the pilaf onto a platter and put the tomato sauce and vinaigrette
into separate small bowls to be spooned over each dish as desired.
*what I really do- I usually dont make the vinaigrette (most Egyptians dont
either) and I just pour the tomato sauce over the pilaf and mix it really
well. I usually have a nice plate of torshi (pickled veggies) on the side
too.
8. Top with the crispy onions! YUM YUM

Shir Berenj (rice pudding)

1/2 c short grain rice
1 1/2 cups cold water
4 cups milk
pinch of salt
1/4 c sugar
2-3 teaspoons rosewater
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
honey for serving (optional)
1. Rinse rice if necessary. Place in a heavy pan with water and bring to
a boil, stirring occasionally. Boil gently, uncovered, for 15 minutes
until water is well absorbed.
2. Stir in milk, add salt and bring to a slow simmer. Simmer gently,
uncovered, for 40 minutes until pudding is thick. Take care that pudding
does NOT scorch. Srit occasionally with a wooden spoon.
3. Add sugar, rose water, to taste, and cardamom. Stir to blend and turn
into small bowls. Serve warm or chilled with a little honey drizzled on top
if desired.

Chicken Kabsa

Ingredients

1/4 cup butter
1 chicken, cut up
1 large onion, chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup tomato puree (I use a few tbs paste actually)
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
2 carrots, grated
3 whole cloves
2 cardamom pods
1 small cinnamon stick
salt and pepper to taste
3 cups chicken broth or water (I use water)
1 cup long grain rice (or more, but remember to increase the water or broth for how much more rice you add)
toasted almonds or pine nuts

Instructions

1. melt butter in large skillet or dutch oven. add chikcen pieces and brown on all sides
2. Remove from skillet and set aside
3. add onion and garlic to skillet and fry until tender. Stir in tomato paste
4. simmmer a few minutes
5. add tomatoes carrots cloves cardamom cinnamon stick salt and pepper. cook for 1 minute or so
6. Add broth or water and return chicken pieces to it bring to the boil and reduce heat and cover simmer for about 30 minutes on low heat
7. Stir rice into liquid or remove chicken and put rice in and put chicken BACK-- ORRRR take out the chicken, set aside and bake it by itself to be crispy and add just the rice to the liquid (thats what I do)
8. Cover. Simmer 30 minutes more or until rice is tender-- add more water if its dry--if its too wet too bad its messed up now lolol(what I do to tell if theres enough water-- I add the rice and then put my finger in the water-- if the water is up to my first knuckle by the time I touch the rice, then its ok)

Serving suggestion: for garnish I like to fry some onions and pine nuts and potatoes diced

Mid Eastern Beans and Rice

Ingredients

(this is for the smallest possible batch. I usually double or triple this recipe)

1 can of drained black eyed peas (Iraqi version), or 1 cup cooked green fava beans (Iranian version)
1 cup of basmati rice

butter

salt

dill weed (I use dried)

Instructions

1. put a large pot of salted water on the boil
2. add the rice (you can wash it first or soak it if you want to reduce the cooking time)
3. cook the rice for 8-9 minutes (less if washed) or until it is al dente-- not completely cooked. Drain
4. put some butter (I always use enough to clog my arteries) in the bottom of the pot and melt it--
5. add the drained rice, the drained black eyed peas/fava beans, salt to your taste, and several spoonfulls of dill weed-- you choose how much you'd like-- but at least 1 tbs per batch-- I always use quite a bit more than that.
6. use your spatula to make the rice mixture look like Devil's Tower (dont forget to hum the melody for Close Encounters lol lol ) and poke a few holes down through the mixture with the handle of your spatula to facilitate steaming.
7. I put a few more pats of butter on top and more salt if needed
8. put a paper towel or thin dish towel over the top of the pan, and then put the lid of the pot over the top-- if the rag is long, tie it on top of the lid.
9. Steam on LOW heat for 15-25 minutes or until u can't stand it anymoreHow to eat it-- some people like this with a Roast chicken, but I always go the vegitarian way by just taking home made pickles (torshi) and plain yoghurt to mix in. Serve with a nice salad with a lemon vinagrette too

Shrimp Machboos

Ingredients

1 pound shrimp shelled
salt
black pepper
2 tsp of kabsa spices (or add pinches of red pepper, cumin, cinnamon, clove, black pepper, cardamom, nutmeg coriander, and ground dried lemon)
3 tbs olive oil (or more)
1 onion chopped
3 cloves garlic
2 ripe tomatoes chopped
1/4 tsp ground dried lemon (loomi, noomi basra, omani lemon)
salt
juice of one lemon
2 tbs butter or olive oil
1 3/4 cup rice
3 1/4 cup water
1 rounded tsp tomato paste

Instructions

Sprinkle the shrimp with salt, pepper, and 1 tsp of the kabsa spices and rub the seasonings into the shrimp.Sautee in 2 tbsp hot oilve oil for around 2-3 minutes (dont cook them completely) remove from panTake same pan and sautee the onion with the rest of the olive oil until soft. Add garlic, rest of kabsa spices, tomato, loomi, salt, lemon juice, and butter. cook for a few minutes more.Add the rice, making sure each grain is coated with the spiced tomato mixture.Pour on the water, stir in the tomato paste and bring to the boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for about 25 minutes (add more water if the rice seems too dry, if it seems too wet, remove the cover and gently raise the hheat for a few minutes)Turn off flame, and gently stir in the shrimp. Put cover back on, and steam without additional heat for about 5 minutes

Cabbage Rice

Ingredients

*1/2 Head Medium White Cabbage
*1 Large Onion, chopped
*garlic cloves, chopped
*1 lb ground beef
*Tumeric
*salt
*pepper
*red pepper (optional)
*Basmati or Long Grain Rice
*Butter or Oil

Instructions

Put a large saucepan full of water on the burner with salt. When it boils, add the rinsed rice and cook for roughly ten minutes, or until the rice is a little bit cooked, but not yet done. Drain in a colander and run some cold water over it to remove any starch. Set aside.In a frying pan, heat up some oil or butter and gently fry onions until transparent. Add several cloves of chopped garlic and fry for a few minutes more, stirring to make sure it doesn't burn. Add ground beef, salt, pepper, red pepper, and tumeric, stirring constantly to make sure the peices of beef break up well. When browned well, chop up the 1/2 head of cabbage into ribbons and add to the mixture. Fry over a slow heat until the cabbage is wilted. In saucepan, melt some butter or oil and add 1/2 of the cooked rice. Add the cabbage-meat mixture, and then place rest of rice on top. Take your spoon or spatula handle and poke several holes in the rice down to the bottom to insure it steams well. Place a paper towel or a thin dish towel over the top of the saucepan, and then fix the lid on tightly (this traps the steam and makes sure the rice doesn't get soggy). Steam over LOW heat for 20 minutes, or until the rice is done to your liking.