by Anissa Helou
½ cup (75 g) fresh or frozen petits pois
1 cup (200 g) Calasparra or Thai fragrant jasmine rice, rinsed and soaked for 30 minutes in 2 cups (500 ml) water
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
½ teaspoon Garam Masala 1
Sea salt
1. Put the mung dal in a large karahi (a thick, deep, round cooking pot not quite as wide as a wok) and dry-roast it over medium heat until it starts darkening. Transfer to a plate.
2. Add the mustard oil to the karahi, increase the heat to high, and heat the oil until it starts smoking. Reduce the heat to medium and let the oil cool slightly and stop smoking. Add the potatoes and cauliflower, and sauté until they start coloring. Remove to a plate.
3. Add the cumin seeds to the pot and sauté for a minute or so. Add the bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon stick, cardamom pods, and whole red chilies and sauté for a couple of minutes. Reduce the heat to low, then add the ground cumin, chili powder, and minced ginger and sauté for a minute or so. Add the chopped tomato and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes, until the chopped tomato softens.
4. Return the toasted mung dal to the pot and sauté for 3 minutes. Add 2 cups (500 ml) water, cover the pot, and increase the heat to medium-high. When the water starts bubbling, add the sautéed potatoes and cauliflower and the petits pois. Replace the lid and let bubble gently for 5 minutes. Drain the rice and add it to the pot along with the turmeric, garam masala, and salt to taste, mixing well. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the rice and dal are very soft, 10 to 15 minutes. You may need to add more water if the dish gets too dry. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
Koshari
EGYPT
The food of the revolution! This is how koshari is now described in Egypt, but before the uprising of the people against Mubarak, when thousands gathered in Tahrir Square, relying on koshari for sustenance, it was one of Egypt’s most loved national dishes, by poor and rich alike. The poor ate it on the street, off beautiful carts decorated with colored glass—these are becoming rarer now, replaced by stainless steel carts—and the rich ate it at home or in busy restaurants that serve only koshari, like Hind in modern Cairo and Abu Tareq in downtown Cairo. Koshari is a multilayered dish consisting of a mixture of rice/vermicelli, lentils, and pasta that could very well be a descendant of the Bengali Khichdi. It is served topped with a spicy tomato sauce, cooked chickpeas, and crisp caramelized onions, and it is an incredibly satisfying and delicious dish that is fairly simple to prepare, although you need several pans to make it. In Egypt, they have two tomato sauces, one that is plain and the other, called shatta, that is very spicy. I combine both in a rather spicy tomato sauce, pepped up with a naga jolokia chili (ghost pepper), one of the hottest chilies in the world, but you can use a milder chili such as Aleppo pepper, in which case increase the quantity to 1 teaspoon.
SERVES 4 TO 6
FOR THE TOMATO SAUCE
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion (3½ ounces/100 g), finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced to a fine paste
Two 14-ounce (400 g) cans Italian chopped tomatoes
¼ teaspoon naga jolokia (ghost pepper) flakes
Sea salt
FOR THE KOSHARI
Sea salt
1¼ cups (125 g) elbow macaroni
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for the macaroni
1 cup (200 g) brown lentils, soaked for 1 hour in water to cover
1 ounce (30 g) vermicelli, broken in 1-inch (2.5 cm) pieces if not already broken
1 cup (200 g) bomba or Calasparra rice
FOR THE GARNISH
Vegetable oil, for deep-frying
2 large onions (14 ounces/400 g total), halved and thinly sliced
½ cup (100 g) dried chickpeas, soaked overnight in plenty of cold water with ½ teaspoon baking soda, drained, rinsed, and boiled in fresh water until tender but not mushy
1. To make the tomato sauce: Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and fry until golden, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and stir for another minute or so. Add the chopped tomatoes and chili flakes and season with salt to taste. Let bubble gently for about 25 minutes, or until the sauce is reduced. Keep hot.
2. To make the koshari: In a medium pot of boiling salted water, cook the macaroni for 2 minutes less than the package directions. Drain and toss with a little olive oil to stop it from sticking.
3. Drain the lentils and put in a saucepan with water to cover by 1 inch (2.5 cm). Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low and let simmer for 10 minutes, or until tender but not mushy—some lentils will take longer to cook; test them after 10 minutes and if they need longer, let them cook for up to an extra 15 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, heat the 2 tablespoons olive oil in a pot over medium heat. Add the vermicelli and sauté, stirring all the time, until golden brown, about 7 minutes. Rinse the rice under cold water and add to the pot and sauté for a few seconds. Add 1⅔ cups (410 ml) water and salt to taste. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and let simmer for 10 minutes, until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender.
5. Drain the lentils and add to the rice together with the macaroni (see Note). Taste and adjust the salt if necessary. Then wrap the lid with a clean kitchen towel and replace over the pan.
6. To make the garnish: Pour 1 inch (2.5 cm) vegetable oil into large skillet and heat over medium heat until hot (if you drop a piece of bread in the oil, the oil should immediately bubble around it). Drop the sliced onions into the oil and fry, stirring every now and then, until golden brown, about 10 minutes. The onions need to get to a deep color for them to be crisp, but be careful not to let them burn. Remove with a slotted spoon to a sieve and shake off the excess oil—this will make them really crisp.
7. Transfer the koshari to a serving platter. Spoon the tomato sauce over the center and garnish with the chickpeas and crispy onions. Serve hot.
NOTE: You can also leave everything separate, mixing a little of the lentils in with the rice, and serve the dish in layers the way they do in Egypt.
Zanzibari Coconut Rice
WALI WA NAZI
ZANZIBAR
The way coconut milk is made in Zanzibar—and elsewhere like India or Indonesia, for that matter—is quite fascinating. First you need to grate fresh coconuts, which in Zanzibar is done with a specialized piece of equipment: a wooden stool on which the cook sits with a metal grater attached to its side. The cook places a bowl underneath the grater part, then takes coconut halves and rubs them back and forth against the teeth of the grater to release the flesh. Once she (home cooks are almost always women) has enough grated coconut, she adds water and mixes it with the coconut before she starts squeezing it to extract the milk. The first squeezing produces the thick coconut milk, or coconut cream as it is often sold, then more water is added and the coconut squeezed again for a thinner milk, and finally she may do it a third time for a really diluted result. Obviously this is not practical in the West, so you need to buy coconut milk—or, to be more accurate, coconut cream—in cans. Those that specify 25 percent fat are the thick coconut milk or cream. If you can’t find lower-fat ones, mix the coconut cream with water (2 parts milk to 1 part water) to make thin coconut milk. This rice cooked in coconut milk has a lovely flavor and goes well with fish, such as the Zanzibari Grilled Fish or curries.
SERVES 4 TO 6
1⅔ cups (425 ml) thin coconut milk
1⅔ cups (425 ml) coconut cream
2 cups (400 g) long-grain rice, soaked for 30 minutes in lightly salted water
Sea salt
Put both the coconut milk and cream in a pot and bring to a boil over medium heat. As soon as the coconut milk has come to a boil, drain the rice and drop it into the milk. Add salt to taste. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and let the rice simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, or until it has absorbed all the liquid. Take off the heat. Wrap the lid with a clean kitchen towel and replace over the po
t. Let the rice steam for a few minutes.
Afghani Vermicelli Rice I
RESHTA PULAU I
AFGHANISTAN
Cooking rice with noodles goes back many centuries and you find the word reshta, which means thread in Iranian, in medieval cookbooks. There are two versions to this rice. One is the simple one below, whereas the more complicated meat version is in the following recipe. Both are intriguing because of the sweet/savory element. The plainer one is wonderful served with grilled or roasted meats or stews while the meat version makes for a very sophisticated one-pot meal. I have adapted both from recipes in Helen Saberi’s Afghan Food & Cookery. Many of the Persian khoresht (Iranian Yellow Split Pea Stew, Iranian Mixed-Herb Lamb Stew, Iranian Lamb and Eggplant Stew, and Quince Stew) are perfect accompaniments to this rice, as are some curries.
SERVES 4 TO 6
2½ cups (500 g) long-grain rice, rinsed and soaked for 30 minutes in lightly salted water
Sea salt
½ cup (125 ml) vegetable oil
9 ounces (250 g) vermicelli, broken into 1-inch (2.5 cm) pieces
1 cup (200 g) raw cane sugar
Good pinch of saffron threads
¼ cup (40 g) slivered pistachios
¼ cup (40 g) slivered almonds
1. Drain the rice. Put 6 cups (1.5 liters) water in a large pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon salt and the drained rice and boil for 3 minutes. Drain the rice. Reserving one-quarter of the rice, transfer the remainder of it to a Dutch oven (or other ovenproof pot). Wrap the lid with a clean kitchen towel. Place over the pot and set aside.
2. Heat ¼ cup (60 ml) of the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the vermicelli and sauté for a few minutes stirring all the time, or until lightly browned. Take off the heat.
3. Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
4. Put the sugar in a medium saucepan and add a scant 1 cup (225 ml) water. Place over medium-high heat and let bubble until you have a thin syrup. Add the fried vermicelli, saffron, pistachios, and almonds. Set a sieve or colander in the sink. Put a large spoonful of the reserved rice into the sieve and add a large spoonful of the vermicelli and nut mixture. Continue building the layers until you finish both the reserved rice and the nut/syrup mixture. Most of the syrup will drain away so don’t worry about the rice becoming too sweet.
5. Mix the remaining ¼ cup (60 ml) oil with ⅓ cup (80 ml) water and a little salt and pour over the rice in the Dutch oven. Stir once, then place the vermicelli rice on one side of the plain rice without stirring it in. Unwrap the lid and place it back over the pot. Transfer the Dutch oven to the hot oven and let the rice steam for 45 minutes.
6. To serve, remove the vermicelli rice to a plate. Transfer the plain rice to a large serving platter. Scatter the vermicelli rice over the top and serve hot.
Lebanese/Syrian Vermicelli Rice
REZZ BIL-SH’AYRIYEH
LEBANON | SYRIA
Also known as rezz mufalfal (a term found in medieval Arab cookbooks meaning that grains of rice cook separately and not sticking together), this rice is a slight variation on plain rice, with added toasted vermicelli. In Lebanon, people normally serve vermicelli rice with meats or vegetables cooked in yogurt or in tahini sauce, while plain rice is served with regular stews (yakhni), but there is no absolute rule as to which rice is served with what. If you want to make plain rice, simply omit the vermicelli.
SERVES 6
1 cup (200 g) bomba or Calasparra rice
2 tablespoons (30 g) unsalted butter
1 ounce (30 g) vermicelli, broken into 1-inch (2.5 cm) pieces
Sea salt
1. Rinse the rice in several changes of cold water.
2. Melt the butter in a medium pot over medium heat. Add the vermicelli and fry, stirring continually, until golden brown, about 7 minutes. Add the rice and mix well.
3. Add 1⅔ cups (410 ml) water and season with salt to taste. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and let simmer for 15 minutes, or until the rice is tender and the water is fully absorbed. Take off the heat. Wrap the lid with a clean kitchen towel. Replace over the pot and let the rice steam for 5 minutes. Serve hot.
Afghani Vermicelli Rice II
RESHTA PULAU II
AFGHANISTAN
This vermicelli rice is a savory meat version of Afghani Vermicelli Rice I. It is a little like a biryani but with added vermicelli. I love the way Afghans put the garnishes of rice dishes on the side of the rice, then spread them over the rice instead of layering them so that they are mixed into the rice. The result is pretty much the same as with biryani but the presentation differs.
SERVES 4 TO 6
Good pinch of saffron threads
1 tablespoon rose water
⅓ cup (80 ml) plus 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion (5 ounces/150 g), finely chopped
1 pound 10 ounces (750 g) lamb, cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm) cubes
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Sea salt and finely ground black pepper
3½ ounces (100 g) vermicelli, broken into 1-inch (2.5 cm) pieces
⅓ cup (50 g) golden raisins, soaked for a couple hours in cold water
¼ cup (40 g) slivered pistachios
¼ cup (40 g) slivered almonds
2½ cups (500 g) long-grain rice, rinsed and soaked for 30 minutes in lightly salted water
1. Put the saffron to steep in the rose water plus 1 tablespoon water.
2. Heat ⅓ cup (80 ml) of the oil in a pot over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Add the lamb and sauté until browned. Add the cinnamon and salt and pepper to taste. Barely cover the meat with water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and let simmer for about 45 minutes, or until the meat is tender and the sauce has become quite thick.
3. Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the vermicelli and sauté until golden brown, about 7 minutes. Be careful not to burn it. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a small pan over medium heat and sauté the golden raisins and nuts for 2 to 3 minutes, until the raisins have puffed up a little.
4. Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
5. Put 6 cups (1.5 liters) water in a large pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon salt. Drain the rice and add to the boiling water and boil for 3 minutes. Drain and transfer half the rice to a Dutch oven (or other ovenproof pot). Add the vermicelli and mix with the rice. Spread the meat and its juices (see Note) over the rice/vermicelli mix. Cover with half the remaining rice. Then mix what’s left of the rice with the saffron rose water and place over one side of the rice in the pot. Spoon the raisins and nut mixture onto the other side. Cover the Dutch oven, transfer to the oven, and let steam for 45 minutes.
6. To serve, spoon out the saffron rice and golden raisins and nut mixture onto a small plate. Spoon the top layer of rice onto a serving platter. Spread the meat over the rice and cover with the bottom layer of rice. Scatter the saffron rice and golden raisins and nut mixture over the plain rice and serve hot.
NOTE: The meat juices should be about ⅔ cup (160 ml). If you have less juice, do not worry. If you have more and the rice ends up being too wet, increase the heat to high for a few minutes to let the liquid evaporate. Be careful not to let the bottom scorch.
Plain Iranian Rice
POLOW
IRAN
Rice is an important staple throughout much of the Muslim world, but there is one country where rice is practically revered, and that is Iran, where you find stores that sell only rice, several types, as well as rock salt, which is essential for cooking rice. If you were to enter a rice merchant’s shop in Qazvin, an important market town in Gilan, you would find the rice displayed in big sacks lined up in the shop window, with labels informing clients of the type, the price, and whether it is local—rice is grown in Iran, mainly in the province of Gilan on the Caspian shore. And often, you will find customers sipping tea in small
glasses, which the vendor will have ordered from a nearby teahouse, while leisurely inspecting the rice before buying it. The way they do this is by plunging their hands into the bag to lift some of the rice, which they then let run through their fingers to study the grain, whether it’s broken (a no-no unless they are making rice pudding) or intact. They will then ask the vendor how long the rice has been aged. The first time I overheard such a conversation (translated to me), I was astonished. I didn’t know then that rice had to be aged! The best Iranian rice is called domesiah, which means “black end,” a name given to the rice because it has a black tip. It is rare to find domesiah now in Iran, and practically impossible to buy it outside the country. The Iranian stores in London don’t even stock Iranian rice today, selling instead Pakistani or Indian long-grain rice, both basmati and other types.
The secret to a good Iranian rice dish is to first rinse the rice, then let it soak in lightly salted water for up to 2 hours before draining it and parboiling it for 2 to 3 minutes, just enough to break the hardness. After that, it is put to steam over very low heat until it forms a tah-dig, or golden crust—the prize part of Persian rice—while the rest of the rice becomes incredibly fluffy. You can prepare it plain as here or make the sabzi polow (Herbed Polow), a typical rice dish for Nowruz (Iranian New Year), or the Lentil Polow, to name but a few of the variations.
As for the tah-dig, you can make it in different ways—the name is a combination of two words, tah, which means “bottom,” and dig, which means “pot.” I like to make a plain rice tah-dig, with just rice, oil, and saffron water, but you can also make a tah-dig by simply lining the pan with a thin layer of thinly sliced potatoes or lavash before you add the first layer of rice.
Serve this polow with the dish of your choice, either kebabs or khoresht.
SERVES 4 TO 6
Good pinch of saffron threads