Tag: Western Asian
Bulgur Pilaf
Bulgur Pilaf
You may have heard of bulgur, but might not be sure what it is. Bulgur is wheat berry grain that is graded from super fine to coarse; very reminiscent of couscous. Bulgar is very high in fiber, more than brown rice, and low in fat and calories. This version is a basic Lebanese tomato based preparation; ready in about 20 minutes.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 white onion finely chopped
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 1 roma tomato finely chopped
- 1/2 small green bell pepper finely chopped
- 1 1/2 cups fine bulgur wheat
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 can chickpeas drained
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 3 tbsp parsley chopped
Instructions
- Heat up the olive oil in a pot over medium heat. Sauté the onions for 5 minutes.
- Add in the tomatoes and green pepper. Sauté for 5 minutes.
- Stir in the tomato paste, cumin, salt, and pepper. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Mix in the bulgur to the sauce.
- Pour in the chicken stock and chicken peas. Cover and pull from the heat. Let the bulgur absorb the liquid for 10 minutes.
Lebanese Cabbage Rolls
Lebanese Cabbage Rolls
I’m a huge fan of cabbage rolls. These Lebanese-style cabbage rolls are called Malfouf in Arabic. They are very similar in preparation to Lebanese stuffed grape leaves. The filling is a mix of ground beef, rice, and 7 spice. The rolls are simmered below a layer of tomatoes, garlic, with some lemon juice, until the rice is cooked, creating a garlicky, tomatoey, lemon sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 head green cabbage
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp Lebanese 7 spice
- 1 cup uncooked short grain rice
- 10 garlic cloves
- 2 tomatoes sliced
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 4 cups water
- 2 lemons juiced
Instructions
- Heat up oil in a sauté pan over medium high heat. Brown the ground beef.
- Turn off the heat. Stir in the rice, salt, pepper, and 7 spice. Set aside and let cool.
- Bring a pot of water to boil. Core out the cabbage and carefully remove the leaves. Drop the cabbage leaves in the water for a minute to make pliable. Remove from the pot.
- Place a couple of tbsps of the beef/rice in a cabbage leaf.
- Fold in the sides and roll up. Do this until all of the ground beef is used up.
- Line the bottom of a pot with any extra cabbage leaves. Place the rolls tightly in the pot.
- Cover the top with the tomatoes and garlic.
- Place any remaining rolls on the top. Season with cumin. Pour in 4 cups of water into the pot; enough to cover the rolls. Cover and simmer over medium heat for 30 minutes.
- Squeeze in the lemon juice. Cover and simmer over low heat for 45 minutes.
- Uncover and let rest for 30 minutes.
Chicken Machboos
Chicken Machboos
This is the first Bahraini recipe on stonedsoup.net! Like I’ve said before, every country seems to have their own recipe for chicken and rice. Chicken machboos is the Bahraini version and happens to be the national dish. This complex recipe requires quite a bit of ingredients; some you might have to get at an Asian market or a specialty store like the dried limes and rosewater. Lots and lots of steps, but all are fairly easy and well worth the work. Another one pot dish by one pothead.
Servings: 4
Equipment
- Spice grinder
Ingredients
Baharat Spice Blend
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds
- 2 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp whole cloves
- 1/4 tsp green cardamom seeds
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
Chicken Machboos
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 lbs bone in chicken thighs
- 3 tbsp ghee
- 1 large white onion diced
- 1 serrano pepper finely chopped
- 1 tbsp ginger minced
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tbsp baharat spice blend
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 2 roma tomatoes diced
- 3 dried Persian limes holes poked in
- 5 green cardamom pods
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- 3 tsp salt
- 2 1/2 cups chicken stock
- 2 cups basmati rice soaked for 15 minutes; washed and rinsed
- 3 tbsp cilantro chopped
- 3 tbsp parsley chopped
- rosewater
Instructions
- Dry toast the whole spices in a small sauté pan for 3 minutes. Add to a spice grinder and finely grind. Mix in the paprika and nutmeg. Set aside.
- Heat up cooking oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Add in the chicken thighs, skin side down.
- Sear the thighs for 6 minutes a side. Remove from the pan.
- Add the ghee to the sauté pan. Reduce the heat to medium and sauté the onions for 10 minutes.
- Add in the ginger, garlic, and serrano. Sauté for 2 minutes.
- Stir in the baharat spice blend and ground turmeric. Cook for 1 minute.
- Place the chicken thighs back into the pan along with the dried limes, tomatoes, cardamom pods, cloves and cinnamon stick.
- Pour in the chicken stock. Bring to a boil. Cover. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 1 hour.
- Carefully remove the chicken again. Stir in the rice, cilantro, parsley, and salt.
- Return the chicken to the pan. Cover. Cook for 20 minutes until the rice has absorbed all of the liquid.
- Remove the cinnamon stick and cardamom pods.
