Kousa Mahshi (Stuffed Zucchini) in Tomato Sauce

Kousa mahshi, or stuffed zucchini, is one of my favorite Jordanian dishes both to make and to eat.  It's quite quick and easy to make in the Middle East, as you can find the kousa (mini zucchini) already hollowed out and prepared for you at the grocery store (see picture).  However in the US, you'll have to spend some more time hollowing them out on your own. If you need instructions for that, I found this to be a useful video tutorial.  Once you have your hollowed out zucchini, follow the instructions below.

Tools:
sharp knife
large pot
blender
large spoon


Ingredients:

For zucchini stuffing:
2-3 cups short grain rice
1/4-1/2 lb ground beef
1-2 small yellow onions, finely chopped
1 small can tomato paste
3 tbsp mixed spice/ Middle Eastern spice
salt
pepper
cumin

For sauce:
7 tomatoes (give or take a few depending on size)
2-3 cloves garlic
1-2 yellow tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
water
salt
pepper

Serve with a side of: 
plain yogurt
plain white rice


Steps:

1) Soak rice overnight or for at least 1 hour.  Rinse and drain rice before use.

2) Heat a thin layer of olive oil in a large pot on the stove.  Add minced garlic and diced onions. When onions have begun sweating, add diced tomatoes.  Turn to low heat and stir frequently.  Add tomato sauce, and water, salt and pepper to taste.  Let sauce simmer while you prepare the rest of the meal. 

3) In a separate bowl, combine rice and ground beef.  You can choose how much beef to put in based on you and your guests' preferences.  And just as when making grape leaves, substitute chopped chickpeas for ground beef if you're looking for a meatless dish.

4) Add tomato paste, chopped onions, salt, pepper and spices.  Mix with your hands.  (Before mixing with your hands, make sure to have the hollowed out zucchini near by so that you don't have to touch too many things with your raw meat hands.)

5) When rice mixture has reached an even consistency, use your fingers to stuff the zucchini about 3/4 full with the rice mixture.  Be sure not to pack it in too tight.  (If you pack it in tight, the sauce wont be able to get to the way end and cook all the rice!)  As you stuff each zucchini, place it in the pot of simmering sauce that you started earlier.

6) Cook all stuffed zucchini in sauce for 30-45 minutes. Be sure to stir once or twice so that each kousa can cook evenly.  When you think rice may be done, take out one kousa and cut it in half. Wait for it to cool and try the bottom half of the kousa to see if the rice is cooked.

 7) Serve over plain white rice and a side of plain yogurt. 

Stuffed Grape Leaves

Wara Einab/ Dawali/ Grape Leaves (Vegetarian)

 

Tools:

Two large bowls (one for rice, one for leaves)

One large pot with cover

Sharp knife

Spoon

Ingredients:

·      3 cups short grain rice

·      2-3 small tomatoes, finely

·      2 small onions, finely chopped

·      ½ can (~½ can) chickpeas, chopped

·      ½- 1 small can tomato paste

·      ~½ cup chopped parsley

·      ~1-2 tbsp lemon juice

·      ~2-3 tbsp olive oil

·      1 jar grape leaves

The following spices, to taste:

·      salt

·      cumin

·      nutmeg

·      all spice

·      turmeric

·      dash of black pepper

·      pinch of curry powder

Directions:

1.     Soak rice over night. Rinse rice day of. Place rice in large bowl with plenty of extra room.

2.     Remove grape leaves from jar and rinse with warm water. Be careful removing leaves from jar, as tearing leaves will render leaves useless.

3.    Add chopped onion, tomato, chickpeas and parsley, lemon juice, olive oil, tomato paste and spices to bowl of soaked rice.  Stir in between adding every few ingredients to check the consistency and ratio of rice to non-rice ingredients.  Taste after adding spices and tomato paste to be sure you’re at a desired intensity of spices.  Add more of whatever flavor is lacking.

4.     Sit at a table with a cutting board or place mat of any sort in front of you. Place a grape leaf flat on the cutting board, veins upward.  Carefully tear off the stem if it is too long.

5.     Place about 1 tablespoon of the rice mixture in each leaf. Place the rice in somewhat of a horizontal line close to the bottom of the leaf. (Do not place it in a heap in the middle of the leaf.)  Though leave a small space at the bottom and to the sides of the rice.  Fold up the leaf below the rice, using your thumbs, holding the leaf with both hands. Tuck the sides of the leaf inwards while continuing to roll forwards. Be sure to keep all parts of the leaf tightly woven.

6.     Place any unusable or tattered grape leaves on the bottom of the pot.

7.     Place rolled leaves in a pot, with the “tab” of the leaf on the bottom (so the roll doesn’t come apart.) Place rolled leaves tightly next to one another in the pot in an organized fashion. When there is no more room, create a second layer.

8.     When all useable leaves have been rolled, fill pot with enough water to cover the rolled leaves.  Place a heat-safe plate on top on the leaves to keep them all submerged in the water.

9.     Boil water and keep on medium to high heat for about 45 minutes, or until rice and leaves are cooked all the way through.  Add more water if necessary.

**To avoid burning, you can also place leaves in a steamer. Follow same directions, but do not line the bottom with grape leaves and dump any excess water after cooking. 

Maqloobeh/ مقلوبه

Maqloobeh, or "upside-down," is probably my favorite dish that I've tried while in Jordan.  During an after school English conversation club back in November, one of my 11th grade students was telling me about how her mother is the best cook.  Joking with this student, I said I couldn't believe her until I tried her mother's food. So sure enough, this young woman invited me to her house to try her mother's delicious cooking. This was the first time I tried maqloobeh, and I've been in love ever since.  I asked her mom how to make it, and wrote down the instructions that she dictated to me in a note on my iPhone.  Her mom would not let me leave without taking the spices used in this dish, so I had no choice but to put them to use and try out the recipe on my own.

This dish is a little more complicated than ouzi, but well worth the time and effort. 

Main Ingredients for Maqloobe:

One whole chicken, cut into 4 pieces
3-4 cups of rice (long or short grain)
2 medium sized eggplants
2-3 yellow onions
1-2 whole carrots 
1-2 cups of almond slivers
Frying Oil

Optional:
2-3  potatoes
Head of cauliflower


Spices for Broth: 
2-3 cubes chicken bullion
2-3 Bay Leaves
Salt and Pepper to taste 
7 Spices (a common spice mix found in Jordan which claims to includes all spice, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, rose and cardamom)

Ingredients for Yogurt Salad:
4 cups plain yogurt
3-4 cucumbers (chopped)

Kitchen Utensils:
1 very large pot
1 large pot
1 pan
Sharp knife for cutting vegetables
Strainer for separating chicken from broth
Metal tongs/ spatula for frying eggplant
Large serving dish (diameter of at least 1.5 feet)
Paper towels to collect extra grease 

STEPS:

1) Wash eggplant and cut into slices thin enough for frying. Lay the eggplant on a flat surface and shake a generous amount of salt over the slices of eggplant.  Tilt the flat surface so that is slanted and the water from the eggplant can drain. Let sit for a few hours or overnight.

2) Clean the chicken using hot water and vinegar if necessary. 

3) Fill one large pot with water and set over high heat.  Add the cleaned chicken (include even unwanted parts like the neck and liver). Remove any foam or unwanted residue from the chicken (feathers, for example) that floats to the top. Then add the bay leaves, chicken bullion cubes and spices. Also add one whole or halved onion and 1-2 whole or halved carrots.  Turn down the heat and let the chicken cook and broth brew while you prepare the rest of the dish. 

4) Using paper towels or clean kitchen towels, pat the eggplant slices dry of any excess moisture and wipe off any excess salt. 

5) Fill a frying pan with about 1 inch of frying oil and put over high heat. When the oil is hot (do not put eggplant slices in warm or cool oil, as they will soak up a disgusting amount of oil), fry each eggplant slice individually until both sides are golden brown. Do not crowd the frying pan with slices, as this will lower the oil's temperature and cause the eggplant to take longer to fry and soak up more oil in the meantime. After each slice is fried, set it on paper towels to soak up the excess oil. 

Fried eggplant slices laid on paper towel to soak up excess oil.

ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS:

• Roast the eggplant slices in the oven (instead of frying) with a thin layer of oil on top until they become golden brown. 

• Slice a few potato and fry the potato slices. These fried potato slices will be added to the dish alongside the eggplant. 

• Fry cauliflower. This cauliflower could be ADDED to the fried eggplant or used INSTEAD of fried eggplant.

6) Empty the majority of excess oil after frying the eggplant (and potatoes/ cauliflower if you choose), but leave a thin layer coating the pan.  Use this thin layer to saute the chopped onions.

7) When the chicken has cooked all the way through, place a strainer over another large pot and pour the chicken and spice broth over the strainer. (Do not be absent-minded like me and pour the broth down the sink.)   

Separate the chicken from the broth.

8) In the largest pot that you have, layer as follows: chicken pieces and whole/ halved onions/ carrots on the bottom, then eggplant/ cauliflower, then potatoes, then the diced and sauteed onions, then pre-washed rice over that. Then add as much broth as you need based on how much rice you used.

9) Cover and let cook on low heat until the rice is done. 

10) While the rice is cooking, clean the frying pan, add 1-2 tablespoons of corn or vegetable oil  to it (can be reused and heat oil.  When the pan is hot, add almonds and shake pan/ stir almonds so that the the entire pan and all almonds are covered lightly in oil. Stir constantly on medium heat. When almonds begin to appear light brown, cook for maybe a minute more then turn off the heat and remove almonds from the pan immediately. (If you leave it on the stove, the almonds will continue to cook and burn).  Place almonds in a bowl/on a place covered with paper towel to soak up excess oil. Save the almonds to place on the dish after you've flipped it onto the large serving pan. 

Toasted/sauteed almonds.

This is how the dish should look before flipping it onto the large pan.

11) When the rice is done cooking (all the water is absorbed), flip the pot onto a large serving pan.  (Check out the video below to see how its done!) Then sprinkle almonds on top. 

 

 

12) Enjoy! Also check out this video that a friend created about Maqlube.

Ouzi

It's been some time since I've written anything about Jordan, so to get back on track, I thought I might share with you all a dish that I have learned to make while here. It's a simple, yet delicious rice and meat dish called Ouzi.  Please note that I've taken my own creative license in making this dish so this may not be the exact traditional Arab dish. I also make up the quantities of the ingredients because I don't measure when I make the dish myself.

Main Ingredients for Ouzi:

3-4 cups rice (both short grain and long grain work)
1 pound ground beef
3-4 large carrots  (chopped)
Small bag frozen peas
1-2 cups golden raisins
1-2 onions (chopped)
2 cups slivered almonds OR pine nuts (pine nuts are expensive, but also more delicious. take your pick)

Spices for Rice and Meat:

Necessary:
Chicken Bullion Cubes (amount you use based on how much rice you're making)
Pepper
7 Spices (a common spice mix found in Jordan which claims to includes all spice, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, rose and cardamom)

Optional:
Cardamom seeds (delicious addition, but not necessary since they're expensive in the US)
Cumin
Salt 

 Ingredients for Yogurt Salad
4 cups plain yogurt
3-4 cucumbers (chopped)



Kitchen Utensils:
2 large pots
1 pan
Sharp knife for  cutting vegetables
Strainer for draining peas and carrots and raisins
Large serving dish (diameter of at least 1.5 feet)


STEPS:

1) Boil water for the rice and add spices to this water. The intensity of the spices is up to you, but I usually put about 3 -4 tablespoons of the 7 spices mix in 6-8 cups of water.   As for the chicken bullion, follow the instructions on the package (usually 1 cube per 2 cups or water or so). I don't add salt since the bullion has a lot of salt in it already. Also at this time,  pre-soak your rice and put another pot on the stove to begin boiling water for the peas and carrots. 

2) While water is boiling and rice is soaking,  saute the chopped onions in olive oil. When the onions are cooked and slightly golden brown, add the ground beef and about a tablespoon or two of the seven spice mix. Cook the meat until it's done and set aside this onion/ beef/ spice mixture in another bowl. You will need to clean the pan so you can use it again to toast the almonds in a few minutes.

First saute the onions and then the ground beef in the same pan.

Then put the cooked meat and onions in a separate dish for now.

3) Add rice to the spiced boiling water. Of course, follow the 2-1 rule when adding rice. I usually use 3-4 cups of rice to 6-8 cups of water.  Cover and let cook on low heat.

4) Boil about 2 cups of water using whatever method you'd like (kettle, microwave, stove, etc).  Soak the golden raisins in this boiling water for 20 minutes, or until the rice is cooked.

5) Add chopped carrots to the PLAIN boiling water (not spiced boiling water for rice).  Cook for a while, then add peas to the mix. Carrots usually take longer to cook so I add the carrots first and peas later. Boil until cooked all the way through. Be sure to strain the peas and carrots as soon as they are cooked, as they tend to lose flavor if they sit in the water. 

6) Add 1-2 tablespoons of corn or vegetable oil to the clean pan and heat oil.  When the pan is hot, add almonds and shake pan/ stir almonds so that the the entire pan and all almonds are covered lightly in oil. Stir constantly on medium heat. When almonds begin to appear light brown, cook for maybe a minute more then turn off the heat and remove almonds from the pan immediately. (If you leave it on the stove, the almonds will continue to cook and burn).  Place almonds in a bowl/on a place covered with paper towel to soak up excess oil. Save the almonds to place on the dish in the last step.

 

7) When the rice is done, the peas and carrots are ready and the raisins have been soaked for some time, add everything together in the rice pot and stir together.

Add peas, carrots and raisins to the rice and stir. (Raisins not pictured here)

8) Layer all ingredients on the large serving dish. First, the spiced rice (with peas, carrots and raisins mixed in). Then, the ground beef and sauteed onions. Then, the sauteed almond.

9) Add the chopped cucumbers to the yogurt and mix together. Put this yogurt salad on the side of your ouzi.

10) ENJOY!