Ruz ala lahme

Every Eid morning we would be invited over to our maternal grandmother’s house for brunch. She would prepare a large platter with jeweled rice topped with roasted chicken called Ruz ala dajaj, the national dish of Lebanon. When I want a quick dish, I skip the roasted chicken and prepare this delicious rice with a side of fattoush or garlic yogurt.

Recipe (makes about 4 servings):

1 tbsp neutral oil

500 g ground beef

1 1/2 tsp Lebanese 7 spices

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 cup long grain rice or Basmati

1 tsp salt

3 cups water/stock or according to rice package instructions

Directions:

1. To a bowl, add rice and soak in cold water for 30min. to 1 hr.

2. To a pot, add oil and place on medium heat. Add the ground beef to the pot and cook through for about 5 minutes while separating the ground beef. Don’t let all the liquid evaporate.

3. Add the spices and salt on top of the ground beef and mix well.

4. Drain the rice from the water in the sink. Then add the rice on top of the ground beef and spices. Mix them together well.

5. Add the water or beef stock, preferably hot water, and bring to a slight simmer over medium heat.

6. Once it starts simmering, reduce the heat to a simmer and cover with a lid.

7. Allow it to cook for 15 minutes, then fluff the rice and turn off the heat.

Toppings (optional): 3 tbsp pine nuts, 3 tbsp pistachio, 2 tbsp raisins

8. Add a couple tablespoons of neutral oil to a sauce pan on medium heat, pan fry the pine nuts first while constantly mixing once golden remove to a plate with a paper towel to soak access oil. Then add the pistachios and pan fry for a few minutes, place on plate. Then pan fry the raisins until they puff up, this takes a few seconds. Remove immediately onto the plate.

Sides:

We either side this dish with fattoush or garlic yogurt. To make the garlic yogurt, add 1 cup of Greek yogurt, 1/4 cup water, 1 large crushed garlic clove, 1 Persian cucumber diced, and 1 tsp dried mint.