MAHSHI (STUFFED VEGETABLES)
This Middle Eastern dish called "mahshi" or “mahashi” literally means “stuffed”, and Arabs love stuffing every kind of vegetable imaginable! It is a delicious hearty meal that is the epitome of comfort food combining rice, meat and veggies wrapped up in the most flavorful juicy broth.
INGREDIENTS
Vegetables:
Assortment of vegetables, can include zucchini, eggplants, bell peppers and tomatoes
Stuffing:
1 cup Egyptian rice, washed
250g minced meat (beef or lamb)
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon Arabic spices (I use my tata’s spices)
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon ghee
Tomato broth:
1 tomato, sliced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon ghee
Drizzle of olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Salt and pepper, to taste
Dried mint
3-4 cups boiling water
PREPARATION
1. Wash all the vegetables, then cut the tops off and hollow them out gently using a corer. Make sure you do this carefully as to not split or stab the inside of the vegetable. Also, make sure you scrape the inside as much as you can to make room for the stuffing.
2. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients for the stuffing and mix well. Even though it’s raw, you can taste a very small bit to see if it needs more seasoning.
3. Fill each vegetable with the stuffing, but make sure you leave room for the rice to expand. I would say about a cm off the top.
4. Line your pot with the stuffed vegetables, keeping them upright. You can add garlic cloves or potato wedges or anything else to fill the gaps, it will add plenty of flavor!
5. In a separate pot, saute the tomato paste and minced garlic, with a tablespoon of ghee and a drizzle of olive oil, to get rid of that metallic taste. Then add the tomato slices, cooking until they’ve completely softened and released their juices. Season with salt and pepper, then add the boiling water and lemon juice, stirring to combine all the flavors.
6. Pour the tomato broth over the vegetables until they are nearly submerged over high heat.
7. Bring to a boil, then cover the pot and turn down the heat to medium, allowing it simmer for about 1 hour and 10 minutes so the sauce would reduce and the vegetables become tender.
8. Make sure you check on it regularly throughout the hour, if the water completely evaporates, or becomes dangerously close, you’ll need to add more water.
9. Add dried mint generously at the end. Best served with cucumber mint yogurt.
Notes:
The number of vegetables required for this recipe cannot be determined as it really depends on the size.
You can pretty much stuff anything you put your mind to, such as cabbage, onions, carrots, cucumbers, potatoes and more!
You can use canned tomatoes, instead of fresh tomatoes, or even peel and blend your tomatoes in a blender, which then allows you to eliminate the use of tomato paste.
Many people like to half cook the rice and/or meat prior to stuffing it, but I find that unnecessary as it just adds a couple of extra tedious steps to the whole process.
Always make sure to check water levels as it cooks, and I say this from bitter experience.
Yes, it is a lengthy process, but the outcome is well worth the hard work!
