{"id":2997,"date":"2019-12-29T11:14:06","date_gmt":"2019-12-29T09:14:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/test.thebitterolive.com\/?p=2997"},"modified":"2019-12-29T13:22:32","modified_gmt":"2019-12-29T11:22:32","slug":"rice-with-green-peas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.thebitterolive.com\/?p=2997","title":{"rendered":"Riz be Bazalyah “Rice with Green Peas”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Todays Solo meal is Riz be Bazalyah – Rice with Green peas, cooked just the way Salma used to do it… +<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

She wakes up at 5 am, does her prayers. Lights the gas on a small coffee pot with water, she prepares Turkish coffee and the day has just started. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

She starts by calling the vegetable shop, she inquires about what is fresh and what is new. She asks about some vegetables she hasn\u2019t cooked in a while. The guy says the zucchini is good but she just cooked that a week ago. She settles with some tomatoes, red but firm ones, for the fattoush<\/a><\/em>. Another half a kilo cucumbers and some watercress. It is the season of peas, so she gets a couple of kilos to clean, blanch and freeze. The shop will send the vegetables over in a few minutes. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

She has made sure she got the fresh vegetables for today, so she picks up the phone and calls the butcher. She tells him exactly which cut of meat she needs, from where to cut it and how to prepare it for her dish today. Should it be finely minced, with a knife or with the machine? He tells her he has got some fat that would be perfect for grilled kibbeh. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The butcher will send the stuff with one of his guys in a few as well. She spends the morning in the kitchen and by noon she has prepared lunch and soon will start doing the peas, peel, blanch, and freeze. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

See the reason her food tastes like no other is because she cooks seasonally. She knows what is in season, she knows what vegetables are good for what, she knows that this size of eggplants would have way too many seeds so it won\u2019t be good for frying, nor for Mutabal. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her vegetables are all prepared in their season, whatever\ncould be frozen then it is kept. Even garlic she gets it in the season and\nhangs it on the balcony till it dries, then it is peeled and kept in the\nchiller in preserved jars. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

She knows her meat, where to cut from if you wanted to do\na stew, which part tastes better minced and which she doesn\u2019t like at all. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a day like yesterday, 14 years ago, Salma left us. She left this world behind her a little bit colder and lonelier. It is funny sometimes when I think of it that we most of the time remember her for her great food only, but this supports the fact that every single meal we had cooked by her was a memorable experience. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every single dish she cooked created memories that are stored deep in us, memories that are now stories we tell people. Eating food with her was not a life survival act, on the other hand, every single time it was a culinary experience cooked by no one but my greatest chef of all times Salma. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So today on my way to Mumbai I decided to write this\nrecipe and share it with you. To be honest this dish was not a dish that Salma\ncooked, cause it is too simple and she used to pamper us when we used to visit.\nBut this dish is one of my favorites as it reminds me of her and Syria. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Let\u2019s get cooking\u2026.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Start by soaking the rice in water and taking the peas out of the freezer.  In a medium-size pot melt, the ghee adds in the peas and the sugar and saute for around 5 minutes, by now the peas would be bright and shiny green on color. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boil the water and add it on top, boil the peas in the water for another 5 minutes. By now the peas are cooked but still a bit firm. Strain the rice and add it on top of the peas and water. Add in the salt and cover. Keep the pot on medium to high heat while the water boils for another 5 minutes then transfer to low heat. Keep it for 10 minutes, by now the rice should have made some halls, mix the rice and taste for salt if it needs to be adjusted. The rice would be still wet now, lower the heat to the minimum or if you are suing gas burner use your simmering ring right now. Leave the rice for the last 5 minutes. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the meat, in a frying pan on high heat melt the ghee. Season the meat with salt and Salma’s spice<\/a><\/em> and mix it. Add the meat in the pan and cook for a few minutes till it is fully cooked. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the almonds, you can either fry or air fry or even roast\nthat is totally up to you. I have shallow fried mine. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To assemble, place the almonds all-around at the bottom of the bowl, place the minced meat on top. Then the rice and peas go in, and now you will have to push a bit with the spoon in order for the rice to stick together and take the shape of the bowl. Flip it and serve along with yogurt. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chefs notes\u2026 <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Meat mixed inside as well in here <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n