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Recipes with egyptian or other short-grain rice

6 recipes that use egyptian or other short-grain rice, with photos, step-by-step instructions and cook times. The quickest, Roz bel shaareya (Egyptian vermicelli rice), takes 30 minutes. It is most often cooked with onion, dill and flat-leaf parsley.

Run out of egyptian or other short-grain rice? Any long-grain rice, same amount.

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Roz bel khalta (Eid rice with nuts and minced beef)

On the first morning of Eid al-Adha, Egyptian families serve roz bel khalta next to the fattah and the roast, a rice so rich it's practically a main course. The khalta, or "mix", is minced beef fried with spices, then golden almonds, pine nuts and raisins fried separately and scattered over at the end. Some Cairo cooks add chopped chicken livers; they're optional here. Serve with yogurt and a salad. The usual slip is adding the nuts to the rice while cooking, so they go soft; fry them at the last minute and keep them crunchy. Chef's tip: cook the rice in the stock from boiling your Eid meat if you have it — that is where the depth comes from. Contains tree nuts.

60 minEgyptianRice & GrainsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Roz bel shaareya (Egyptian vermicelli rice)

Not a single Egyptian stew is served without roz bel shaareya: short-grain rice cooked with vermicelli that has been toasted in butter or samna until it's the colour of a walnut shell. It's on the table every day in homes from Aswan to Alexandria, soft and slightly sticky, with nutty brown flecks through it. Serve it under fasolia, bamia or molokhia. Most people under-toast the vermicelli out of fear of burning it; pale shaareya tastes of nothing. Chef's tip: let the cooked rice sit covered with a clean tea towel under the lid for 10 minutes; it dries the grains and keeps them separate.

30 minEgyptianRice & Grains
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Mahshi basal (stuffed onion rolls)

Mahshi basal is the one the aunties argue over at big family gatherings in Cairo and the Delta: it takes patience, and the rolls that catch and caramelise at the bottom of the pot are the prize. Onion layers are softened, wrapped round tomato rice with cumin and a little pomegranate molasses, then cooked slowly until they turn sweet, sticky and deep golden. Serve as part of a mixed mahshi spread or on its own with yogurt. The common mistake is boiling the onions too long so the layers tear; pull them off as soon as they bend. Chef's tip: leave the pot alone for the last 15 minutes so the bottom layer can brown — that sticky edge is the point.

120 minEgyptianVegetarianVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Mahshi felfel (Egyptian stuffed peppers)

Every Egyptian household has a tray of mahshi felfel in its summer rotation, from Alexandria to Assiut, because the thin-skinned green peppers sold everywhere in July soften fast and soak up tomato broth. This version starts on the hob and finishes in the oven, so the tops blister and char at the edges while the rice underneath turns soft and tangy with dill and mint. Serve with a cucumber-yogurt salad and bread. Don't pack the filling down hard: rice that can't swell stays chalky in the middle. Chef's tip: slice a thin round off the base of any pepper that won't stand up; it then sits flat and cooks evenly.

90 minEgyptianVegetarianVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Mahshi betingan (stuffed baby aubergines)

Small purple-black aubergines the length of a finger pile up on handcarts in Cairo's Sayeda Zeinab market in summer, and most of them end up as mahshi betingan on the family lunch table. Each one is hollowed out with a corer, filled with tomato rice heavy with dill, and simmered until the skin is glossy and the flesh almost melts into the rice. Eat them with yogurt, a crunchy cucumber salad and pickled turnips. People often scoop too much flesh and pierce the skin, so the filling leaks; leave a wall about 5 mm thick. Chef's tip: soak the hollowed aubergines in salted water for 10 minutes; they stay purple and drink up less oil.

100 minEgyptianVegetarianVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Mahshi kromb (Egyptian cabbage rolls)

In Cairo flats on a Friday the women of the house sit around a tray rolling cabbage leaves no thicker than a pencil, because in Egypt a fat kromb roll is a sign of a hurried cook. The rolls are packed tightly into a pot, simmered in tomato broth with plenty of garlic and a cumin-scented finish, and come out soft, tangy and almost silky. Serve them warm with a bowl of plain yogurt or a salata baladi, and expect them to taste even better the next day. The usual mistake is overfilling: the rice swells by half again, so each leaf needs only a level teaspoon or the rolls burst. Chef's tip: lay the cabbage core and any torn leaves in the bottom of the pot first; they stop the rolls catching and give the broth a sweet cabbage flavour.

125 minEgyptianVegetarianVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Goes well with egyptian or other short-grain rice