Syrian Broth and Rice

prep: a while but WORTH IT
time: a while but WORTH IT
taste: DID I MENTION WORTH IT, SO SO SO AMAZING
from: Rania Alkrad, real live Syrian
note: you are going to need to go to an international market to get some stuff!

FIRST, the RICE! SOAK IT! *SEE BELOW!* Then, the broth:

In a medium/large soup pot over medium heat (note: you will need a bigger pot later, so, use your medium one here, and biggest one later!):

8 cups of water
1/4 of a green pepper, chopped up
1/2 of a small cooking onion, chopped up
1 veggie boullion cube
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon Kabsah spice blend (see below)
3 bay leaves
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom  *I purchased green cardamom pods but lost them KELLER*
1 teaspoon black pepper  **I purchased the good gritty stuff from the International Market---- if you use plain black pepper from the cupboard- REDUCE TO 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon!!!!!!**

Boil an hour to two-ish... until it seems like good broth. I ended up with 6 1/2-ish cups total. DRAIN! Very important! It will be *quite* pepper-y and spicy. The draining is necessary! It worked perfectly for me in a quasi-fine metal strainer that I usually use for quinoa!!!! DRAIN DRAIN DRAIN really!!

THEN, the RICE: 

The rice needs to soak for TWO HOURS!!!!! So, get on that early. Soak it and drain it and soak it and drain it. Use this THREE CUPS OF THIS INCREDIBLE RICE for amazing results (I purchased at the international market):

Then, in a very large pot, sauté:

oil (I used a very minimal amount here, but go nuts if you want)
2 carrots, shredded
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tomato, large, shredded
1/2 of a cooking onion, diced small

After sautéing and stirring a few minutes, add:

the soaked/drained rice
6 1/2 cups of broth

1 Tablespoon Kabsah spice* (see below, find it at the international market)
1 teaspoon curry powder
2 boullion cubes
1/2 of a small can of tomato paste

Boil, reduce to simmer, keep warm until done. I will cook this again to get a rough time estimate!!

When almost done, sauté:

1 Tablespoon oil
1/2 cup raw cashews (I'm sure you could use not raw, but that's what I did- Trader Joe's!)
1/2 cup blanched slivered almonds (I got from international market)

After sautéing- add to rice. Mix in well.

SO INCREDIBLE. Enjoy!!!!

(Note: Rania taught us this recipe using chicken. I don't generally make chicken at home, but I ate her's, and it was AMAZING. In the next few weeks I hope to replicate this recipe using sliced eggplant... and chicken, if I can find some guests to come enjoy it. So.... I will update this later, when I add the chicken or eggplant slices marinade part!)




* here's some pics of the Kabsah spice that I found: