Adapted from A Book of Middle Eastern Food, Claudia Roden
This was served at my first dinner at Fadia’s house in 1985 accompanied by a bottle of Chateau Musar, the famous Lebanese red wine from the Bekka Valley.
Ingredients
2 cups basmati rice
8 Tbl olive oil or butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1 pound lean lamb, cut into small cubes
salt and pepper
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp allspice
¾ cup tart dried apricots, cut in half
2 Tbl black or golden raisins
½ tsp saffron threads, bloomed in warm milk, optional
Instructions
Using a sieve, rinse the rice under cool running water until the water runs clear. Soak the rice in salted water, using a tablespoon of salt for every cup of rice. Soak the grains for at least an hour. Drain thoroughly.
Heat 2 Tbl of butter or olive oil in a sauté pan and fry the onion until golden. Add the meat and sauté gently, turning the lamb to brown it on all sides. Add the salt and pepper, cinnamon, allspice, apricots and raisins. Cover with water and simmer over low heat for 1 – 1½ hours, until the meat is very tender and has absorbed the sweet acid flavors of the fruit. Add water as required, but reduce all the liquid at the end.
Alternatively, use the pressure cooker. Sauté the onion until golden. Cube the lamb into 2 inch pieces, brown it on all sides, add the salt and pepper, cinnamon, allspice, apricots and raisins. Add one cup of water and cook under high pressure for 12 minutes. Allow the pressure to reduce naturally.
Cook the drained rice in boiling water for about 10 minutes, it should be a little underdone. Drain and then mix with 4 Tbl melted butter.
In a heavy-bottomed 6-quart casserole, melt the remaining 2 Tbl butter or oil and mix in a ladle of rice. Arrange alternate layers of rice and meat, starting and ending with a layer of rice.
Optional: Drizzle the top with saffron threads that have been bloomed in warm milk.
Wrap the lid of your pan with a clean cloth or paper towel in order to trap the steam, keeping it from falling back on the rice.
Steam gently over very low heat for 20 to 30 minutes, until the rice is tender.