Rice with Tomato Sauce-Red Rice

When we cook this type of rice, we top it with fried eggplant slices and pieces of chicken. We serve salad and pickles on the side. You could cook this rice with lamb broth and top it with stewing lamb and fried eggplants. In this recipe, I grilled the eggplants for a lighter version. We serve this dish as a whole meal.

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 cups basmati rice

1 ½ cup chicken stock or water

½ cup tomato sauce

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon (bahar-spice mixture of cinnamon, allspice, black pepper)

Heat oil in a pot and sauté the rice until rice grains are coated with oil. Add salt and spices and stir. Add the chicken stock and tomato sauce and bring to a boil half covered. When the liquid is almost absorbed, stir the rice and reduce heat to low and leave it to steam for 20 minutes covered.

Grilled eggplants

Slice the eggplants and sprinkle with salt. Put them in the colander to drain for 30 minutes. Pat them dry with paper towel. Put them in a bowl and drizzle vegetable oil over them. Place them on a sheet pan under the broiler for 7 minutes until toasted. Turn the slices to the other side, and broil them. Set them aside and sprinkle Bahar spice over the slices.

You can prepare the eggplants ahead and keep refrigerated. We traditionally cook the chicken and remove the skin and bones. You could use leftover chicken. Sauté the chicken in butter or oil, and set aside. Plate the rice and top it with the eggplant slices, and chicken pieces.

Ground Beef and Eggs Omelet-Makhlama

This is a very filling omelet that you can prepare for a brunch or a light dinner. You can always prepare the meat mixture ahead of time and refrigerate. Reheat the meat and crack the eggs. You could scramble the eggs if you prefer.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon canola oil

½ pound ground lean chuck or lamb

1 small onion, chopped

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon Arabian spice or black pepper

1 medium tomato, chopped

3-4 eggs

Heat oil in non-stick pan. Sauté the meat and add the onions. Season with salt and spices. Add the tomatoes and stir. When the meat mixture is cooked and tomatoes are soft, crack the eggs on the meat mixture and cover for 4 minutes until the eggs are set. Serve in a pita bread or bread on the side.

Iraqi Tea-Chai

The most popular brands of tea used in Iraq are Assam black tea, Ceylon Black tea, and other brands. They are dark and strong when brewed. Sometimes we add a stick of cinnamon to the teapot or a few pods of whole cardamom to falvor the tea.

There is other variety of teas that we serve in Iraq, and they are dried lime tea, and chamomile tea. Hibiscus tea is more popular in the South. These teas are used for medicinal purposes.

We usually consume tea throughout the day, and you can find tea stalls and vendors everywhere. We drink tea with milk in the morning for breakfast. Other times of the day, we drink it black.

You need a teapot, and a kettle with boiling water

Preparation:

2 teaspoons loose black tea or (Lipton loose tea)

2 cups boiling water

Granulated sugar, or sugar cubes

Put tea in the teapot and pour the hot water. Place the cover on top of the teapot. Cover the teapot with a towel to keep the teapot warm and steep for 10 minutes. We traditionally put the teapot on top of the kettle to steep.

To serve it, we put 1 teaspoon or more of sugar in the istikan, or tea cup. Pour tea to half full, and add boiling water to top of the cup. Stir the tea cup and drink. Be careful, the istikan can be very hot. We do not strain the tea as we pour it. Tea leaves settle to the bottom of the istikan.

Sometimes we serve sugar cubes on the side.

Note: we add boiling water to the tea when we pour tea in a cup to dilute it. Tea can be very strong, and gets bitter as it sits longer on top of the kettle.

Spinach with Black Eyed Peas

For this recipe, you could use frozen spinach. You can use lemon juice or dried lime which you can find at Persian and Middle Eastern grocery stores.

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

½ cup onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 (6-ounce) bag fresh spinach

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

1 (15.5-ounce) can black eyed peas, drained and rinsed

Juice of ½ lemon or 1 teaspoon crushed dried lime

In a deep pan, sauté the onions and garlic in oil. Add salt and pepper and stir. Add the spinach, lemon juice and back eyed peas and stir. Cover the pan and simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and serve it with plain white rice or a side dish.

You can cook this dish with stewing lamb or beef. When the meat is cooked on top of the stove, follow the above recipe and add 1 cup of water and 2 tablespoons tomato paste. Serve it with rice.

Iraqi Holiday Desserts

This is from Ch. 10 TV segment on Baking with Lindsey. I prepared Iraqi Holiday Cookies in November, 2010.

Swiss chard Soup

For this recipe, you could add chopped carrots or chopped zucchini.

1 medium onion, chopped

4 large cloves of garlic, crushed

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup cooked white rice

1 teaspoon salt

1 bunch of Swiss chard, washed and chopped

3 cups of water or broth

 Juice of one lemon

1 teaspoon dried mint

Heat oil in a deep pan, and sauté the onions and garlic for three minutes. Season with salt. Add the swiss chard, rice, and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Add lemon juice and mint. Simmer for ten more minutes.

Serve it with toasted bread.

The Iraqi Family Cookbook, 2012, New Edition: Recipes for Lent

The Iraqi Family Cookbook, 2012, New Edition: Recipes for Lent