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 broth 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.