Author: Marisa Lopez Chicote MAHSHI RECIPE AND STORY
MAHSHI RECIPE AND STORY
Marisa Lopez
Mahshi is a dish of vegetables stuffed with ground beef, onion, tomato, herbs and rice, that are cooked in a broth with tomato and cumin sauce.
Mahshi, it is originally a traditional Greek dish which was made out of vine leaves stuffed with minced lamb meat and rice, according to the New York Times, but other resource that it is one of many dishes of Ottoman origin that spread throughout the territory of the ancient empire, from the Balkans to Egypt to the Levant.
The name mahshi can be translated as stuffed squash. In Croatian and Serbian, this dish takes the name of punjene tikvice. In Albania, it is called kungulleshka të mbushura. Finally in Turkey, it is called kabak dolmasi.
In Egypt, mahshi is present on all banquet tables for weddings, family reunions and especially during the celebrations of the month of Ramadan.
The base of this meal is preparing the stuffing made of rice, herbs (parsley, coriander and dill), semi cooked tomato sauce and a pinch boharat (Middle East mix spices) and salt and pepper. Once this filing is ready, you can use any vegetable of your choice. In Egypt we use cored zucchini, cored eggplants, cabbage leaves, grapevine leaves, or small bell peppers. You may also add some cooked ground beef to the rice mixture to make it a full meal.
This is a meal that takes a long time to prepare and making it is traditionally a communal activity, where all female members of the household sit and core and stuff while talking and bonding.Personally, the lady who sells me the vegetables, make the core for me so do not take me so long
Ingredients
3 cups short grain rice
3 large onions, chopped
2 large onion sliced or slides of zucchini
3 chopped tomatoes
A bunch of the following: parsley, coriander and dill
2 teaspoons of boharat
1 teaspoon of black pepper
3 teaspoons of sat
2 tbsp of ghee (samna baladi)
Chicken or meat Broth
Tomato sauce and cumin
– 10 pieces of zucchini- Choose pieces that are slightly fat and short
– 10 pieces of eggplant
– In other pot, 20 cabbage leaves (blanched and middle rib removed)
– and 20 vine leaves (blanched)
Elaboration:
Sauté chopped onions in 2 tbsp of ghee for 3 minutes or until wilted and yellow. Add the chopped tomato, salt, pepper and boharat. Simmer for 3 minutes.
Rinse the rice thoroughly and drain. Finely chop the herbs. Add the prepared mix of onion, spices and tomato and herbs to the rice and mix well.
Core the vegetables using what we call in Egypt “Mai-warr” or literally “corer”. Try to remove most of the core leaving only a thin outer shell, taking care not to break or pierce the vegetables.
If you are using eggplant, put each piece in a bowl of water as you core them one by one to avoid the eggplant darkening in color.
For leafy vegetables blanch and cool the leaves.
Using a teaspoon, stuff each vegetable with the rice mixture pushing down the rice as you add more with the handle of the spoon. Leave ½ cm unstuffed to allow the rice to expand when cooked.
Add a bit of ghee to the bottom of a non stick pot. Arrange the onion or zucchini slices to cover the bottom. This is to avoid the bottoms of the vegetables being charred if the water dries out and it also gives a nice flavor to the meal.
Arrange the stuffed vegetables on top of the onions in a slightly standing position to avoid the rice spilling out.
Add 2 cup broth and tomato sauce and a bit of cumin . Bring to a boil, then simmer on very low heat till rice is cooked, about 15-20 minutes. When it cools down slightly, arrange the vegetables in a serving dish and discard the onion slices.
For the leafy vegetables like cabbage, spread the leaf, add 1 tbsp rice mixture and roll like a wrap without tucking the ends. If using vine leaves you need to tuck the ends while you roll.
Served warm with a main dish of chicken or meat and yogurt salad.
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