Layered Golden Rice Bake with Spiced Meat

• porsjoner: 8 servings
• aktiv tid: 30 minutes
• total tid: 1 hour 40 minutes

Ingredienser

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil

4 garlic cloves (, finely minced)

1 onion (, finely diced)

750g / 1 1/2 lb lamb mince (first choice), or beef (Note 1)

2 1/2 tbsp baharat spice mix (- store bought or make your own (Note 3)

2 tsp cumin powder

2 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt

1/2 tsp cayenne powder (, optional, for very subtle warmth)

3 tbsp tomato paste

1 small eggplant (, skin on, cut into 1cm / 0.4" cubes, ~2 heaped cups (Note 2)

1 1/2 cups water

3 cups basmati rice (, uncooked)

1 tbsp cooking salt / kosher salt (, for rice cooking water)

1/2 tsp saffron threads (Note 4 for imitation powder, more cost effective)

2 tbsp boiling water

1 1/2 cups plain unsweetened yogurt (, full fat (regular, Greek or Greek-style)

2 large eggs (~55g/2oz each in-shell)

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt

1/4 cup pine nuts (slivered or flaked almonds also great)

2 - 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (, for drizzling)

3 batches Lemon Yogurt Sauce (YES 3 BATCHES!), or even plain yogurt or sour cream (Note 5)

2 tbsp coriander / cilantro roughly chopped (, optional garnish)

1 tbsp roughly chopped toasted pine nuts (, optional garnish)

Fremgangsmåte

ABBREVIATED:

Filling: sauté onion and garlic, then cook lamb. Add spices, tomato paste then eggplant and water. Simmer 8 min until filling thickens. Saffron rice: grind saffron, soak in hot water. Mix with yogurt, oil, eggs and salt, mix in par boiled rice. Layer in pan with lamb, drizzle, bake 50 min until top is crispy. Slice and serve!

FULL RECIPE:

Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F (350°C fan-forced).

Toast pine nuts - Heat a large non-stick pan (30cm/12") over medium heat. Add pine nuts and toast for 1 minute, stirring constantly, until they have golden brown spots. Remove into a bowl and set aside.

Spiced lamb filling:

Cook meat - In the same pan, heat the oil over high heat. Cook the onion and garlic for 1 1/2 minutes. Add lamb and cook, breaking it up as you go, for 5 minutes until you no longer see red.

Spices - Add the baharat, cumin and salt. Cook for 1 minute, then stir in tomato paste. Add the eggplant and stir to coat in the flavours until you no longer see any white eggplant flesh.

Simmer - Add the water and bring it to a rapid simmer. Lower heat to medium high, then simmer for 8 minutes, stirring regularly, until the filling is thick enough that you can draw a path across the pan and it holds in place. The eggplant should be mostly cooked through (cooks more in oven). It's now ready for use (can use hot or or cool).

Golden rice:

Soak saffron - Grind the saffron mostly into a powder in a mortar and pestle (Note 4). Add hot water and leave for 5 minutes+ to soak.

Parboil rice - Bring a large pot of water to the boil with the 1 tablespoon of salt. Add rice and boil for 5 minutes, stirring every now and then. Drain well in a colander. (The rice is only partially cooked, it finishes cooking in the oven).

Yogurt mixture - Whisk together the yogurt, saffron water, oil, eggs and salt in a large bowl (or used rice boiling pot). Add rice and mix to combine - it will be pale yellow (becomes brighter once baked).

Assemble and bake:

Assemble - Spread half the rice in a 23 x 33cm / 9 x 13" dish. Spread over all the lamb mixture then sprinkle with pine nuts. Dollop remaining rice across the surface then spread.

Bake - Drizzle over the extra virgin olive oil. Bake 50 minutes until the top is golden around the edges.

Rest 10 minutes in the pan then cut. Serve with Lemon Yogurt Sauce.

Notater

1. Meat – Lamb is the on-theme choice here because it pairs so beautifully with the spices, but it is really terrific with beef too. Chicken and turkey could also be used but the filling will be a little dry, in my opinion (as they are much leaner).

2. Eggplant – Skin doesn’t bother me, the bitterness associated with it has largely been bred out these days. But you can either peel it off or do zebra stripes (use a vegetable peeler). I add eggplant here because it makes the filling juicy, and also fills it out (rather than using quite a bit more meat).

3. Baharat – Lebanese / Middle Eastern spice blend, also called “Lebanese 7 Spice”, an exotic Arabic blend that is uniquely heavy on all-spice and cinnamon. Find it at larger grocery stores (costs the same as regular spice mixes like Italian herbs), or make your own Baharat – you will need a double batch of the Small Batch in that recipe (which makes 2 1/2 tbsp).

4. Saffron threads – If saffron threads are out of reach (it is, afterall, the world’s most expensive spice by weight!) feel free to use imitation powder – use 1/2 teaspoon.

Grinding the saffron extracts more flavour and colour out of this precious spice. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, try using the back of a spoon or failing that, you can just soak the saffron strands.

5. Lemon Yogurt Sauce – Trust me, you will want a good amount of yogurt sauce when eating this!! For a large slice (1/8 of whole pan), you’ll need around 1/3 cup of Yogurt Sauce, for a regular serving around 1/4 cup. So you need to make a triple batch of the Lemon Yogurt Sauce (which makes 1 cup).

Leftovers – Keeps 3 days in the fridge, best reheated in the microwave.