There is absolutely no one who does not like to eat tasty and new food. That is something that we live for. And if you are a foodie like me, then you must know how important it is to ensure that we have eaten or cooked at least one new dish every week.
At least, that is how it is for me.
If you are looking for some delicious recipes from across the world that you can make at home, I have a great option for you. Why not try to cook something from the Middle East?
One of the most famous and easy-to-cook dishes from the delicious land of the Middle East is Kousa Mahshi. It is an authentic dish from Lebanon.
If you want to know how to make the dish at home, keep reading the article till the end.
Kousa Mahshi: Origin Of The Dish
Before moving on to the recipe of the meal, you should know about the history and the origin of the same. But, hey, you do not have to search for that anywhere else. I am here to help you!
The origin of the dish dates back to the times of the Ottoman Empire. However, the exact origin is yet unknown.
What is known about this dish is that the Turks were the ones to make it for the first time. At first, the food was made with stuffed baby zucchini or squash. Then, these vegetables were stuffed with meat and cooked in tomato sauce.
The people who were rich and could afford to eat beef used it for the stuffing. However, the common people used goat meat or lamb to make the dish as these were much cheaper.
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Kousa Mahshi Recipe: How To Make It At Home?
Looking for the recipe to make the delicious Kousa Mahshi at home? Well, you have reached your destination. Here is the list of ingredients that you need to make the dish and the step by step guide to making the meal:
Ingredients:
Here are the main ingredients that you need to make the dish. The specifications are mentioned below:
| Zucchini | 10, mall |
| Tomato paste | 2 cups |
| Yogurt | 1 cup |
Ingredients For The Stuffing
| Olive oil | 2 tbsp |
| Butter | 1 tbsp |
| Lamb/beef | 2 cups, minced |
| Rice | 2 cups |
| Onions | 2, diced |
| Cilantro | 1 cup, chopped |
| Parsley | 1 cup, chopped |
| Allspice | 2 tsp |
| Chili powder | 2 tsp |
| Cumin powder | 2 tsp |
| Black pepper | To taste |
| Salt | To taste |
Ingredients For The Tomato Sauce
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp |
| Garlic | 5 cloves |
| Meat broth | 3 cups |
| Tomato paste | 2 cups |
| Salt | To taste |
| Pepper | To taste |
Procedure:
Now that you have all the things that you need to make the dish at hand, it is time to start cooking!
Recipe For The Stuffing
- Pour olive oil and butter into a pan.
- Add rice (preferably long grain rice).
- Add the dry ingredients (spice powders).
- Add onion, cilantro, parsley, and the minced meat and mix well.
- Add salt and pepper and give it a thorough mix.
- Stir the mix for at least 10 minutes till everything is half cooked.
Recipe For The Kousa
- Clean the zucchini and take out all the placenta and seeds.
- Brush a little bit of olive oil on the body of the Kousa.
- Stuff the vegetable with the stuffing mix that you have made previously.
- Set aside while you make the sauce.
Recipe For Tomato Sauce
- Heat some olive oil in a pan.
- Add garlic and fry till you can smell the garlicky oil.
- Pour in the tomato paste and stir nicely.
- Add the broth of the meat.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Let it simmer.
After you see the sauce boiling, add the stuffed kousa to the sauce and let it cook for a maximum of 40 minutes. Then serve hot topped with a little bit of yogurt.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):
Even though the time it takes to cook the traditional Lebanese dish kousa mahshi differs from person to person, the authentic dish takes about 45 minutes to taste really good.
However, keep around a whole hour (1 hr) in hand to make the dish properly.
In case you are planning to make Kousa Mahshi, you need to arrange for Kousa first. Now, Kousa can mean either squash or zucchini. That means you can make the dish with either of the vegetables.
There are a lot of types of zucchini. But the most common among them are the white and the green zucchini. Even though they taste the same, there is a minute difference between the two.
The white zucchini is the pale green zucchini. The skin of this zucchini is much tender and thinner than the normal zucchini. This is the reason why many people use it in salads.
Ending It On A Hungry Note!
Kousa Mahsho is one of the easiest and most wholesome foods to make in the world. The roots of the dish date back to the Ottoman Empire in the land of the Turks.
The meal belongs to the family of the Dolma kind. In this kind of meal, the vegetable is stuffed with either meat or other vegetables and cooked in a gravy.
The meaning of the term Kousa is either zucchini or squash. The best type of zucchini that you can use to make this meal is the small baby zucchinis.
The basic step that you need to take to cook this meal is to scrape out the placenta of the vegetable that you’re going to stuff and make sure that there are no seeds inside.
I have mentioned the step-by-step process of making this meal. If you are a foodie like me and were looking for the recipe for this famous Kousa Mahshi from Lebanon, I hope you found this article helpful.
What are you waiting for? Go and make this feel like you are in the Middle East while sitting in our comfy chair in the house.
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