Hashweh in Arabic means stuffing. We can’t tell you all about the stuffed vegetables and cuts of meats without telling you about my favorite rice of all “the stuffing rice which is called hashweh”. And when I was little i called it party rice. Hashweh could be eaten as a meal on its own with a simple cucumbers and tomatoes salad and often accompanied by a savory yogurt. Or hashweh rice can be part of a holiday spread next to roasted meats like chicken, lamb or roast beef. And hence it’s name it’s also used to stuff meats like chicken, turkey or lamb and also vegetables. The rice has the most beautiful aroma of spices, it perfumes the house as it cooks. The bits of crispy meat add a nice salty savory bite.
Total time: 45 min
Cook time 25-30 min
Serves: 6-8 people
Ingredients:
2 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Salt and pepper
1 bay leaf
3 tbls ghee, butter or canola oil
3 cups medium grain rice rinsed until water runs clear (you could use jasmine rice or basmati here)
1 pound ground lamb, chicken or beef
4.5 cups Chicken stock or water (enough to cover the rice by half an inch)
1 cups Assorted nuts (pistachios, cashews, almonds and pine nuts are very common)
1 cup assorted diced fruits I love to add chopped dried apricots, figs, cranberries or Persian barberry
Directions
Mix all the spices together
Heat the ghee or the oil in a pot add the ground meat and break it up to brown. Stir in half the spices and season with salt to taste. Cook the meat until its browns and crumbles about 8- 10 minutes it doesn’t have to cook all the way through if you are adding it back with the rice in option 2.
You have two options here:
You can take the meat out and use it to top the rice with.
Or mix in the rice and the meat and cook again together which is what I am doing here.
So if you are going with option 2 then add in the rinsed rice to the spices browned meat, the remainder of the spice mixture and toss together until combined, add a bit more oil if you need it to toast the rice. Add the bay leaf.
Pour in the boiling hot liquid and bring the rice mixture to a bubble. You want to make sure that your liquid covers the rice by half an inch. Then immediately reduce the heat to low and cover the pot. Cook until the water has completely absorbed about 15 -25 minutes (no peeking, as you will let the steam escape).
While you wait for the rice: sauté your nuts you can toast them in a dry skillet, or sauté them with a little bit of ghee for an added flavor and color.
Chop your dried fruits.
To plate:
Discard the bay leaf. Fluff the rice with a fork (avoid stirring you don’t want break the grains and mush the rice). Mount your rice on a large platter top it with the nuts and fruits. Serve immediately
In my mom’s world the more (nuts) and more variety the better.
Notes:
If you are using the rice as a stuffing then cook it half way through it will finish cooking in the meat or whatever else you are stuffing it with.
A cup of uncooked rice will yield into 3 cups cooked rice.
I usually plan for half a cup of uncooked rice per person if you are serving it as a side dish or part of the main course, but that’s a personal preference.