Zucchini in yogurt
Soft stuffed zucchini in a creamy cooked yogurt. The taste of garlic and mint in yogurt makes it so delicious
Or!! Koussa bil laban . Zucchinis stuffed with ground beef or lamb and rice, swimming in a pot of pristine, suave, creamy, delicious cooked yogurt. Dried mint on the top.
First you have to wash and empty the zucchinis, choose them spotless and medium size. Emptying from their flesh is a bit tricky. You need a vegetable corer, so the idea is to core the inside of the zucchini, remove the flesh by leaving the sides intact. It needs practice but if your neighbor is Lebanese or Syrian, they might make you a demo.
I will tell you in short the steps.
Step1 :
ZUcchini. Wash, cut the stem. empty the flesh
Step2:
Wash the rice, strain. Mix the rice with ground beef. season with allspices, 7spices. hint of cinnamon, salt, a tablespoon of vegetable oil is my small secret. THAT’S out STUFFING.
Step3:
Stuff each zucchini with the ground beef and rice mixture, BUT don’t over fill. leave 1 cm of empty space, rice will expend while cooking and we don’t want our courgette to explode.
Step4;
In a big pot, parallel to the base of the pot, place the zucchinis in a circle and stack them one on the top of the other. Add around 7 whole garlic cloves between the layers. Cover with water and add salt. Lower the heat and let them cook until al dente. Remove the zucchinis from the pot carefully without scratching them and bring to a boil the remaining water. We need at least one cup of bouillon.
Step5: Now it is time to cook the yogurt! Empty the yogurt onto a casserole, stir until you get a smooth texture, add the corn flour or starch diluted in water to the yogurt and now only now we start cooking it, On low heat, place the pot and start stirring clockwise please until the yogurt thickens and at the first boil, your cooked yogurt is ready. Off the flames! Remember we have a cup of vegetable bouillon? Let’s add it to the yogurt while stirring and since we are at it, here goes the al dente cooked zucchinis in the pot. Fire on , low heat, let the flavors and textures blend together but lets not forget about salt. Rice is expending, zucchinis are absorbing the yogurt. Please don’t add a yolk to the yogurt, it is a total disrespect to the yogurt in my opinion.
So if you don’t mind all these steps, then the recipe is for you.
Stuffed Zucchini in yogurt
Equipment
- Vegetable corer
Ingredients
- 1 k zucchini medium size
- 350 g fine ground beef or lamb
- 100 g Egyptian rice
- 1 TSP salt
- 1 TSP allspice
- 1/2 TSP 7spices
- 1/4 TSP cinnamon optional
- 1 1/2 k yogurt cow oe sheep for extra acidity
- 2 TBSP Corn flour TBSP =Tablespoon
- 1/2 cup water room temperature
- 6 cloves garlic whole
- 1 tsp dry mint
- 1 TBSP vegetable oil cornflower or corn oil
Instructions
- Wash and empty the zucchinis without breaking the edges
- Prepare the stuffing, by rinsing well the rice and soaking it for 10 minutes, strain well and mix it to the ground meat, add the spices and a dollop of vegetable oil. Add salt and set aside
- Preapre the cooked yogurt, by dissolving the corn flour in the 1/2 cup of water or by directly adding the corn flour to the yogurt while being sure it all dissolved before cooking it.
- In a big cooking pot, add the yogurt and give it a stir until smooth, add the corn flour mixture at this point or just the corn flour and stir. heat on, cook the yogurt on low heat while continiously stirring clockwise. You will notice the yogurt will get ticker and at the first boil, turn off the heat. Add salt and reserve.
- Stuff the zucchinis, cover them in water in a pot. Add salt and the garlic cloves. Cook on medium heat until the zucchinis are just al dente. Remove from the pot and bring the vegetable broth for 10 minutes.
- Drop carefully the zucchinis to the ceamy yogurt, the remaining vegtable broth and the cooked garlic cloves. Heat on, bring into a simmer or until the rice inside the zucchini is really soft. Check the seasoning, add salt if it is needed. Sprinkle with mint and ready!
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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