Ouzi (Spiced rice with lamb)
Hey friends! Long time no see. Sorry, I have been MIA. It has been a hectic few weeks for me. I dedicated a lot of my spare time to my E-cookbook which you guys seem to love and now since it is Ramadan; often I am busy. I made this rice dish the other day for a dinner party at my place and it was a hit. So many of you requested that I share the recipe so here it is folks! This dish is one that my mom made all the time when guests came over and honestly it is my favorite way to enjoy lamb too. It is pretty easy to put together and definitely a crowd pleaser. Enjoy the recipe friends!
Servings: 10 people
Total time: approx. 2 hours
Ingredients
Veggie Prep
14 oz. package of frozen peas & carrots
1 tbsp mild curry
1 tbsp all spice
Salt & pepper generously
2 tbsp olive oil
Rice Prep
4 cups of Basmati Rice
1 tbsp all spice
1 tbsp curry powder
Salt & pepper generously
2 tbsp olive oil
6 1/2 cups beef broth
Meat prep part 1
9 lbs of lamb shoulder cut into medium sized pieces ( about 16 pieces)
Water
5 Bay leaves
5 cardamom seeds
1 dried lemon/lime
3 tbsp of all spice
1 onion quartered
2 tbsp mild curry
Salt & pepper generously
Meat Prep part 2
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 a lemon’s juice
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp all spice
1 tbsp mild curry
Salt & pepper generously
Garnish
Toasted almonds/pine nuts
Chopped Parsley
Instructions
First, wash each piece of meat thoroughly under cold water and place in a large pot.
Fully cover the meat with water. Place on the stove and bring to a boil.
Once water is boiling, the meat will release excess fat to the top of the pot which you will carefully spoon off into a bowl or the sink so the water is fairly clear.
At this point, add the bay leaves, dried lime, cardamom, curry, all spice, salt, and pepper. Bring the heat down to medium and allow for this to cook for 1 hour 45 minutes. Then, check on it and take a piece out. If it easily falls apart in your hands then it is tender enough. If not, put back for another 15 minutes.
Once meat is ready, take the pieces out of the broth and place in a large pan. Save the broth.
Mix together the ingredients from part 2 and drizzle that all over the meat. Cover with aluminum foil and set aside.
Now, rinse the rice and add the spices to it. In a pot, add the olive oil to the bottom and then the rice and then the beef broth from the meat. Let this come to a boil then a simmer until rice is cooked. Add more beef broth if necessary.
In the meantime, saute the peas and carrots in olive oil with the seasonings until tender.
Also, saute some slivered almonds and pine nuts in a tbsp of olive oil until golden brown and set aside.
In a 320 F oven, bake the meat for 10-15 minutes then broil for 2 minutes for some added color.
Plate this dish by first putting the rice layer then the peas and carrots then the pieces of meat garnished with the nuts and parsley. Serve with yogurt and salad.
I will be making this InshaAllah for my iftar dinner party! Looks so good!
Can’t wait for you to try it!
Hello what kind of basmati rice ? And does it need to be soaked? If I use less lamb pieces how much of the broth do I use for the rice? Does the broth need to evaporate in rice while being cooked or do I drain it?
Hi, any basmati will do. Yes, the broth should evaporate while cooking the rice. There shouldn’t be any liquid left in the pot. The lamb pieces have nothing to do with how much broth or rice you use or make. The amount of broth is dependant on the amount of rice you would like to cook! I hope that clarified a few things for you!
Hi which all spice do we use ? What is ingredients do we put in or is it ready made ?
Hi Gulshan,
It is a ready-made spice sold almost everywhere but I get mine at the Middle Eastern store.
I’m going to try this tomorrow! Does the onion go in with the meat when boiling? I did not catch where you put it.
Yes! Place the onion in the boiling water with the meat!
I loved this dish! I made it today for iftar. This is my first time trying Arab food (why did I think it was a good idea while fasting when I couldn’t taste as I go?!). My husband also loved it SO MUCH! I adjusted for the amount of meat I wanted to cook and it came out really really delicious! I wouldn’t change a thing!! We served this with cilantro yogurt and the eggplant fesenjan!
I am so happy to hear that!!! Thank you!
I made this for the first time for my family last week and it was literal perfection!!! I wouldn’t change a thing . Thank you!!
I am so happy to hear that, Maha! Thanks for the great review!
Made this today with minor adjustments and loved it! Thank you
My pleasure!
What mild curry powder do you use? How is it different than regular curry powder?
Mild Curry Powder is typically what I have on hand but regular curry powder will do the job just as good!
What brand is your mild curry?
Mine is Habash brand but any would work well.
This was so good !! I made it last night for iftar. Everyone loved it and asked for the recipe ! It wasn’t hard at all! Super easy to make just get all in the ingredients set aside and follow her recipe!
Thanks! It is a family favorite of ours.
Love this dish! If I wanted to prep this dish earlier in the day how can I warm it so it could be fresh?
I would recommend not making it more than an hour before serving but if you had to reheat it; I would just keep it in the pot and add a little more water and cover to let it steam and stay warm.
Wow! Just wow! I cooked this for the first time a couple of days ago and it was just perfect. Didn’t change anything and it was amazing. I keep emphasising in my comments, I am not Arab, just to try to convey the size of the achievement. 😁 My husband is though, and he certainly knows how things are supposed to taste like, and to say he was impressed with this, is an understatement! Thanks for this recipe 🙏