Kurdish Sour Rice

In the Kurdish region of Northern Iraq, the Eastern Mediterranean, throughout the area of the Caucasus Mountains in Georgia and into Persia the diet relies heavily on green herbs and vegetables, everything from dandelions, arum, mallow, green onions, Swiss chard and any edible plant which grows wild or can be bought at the markets are eaten.  In this recipe for Kurdish sour rice, celery and garlic leaves are used together with lemon juice to create a distinctive flavor combination. As mentioned in earlier posts, lemon trees do not grow in northern Iraq and sumac, which grows wild in the region, is used to add acidity to many Kurdish dishes.

The first time I tasted Kurdish sour rice was at Osnat’s, who made it from arum, a plant which is poisonous unless cooked correctly. This time I came across a recipe in the Kurdish cookbook by Varda Shilo and decided to call her up to ask a few questions. She told me that green garlic is usually used but that it can be replaced with 4-5 garlic cloves. Without the meat, it is a light and tasty vegetarian meal. Although this is not a sophisticated dish, it has a rich and complex flavor much more than the sum of it’s ingredients.

Kurdish Sour Rice

Riza Hamousta (meaning sour rice in neo-Aramaic), based on Varda Shilo’s recipe

1 kg beef or lamb cut into chunks, such as neck or chuck (it should be a bit fatty)

3 cups long grain rice

2 bunches green onions, chopped

1 bunch (about 3 cups) celery leaves, chopped

2 bunches garlic greens (or 4-5 garlic cloves)

1/2 cup lemon juice (I used close to 3/4 cups)

1 teaspoon black pepper

About 3 teaspoons salt

Preferably in a Dutch oven or other heavy pot lightly salt the meat chunks and fry until they are completely brown. Move the meat around so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot. Add half the lemon juice and cover with water, cook on low, half covered until the meat is soft and can be separated with a fork. Add the greens, lemon juice and the rest of the spices and cook for about 15 minutes until the vegetables are completely soft. There should about 1 cup of liquid left in the pot.  It is possible to drain the broth, reserving it and then measure additional water so the total liquid including the broth comes to 4 1/2 cups (the rice I use needs 1 1/2 cups of water to rice).  Add the three cups of rice. Add the water and broth into the pot. I judged by eye and added 3 1/2 cups of water which turned out to be enough. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and cook covered for 20 minutes. Turn heat off and let stand for an additional 10-20 minutes to let the rice absorb the excess water.