Good food should feel warm, generous, and worth passing around, and that is the spirit behind Labanieh. A dependable main course is worth its weight in gold, especially when family or friends are hungry. I hope it finds a happy place at your table too.
Ingredients
- 1 cup short grain rice
- 500 g meat chunks (beef or lamb)
- 1 tbs ghee
- 1 small onion chopped
- 1 tsp 7 spice
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 cardamom pods, smashed
- 6 cups water
- 500g yogurt, room temperature
- 1 tbs cornstarch
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Rinse the rice 3 times and soak for 1 hour in room temperature water then strain.
- On a pressure cooker sauté 1 onion in ghee until almost soft, add the spices and stir until fragrant add the meat and let brown slightly on all sides, add the water and 1 tsp salt and pressure cooker cook for 15 minutes (I use a traditional pressure cooker if using an electric one cook for 25-30 minutes until tender).
- Remove the meat from the broth and set aside.
- In a 6 quart pot add the yogurt, 1 cup water and 1 tablespoon of cornstarch whisk together before turning on the heat until smooth turn on the heat on medium continue whisking until it starts bubbling gently add 4 ladles of the strained broth to the yogurt and whisk until it comes to a gentle boil let cook for a minute or so.
- Add the rice and stir so it doesn’t stick to the bottom, continue stirring every 30 seconds until the rice is cooked. It shouldn’t take long now.
- The yogurt shouldn’t be thick adjusted your salt and add the meat reserving some on the side to top your plates when serving . Cook the meat enough to heat.
- Serve in bowls with fried almonds in ghee as it cools it will start to thicken.
Notes
- When adding the broth it needs to be hot so the yogurt sauce doesn’t break.
- Keep any extra broth in the fridge to heat any extra labanieh the next day because it will thicken.