Egyptian Stuffed Vegetables (mashi)

Total Time: 1 hr 40 mins Preparation Time: 40 mins Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• 1 kg zucchini (like zucchini, green peppers or capsicums, eggplant, potatoes and tomatoes) or 1 kg mixed vegetables (like zucchini, green peppers or capsicums, eggplant, potatoes and tomatoes)
• 1/2 cup coriander leaves (cilantro)
• 1/2 cup flat leaf parsley
• 2 medium onions
• 1 big hard tomato
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• salt
• 3/4 teaspoon cumin, crushed lightly
• 1/4 teaspoon coriander powder
• 3/4 teaspoon msg (optional)
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 1/4 cups egyptian rice or 1 1/4 cups any short-grain rice
• 1 tablespoon ghee
• 8 pieces gum arabic (mastikah)
• 1 chicken bouillon cube, dissolved

Recipe

• 1 top and core insides of veggies.
• 2 wash rice and drain. chop herbs very small; wash in a sieve and allow to drain.
• 3 chop tomato.
• 4 mix rice, herbs and tomato.
• 5 add spices to rice mixture.
• 6 fill veggies with the rice mixture 3/4 full (allow space for rice to expand).
• 7 heat chicken broth cube, ghee and mastikah until mastikah melts.
• 8 layer veggies in a flat pot or baking tin.
• 9 add chicken broth mixture to veggies and allow to come to the boil on the stove top.
• 10 bake covered at 180°c until veggies are tender. (we like our veggies very soft, i bake it for 1 hr 15 mins).