Rice with carrots

By Birgitta

This recipe is taken from The Iraqi Cookbook, the first of its kind to be published in Europe.

This is a delicious dish, known as timman jazar in Iraqi; it can be enjoyed on its own, with a fresh salad or a pot of plain yoghurt.

Ingredients

• 450 g/2 cups rice
• 500 g minced meat
• 1 kg carrots
• 1 large onion
• 1 tbsp mixed spices or garam masala abf 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• Salt and black pepper
• Vegetable oil for cooking

Preparation

Step 1

Wash the rice in cold water; drain.

Chop the onions and carrots into small cubes. Cook the minced meat with the spices, until slightly brown. Add the chopped onion, season with salt and black pepper; continue cooking for 5-10 minutes.

Add the chopped carrots and cinnamon; cook for about 10 minutes to soften the carrots slightly, add a little water.

Meanwhile, cook the rice until ready, add the carrots mixture; put the lid on and turn off the heat.

To create a vegetarian version, substitute the minced meat with frozen quorn. Quorn does not need frying, just add it to the frying onion, add spices and about a cup of water and allow to simmer until the quorn has puffed up and feels softer.

Add the chopped carrots. Turn the heat off and add the mixture to the rice and simmer together until ready. Quorn absorbs the flavours of spices very well and the result is a light, extremely flavoured dish.

You may also omit the meat or its replacement altogether, just cook the rice with the spiced carrots and onion.

Another alternative is to use chicken stock or vegetable stock cubes to flavour the rice when cooked without the meat