Well it's not actually Green Rice, but it's rice with green hues and is absolutely delicious.
The recipe am about to give you is a TYPICAL Iraqi rice dish. To my knowledge no other country in the Middle East prepares it except Iran.
In Iraqi it's called Teeman (rice) ala Bagela (broad beans) wi Shbint (fresh dill)
So you guessed right, it is rice with green broad beans and fresh dill. And I shall give you the simple version.
You will need for 2 persons
1 cup of Basmati rice (as usual paraboiled is FORBIDDEN)
250 grams frozen broad beans
a good 7-8 tbs of fresh dill
1 cup to 1.1/2 cup of boiling water.
1 tbs of vegetable cooking oil
salt to taste
-wash the rice thoroughly and let is soak in cold water
-frozen broad beans are easier to prepare than fresh ones. First you need them thawed. So you take the peeled bean (remember broad beans have two layers of skins - the outer green coarse one and another layer of skin covering the bean itself - you need to get to the green.) So if your frozen broad beans have the second layer of skin, remove it. And split the bean in two. Like this
- heat the oil and stir in your split green broad breans
- drain the rice and add it to the beans
- add the salt and the boiling water
- mix gently.
- let the mix boil ONCEonly and then lower heat to a MINIMUM.
- meanwhile chop your dill leaves (do not use the stalks)
- once half of the rice water is absorbed - add your dill. This is important because if you add your dill prematurely, it loses both it's color and it's flavor. So be patient add the dill until the rice is half way cooked.
I like to serve this rice with spicy chicken or lamb cutlets cooked in all spices and turmeric. If you're a vegetarian, this dish is perfectly fine by itself and you can serve it with yogurt on the side.
I could not find a picture for this Iraqi rice recipe....just close your eyes and imagine lovely hues of green mixed with white...
