Layered Golden Rice Bake with Spiced Meat
Recipe video above. This is essentially a streamlined version of Tachin, the iconic Middle Eastern saffron rice cake with its signature crispy crust, baked, then inverted like a pie. Here, I skip the flipping, use ingredients you can find at regular stores, and it's a large format that serves 10 yet takes little more effort than Bolognese.The top gets crispy, the meat layered inside is fragrant with Middle Eastern spices, and the rice is vibrant yellow with the distinct perfume of saffron. If saffron threads are out of reach, use imitation powder instead. Though it won't smell the same, you’ll still get vibrant yellow colour!PS. DO NOT SKIP THE LEMON YOGURT SAUCE! (Please, please🥰) See Note 5.
Servings: 8 - 10
Ingredients
Persian spiced meat filling:
- 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves , finely minced
- 1 onion , finely diced
- 750g / 1 1/2 lb lamb mince (first choice), or beef (Note 1)
- 2 1/2 tbsp baharat spice mix - store bought or make your own (Note 3)
- 2 tsp cumin powder
- 2 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp cayenne powder , optional, for very subtle warmth
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 small eggplant , skin on, cut into 1cm / 0.4" cubes, ~2 heaped cups (Note 2)
- 1 1/2 cups water
Golden rice:
- 3 cups basmati rice , uncooked
- 1 tbsp cooking salt / kosher salt , for rice cooking water
- 1/2 tsp saffron threads (Note 4 for imitation powder, more cost effective)
- 2 tbsp boiling water
- 1 1/2 cups plain unsweetened yogurt , full fat (regular, Greek or Greek-style)
- 2 large eggs (~55g/2oz each in-shell)
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
Layering:
- 1/4 cup pine nuts (slivered or flaked almonds also great)
- 2 - 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil , for drizzling
Serving:
- 3 batches Lemon Yogurt Sauce (YES 3 BATCHES!), or even plain yogurt or sour cream (Note 5)
- 2 tbsp coriander / cilantro roughly chopped , optional garnish
- 1 tbsp roughly chopped toasted pine nuts , optional garnish
Instructions
ABBREVIATED:
- Filling: sauté onion and garlic, then cook lamb. Add spices, tomato paste then eggplant and water. Simmer 8 min until filling thickens. Saffron rice: grind saffron, soak in hot water. Mix with yogurt, oil, eggs and salt, mix in par boiled rice. Layer in pan with lamb, drizzle, bake 50 min until top is crispy. Slice and serve!
FULL RECIPE:
- Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F (180°C fan-forced).
- Toast pine nuts - Heat a large non-stick pan (30cm/12") over medium heat. Add pine nuts and toast for 1 minute, stirring constantly, until they have golden brown spots. Remove into a bowl and set aside.
Spiced lamb filling:
- Cook meat - In the same pan, heat the oil over high heat. Cook the onion and garlic for 1 1/2 minutes. Add lamb and cook, breaking it up as you go, for 5 minutes until you no longer see red.
- Spices - Add the baharat, cumin and salt. Cook for 1 minute, then stir in tomato paste. Add the eggplant and stir to coat in the flavours until you no longer see any white eggplant flesh.
- Simmer - Add the water and bring it to a rapid simmer. Lower heat to medium high, then simmer for 8 minutes, stirring regularly, until the filling is thick enough that you can draw a path across the pan and it holds in place. The eggplant should be mostly cooked through (cooks more in oven). It's now ready for use (can use hot or or cool).
Golden rice:
- Soak saffron - Grind the saffron mostly into a powder in a mortar and pestle (Note 4). Add hot water and leave for 5 minutes+ to soak.
- Parboil rice - Bring a large pot of water to the boil with the 1 tablespoon of salt. Add rice and boil for 5 minutes, stirring every now and then. Drain well in a colander. (The rice is only partially cooked, it finishes cooking in the oven).
- Yogurt mixture - Whisk together the yogurt, saffron water, oil, eggs and salt in a large bowl (or used rice boiling pot). Add rice and mix to combine - it will be pale yellow (becomes brighter once baked).
Assemble and bake:
- Assemble - Spread half the rice in a 23 x 33cm / 9 x 13" dish. Spread over all the lamb mixture then sprinkle with pine nuts. Dollop remaining rice across the surface then spread.
- Bake - Drizzle over the extra virgin olive oil. Bake 50 minutes until the top is golden around the edges.
- Rest 10 minutes in the pan then cut. Serve with Lemon Yogurt Sauce.
Notes
1. Meat - Lamb is the on-theme choice here because it pairs so beautifully with the spices, but it is really terrific with beef too. Chicken and turkey could also be used but the filling will be a little dry, in my opinion (as they are much leaner).
2. Eggplant - Skin doesn't bother me, the bitterness associated with it has largely been bred out these days. But you can either peel it off or do zebra stripes (use a vegetable peeler). I add eggplant here because it makes the filling juicy, and also fills it out (rather than using quite a bit more meat).
3. Baharat - Lebanese / Middle Eastern spice blend, also called “Lebanese 7 Spice”, an exotic Arabic blend that is uniquely heavy on all-spice and cinnamon. Find it at larger grocery stores (costs the same as regular spice mixes like Italian herbs), or make your own Baharat - you will need a double batch of the Small Batch in that recipe (which makes 2 1/2 tbsp).
4. Saffron threads - If saffron threads are out of reach (it is, afterall, the world's most expensive spice by weight!) feel free to use imitation powder - use 1/2 teaspoon.
Grinding the saffron extracts more flavour and colour out of this precious spice. If you don't have a mortar and pestle, try using the back of a spoon or failing that, you can just soak the saffron strands.
5. Lemon Yogurt Sauce - The baked rice layers are seasoned and flavoured, but because the only sauciness in the dish is from the layer of meat in the middle, it benefits from a good amount of yogurt sauce to eat it, around 1/4 cup per serving. The tangy cooling flavour works so well here! So you need to make a triple batch of the Lemon Yogurt Sauce (which makes 1 cup).
Leftovers - Keeps 3 days in the fridge, best reheated in the microwave. Make ahead - Assemble the while dish per the recipe but don't drizzle with olive oil or bake it. Let it fully cool, cover, then refrigerate overnight. The next day, drizzle with olive oil and bake per recipe. There is no need to let it come to room temperature.