Lebanese Rice

Lebanese rice is basically a rice pilaf that's made up of three ingredients: long grain white rice, vermicelli noodles and butter or olive oil (or a combination of both).  The only seasoning in this dish is salt. I had this dish from a Mediterranean restaurant 7 years ago. It was topped with roasted pine nuts and they served it with garlic-Lemon Chicken. I loved the simplicity of this dish and started making it regularly.  And to jazz things up, I like topping the rice with toasted dry fruits.

How to make Basic Lebanese rice?

Serves : 4, cooking time : 20minutes

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups long grain or medium grain rice

1 cup broken Vermicelli / Semiya

4 cups boiling Water

3  tbsp olive oil

1 cup Dry fruits - almonds, cashews, pistachios, raisins 

Salt

Directions 

1. Wash the rice and soak for 20 minutes. Drain well and keep aside.

2. Heat olive oil in a dutch oven / heavy bottom vessel on medium flame. Add the vermicelli and toast till it's  a nice golden brown. 

3. Add the rice and continue to stir so that the rice will be well-coated with the olive oil. Season with salt.

4. Now add 4 cups of boiling water and combine well. Cover and cook for 15-20 minutes on low. Once fully cooked, turn the heat off and leave the rice undisturbed in it's cooking pot for 10-15 minutes. 

5.  Add the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil to a skillet and roast the dry fruits. now add it to the cooked rice  and fluff with a fork.

Enjoy,

Lena