Stuffed squash, courgette, marrow, mahshi, or zucchini is a dish common in the region of the former Ottoman Empire from the Balkans to the Levant and Egypt, a kind of dolma. It consists of various kinds of squash or zucchini stuffed with rice and sometimes meat and cooked on the stovetop or in the oven. The meat version is served hot, as a main course. The meatless version is considered an “olive-oil dish” and is often eaten at room temperature or warm.
The name in various languages generally means literally “stuffed squash”: Croatian: Punjene tikvice; Serbian: Punjene tikvice; Serbian Cyrillic: Пуњене тиквице; Albanian: Kungulleshka të mbushura; Macedonian: Полнети тиквички; Bulgarian: Пълнени тиквички; Greek: Γεμιστά κολοκυθάκια ; Turkish: Kabak dolması; kousa mahshiArabic: كوسا محشي / ALA-LC: kūsā maḥshī.[3
Author: Sofia Apostolidis, Greece "The Melting Pot"
Ingredients
1cupbutterwhipped
1cupsugar
2largeeggsseparated
2cupsflour
1cupmilk
1cupfarinacooked
1tspbaking powder
Syrup
3cupssugar
2cupswater
1/2cuplemon juice
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°
Place butter in bowl and beat with electric mixer. Add a little sugar and one egg yolk. Beat well. Continue adding egg yolks and sugar, beating well after each addition until all are used.
Combine cooked farina, milk, flour and baking powder and mix well with above mixture.
Beat egg whites until stiff and then combine them with the other ingredients.
Spread mixture in a buttered baking pan and bake at 350° for 1 hour.
Syrup
Make a syrup by boiling 3 cups sugar, 2 cups water and 1/2 cup lemon juice for 5 minutes.
Pour syrup over revani. Cut into serving portions.
Basbousa (Egyptian Arabic: بسبوسة, Turkish: revani or ravani) is a native Egyptian and traditional Middle Eastern sweet cake.[1] It is made from cooked semolina or farina soaked in simple syrup. Coconut is a popular addition. The syrup may also optionally contain orange flower water or rose water.
Basbousa has many regional and dialect names (Arabic: بسبوسة basbūsah, هريسة harīsa, and nammoura (in Lebanon[3]), Armenian: Շամալի shamali, Turkish: revani or ravani (from Persian[4]), French: gabelouze, kalbelouz, and qualb-el-louz (in Tunisian French), Greek: ραβανί and ρεβανί).
It is found in the cuisines of the Middle East, the Balkans and the Horn of Africa under a variety of names. In southern Greece, it is called ravani, while in the north, it is called revani. Basbousa is often called “hareesa” in Jordan, the Maghreb, and the Egyptian city of Alexandria.[citation needed] Basbousa is a particularly popular dessert among the Egyptian Coptic Christians for fasts, such as Great Lent and the Nativity Fast as it can be made vegan.[citation needed]
In Israel, a variety of the dish flavoured with yogurt, honey and spices is popular in Shavuot
Brown the chopped beef, onion, and garlic in hot fat in medium or large frying pan. Add salt, pepper, tomatoes, parsley, cumin and fresh mint or dill. Cook over low heat until the mixture is well blended. Stir eggs into the meat mixture; cook over low heat until eggs are set.
Serve in pie-shaped wedges.
Pick over carefully the lentils. Put on stove in 1½ quarts cold water. Boil until quite done. Add uncooked rice. Leave on stove until rice is done, stirring occasionally. Cut up finely the onion and cook until brown in oil. Add onions to lentils and boil for 5 minutes over a slow fire.
Serves 8
Note: Go to Syrian or Armenian store for real Biblical lentils. This is a Lenten dish.
