678. Djibouti Rice Skoudehkaris

This month's MENA Cooking Club country of choice, following Algeria and Bahrain, is Djibouti, and it is hosted by Amira of Arabian Mama.
I have to be honest, before this challenge I knew very little about Djibouti. Now not only do I know that it is a country in Africa just under Saudi Arabia, but it also happens to be dominantly Muslim with huge Somali and Yemeni cultural influences.
This Djiboutian Rice Skoudehkaris is as straight-forward as it is hearty. Beef or lamb (I chose lamb shank) is stewed until tender, then cooked in a lightly spiced tomato rice. Cooking  the meat in a pressure cooker is optional but makes the meat positively melt in your mouth. Below is the recipe for one very hungry person, which can easily be multiplied to accommodate more people.
Many thanks to the lovely Noor of Ya Salam Cooking for organizing this event every month.

Ingredients:

1 lamb shank

1/2 tsp ghee

1 tomato

1/2 small onion

1 clove garlic

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp cardamom

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup rice

Method:

Boil or pressure cook the shank until fork-tender (2 hours boil or 30-40 minutes pressure cook).

Drain the shank, reserving the boiling liquid, and sear in hot ghee to color brown on all sides. Remove and set aside.

In the same small pot, saute the onion, garlic, and tomato until soft and reduced.

Add the cumin, cardamom, and salt. Return the shank to the pot.

Add the rinsed and drained rice, then add half a cup of the shank boiling liquid.

Bring to the boil, cover, reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes until rice had absorbed all the liquid and is fluffy and tender.

Lightly fluff the rice and place the shank on top to serve.

An InLinkz Link-up

صحة و عافية