Stuffed Marrows
KOUSA MAHSHI
- 15 medium size marrow squash
- 1 1/2 cups ground meat
- 1 cup rice
- 1 1/2 cups tomato juice
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. pepper
- 2 tomatoes, chopped (optional)
- 1/4 tsp. cinnamon (optional)
Scrub marrows well. Hollow from one end with apple
corer or small spoon. Mix rice, meat, seasonings and half of the
chopped tomato. Stuff squash three-quarters full. Lay several
meat bones on bottom of pressure cooker and cover with the
remaining chopped tomato. Arrange stuffed marrows in layers
over bones. Add tomato juice, water and 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt.
Cook under pressure 20 minutes. Open cooker and simmer
to reduce sauce.
Kousa mahshi may be cooked in an ordinary saucepan.
Prepare as above. Cover the saucepan and simmer for an hour,
or until squash is tender. Uncover and simmer to thicken sauce.
In Syria this dish is flavored further with mint and garlic.
Crush a teaspoon of dried mint with several garlic cloves and
two teaspoons of salt. Mix in the juice of half a lemon. When
the squash is tender, sprinkle it with this sauce and allow
to sirnmer a few minutes more.
(From Food from the Arab World Marie
Karam Khayat and Margaret Clark Keatinge, Khayat's, Beirut 1959)
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