Shakriyeh (Meat in Yogurt) with Rice

Ingredients

Meat and yogurt

• 1 kg beef or lamb, with or without bone
• Bay leaf
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 cardamom pods
• Cloves
• Nutmeg
• 1 tsp white pepper
• Salt
• 1 kg yogurt
• 2 large whole onions, peeled
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup cold water

Rice

• 3 cups Egyptian rice
• 1/2 cup vermicelli
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil

Method

1. Boil the meat and skim the foam, then add the onions, garlic and spices and cook until tender (1 hour in a pressure cooker).
2. Yogurt: put the yogurt in a pot, add the cornstarch and stir well. Turn on the heat and keep stirring on medium without stopping until it boils, then lower the heat. Press the boiled onions through a sieve into the yogurt, add about 2 cups of the meat stock and the meat, and let it simmer together. Add salt to taste (about 1 tbsp).
3. Rice: heat the oil in a pot, toast the vermicelli, add the rice, then 1 cup water per cup of soaked rice (preferably meat stock, 3 cups) with salt. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat.