One of the national dishes of Saudi Arabia is called saleeg. It's kind of like a cross between risotto, grits, and congee (Asian rice porridge). This dish surprised me with how good it was because I just wan't expecting much--it's a simple dish with few ingredients, but it's really delicious and comforting.
It starts with a broth. If you're making it truly authentic, you would boil chicken with cardamom cloves and some other ingredients to create a chicken broth. Since I didn't use chicken, I just mixed together vegetable broth, water, ground cardamom, and other spices.
After soaking in cold water for about half an hour, the rice is added to the boiling broth. I saw both short grain and long grain being used in various recipes, but the one thing it has to be is white rice. I don't think this dish would work with brown. I used basmati since I still had some left over from the biryani I made last time.
While the rice simmered in the brother for about 15-20 minutes, I prepared the chickpeas that I used as a replacement for the usual chicken. I tossed with with cumin, ginger, turmeric, white pepper, black pepper, lemon juice, and chili powder along with a bit of oil, before putting them in a hot oven to roast and crisp up.
I also prepared a "dakkous" which is really supposed to be more of a sauce than a salad. The recipe I used just said to cut everything into small pieces, so I figured small dice would be fine. I later looked at pictures and realized I was wrong. Next time I'll just crush everything up in the food processor. Either way, it was still pretty good: tomato, garlic, parsley, hot pepper, and lemon juice. Basically pico de gallo. But Arabic somehow.
The chickpeas were done roasting about the same time the rice was done cooking. I didn't include too many pictures of the rice cooking because honestly that would be boring. Basically, once the rice has cooked with most of the liquid from the broth soaked up or evaporated, you add the milk (almond milk in my case). The rice cooks for a little longer in the milk, breaking down the grains and thickening up until you get a nice creamy consistency. You only have to stir occasionally to make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom, unlike risotto where you have to stir constantly.
Once it's done, the saleeg is ladled into shallow bowls, then the protein is placed on top. I added a little parsley to give it extra flavor and extra color for photographing.
I also added a little of the tomato mixture, which went well taste-wise even if the consistency was incorrect.
I would definitely make this again. It was so much easier than I expected, and had the perfect amount of seasoning. The saleeg had two flavors that really stood out when eaten on its own: basmati and cardamom. I love basmati because it's super fragrant and just has an amazing taste on its own. The underlying flavor of the cardamom was perfect with the creamy consistency. It's warm and rich without being super heavy--perfect for cold weather but can be enjoyed year-round in the hot deserts of Saudi Arabia.
Recipes Used: Saleeg
Comments