Boorak

I have no idea if this is how you spell "boorak", but they are so delicious it doesn't even matter.  They are like Assyrian egg rolls made with ground beef, parsley, onions, and the perfect amount of spice.  My mother takes control of making the "gheema" (ground beef filling), I do the rolling, she does the frying, I do the eating. Perfect assembly line!

You start by preparing the gheema (another word I have no clue how to spell)

Browning the meat

Onions are cooking...

 



 

Adding the greens...

 

 

While the gheema cools a little bit, get out the egg roll wrappers

 

 

...and get your work station ready!

(The bowl on the right is filled with water)

 

Let the rolling begin!

 

Start by adding the meat.  I usually use about 2 tablespoons.. sometimes more.

Make sure you line the top half edges with some water before folding the sides in and rolling it up so it doesn't fall apart.

 

 

Those rolling skills are years in the making.

 

My aunt Evelyn's specialty.. giving it a couple chapooleh so it's flattened out. :-)

 

Waiting for the Queen to start frying.

 

Sizzzzzle time!

 

 

YUMMMMY

 

They are delicious and addicting.  Perfect for an appetizer, meal, snack, whatever.  They are even great leftover if you pop them in the oven for a few minutes!

 

 

We used 4 lbs. of beef because we cook in bulk.  You could easily use 1, 2, 3, ...whatever you are trying to make.

 

Boorak

Ingredients:

4 lbs ground beef
3 large onions, diced ( we used about 6/7 really small onions)
1.5 tbsp salt (to taste)
2.5 tbsp pepper (to taste)
1/2 tsp. hot red pepper
1.5 bunches parsley leaves, chopped
3 packages egg roll wrappers
Oil

Directions:
1. Cook ground beef on high until brown. Break it up into tiny pieces.
2. When the beef is brown, add the onions, salt, pepper, and hot red pepper.
3. When the onions are fully cooked, turn the stove off. Add the chopped parsley. Mix it around.
4. As the beef starts to cool, get out the egg roll wrappers and pour some water in a bowl.
5. Using about 2 heaping tablespoons of the ground beef, roll up a boorak like an egg roll. Use the water to help the wrapper stick together.
6. Heat some oil in a large pot. Fry them up until they are golden.
7. ENJOY!!


 

Chicken Curry Shirwa

Rizza Shirwa is probably the most common Assyrian meal, with a million different combinations.  Shirwa is basically a stew that we eat over rice.  They are usually made with beef (but sometimes chicken) and include all different kinds of vegetables like green beans, eggplants, potatoes (not really a vegetable but whatever), etc.  One of our favorites is made with curry, but we pronounce is karr-ee, with the rolled r's of course.  It is definitely my bro's favorite.  He has a sick love affair with anything spicy- curry, jalapenos, gardinera.

It is spicy and scrumptious! My mom either makes it with beef or chicken.  I like it either way.

We start by cooking the chicken.

While that's cooking, it is time to prepare the potatoes.  Peel, cube, and rinse.  My mother doesn't use a peeler, which I just can't understand, so of course Speedy Gonzales peeled those potatoes in record time.  

Throw the potatoes, some water, and curry in.

I wasn't joking when I said it was spicy!

We had some mushrooms in the fridge so we put them in there, too.  It is not typical to put mushrooms in there.  But I LOVE mushrooms so it adds a nice touch.

And there you have it! Some spicy shirwa for the daring bunch.

Pour it over some rice and you won't be disappointed!

Chicken Curry Shirwa

Ingredients:

About 2-2 1/2 lbs. of chicken thighs and breasts

1/4 cup vegetable oil

Salt

Black pepper

3 medium sized onions, julienne cut

3 cloves garlic, chopped very tiny

4-5 potatoes, peeled and cubed (you can add more or less depending on your preference-or leave them out altogether)

2 tablespoons hot curry

8 oz. tomato sauce

Mushrooms, sliced (optional)

1/2 cup water

Directions:

1. Cut up chicken and rinse it.  Cook on high in a large pot with oil, onions, garlic, salt, and pepper.  Once the chicken is not pink anymore, cover the pot and turn it on medium.

2. Peel and cube the potatoes.  Add the potatoes, 1/2 cup water, and curry to the chicken pot. Cook on medium/high.  Add the mushrooms if you would like.

3. Once the potatoes are tender, add 8 oz tomato sauce (you can put some water in there to make sure you clean out all of the tomato sauce) and mushrooms.

4. Leave on medium so everything has a chance to soak in the flavor and cook to perfection.

5. Enjoy over some hot, steaming rice!

Rizza...for Dummies

If you know Assyrians, you know they LOVE rizza (rice).  It goes with everything- shirwa, chicken, salad (which deserves it's own post), or even by itself when it is soft, steamy, and buttery.  There are also tons of dishes that include rice as a main ingredient.  But before I get adventurous and start whipping up some beryani, I need to learn how to make some rice!

The first time I tried to make rice on my own was Sophomore year of college (my first and ONLY time).  My mom always tells me "It's the easiest thing! 1, 2, 3!"  So I didn't think it could be that challenging to make some rice..... WRONG!  I think my first mistake was I didn't buy basmati rice.  I can't even remember what I bought because I try to block that memory out of my life.  I over cooked, over stirred, over analyzed the simple rice.  Basically, I ended up burning the rice so bad that the bottom of the pot had an inch of burnt rice on it- completely black.  Instead of dealing with the nightmare, I threw the pot away and pretended it never happened.

So now that I am back home, it is time to start observing and learning!

First of all, like I mentioned before, you gotta start with some basmati rice.

We used 3 cups, which is enough to feed our family of 5 and then some.  We always have leftovers in this house!

To start, we have to rinse the rinse about 5 of 6 times. My mom explained something about starch.... I don't know I just listen to the chief. 

Add some salt.... 

Once again, we never measure.

Time for some butter! Typically, you add 2 tablespoons of butter for each cup of rice, but we like it extra buttery so we made it 1 stick.

mmmmmmmm.... butter....

No one likes butter like my little sister Melanie... who used to dip her skinny little fingers in the stick of butter and eat it like candy.  Barf.

Halfway cover that baby and let the butta start melting.

As the butter starts melting, and looks like this, it is time for a stir.

Pre stir:

Post stir:

Once all of the liquid is absorbed, it is time for the final stir!

Look at that steeeeaaaam!

ALLLAHHH! And there you have it people!  Perfect, buttery, yummy, tasty rizza.  Throw soime shirwa on there and you have a delicious meal.

Now the real challenge will be me cooking it all by myself- without having to throw a pot away!

Rizza

Ingredients:

3 cups rice

6 tablespoons butter ... Or 1 stick if you like it extra tasty :-)

3 cups water

Some salt

**The rule of thumb is 2 tablespoons butter for each cup of rice.  Cups of water are always equal to the cups of rice.**

Directions:

1. Pour 3 cups of rice into a large pot.  Rinse the rice about 5-6 times until the water is clear.

2.  Add three cups of water, some salt, and a stick of butter to the rice.  Put it on high with the lid halfway on.

3.  Give the rice a stir when the butter is halfway melted (after about 5/6 minutes).  Put the lid back on.

4. Once all of the liquid is absorbed, put it on low and give it a stir.  Cover the pot and put a diffuser underneath the pot.  Leave on low for about 45 minutes.

5. Give the rice one last stir.

6. ENJOY!!