A Yemeniyah's Recipes

This is truly a life-saver. When I can’t wait for chicken, meat or fish to defrost I grab two cans of Solid Light Tuna Fillets packed in Olive Oil or water and make this rice dish. The flavor is unbelievable.

You will need:

1) 2 cans of 4.5 oz of Starkist (or any other brand you like) of Solid Light Tuna Fillets packed in Olive Oil or water.

2) 2 cups of rice washed and boiled in 4 cups of water until almost cooked (i add a few peppercorns, salt, and a little oilive oil to the water while it is boiling). Drain it, wash it with cold water to stop the cooking process and leave it aside.

3) one medium onion diced

4) one jalapeno cut into 2 lengthwise

5) 2 small soft tomatoes diced

6) 1/2 a maggi cube (chicken bouillon)

7) 1 tsp of red chillie powder

8) 1 tsp of ground cumin

9) 1 tsp of ground coriander

10) 1/2 tsp of freshly ground pepper

11) 2 tblsp of finely chopped cilantro

12) a few threads of saffron

13) 2 tblsp of olive oil

14) 1/2 tsp of tomato paste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place a frying pan on medium heat and sautee the onions in the olive oil along with the chillie powder until the onions have browned.

Add the tomatoes, jalapeno pepper, maggi cube, and the tomato paste and let it sautee for about 1 minute. Add the tuna to the mix. Be careful that you do not break up the tuna, rather leave it as it is NICE AND CHUNKY. Add 1/4 of a cup of wate and let it cook a little–and thicken (about 2 minutes)

Add the spices and let cook for 1 minute and turn off.

Now, in a 8″x 8″ glass oven dish layer half of the rice and then pour the tuna mixture and sprinkle the cilantro on top, and then the rest of the rice (you can do more than three layers if you like, but i only do three–rice–tuna sauce–rice).

Sprinkle the saffron on top and 1/4 of a cup of water on top of the last layer of rice. Cover with foil and place in preheated oven for 20-30 minutes.

Serve with cucumber and youghurt salad.