Bukhara is an ancient city in today’s Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Jews have lived there for about a milenia (the first documented evidence is from the 13th century) but since the 1970’s started moving to Israel and the USA, after the Soviet Union let Jews leave.
There’s a beautiful Bukharian neighborhood in Jerusalem dated back toi the end of the 19th century, that I highly recommend visiting if you get a chance. Bukharian food, such as oshpelo and dushpera or manti dumplings, are staples of the Israeli cuisine.
Bakhsh is a simple dish of rice that’s cooked with tons of herbs, usually cilantro and dill, and with meat. The meat is beef or chicken, chopped or ground, and sometimes chicken innards are used. In the recipe below I’m using ground beef, because it’s the easiest, but feel free to use chicken, lamb and even ground vegan meat substitute. It’s really delicious.
Bukharian rice dish with herbs and beef (bakhsh)
Course: Main courseCuisine: Uzbeki, Jewish, BukharianDifficulty: Easy6
servings30
minutes30
minutes1
hourBakhsh is a rice dish from the Jewish community of Bukhara. The rice cooked with tons of cilantro and dill, and with meat. The meat is beef or chicken, chopped or ground, and sometimes chicken innards are used. In the recipe below I’m using ground beef, because it’s the easiest, but feel free to use chicken, lamb and even ground vegan meat substitute. It’s really delicious.
INGREDIENTS
2 cups sushi rice
¼ cup olive oil
1 large or 2 medium yellow onion, diced
1 lb. ground beef or ground vegan ground meat substitute
3 bunches cilantro, upper stems included, chopped
1 bunch dill (or parsley), chopped
2½ cups boiling water
1 tablespoon kosher salt
DIRECTIONS
- Put rice in a large bowl, add water to cover, mix and drain. Repeat 2 more times, until water runs clear. Fill the bowl with water again and let rice soak in water for an hour and up to 4 hours.
- Put oil in a 4 quart heavy bottom saucepan over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add onion and saute until transparent, about 5 minutes. Add ground beef and use a fork to mix quickly to prevent clumps. Cook until meat is no longer pink.
- Add rice, mix and cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently.
- Add 2½ cups boiling water and salt, mix, and make sure the water covers the rice. Bring to boil, reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 10 minutes (without a lid!) until the water evaporates.
- Keep ½ cup of the herbs for later. Add the rest of the herbs into the pot and mix gently. Put double layers of paper towels or a kitchen towel on top of the pot (make sure to fold it so it doesn’t catch fire!) and put the lid on top. Reduce heat to low and cook for another 20 minutes. Turn the heat off and let stand for another 20-30 minutes.
- Sprinkle with the saved herbs and serve.