Sheikh al Mahshi

Ingredients:

- 30 medium-sized zucchini (10 to 15 cm long)

For the filling

- 500 g minced meat (beef or lamb)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- Salt to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon cardamom

For the sauce

- 2 kg yogurt (preferably Greek )
- drizzle of olive oil
- dash of salt

Preparation:

Prepare the filling

- In a pan add the olive oil and chopped onions. - Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally for 5-7 minutes
- Add the minced meat, salt and spices, break up the meat, and stir till the meat is browned. Take off the heat and set aside.

Prepare the zucchini

- You can either buy your zucchini cored if you have a Arabic/middle eastern store near you or you can do it yourself (the technique and tools are described here and below in the FAQ). Make sure to wash your zucchini inside and out if you buy it precored.
Stuff each zucchini with enough filling to fill the inside leaving about 2 cm on top (You can measure this using your index finger, if you insert your index finger into the cored zucchini, enough space should remain to insert it up to the first finger joint. Don’t over stuff the zucchini, if you do, it might burst or the extra stuffing will leak into the yogurt sauce changing its colour and flavour.
- Place 4-8 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan and shallow fry the zucchini turning them gently every minute or so till they are golden brown on all sides.
- Remove the zucchini from the pan and place them on absorbent kitchen paper to remove the excess oil
steps for making sheikh al mahshi

Prepare the sauce:

- Blend the yogurt with a drizzle of oil and a dash of salt in the food processor or blender until it becomes liquid and smooth.
- Pour the yogurt into a pot, on medium heat stir the yogurt none stop until it comes to a boil.(if you stop stirring the yogurt sauce will split and the texture will change from creamy to granular, if that happens you’ll have to blend it again in a mixer and then reboil it)

Assembly

- Add the fried zucchini to the yogurt sauce gently and allow it to come back up to a boil over medium-low heat. The sauce will thicken after adding the zucchini.
- Stir gently only one or two times then cover and set aside for 10 to 15 minutes.
Serve with vermicelli rice and enjoy

Notes:

The best tool to core kousa is a corer or mankara but if you can’t find it, an apple corer is a great substitute.

How to core zucchini (kousa)?

- Wash the zucchini: Rinse the zucchini under cold water and pat dry with a paper towel.
- Remove the ends of the zucchini
Insert the corer: start by measuring the distance you want to insert the corer on the outside of the zucchini (try to stay about a cm away from the bottom of the zucchini) I, this way you will avoid puncturing the zucchini. Hold the zucchini firmly with one hand and insert the corer into one end of the zucchini, twisting it gently to push it through the center of the zucchini.
- Pull out the corer: Carefully pull the corer out of the zucchini along with the core of the zucchini(the central seeds and flesh area), taking care not to break the zucchini.
scrape the sides : to widen the space at the core and make room for your stuffing, gently scrape the sides or the hole you created with the zucchini corer. Be careful not to poke the walls of the zucchini. Stop when the walls are about 1/8 of an inch thick
- Use the cored zucchini in your recipe: The cored zucchini can now be used in your recipe, such as stuffed zucchini.
- Don’t discard the zucchini cores, you can use them to prepare omelet or saute them with some onions and dried mint for a lovely side dish.

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