[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":418},["ShallowReactive",2],{"recipe:egyptian-mahshi":3,"recipe:country:egypt":203},{"slug":4,"title":5,"nativeName":6,"romanized":7,"pronunciation":8,"countrySlug":9,"emoji":10,"summary":11,"intro":12,"story":13,"whyThis":14,"tips":19,"substitutions":26,"variations":39,"serveWith":49,"storage":51,"faq":52,"equipment":65,"baseServings":69,"prepMinutes":70,"cookMinutes":71,"restMinutes":72,"difficulty":73,"course":74,"diet":76,"mainIngredients":81,"ingredients":87,"instructions":149,"nutrition":175,"images":184,"keywords":194,"publishedAt":201,"updatedAt":201,"authorSlug":202},"egyptian-mahshi","Mahshi (Egyptian Stuffed Vegetables in Tomato Broth)","محشي","Maḥshī","MAH-shee","egypt","🫑","Courgettes, peppers and vine leaves packed with dill-heavy rice and braised upright in a shallow tomato broth until the vegetables slump and the filling swells.","Mahshi means stuffed, and in Egypt it is less a single recipe than an afternoon's work with whatever the Delta is growing. Short-grain rice is mixed raw with a great deal of dill, parsley and coriander, spooned loosely into hollowed vegetables, and the whole lot is packed tightly upright in a pot with a thin tomato broth poured over. Nothing is fried and nothing is browned; the rice cooks by absorbing the broth through the vegetable walls, which is why the flavour ends up inside rather than on. Served warm rather than hot, with the pot brought to the table, it is the dish that turns a family lunch into an event and the reason nobody in an Egyptian kitchen ever throws away a courgette core.","Stuffed vegetables belong to the whole eastern Mediterranean, and every country from Greece to Iran has a version with its own name and its own defence. The Egyptian style is recognisable by the herb load: dill in a quantity that surprises people used to Turkish or Levantine dolma, plus parsley and coriander, all chopped fine and mixed through raw rice rather than cooked pilaf. Egyptian mahshi also tends to run leaner — often entirely meat-free, with the richness coming from oil, tomato and the vegetables themselves.\n\nThe pot is built like a wall. Cooks line the base with tomato slices or spare leaves so nothing catches, then stand the stuffed vegetables shoulder to shoulder, packing them tight enough that they hold each other upright as they soften. A plate is set on top to weigh everything down. This is not decoration — a loose pot means vegetables tip over, unroll, and spill rice into the broth, and every Egyptian cook has an opinion about how tightly is tight enough.\n\nMahshi appears at Ramadan iftar tables, at Coptic fasting meals in its vegan form, and at any lunch where a crowd is expected, because it scales beautifully and is arguably better warm than piping hot. It is also generational: hollowing courgettes with a long thin corer, rolling vine leaves quickly enough to be useful, and judging the rice-to-herb ratio by eye are skills passed down by sitting next to someone doing it.",[15,16,17,18],"Stuffs the vegetables loosely, which is the difference between fluffy rice and a dense plug — the mistake almost everyone makes first time.","Uses raw rice and lets it cook in the broth through the vegetable walls, the way Egyptian home cooks do.","Herb quantities are the Egyptian ones, with dill leading rather than appearing as a hint.","Gives a mixed pot — courgettes, peppers and vine leaves together — so one pot covers three textures.",[20,21,22,23,24,25],"Fill each vegetable only two-thirds full. Rice swells to nearly double, and an overfilled courgette splits along its side.","Salt the hollowed vegetables lightly inside before stuffing. It seasons the wall, which the broth never fully reaches.","Pack the pot tight and stand everything upright. Loose vegetables fall over, unroll and dump their filling into the broth.","Weigh the top down with a heatproof plate so the vine leaves stay closed and everything cooks submerged.","Keep the broth barely simmering. A hard boil bursts the courgettes before the rice inside is cooked.","Let the pot stand covered for fifteen minutes off the heat before serving — the rice finishes and everything firms up enough to lift out whole.",[27,31,35],{"original":28,"swap":29,"note":30},"Vine leaves","Cabbage leaves, blanched until pliable","Standard in Egyptian winter mahshi. Cut out the thick central rib before rolling or they will not close.",{"original":32,"swap":33,"note":34},"Short-grain Egyptian rice","Arborio or any short-grain rice","Short grain is what gives the filling its slight stickiness. Long-grain basmati stays separate and the filling falls out of the vegetable when cut.",{"original":36,"swap":37,"note":38},"Vegetarian filling","Add 200 g minced lamb or beef to the rice mixture","Common for feast days. Add nothing else and reduce the oil slightly, since the meat renders fat into the filling.",[40,43,46],{"name":41,"description":42},"Mahshi kromb","Cabbage-only mahshi, rolled small and tight and packed in dense layers — the winter version, and the one usually made in the largest quantities.",{"name":44,"description":45},"Mahshi with lamb broth","Replace the water in the tomato broth with lamb stock and lay a few lamb chops in the base of the pot under the vegetables.",{"name":47,"description":48},"Mahshi warak enab only","Vine leaves alone, rolled cigar-thin and served cool with lemon — closer to Levantine dolma and often eaten as a starter rather than a main.",[50],"Plain yoghurt or a bowl of the cooking broth, lemon wedges, and warm baladi bread for the sauce left in the pot.","Mahshi keeps 4 days refrigerated and many Egyptians prefer it on day two, once the herbs have settled into the rice. Reheat covered with a splash of the broth over low heat, or in a moderate oven for 20 minutes. It freezes well cooked — freeze in the broth so the rice does not dry out, and thaw fully before reheating or the outside overcooks while the middle is still cold.",[53,56,59,62],{"question":54,"answer":55},"How full should I stuff the vegetables?","About two-thirds, and loosely. Raw rice roughly doubles as it absorbs broth, so a packed courgette will either split down the side or produce a dense, gluey filling. If the filling looks slightly mean going in, it is right.",{"question":57,"answer":58},"Can I make mahshi without meat?","Yes — the herb-and-rice filling given here is entirely plant-based, and vegan mahshi is standard in Egypt during Coptic fasting periods rather than being a modern adaptation. The tomato broth and the oil carry enough richness that nothing tastes missing.",{"question":60,"answer":61},"Why is my rice still hard in the middle?","Either the pot was not covered tightly enough and the broth evaporated, or the vegetables were packed so loosely that they floated above the liquid. The broth should come roughly two-thirds up the vegetables at the start, the lid should fit well, and a plate on top keeps everything submerged.",{"question":63,"answer":64},"What do I do with the courgette flesh I scoop out?","Do not throw it away. Egyptian cooks fry it with onion and garlic as a side dish, stir it into the tomato broth for body, or add it to a soup. It has the same flavour as the shell and cooks in minutes.",[66,67,68],"Vegetable corer or a narrow spoon","Wide heavy pot with a lid","Heatproof plate to weigh the pot down",6,50,60,15,"medium",[75],"main",[77,78,79,80],"vegetarian","vegan","dairy-free","nut-free",[82,83,84,85,86],"zucchini","bell-pepper","rice","tomato","dill",[88,93,96,100,105,109,111,115,119,124,128,132,134,138,142,145],{"ref":82,"qty":89,"unit":90,"name":91,"group":92},8,"piece","small courgettes, hollowed out","The vegetables",{"ref":83,"qty":94,"unit":90,"name":95,"group":92},4,"small bell peppers, tops cut off and seeded",{"qty":97,"unit":98,"name":99,"group":92},250,"g","vine leaves in brine, rinsed and drained",{"ref":101,"qty":102,"unit":98,"name":103,"group":104},"short-grain-rice",400,"short-grain rice, rinsed and drained","The filling",{"ref":106,"qty":107,"unit":90,"name":108,"group":104},"onion",1,"onion, very finely chopped",{"ref":86,"qty":70,"unit":98,"name":110,"group":104},"fresh dill, finely chopped",{"ref":112,"qty":113,"unit":98,"name":114,"group":104},"parsley",40,"flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped",{"ref":116,"qty":117,"unit":98,"name":118,"group":104},"cilantro",30,"fresh coriander, finely chopped",{"ref":120,"qty":121,"unit":122,"name":123,"group":104},"tomato-paste",2,"tbsp","tomato paste",{"ref":125,"qty":126,"unit":122,"name":127,"group":104},"olive-oil",5,"olive oil",{"ref":129,"qty":107,"unit":130,"name":131,"group":104},"cumin","tsp","ground cumin",{"qty":121,"unit":130,"name":133,"group":104},"salt",{"ref":85,"qty":135,"unit":98,"name":136,"group":137},500,"passata or blitzed tomatoes","The broth",{"ref":139,"qty":94,"unit":140,"name":141,"group":137},"garlic","clove","garlic, crushed",{"ref":143,"qty":107,"unit":90,"name":144,"group":137},"lemon","lemon, juiced",{"qty":146,"unit":147,"name":148,"group":137},600,"ml","hot water or vegetable stock",[150,154,157,161,164,167,171],{"title":151,"text":152,"tip":153},"Hollow the vegetables","Cut the tops off the courgettes and hollow them with a corer, leaving walls about 5 mm thick. Seed the peppers. Salt the insides lightly and stand everything on a tray while you make the filling.","Work slowly at the closed end — pushing too hard punches straight through the base and the filling leaks out.",{"title":155,"text":156},"Mix the filling","Combine the rinsed rice with the onion, dill, parsley, coriander, tomato paste, olive oil, cumin and salt. Mix with your hands until the rice is evenly green and coated. It should smell strongly of dill.",{"title":158,"text":159,"tip":160},"Stuff loosely","Spoon the filling into the courgettes and peppers, filling each about two-thirds. For the vine leaves, lay a leaf vein-side up, put a teaspoon of filling near the stem end, fold in the sides and roll snugly but not tightly.","A vine leaf roll should still have a little give when you squeeze it. Rolled tight, it bursts as the rice swells.",{"title":162,"text":163},"Pack the pot","Line the base of a wide pot with a few spare vine leaves or tomato slices. Stand the courgettes and peppers upright, packed shoulder to shoulder, and tuck the vine leaf rolls into every gap so nothing can shift.",{"title":165,"text":166},"Add the broth and weigh it down","Whisk the passata, garlic, lemon juice and hot water with a good pinch of salt, and pour it in until the liquid comes two-thirds of the way up the vegetables. Set a heatproof plate on top to hold everything down.",{"title":168,"text":169,"timerSeconds":170},"Braise gently","Bring to a simmer, then cover and cook over low heat for about 55 minutes, until a courgette gives easily when pressed and the rice inside is tender with no chalky centre. Check once at 40 minutes and add hot water if the pot looks dry.",3300,{"title":172,"text":173,"tip":174},"Rest before serving","Take the pot off the heat and leave it covered, plate still in place, for 15 minutes. Lift the vegetables out carefully with a spoon and a fork and serve warm with the broth spooned over.","Skipping the rest is why mahshi falls apart on the way to the plate.",{"calories":176,"protein":177,"carbs":178,"fat":179,"fiber":180,"sugar":181,"sodium":182,"estimated":183},410,9,66,13,7,10,690,true,[185,188,190,192],{"src":186,"alt":187},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fegyptian-mahshi\u002Fhero.jpg","Pot of stuffed courgettes, peppers and rolled vine leaves standing upright in red tomato broth, one cut open to show herbed rice",{"src":189,"alt":187},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fegyptian-mahshi\u002Fhero-16x9.jpg",{"src":191,"alt":187},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fegyptian-mahshi\u002Fhero-4x3.jpg",{"src":193,"alt":187},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fegyptian-mahshi\u002Fhero-1x1.jpg",[195,196,197,198,199,200],"mahshi","stuffed vegetables","egyptian dolma","stuffed courgette","vine 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pieces, with lemon wedges on the side",[344,345,346,347,348,349],"molokhia","mulukhiyah","jute leaf soup","egyptian soup","garlic tasha","friday lunch",{"slug":351,"title":352,"nativeName":353,"romanized":354,"countrySlug":9,"baseServings":69,"prepMinutes":72,"cookMinutes":70,"restMinutes":181,"difficulty":261,"course":355,"diet":357,"mainIngredients":358,"images":363,"keywords":367,"publishedAt":201,"updatedAt":201,"authorSlug":202},"om-ali","Om Ali (Egyptian Bread Pudding with Nuts and Cream)","أم علي","Umm ʿAlī",[356],"dessert",[77],[359,360,361,362],"puff-pastry","milk","pistachios","coconut",[364],{"src":365,"alt":366},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fom-ali\u002Fhero.jpg","Baking dish of om ali with a blistered golden cream top, chopped pistachios scattered over bubbling milk and soaked pastry",[368,369,370,371,372,373],"om ali","umm ali","egyptian dessert","bread pudding","milk pudding","ramadan 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