Moshhurda

Ingredients

The beans and rice

• 250 gmung beans
• mosh, soaked for a few hours
• 200 gshort grain rice
• rinsed

The meat

• 500 glamb on the bone
• in pieces
• 3 tablespoonsoil
• or tail fat

The pot

• 2onions, chopped
• 2carrots, diced
• 4tomatoes, chopped
• 2 tablespoonstomato purée
• 4garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 teaspoonsground cumin
• 1 teaspoonground coriander
• 1 teaspoonpaprika
• about 2.5 litres water
• salt and black pepper

To finish

• 300 gsuzma
• strained sour milk, or thick yoghurt
• a handful of dill, chopped
• a handful of coriander, chopped

Directions

1. Add a pinch of salt to it as well. Mung beans need only a short soak. Rinse the mung beans thoroughly. Cover them well with cold water. Leave them for a good few hours. Draining them is straightforward enough. Drain all of the soaked beans. Discard all of the soaking water. Heat the oil in a large heavy pot. Add the lamb pieces in batches.
2. Brown them well on all of their sides. Do not crowd the pot at any point. Work in batches rather than all at once. Add the chopped onions to the pot. Cook them for a good ten minutes. Add the diced carrots to them. Cook them for five more minutes. Add the crushed garlic to the pot. Add the cumin, coriander and paprika. Fry them for about thirty seconds. Thirty seconds in hot fat is the limit.
3. Add the chopped tomatoes to the pot. Add the tomato purée along with them. Cook them down for about eight minutes. The tomato must cook right down. Oil should separate at the edges. Raw tomato taste should be entirely gone. Pour in all of the measured water. Add all the drained mung beans.
4. Season it with salt and black pepper. Bring it up to a gentle simmer. Cover the pot and lower the heat. Let it simmer for about forty minutes. The beans should soften considerably.
5. Add the rinsed rice to the pot. Stir it through it all thoroughly. Short grain rice is what this needs. Let it simmer for about forty more minutes. Stir it regularly all the way through. They burn very quickly if they do.
6. Stir right into the corners of the pot. Use a heavy pot to help with that. Add hot water if it goes too thick. Keep it loose enough to stir freely. Judging it takes a careful taste. Cook it longer if pieces remain distinct. It should be thick but still spoonable.
7. Leave it slightly loose for that reason. Taste it and adjust the salt as needed. Add plenty of black pepper as well. A large pot of porridge needs real salt.
8. Taste it properly right at the end. Serving it is always done hot. Ladle it out into deep warm bowls. Scatter chopped dill and coriander over. That keeps them bright and fresh. Put a spoonful of suzma on each bowl. Let each person stir their own in. It keeps three days refrigerated.

Technique

• This is a porridge rather than a soup: the mung beans break down into a purée and the short grain rice releases starch, and together they thicken the pot with no other thickener at all. Long grain rice stays too separate to do that. Everything should merge with no distinct grains left.
• The suzma goes into each bowl at the table rather than into the pot, since boiling would split it entirely; each person stirs their own in, and it transforms the dish, adding sourness and coolness against the rich hot porridge.
• Rice and beans sink and catch on the bottom of the pot and burn very quickly, so stir regularly and right into the corners, and use a heavy pot. It thickens considerably as it stands, so leave it looser than you want it.

Substitutions

• Thick strained yoghurt with a pinch of salt approximates suzma; sour cream works at a push.
• Short grain rice is needed for the starch it releases, which is what thickens the pot.

Variations

• Mung beans need only a few hours of soaking rather than overnight, cooking faster than larger beans.
• Dill and coriander go on at the table rather than into the pot, which keeps them bright.
• It is winter household food rather than a restaurant or feast dish.

History

Autumn and winter home dish, finished with a spoonful of suzma stirred in at the table.

Frequently asked questions

What is Moshhurda?

Moshhurda is a soup & stew from Uzbekistan: mung bean and rice porridge with lamb and tomato. Autumn and winter home dish, finished with a spoonful of suzma stirred in at the table.

How long does Moshhurda take to make?

Moshhurda takes 20 minutes plus soaking of preparation and 1 hour 30 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Moshhurda?

Yes, within limits. Thick strained yoghurt with a pinch of salt approximates suzma; sour cream works at a push. Short grain rice is needed for the starch it releases, which is what thickens the pot.

What is the most important thing to get right in Moshhurda?

Brown them well on all of their sides. Do not crowd the pot at any point. Work in batches rather than all at once. Add the chopped onions to the pot. Cook them for a good ten minutes. Add the diced carrots to them. Cook them for five more minutes. Add the crushed garlic to the pot. Add the cumin, coriander and paprika. Fry them for about thirty seconds. Thirty seconds in hot fat is the limit.