Roz mo’ammar

Ingredients

The rice

• 500 gshort grain rice
• Egyptian rice if possible
• rinsed and drained

The liquid

• 1 litrewhole milk
• 300 mldouble cream
• or thick cream
• 150 mlchicken stock
• optional, see the note
• 2 teaspoonssalt

The fat

• 120 gbutter
• or ghee
• melted
• plus extra for the dish

To serve

• roast duck
• or pigeon or chicken
• at a feast

Directions

1. Butter fries it against the dish. That gives a crisp golden layer. Rinse the rice well in cold water. Rinse it two or three times only. Stop while the water is still cloudy. Drain all the rice thoroughly. Let it sit in the sieve a while. Give it about ten minutes to drain.
2. Butter the baking dish generously. Butter the base and all the sides. That helps the crust form around it. Use a wide shallow baking dish. A deep one gives more soft rice. Warm the milk and cream together. Warm it rather than boiling it. It should be hot to the finger.
3. Stir the salt into the warm liquid. It should taste seasoned rather than sweet. Spread the drained rice in the dish. Spread it out in an even layer. About two centimetres deep is right.
4. Pour the warm milk over the rice. It should cover the rice generously. Pour the melted butter over the top. That is exactly what should happen.
5. Heat the oven to one hundred and sixty degrees. Cooking it takes about ninety minutes. Bake it for about ninety minutes. That sequence takes real time. Add more warm milk if it looks dry. The rice must not dry out early.
6. Add warm milk rather than cold. Cold milk stops the cooking dead. Pour it gently down the very side. Do not disturb the forming crust. Let it stand there for ten minutes. It is also extremely hot at first. Serve it straight from the dish.
7. Cut down through the crust to serve. Give everyone some crust and some soft. Serve it out with a large spoon. It keeps two days refrigerated.

Technique

• Bake it low, at one hundred and sixty degrees, and do not rush it: high heat curdles the milk entirely and browns the surface before the rice has cooked. The rice must absorb all the liquid before the top can dry and brown, and that sequence takes real time.
• The crust is the whole point — the milk and cream reduce and brown while the melted butter floating on top fries the surface rice against the dish. Butter the dish generously on base and sides so the crust forms around it too, and use a wide shallow dish, which gives more crust surface than a deep one.
• Check after an hour and add warm rather than cold milk if it looks dry, pouring it gently down the side without disturbing the forming crust — cold milk stops the cooking dead.

Substitutions

• Some cooks add a little chicken stock, making it savoury rather than plain, and others use milk and cream only; both are genuinely made. The plain version has no meat at all and adding stock ends that, so say clearly which you have made.
• Earthenware is the traditional dish and holds heat evenly where metal browns rather faster; both work perfectly well.

Variations

• This is a savoury dish rather than a sweet rice pudding, with no sugar at all and a genuine two teaspoons of salt — unsalted it tastes flat, and that distinction matters.
• Rinse the rice only two or three times, stopping while the water is still cloudy, since some surface starch is wanted to thicken the milk; then drain it a full ten minutes, as excess water dilutes the liquid.
• Village bread ovens hold heat for hours, so the bread is baked first at high heat and this goes in as the oven cools — genuinely efficient practice giving a very gentle bake, which a low domestic oven reproduces well.

History

A Delta village dish cooked in the residual heat of the bread oven; it is served with roast duck, pigeon or chicken at feasts.

Frequently asked questions

What is Roz mo’ammar?

Roz mo’ammar is a main from Egypt: rice baked slowly in milk, cream and butter until a golden crust forms. A Delta village dish cooked in the residual heat of the bread oven; it is served with roast duck, pigeon or chicken at feasts.

How long does Roz mo’ammar take to make?

Roz mo’ammar takes 15 minutes of preparation and 1 hour 30 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 8. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Roz mo’ammar?

Yes, within limits. Some cooks add a little chicken stock, making it savoury rather than plain, and others use milk and cream only; both are genuinely made. The plain version has no meat at all and adding stock ends that, so say clearly which you have made. Earthenware is the traditional dish and holds heat evenly where metal browns rather faster; both work perfectly well.

What is the most important thing to get right in Roz mo’ammar?

Butter the baking dish generously. Butter the base and all the sides. That helps the crust form around it. Use a wide shallow baking dish. A deep one gives more soft rice. Warm the milk and cream together. Warm it rather than boiling it. It should be hot to the finger.