HOW TO PREPARE MAHMOOD'S RICE
(recipe from Ali Baba Restaurant)
SWEET & SOUR CHERRY RICE
SERVED WITH CHICKEN KABOB, ALI BABA STYLE

1. Prepare rice.

1 lb rice (preferably Basmati)
1&1/2 oz salt

Wash the rice 2-3 times until the water runs clear. Be careful not to break the grains. Soak rice in water. Meantime, fill casserole half-way down with water and boil. Add rice and salt (to bring down boiling temperature of water) and let boil on high heat until rice is "lengthened" but only half cooked. Drain hot water off rice and pour cold water to "cool" the rice. This will also wash away the starch and the salt. It will separate the grains and make the rice " "light". Cover ¼ inch bottom of your pot with ½ portion of water and ½ portion melted butter. Add rice and boil on high heat until steaming. Cover pot tightly, reduce to lowest heat and continue cooking for 30 minutes until all the water is absorbed and rice is soft.

2. Prepare Sweet & Sour Cherry
1 Jar of Sour Cherry (24oz) ½ cup of sugar

Pour juice off the jar of cherries into a pot and boil with sugar for 15 minutes, then add the cherries and boil for an additional 5 minutes.

3. Prepare Saffron Water

Add hot water to ground saffon (or crushed saffon threads), stir and set aside.

4. Layer rice and cherries

In a serving dish , put a layer of rice on the bottom, followed by a layer of sweet and sour cherries, 2-3 more layers of rice and then a layer of cherries. Sprinkle top with 3 tbsps. of saffon water. It is ready to serve with chicken kabob.

5. Prepare the chicken kabob

1lb chicken breast
juice of 4 medium-size lemons
1&1/2 tsps salt
1/3 cup oil
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp granulated garlic
2 tsp saffon water

Clean and cut chicken in serving sizes and marinate in above ingredients from two to 24 hours. Put on skewer and grill. Serve with sweet and sour rice. SERVES 4.

A good light meal from the Middle East.

Recipe courtesy of Mahmood, owner and Master Chef, Ali Baba Restaurant on S.R. 434, Longwood, Florida, Telephone: (407) 331-8680