Seeyadieh by Mom

Seeyadieh is word that references fishing. In a more practical term, it is a dish of rice and fish.

You can use any fish that is large enough to be cooked (fried or baked) and separated into chunks.

Once the fish is cooked and separated (we just used leftover salmon from salmon feasting), it is time to prepare the onions.

There are two ways to do onions for this. One approach is to cut the onion into thin slices. Another one (mom's approach) is to grate them so they won't crunch under my dad's tongue.

The onion is then fried until browned (in vegetable or olive oil) and put aside.

The next thing to fry is about a cup of pine nuts (some also add walnuts). Beware, pine nuts fry really quickly so keep an eye on the stove.

Now the cooking begins. In a pot, layer half of the pine nuts topped with half the fish. Sprinkle with cinnamon and salt (no pepper but some add a bit of turmeric for colour). Then add half the onions and 1 cup of rice. Repeat the process with the same layers/ingredients. Add 6 cups of water (for 2 cups of rice). Bring to boil then simmer until the rice is cooked.

 

As the dish is cooking (or cooling down - it is supposed to be eaten at room temperature), prepare a salad.

One salad that goes well is fresh thyme (the first 2012 jardin crop) with chunks of peeled lemon.

Another matching salad is cabbage - thinly sliced cabbage with nothing else.

The dressing for those salads is simply lemon juice, olive oil and salt. Lemon goes well with fish.




Now that salads are ready and Seeyadieh is cooked, turn it over into a serving platter and enjoy.