Turkish-style pepper and pea rice dish with minced meat and caramelized almonds

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 500 g minced beef
• 250 g rice
• 2 large red pointed peppers
• 250 g peas, frozen
• 1 pepper, yellow, medium hot
• 1 large onion(s), red
• 4 garlic cloves
• 100 g date tomatoes
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 600 ml beef broth
• 200 ml water
• 2 tbsp oregano, dried
• 2 tbsp mint, dried
• 1 tbsp, heaped red pepper flakes (Isot red pepper flakes, fermented)
• 2 tsp sweet paprika powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 2 tbsp pomegranate syrup
• 1 tbsp oil for frying
• n. B. Salt
• 40 g almond sticks
• 15 g butter
• 1 tbsp raw cane sugar
• 1 pinch of salt

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 50 minutes

Wash the peppers, remove the stem, core, and white inner pith, and cut into pieces. Do the same with the chili peppers. Peel the onion, halve, and slice into strips. Peel the garlic cloves and finely chop or press. Quarter or slice the date tomatoes. Briefly rinse the rice in water, rinse out some of the starch, and drain. In a large, deep frying pan, brown the minced meat in oil for about 4 minutes. Then add the peppers, onion strips, and garlic and roast for another 3-4 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, paprika, and cumin powder, and roast briefly. Then deglaze with the beef stock and water. Add the fermented Isot paprika flakes and oregano. Bring everything to a boil, then stir in the rice. Simmer over low heat with the lid closed for about 15 minutes to allow the rice to absorb the liquid. Then add the peas, chili peppers, and mint and cook for another 5 minutes with the lid on, stirring occasionally to prevent burning, as most of the liquid will eventually be absorbed by the rice. In the meantime, caramelize the almond slivers in a small pan. To do this, let the butter foam. Add the almond slivers and the brown sugar and, stirring, toast and caramelize over medium heat until the almonds smell. Season with a pinch of salt. When the minced meat and rice dish is ready, remove it from the heat and add the pomegranate syrup, stir to combine, and season with salt to taste. When serving, top with the fresh tomatoes and caramelized almonds. Tips: Isot paprika flakes are available inexpensively in any Turkish supermarket. The fermentation process turns them black and gives them a special fruity, smoky aroma. A little oil and usually quite a bit of salt have been added to the spice, so don’t confuse them with dried chili flakes. There are different levels of spiciness, so taste beforehand. The amount I used in the recipe was suitable for medium-hot spice. Only add the pomegranate syrup at the very end, like balsamic vinegar, for example. It gives the dish a fruity acidity that balances out the caramelized almonds. If you want to use fresh mint, add it at the end and use a much smaller amount than the rather weak dried mint. In the end, the mint shouldn’t dominate, but rather be a light taste and balance out the heat of the spices and chili peppers.