Non-traditional “Sayadaya” Rice as Prepared by Ameera Aboulseoud

The “Sayadaya” rice or the fish rice is a famous dish usually prepared by the coastal people with similar taste but different preparing details. Ameera Aboulseoud is an Egyptian living in America since 2001 when her husband Mohamed Abdelmoneam got a scholarship from the University of Michigan to get his MSc and PhD in electrical engineering.

Aboulseoud is originally from Alexandria and she is a chemical engineer however, she didn’t work due to her marriage and traveling which made her choose the kitchen as her own lab to try and experiment in the different healthy and tasty recipes. She made sure that her food inventions are based on the classical Egyptian foods especially since she has two children, Farida who is 18 years old and is a computer science freshman in Carnegie Mellon and Mahmoud who is 17 years old and is a high school junior.

The Alexandrian engineer succeeded in recreating the famous  sanjivani “Sayadaya” rice with its delicious and beautiful presentation but with her own twist. Aboulsoud agreed to give “See” all of her recipe’s details and secrets especially now that the fishing season had started.

• The rice

1. In large pot, add some oil and cook one minced onion until it turns golden brown before adding one teaspoon of cinnamon for each cup of Egyptian rice.

2. In another pan and at the same time, add one tablespoon of sugar for each cup of rice and when the sugar is caramelized add it to the onion and cinnamon mixture before stirring well.

3. Add some water to the mixture (1 ¼ of water for each cup of rice) and once the water boils, add one tablespoon of ghee, the rice and some salt. Cover the pot and leave the rice to cook on low heat for 20 minutes before it is ready.

[caption id="attachment_154215" align="aligncenter" width="1023"] The rice[/caption]

• The fish

1. Add some salt, pepper, cumin, curry, garlic powder and paprika to the flour before coating the fille hammour fish (any kind will do) in the flour mixture.

2. Fry the fish in some oil before leaving it to cool. Once it is cooled, cut the fish into slices.

[caption id="attachment_154218" align="aligncenter" width="1080"] The fish[/caption]

• The shrimp

1. Peel the shrimp and wash it properly before seasoning it with salt, pepper, cumin, curry, garlic powder and paprika.

2. Cook the shrimp in some butter for 5 to 7 minutes or until completely cooked depending on its size.

[caption id="attachment_154216" align="aligncenter" width="933"] The shrimp[/caption]

• In a cake pan

Add the cut fish and half of the rice on top of it before adding the shrimp and finally adding the rest of the rice.

Enjoy!

Contributed by Sara Goda

[caption id="attachment_154206" align="aligncenter" width="1242"] Non-traditional “Sayadaya” Rice[/caption]