Day 111: Mauritania and Thieboudienne (fish with rice)

Good evening, Raffies!

Tonight we are going to Mauritania and we are enjoying its national dish: Thieboudienne (cheb-u-jin).
This dish can also be found in Senegal. It means "fish and rice" and those are also its main ingredients.
The procedure for the recipe took actually longer than we had calculated at first. Meaning that we ended up eating at 9 o'clock in the evening.
I got my recipe from two pages today: 5 dishes from Mauritania and Q Zine

Ingredients:

500 g fish (grouper is the most common one in Mauritania, but any firm fish will do)
2 c basmati rice
1 fish bouillon cube
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 cloves of garlic whole
2 carrots, chopped
1 aubergine, chopped
1 potato, peeled and chopped
200 g pumpkin, chopped
3 tbsp tomato paste
2 large tomatoes, crushed
flour
parsley
salt
pepper
1 onion, chopped
1 chili
1 tbsp butter
peanut oil
1 tbsp peanuts
fresh coriander

Start by breading the fish in flour, salt, pepper and parsley. In the meantime, place the aubergine, potato, pumpkin, carrots in a pot with 10 c water and the peeled whole cloves of garlic.
In a large pot, pour enough oil to cover the bottom, add the peanuts and heat up. Fry the fish until it is brown on all sides. Put the fish aside.
Now in another bowl, mix the tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, salt and pepper with the crumbled bouillon cube and mix well.
Melt the butter in the cooking pot from before, add the onion and garlic. Sauté fry until soft, then add the tomatoes.
After a couple of minutes, add the chili and the vegetables with the soaking water and let them simmer on a low heat for approximately 40 minutes, until soft.
Add the fish and cook for another 5 minutes. Now scoop out the fish and the vegetables. Add the rice to the liquid (the liquid should be 4 cups). You can add some salt and oil and cover with a lid.
Bring to the boil and cook for 10 minutes. Now turn the heat off, but do not lift the lid. When you are ready to serve, remove the lid - this is in order to create a crispy crust at the bottom, which is considered to be a delicacy).
Serve on a big plate. Pour the rice first and the vegetables with the fish on top. Garnish with some fresh coriander.
Traditionally, this dish is enjoyed with your hands and by sharing the common big plate with the other guests.

It was definitely worth the long waiting and the tedious cooking process. The flavour was great. The crust of the rice was amazing and the fish was incredible.

Love,

Raffi