How to Make Matfonah | Nana's Kitchen

by Shima Ibrahim

Hello everyone, here is the recipe matfonah. It consists of eggplants and zucchini stuffed with rice, ground beef and spices. Nana hopes you'll enjoy! 

Makes 7 servings 

Ingredients:

For the filling:

  • 2 small onions (or one larger onion) 
  • 3/4 cups chopped parsley 
  • 1/4 of a bell pepper (or a spicy pepper if you prefer)
  • 3 cloves of garlic 
  • 1/3 cup olive oil 
  • 1 and 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1 and 1/2 tbsp curry powder
  • 1 tbsp paprika
  • 1 and 1/2 tsp cayenne powder
  • 1 and 1/2 cups rice  
  • 2 cups ground beef
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 tbsp chili pepper paste
  • 1 tbsp ground black pepper 
  • 1 to 2 roughly chopped tomatoes (this will be put in the bottom of the pot instead of the filling)
To be stuffed: 
  • 1 eggplant
  • 10 zucchini 
  • 2 anaheim peppers 
  • 2 bell peppers
  • 2 small chillies

For the liquid: 

  • About 3 cups water
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 tsp citric acid (you can add more if you want it to taste more acidic)
  • 1 tbsp salt 

Instructions:

  1.  First chop your onions, garlic, bell pepper, and parsley and place into a bowl. 
  2. Thoroughly wash and drain your rice and ground beef then add to the same bowl as the onions and parsley. Add the spices, salt and olive oil to the same bowl then mix together well. 
  3. Cut the tops off your zucchini, eggplant, and peppers (don't throw away the tops). Scoop/cut out the inside flesh of your zucchini and eggplants with a thin knife, though try not to cut the skin too much. You can watch how Nana does it here: https://youtu.be/-13Qf0zHRz8?t=128 
  4.  Roughly chop the flesh of your zucchini and eggplant and throw them into the bottom of the pot along with 1 to 2 roughly chopped tomatoes. 
  5. Now fill your vegetables, Nana says to fill them up to a little more than halfway and make sure not to overfill them. Put the tops back in to keep the filling in and place them in your pot. You can see how Nana does it here: https://youtu.be/-13Qf0zHRz8?t=340
  6. Dissolve the citric acid, tomato paste, and salt in a cup of water. Pour this over the vegetables in the pot and pour in about 2 more cups of water. The water should be about halfway up the pot. You can add more water if you like your matfonah to be more watery. 
  7. Let simmer on medium heat for about 20 minutes or until the rice is cooked. 
  8. Enjoy! 

You can watch Nana make matfonah here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-13Qf0zHRz8

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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