Kousa bil Laban (Stuffed Zucchini in Yogurt Sauce)
This is Kousa bil Laban, Syrian-style stuffed zucchini in yogurt sauce: small zucchini are hollowed out and filled with fried minced meat and pine nuts, then fried. Yogurt is cooked with starch, salt, and liquid milk over heat, stirring continuously until it boils; the zucchini are then added and left for a few minutes until cooked. Serve hot with pine nuts.
A Syrian-style dish of zucchini cooked in a yogurt sauce.
Like stuffed zucchini simmered in yogurt.
Ingredients
- 1 and a half kilos small zucchini
- 1 and a half kilos yogurt
- half a kilo minced meat, fried with pine nuts
- 5 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 and a half tablespoons salt
- 2 cups liquid milk
Instructions
- Hollow out the zucchini from one end only using a zucchini corer, leaving the walls thick so they do not fall apart during stuffing.
- Fill the zucchini with the cooked minced meat and pine nuts until completely full, without leaving any empty space.
- Fry the stuffed zucchini in a pot or pan of hot oil until browned, keeping the filling inside the zucchini.
- Place the yogurt in a bowl or pot while cold, then add the cornstarch, salt, and liquid milk.
- Whisk the yogurt mixture well before placing it over the heat.
- Place the yogurt mixture over the heat, stirring continuously with a stirring utensil or another suitable tool until it boils.
- Turn off the heat under the yogurt pot once it boils, then immediately drop the fried zucchini into the pot.
- Leave the zucchini in the yogurt pot over the heat until it comes to two boils, or for about 3 to 5 minutes after adding it.
- Serve the Kousa bil Laban hot on a serving platter, sprinkled with pine nuts.