Kousa Bil Laban literally translates to zucchini in yogurt! The recipe starts with zucchini that are hollowed out and are stuffed with a flavor-packed filling of rice and meat, the zucchini are poached in water, drained then simmered to perfection in a fragrant garlicky yogurt sauce.
Kousa Bil Laban, Zucchini in Yogurt
Yogurt based dishes are one of my favorite foods, and a bowl of kousa bil laban is ultimate comfort food to share with family. Stuffed zucchini simmered in a garlicky yogurt sauce, and flavored with a light dusting of dried mint, is a Lebanese classic that never goes out of style – comfort food at its best.
Begin by selecting the right type of zucchini. Try to put your hands on small-medium Lebanese zucchini no longer than 7 inches/17 cm, and sometimes called Mexican grey squash, their pale green skin is smooth and shiny, are ideal to make stuffed kousa bil laban/ zucchini in yogurt; they taste great and hold their shape without getting soggy while cooking.
You need to hollow out the zucchini with a vegetable corer (mankara), a utensil used in the Middle East to core up the pulps of some vegetables like zucchini and eggplants. Wash, scrub and dry the zucchini, cut off the stem tips and gently hollow out the center with the vegetable corer.
Try to hollow just like you are carving a pumpkin, hollow out the center leaving 1/3 inch/ ¾ cm, around the interior wall and maybe more if you mange doing that without poking the zucchini. It is simple, but still it is a skill that needs a bit of practice to master it.
What type of meat and rice to use for the filling? When it comes to meat, lamb is my favorite, but beef is commonly used as well. It is advisable to use short-grain rice that tend to absorb less liquid resulting in a stickier filling, the most common used is the Egyption rice or Italian Arborio. In a colander, rinse the rice under running cold water and rub with your hands to remove the excess starch as you can and drain. Mix together the rice with the minced meat and oil, and season with spice and salt. Now your filling is ready.
Using your finger, stuff each zucchini with the rice and meat filling, leave about ¼ inch or ½ cm of space at top, allowing for the expansion of the rice as it cooks. It is important not to over stuff.
Secure each zucchini with a small piece of flesh of the interior pulps you hollowed, just to create a barrier, preventing the filling from leaking out while cooking. This is extra security to be on the safe side. Transfer the stuffed zucchini to a large pot, and gently add water, almost covering the zucchini.
Tips and tricks: You need to boil the stuffed zucchini in a pot of water for a about 20 minutes before simmering them in the garlicky yogurt sauce. This is an integral step to enhancing the flavor and texture of the stuffed zucchini.
Drain the zucchini and save the broth.
The foundation of the dish is the yogurt and zucchini, but save 3 cups of the zucchini broth to be simmered later with the yogurt. It is a brilliant idea to save the vitamins and nutrients in the zucchini.
Cook the yogurt: In a large pot, add the yogurt, garlic, 3 cups of zucchini broth and diluted cornstarch and whisk well to homogenize the mixture. Place over high heat, and continue whisking in one direction. It is not tricky, but the yogurt needs attention to avoid it from curdling; it is crucial to whisk the yogurt constantly. Once the mixture boils, gently add the strained zucchini one at a time. Dust with dried mint and adjust salt to your taste preference. Reduce heat to low and keep it simmering (uncovered) for 1 hour, allowing the zucchini to cook through and flavors mingle and develop together.
About the garlic: 2 large garlic heads seem like a lot but honestly you could add more. Garlic serves to boost the savory flavors of the koussa blaban, but scale the amount depending on your taste preference.
Dried Mint Leaves: Add a burst of freshness and upgrade the flavor with an earthy charm.
Cornstarch: acts as a thickening agent, and helps in preventing the yogurt from curdling, but still it should be added in moderation, the mentioned amount will yield a moderate thick yogurt sauce.
A time saving strategy: While koussa bil laban looks laborious to make in terms of preparation, it is a fun project, and wait until you taste the flavors. For a time saving strategy, you can split the work in two stages. Stage 1: Hollow, stuff and boil the zucchini and drain. Cover the zucchini with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator up to a day or two! Stage 2: Simmer the zucchini in the garlicky yogurt sauce the day you need to serve.
Do you need to reheat the koussa blaban? Koussa bil laban is great a day or two after it’s made, just cover leftovers and keep in the refrigerator, serve cold and no need to reheat.
Did you read the post about Lebanese Shish Barak/ Meat Dumplings in Yogurt Soup? Learn all the tips and secrets gifted to me by my late grandma.
Kousa Bil Laban, Zucchini in Yogurt
Description
Ingredients
For the filling:
- 1 cup short-grain rice
- 250 gram/ 8 oz minced lamb or beef
- 1 teaspoon sevenspice/ allspice
- A pinch of freshly grated white pepper
- 4 tablespoons sunflower oil
For the yogurt:
- 12 cups homemade laban/ yogurt or ready bought plain whole milk yogurt
- 3 cups of zucchini broth
- 2 large garlic heads crushed
- 4 heaping tablespoons cornstarch diluted in 1/2 cup of water
- 1 tablespoon dried mint
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Wash, scrub and dry the zucchini, cut off the stem tips and gently hollow out the center with the vegetable corer, try to hollow just like you are carving a pumpkin, hollow out the center leaving 1/3 inch/ ¾ cm, around the interior walls.
- In a colander, rinse the rice under running cold water and rub with your hands to remove the excess starch as you can and drain.
- In a bowl, mix together the rice with the minced meat and oil, and season with spice and salt. Now your filling is ready.
- Using your finger, stuff each zucchini with the rice and meat filling, leave about ¼ inch or ½ cm of space at top, allowing for the expansion of the rice as it cooks. It is important not to over stuff. Secure each zucchini with a flesh of the hollowed interior of the zucchini, just to create a barrier, preventing the filling from leaking out.
- Transfer the stuffed zucchini to a large pot, and gently add water, almost covering the zucchini, Sprinkle with about 1 tablespoon of salt and bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover up and leave it about 20 minutes to cook. Drain the zucchini and save the broth.
- Sprinkle with about 1 tablespoon of salt and bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover up and leave it about 20 minutes to cook. Drain the zucchini and save the broth.
- In a large pot, add the yogurt, garlic, 3 cups of zucchini broth and diluted cornstarch and whisk well to homogenize the mixture. Place over high heat, and continue whisking in one direction. The yogurt needs attention to avoid it from curdling; it is crucial to whisk the yogurt constantly.
- Once the mixture boils, gently add the strained zucchini one at a time. Dust with dried mint and adjust salt to your taste preference. Reduce heat to low and keep it simmering (uncovered) for 1 hour, allowing the zucchini to cook through and flavors develop together.
- Transfer to a large bowl or individual soup plates. Serve warm or at room temperature. Cover leftovers when totally cooled down and refrigerate. Happy Eating!
Notes
19 Comments
We love stuffed peppers and I can only imagine how stuffed zucchini tastes! What a beautiful recipe Hadia!
I’ve never heard of this dish and I’m SO intrigued!
Hi! So excited to try this. I have a question about the garlic. In the recipe it says two garlic cloves, however, in your notes it says two garlic heads. I am not sure which to do.??? Thank you(:
We have to dissolve the cornstarch in cold water right? And can I add satueed pine nuts at the end??
Hi for thé yogurt 12 cups means 2kgs of yogourt or more
Hello from Greece! When I make this food I like to put the stuffed zucchini straight in the yogurt to be cooked. It needs moooore time to be ready (2,5 hrs) but for me has deeper taste.
I made this yesterday for a party. We all lived it. Thank you.
Thanks for shar ing this amazing recipe.my family loved it.will be sharing this recipe with my friend s.they will like it.