Tuna Rice

Tuna Rice

In Iraq it is common to eat what we call "red rice" which is a tomato-y rice that brightens up and cuts the richness of seafood and fried fish main dishes.  Throw in a nice salad too and you've got the perfect meal!

Tuna rice is kind of a recipe I invented in my late teen years and upon my return from my trip to Yemen.  I think I was inspired by the amazing and flavourful canned tuna from Dubai and Yemen.  My family just fell in love with this dish and it's been a regular on our table for years!

- 1/2 red onion, diced
- 1/2 green pepper, diced

OR

- 2 of each (as you see in photo below) long red and green pepper. Not sure the name of the variety but these are popular in Turkish cuisine and we use them for stuffing. Some are hotter than others.

- 2 green chilies (optional)

- 1/4 lemon wedge

- 3 medium cloves garlic, minced

- 4 tbsp GOOD olive oil (I used a Spanish variety from Olive That!)

- 1 can firm chunk tuna packed in oil, this brand is found in Middle Eastern/Persian grocers, I like it better.

- 1/2 cup tomato passata

- 2 tbsp tomato paste

- 2 cups basmati (sila or parboiled basmati is ideal) rinsed and soaked for 2 hours at least.

- 1 bunch cilantro (and more for serving/eating!)

- Salt & black pepper (or whole black pepper corns)

Boiling water from kettle



In a large pot add the olive oil and begin sauteeing the diced red onion, followed by the peppers on medium heat.

Add the garlic briefly then the tomato paste and puree. Sautee until it smells nice and all the raw tomato paste flavour is gone.

You may need to use a splash guard because tomato can splatter.  Turn the temperature down if needed.

Add the drained rice which has already been soaking for a couple of hours in advance. Add 1 tsp salt per cup of rice, so two teaspoons.

Gently toss until it's coated in the tomato/pepper mixture.   For 2 cups rice I add 3 cups boiling water.

Throw in the whole green chilies on top and lay the pieces of tuna from the can over top as well (gently so it doesn't break apart) I drained off most of the oil earlier but you can put it in, just decrease the initial bit of olive oil then.

The cilantro goes in as well as about 1/3 tsp black peppercorns (optional) or cracked black pepper. Throw in the lemon wedge too.

Cover and allow to cook on low heat for about 40 minutes.


Remove the rice from the pot and arrange on a platter. Serve warm! This is a perfect dish, one of my favourites!

Arabic Summer Spread

Tuna Rice: 

- Basmati rice (1 1/2-2 cups depends on the size of your family) 

- 1 small chopped onion (if you don't like the texture of the onion like some members of my family just throw in a peeled onion bulb in tact and then remove it later)

- 2 cloves of garlic

- 1/2 green pepper finely diced (if you like spice add jalapeno? also crushed red pepper)  

- 1 small can of tomato paste

- 2 cans of tuna (in oil, preferably the kind you find at a middle eastern store, or even a good brand in oil) 

- Stock or water

- Salt & black pepper

- Pinch of allspice and ground clove

- A few dashes of Worcestershire sauce

- A few tbsp oil + oil from the tuna can

Wash and soak rice in advance, at least 30 minutes before cooking, I used tilda basmati.

Fill and boil kettle.

Chop vegetables like onion, green pepper. 

Heat oil in the pot, add vegetables and sautee until translucent, add chopped garlic frying until fragrant, at this point add tomato paste to caramelize and fry in the oil which will remove the raw flavour.

Season with salt (1 tsp per cup of rice, if tuna is salty reduce salt in recipe) 

Add black pepper to taste, and a pinch of both ground allspice and ground clove (if you only have one or the other use it) 

Drain rice and add to pot frying around, be careful not to break the rice grains, the objective here is just to get the oil coating the rice a bit. 

Add enough water (or stock, water is fine here though) to cook the amount of rice you're cooking. 

At this point when it looks all ready for simmering I add in the can of tuna (oil and all), keeping the tuna in tact and just laying it over the top of the rice (do not mix it or it'll flake into small pieces) and then cover and simmer until rice is cooked.

Remove from heat and gently using a spoon turn the rice over bringing the bottom to the top with a large flat spoon being careful not to mush up the tuna but arrange large pieces on top or throughout the rice. You could transfer it and arrange the rice on a platter to cool better.

Garnish with fresh cilantro.

Items on the menu above:

Lamb koftas (ground lamb, thyme, chopped mint, chopped cilantro, mustard, lemon juice, olive oil, salt & black pepper, with a tad bit of egg and breadcrumb to keep it in tact)

Beef tenderloin tikka: beef, olive oil, salt, black pepper, lemon juice, marinade and grill.

Tabouleh salad: Soaked fine bulgar wheat, chopped parsley, cubed tomato, finely diced green onion, olive oil, lemon juice, salt

Grilled peaches: Grill ripe but firm peach halves on grill (flesh side down) for a few minutes to achieve a grilled mark and to caramelize sugars in fruit.  Sprinkle with brown sugar and add a scoop of french vanilla ice cream.

Apricot turnovers:  Roll out store bought frozen puff pastry and cut into squares, add a spoon of apricot jam and fold over into a triangle, egg wash the top and sprinkle with coarse sugar.  Bake at 375 F until puffed and broil a few seconds at the end.   Garnish with fresh apricots in season.