Place the rice in a large bowl. Pour lukewarm water, stir and pour off the water. Repeat four times until water runs clear. Then soak rice in salted (with 2 tablespoons salt) lukewarm water for an hour.

Drain the soaked rice and set aside.

Pour water in a large pot (until it is 3/4-full), add 1-tablespoon salt and bring to a boil over high heat.

Add rice to the boiling water and cook uncovered until rice is a little tender (not quite tender) about 3 minutes, stirring once or twice. Remove from the heat and drain the rice in a colander.

Meanwhile, heat 3 tablespoons oil in a pot over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté until golden. Increase heat to medium-high, add the ground beef and sauté until no longer pink.

Reduce heat to medium, add turmeric, cinnamon, salt and pepper and cook for couple of minutes. Add the tomato paste, stir well and cook for 10 minutes.

Remove from the heat and add 2-tablespoons oil, green onions, basil, parsley, tarragon and cilantro.

Mix the ground beef mixture and rice. Adjust seasonings and set aside.

To prepare the bell peppers, cut a circle at the top of the peppers and remove seeds. Set aside.

To prepare the sauce, heat 3 tablespoons oil in a pot over medium heat. Add the crushed tomatoes, salt and pepper and cook for 1 minute. Then add 2 cups hot water, and lemon juice and cook for 5 more minutes. Adjust the seasoning and set aside.

Stuff each of the bell peppers with the rice-beef mixture.

Place the stuffed peppers side by side in a large pot (avoid stacking them, I used 2 pots). Pour 3-4 tablespoons of sauce over each pepper.

Place the bell pepper top (the one you cut out earlier) on top. Pour the remaining sauce all over the peppers.

Cover the pot and cook over medium heat until the peppers are well cooked, about 70-90 minutes. Add more hot water during cooking if needed.