Three of the city’s most celebrated Arabic food specialists give us their thoughts on cooking during Ramadan, top tips for preparing food in advance and even their secret recipes…
Aida Mansour, owner, Café Arabia
What will be happening at Café Arabia during the Holy Month?
We will be offering a true family Iftar experience. We will not flood the tables with food, but we will offer fresh and healthy meals – like the ones you’ll experience in your own home. We will make many new dishes that are not usually served in any restaurant – most of what we will offer will be from usual, traditional family recipes.
Tell us about some of these traditional Iftar dishes…
Vegetable, lentil and pumpkin soups, and fattoush is the king of the table – our guests are addicted to our family recipe, and also to our fatteh. Then of course there is grilled chicken in lemon garlic sauce, stews, and makloubeh, which is a dish to die for! Our licorice drink is naturally sweet, lowers blood pressure, is an antioxidant and has zero calories.
What advice can you give for anyone preparing food in advance throughout the Holy Month?
No wastage of food is ever acceptable, but food cooked in abundance is not a bad thing when shared with the needy. Soups can always be prepared in advance, and marinating chicken and meats and freezing them in advance is also a good idea. Also do this for difficult dishes, such as stuffed vine leaves, which can then be cooked freshly later on.
How important is food to you during Ramadan?
It is the most important aspect of Ramadan for anyone who is fasting, as well as the shared family experience. It’s extraordinary how the same people we hardly see once a week, a month, are there daily during Ramadan, even driving from Dubai! Lessons we learn during Ramadan are spiritual, discipline in all physical and human temptations. We are in constant reminder of daily charitable causes, and try to refrain from any wrongdoing, even something as simple as gossip. We come to appreciate the good things in life, every member of our family, the closeness to all those we love and, of course, the shared food.
Ramadan opening hours 6pm-1am. Café Arabia (02 643 9699).
Chef El Mougy Hassan, Hilton Abu Dhabi
What would you recommend to include in an ideal Iftar?
Cold mezze such as tabbouleh and hummus to start with, lamb ouzi with Oriental rice and chicken or lamb freidi for a main course. As a dessert, the traditional Om Ali and Mahalabia. Fresh juices that cannot be excluded from Iftar are tamar juice, which is made from dates, and qamar-el-deen, made from dried apricots.
What are your top tips for preparing these dishes?
Arabic food is better cooked in olive oil rather than corn oil, and fewer spices should be used while cooking. When using spices, dry spices are preferable to powdered ones. Tomatoes must be fresh and not canned, and the skin or fat on chicken or lamb must be removed before cooking.
Iftar Buffet at La Terrazza Restaurant will be open from sunset till 11pm. Hilton Abu Dhabi (02 681 1900).
Executive Sous Chef Hussam Hamoud, Shangri-La Hotel
Which traditional dishes will you be preparing for Iftar this Ramadan?
Traditional Iftar dishes, such as fish sayadia (fresh fish cooked with onion rice in Syrian style), kousa bil laban (stuffed baby marrow with minced meat cooked with yogurt sauce), dajaj bil fran (baked chicken with potato and tomato), kebab mashwi (shish tawouk and kofta kebab), rokak al laheam (baked puff pastry with minced beef) and harres (cooked lamb with wheat).
How about Suhoor – what different dishes should people prepare for this meal?
Suhoor has to be taken as a light meal, so prepare dishes such as falafel, foul moudames, assorted sambousek and fatayer, eggs and manakish, and shish tawouk.
Sound delicious! How would you suggest people go about preparing a big Iftar spread at home?
Make sure the dishes make up a balanced and healthy meal, plan ahead for weekly dishes and stock up on all the ingredients you’ll need. Also, allocate meal preparation tasks to your family or friends.
Shangri-La Hotel Grand Iftar at Sofra Bld throughout the Holy Month of Ramadan from 6pm-8pm and Al Khaima Ramadan Tent is open from 8pm-2am. Reserve a table on 02 509 8555.
Aida’s top tips for preparing a meal during Ramadan
1 Keep it simple. Less ingredients is more!
2 Keep it light. Refrain from using fat, grill instead of sauté, and think as though you are on a culinary journey of healthy cooking.
3 Have your teas and coffees ready in a thermos with a selection of dried fruits, dates, apricots, prunes, figs, and walnuts on a silver tray with a candle. This is easy to set up in advance.
Planning ahead: Chef Hussam Hamoud’s easy Iftar recipes
Jordanian chicken mushaen
500g shredded chicken
(breast and leg)
200g sliced white or red onion
120g sumac powder
150ml olive oil
100g crushed walnuts
5 pcs Lebanese or saj bread
salt and white pepper to taste
1 Steam the shredded chicken
2 Heat the olive oil and add the onion, chicken, sumac powder and walnuts
3 Add salt and pepper to taste
4 Insert the chicken mixture into the bread and roll it like a sandwich
5 Place the sandwiches in the oven with a temperature of 160˚C and leave for six minutes until the colour turns light red
6 Slice the sandwiches and serve with plain yoghurt
Mahshi kosa – stuffed zucchini
1kg small zucchini
400g minced lamb with fat
20g safflower
150g tomato paste
10g dry mint
300g Italian or Egyptian rice
1½ltr chicken or lamb stock
250g Wedged potatoes
salt and pepper
1 Remove core of zucchini
2 Mix the rice, lamb meat and safflower, and add salt and pepper to taste
3 Stuff zucchini with the rice mixture
4 Place the potato wedges at the bottom of a pot and arrange the zucchini on top
5 Prepare a sauce from the stock, tomato paste, dry mint, salt and pepper and pour into the pot
6 Cook for around 45 minutes
7 Pour the spare sauce on to the stuffed zucchini and serve hot
