Enjoy eating Arabic food? Have you ever made some yourself?
Well you should.
Check out these simple recipes and make some Arabic dishes for yourself at home.
Fattoush
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 Arabic flatbreads, toasted and cut into bite-sized pieces
8 leaves of romaine lettuce, torn into bite-sized pieces
2 scallions, sliced, white parts only
1 cucumber, diced
3 tomatoes, cut into wedges
¼ cup fresh parsley, diced
1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
2 tbsp ground sumac
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup fresh mint leaves, diced
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
• Preaheat oven to 350 degrees F/175 degrees C
• Toast Arabic bread for five to 10 minutes or until crisp, then break into bite-sized pieces.
• In a large bowl, toss together pita, romaine lettuce, scallion, cucumber and tomatoes.
• In a separate bowl, mix the parsley, garlic, sumac, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper and mint. Pour over the pita mixture and toss just before serving.
Chicken Saloona
Serves 8
Ingredients
1 large potato, diced
2 baby courgette, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 butternut squash, diced
1 medium aubergine, diced
1 tomato, diced
1 bunch of fresh coriander, diced
2 tbsp olive oil
4 chicken breasts, diced
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
1 tbsp tomato paste
3 green chillies, finally chopped
300 ml chicken stock
3 pieces of loomi (sun dried limes)
Dill and coriander to garnish
Spice mix (biz’har)
1 tsp ground loomi
1 tsp turmeric
3 tsp coriander seeds
5 tsp ground clove
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp ground cumin
3 brown cardamom, bruised
Method
• Heat the olive oil in a pan and sauté the chicken for ten minutes. Set aside.
• Add the potato, courgette, aubergine and potato, season and stir fry for eight to 10 minutes, set aside.
• Saute the onion, garlic, chilli and ginger for two to three minutes. Add the tomatoes, cilantro and tomato paste. Add the spices, stir thoroughly.
• Add the chick, chicken stock and loomi and let simmer for 30 minutes.
• Add the vegetables, simmer for a further 10 minutes.
• Sprinkle with chopped dill and coriander and serve.
Umm ali
Serves 6
Ingredients
250g baked and crushed puff pastry
50g sliced almonds, plus some extra for sprinkling on top
30g chopped pistachios
30g chopped pine nuts
30g chopped sultanas
30g chopped apricots
Zest from one orange
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 cardamom pods
400ml whipping cream
200ml milk
50g caster sugar
1 vanilla pod, seeds removed
Method
• Bake the puff pastry according to the instructions on the packet (15-20 minutes at 220 degrees C/428 degrees F)
• Cut the puff pastry into small squares and place in an ovenproof dish. Sprinkle in the nuts and dried fruit.
• Preheat the oven to 250 degrees C/482 degrees F.
• Put 200ml of the cream, plus the milk, sugar, orange zest, cinnamon, cardamom and vanilla pod (cut and scrape the seeds out)into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and pour through a sieve over the pastry in the bowl. Tidy up the pastry so that it is all covered by teh cream.
• Leave to soak for five minutes.
• Whip the remaining 200 ml of cream and spoon onto the creamy pastry mix.
• Bake until golden brown, approximately 15 minutes.
• Scatter some nuts over the top.
• Allow to cool slightly before serving.
