Let's Talk About Local Arab Recipes!

 

The idea of attempting a new dish might be intimidating, especially if it involves ingredients you have never heard of before. Middle East food is rich in taste and ingredients because of the vastness of the country and the people it comes from. This is vegan heaven, too! Arab nations provide travellers throughout the world with delicious traditional meals. Whether Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Dubai or Ajman, you will be able to enjoy Arab food anywhere with its best, delicious and traditional dishes. But if you still want to do Middle East delights at home, you must try the following  dish of Arab cuisine at least once in your life.

1. Manakeesh

Manakeesh is the Arabic pizza of sorts. It consists of traditional Lebanese Arab flat bread, accompanied with an excellent assortment of marinated meat, veggies and a myriad of Arab spices and herbs. Without manakeesh in the centrepiece, one can hardly believe a sumptuous breakfast table in the Middle East. This is how this wonderful Arabic meal can be made.

Ingredients:

1. 2 ¼ lb flour
2. 2 cup of warm water
3. Fresh zaater oil
4. 2 tbsp dry yeast
5. 4 tbsp olive oil
6. 1/3 cup grated akawi cheese
7. 1 tbsp salt  

Method:

1. Stir yeast in ¼ cup of warm water and leave it aside for an hour to become active.
2. Add 1 tbsp of salt in flour, along with some olive oil over it. Add the remaining cups of water on it and mix them together into a soft dough.
3. Roll out the dough into a medium sized thickness and spread the fresh zaater oil all over the surface  
4. Place the dough on the baking sheet and top it up with 1/3 cup of grated akawi cheese.
5. Bake in your oven for about 6 min at 650 F.
6. Serve with fresh tomatoes and pickled cucumber.

 2. Kabsa

Kabsa is a exuberant looking family of dishes made from basmati rice, meat, vegetables, and a unique blend of spices.TheYemenite Kabsa is used in Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Qatar, Jordan and Kuwait as traditional food. The kabsa can be cooked in several ways, in nearly every home the recipe is different! But you have your kabsa right as long as it looks great.

Ingredients:

1. 1 kg chicken (cut into pieces)
2. ¼ cup vegetable oil
3. 2 sliced onion
4. 12 oz tomato puree
5. 2 medium chopped tomatoes
6. 4 chopped cloves of garlic
7. 2 grated carrot
8. 1 grated orange
9. 4 cloves
10. 4 Cardamom
11. 3 Cinnamon sticks
12. Pepper and salt to taste
13. 1 kg rice
14. ¼ cup Raisins
15. ¼ cup sliced almonds

Method:

1. Saute 2 medium sliced onion until it begins to brown.
2. Add chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, chicken pieces and garlic and stir for 5 min over low heat.
3. Stir in 3 cups of hot water, grated orange, grated carrot, salt, pepper and spice.
4. Cook over medium heat for about 20-25 min, until chicken is done.
5. Set aside to keep warm.
6. Stir rice into the liquid in the pan and cook.
7. Cover the pan over low heat for about 35-40 min or until liquid is absorbed.
8. Put rice on a serving platter, with chicken pieces spread all around.
9. Toss almonds and raisins over and serve.

What other local Arab recipes have you heard of?Do mention in the comments below!

Next blog would be about a different cuisine history..Stay Tuned!❤