By Ahmad Barakat
Taste A ´the Middle East of
COOKBOOK
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Table of Contents Breakfest: Mamounieh
5
Fa�et Hummus
7
Yalanji
8
Appetizer:
Baba Ghanoush
13
Main Course: Mahshi Kousa
15
Mulukhiyah
16
Layali Lubnan
19
Harise
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Dessert:
Author's Edit
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Simple Recipe
Mamounieh 〜 Arabic Semolina Pudding 〜 Serves 4
Ingredients
Instructions:
• 110 g of sugar
Syrup:
• 110 g of hard grid
1. Pour two cups of water into a pot 2. Add your cup of sugar and stir the mix well
• 375 mL of water
3. Heat up your stove to 190°C
• 1 tbsp of margarine
4. Once it starts boiling, let it boil for another 5 5. minutes and then turn off the heat. Hard Grid:
Decoration: • Pistachios • Mascarpone / Rico�a • Cinnamon
1. Take out a pan and heat up your stove to 245°C 2. Add one spoon of margarine 3. Once it melts, lower the heat to 190°C and add half a cup of hard grid 4. Start stirring the mixture until it becomes gold 5. Once it a�ains that color, immediately pour the mixture into the pot in order to avoid burning it. 6. Reheat the stove to 190°C and continue stirring for 5 minutes 7. Once it boils up, turn off the heat for 15 minutes, in order for the grid to absorb the syrup. 8. Once it cools down, it’s ready to be served 9. Finally, top it off with Mascarpone or Rico�a as well as with Pistachios and with cinnamon. You can add as much of the toppings as you like, however, one small spoon of cinnamon is recommended as it creates an excellent flavor.
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Simple Recipe
Fattet Hummus 〜Savory Chickpea Bread Pudding 〜 Serves 4
Ingredients (for 4 people)
Instructions:
• 400 g of chickpeas
Fa�eh sauce
• 400 mL of greek yogourt (3,5% fat) • 3 cloves of garlic • 1 tsp of paprika powder • 1 tsp of cumin spice • 2 whole pieces of white arabic bread • 1 tbsp of margarine • Salt Decoration: • Pine nuts
1. Pour 400 g of chickpeas into a pot and turn on the stove to 245°C 2. Once the chickpeas are boiling, lower the heat to around 160°C and let it rest for 10 minutes 3. After 10 minutes are up, fill half of a cup with chickpeas 4. Add the chickpeas, the 2 cups of greek yogurt, 3 cloves garlic, in addition to salt into a mixer and start mixing the mixture until it reaches a smooth consistency with no chunks 5. Add 1 tsp of paprika powder and cumin spice Bread pieces and finalization 1. Cut the arabic bread into li�le pieces 2. Take out a pan, heat up the stove to 245°C and add 1 tbsp of margarine 3. Once the margarine melts, reduce the heat, add your li�le pieces of bread and stir until it becomes golden brown and crispy. 4. Place your bread pieces into a rectangular pyrex glass roaster, pour the fa�eh sauce until it covers the bread and add the remaining chickpeas from the pot. 5. We recommend cooking the pine nuts in a pan and then garnishing the fa�eh, however, you can directly add the pine nuts as well.
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Difficult Recipe
Yalanji 〜 Stuufed grapevine leave 〜 Serves 6
INGREDIENTS • 500 g of grapevine leaves
• 1 10 oz onion
• 3-4 potatoes
• 1 red pepper
• 3 tomatoes
• 1 green pepper
• 2 lemons
• 4 tbsp of tomato paste
• 330 g of short grain rice
• 1 tbsp of Paprika paste
• 25 g of parsley
• 1 tsp of dry mint
• 10 g of pomegranate
• 1 tsp of paprika powder
• 6 tbasp pomegranate molasses
• 1 tsp of cumin spice
• Olive oil
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• 1 tsp of sugar • 1 tsp of arabic coffee
INSTRUCTIONS Filling: 1. Boil the grape leaves at 190 °C, then reduce the temperature and let it sit for 10 minutes. Drain the leaves and let them cool 2. Chop your vegetables (except for the potatoes) and place them into a bowl. 3. In a new pot, add olive oil and your chopped onions and fry them until they crystallize. 4. Add your tomatoes as well as your peppers and mix everything together. 5. Wash your rice and pour it into the pot 6. Start mixing everything again and add 100 mL of water. 7. Add your tomato paste, paprika paste, paprika powder, cumin spice, sugar, arabic coffee, salt and finally, 10 g of pomegranate. Continue mixing until it boils and then lower the heat to 160 °C for around 10 minutes, in order for the rice to absorb all the liquids in the pot, giving it a special taste. Once 10 minutes are up, turn off your heat, add 25 g of parsley and let it cool.
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INSTRUCTIONS Grapevine leaves and finalization: 1. Take a leaf and display it out fully, ensuring no bunks. 2. Add as much rice filling as you like, but ensure not to add too much as you inhibit yourself from rolling it. Additionally, the rice should be added in the middle of the leaf, not on the sides. 3. Once you have rolled all the leaves, take out a pot and add a li�le olive oil. 4. In order to prevent the yalanji from burning, cut your potatoes into pieces and place them on the bo�om of the pot, followed by your alanji. 5. Fill the pot with water, lemon juice (squeeze your lemons), tomato paste as well as with a li�le bit of pomegranate molasses and salt. Turn on the stove to 245 °C until the water starts boiling, then reduce the heat to 160 °C and cook for 90 minutes.
EXTRAS How to properly role a yalanji: • Though it takes practice, start off by adding your rice in the middle of the leaf • Fold the bo�om right edge of the leaf to the middle and repeat this step with the left side (must overlap the rice) • Ensure to have a stable grip and do not let go of it • Use your thumb to roll the rice and then continue until you haev rolled it completly
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Simple Recipe
Baba Ghanoush 〜 Eggplant Salad 〜
Serves 4 _______________________________________________ INGREDIENTS
INSTRUCTIONS
• 4 medium sized eggplants
1. Heat up an oven to 200°C and grill the eggplants for 30 minutes
• 2 tomatoes
2. Take them out and peel them
• 1 onion
3. Crush the eggplants with a knife until they become finely chopped and proceed by placing all of it in a bowl
• 1 clove of garlic • 200 g of chopped parsley • 6 tbsp pomegranate molasses • 1 tsp of cumin spice • 1 tsp of paprika powder • Salt Garnish: • Pomegrante seeds
4. Chop the tomatoes, onion, parsley as well as the garlic and add them to the bowl with the chopped eggplants in it. Start mixing everything together 5. Once you have mixed the salad, add 6 tbsp of pomegranate molasses as well as salt and start mixing again. 6. Place the salad on a plate and garnish it either with a splash of olive oil or sca�er pomegranate seeds. Olive oil is recommended as it enhances the flavor significantly
• Olive oil
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Difficult Recipe
Mahshi Kousa 〜 Stuffed Zuchini 〜 Serves 6
_________________________________________________________ INGREDIENTS
INSTRUCTIONS
• 2 kg of zucchini
1. Wash your rice and leave it for 30 minutes.
• 85 g of short grain rice
2. Use a zucchini corer to completly empty the core by applying force on the center of a zuchini and roating the corer in a fully circular motion
• 400 grams of beef / lamb • 100 g of tomato paste • 4 lemons • 1 head of garlic • 1 tbsp of margarine • 1 tbsp of dried mint • Salt • Pepper •
Extra meat like lamb chops or chicken (optional)
3. Once 30 minutes have passed and your zucchinis have been emptied, take out a bowl, add the rice, the meat, 1 tbsp of tomato paste, 1 tbsp of margarine and season everything with salt and pepper. Start mixing the mixture properly 4. Once your filling is done, start filling your emptied zucchinis. Remember that the filling shouldn’t reach the top and ensure that there is at least one thumb space left, in order to avoid the rice from coming out the zucchinis when they are being cooked 5. Layer your optional meat on the bo�om of a press cooker and season the meat with salt and pepper 6. Place your zucchinis on top of the meat and fill the pot with water until everything is covered. 7. Add lemon juice, the remaining tomato paste as well as the knob of garlic and 1 tsp of dried mint. 8. Turn on the stove to 245 °C and wait until the water boils. Then reduce the heat to 150 °C for 90 minutes.
Simple Recipe
Mulukhiyah 〜 Jute Mallow Soup 〜 Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
INSTRUCTIONS
• 500 g of crushed jute mallow
1. In a pot, add 200 ml of margarine
• 250 g of minced beef or lamb • 1 liter chicken broth • 200 ml of margarine • 5 garlic cloves • 2 tbsp of coriander powder • 1 tbsp of sun core oil • Salt • Pepper • Lemon juice
2. Bring up the heat to 245 °C and allow the margarine to melt 3. Add all of the crushed jute mallow and stir until the color changes to a slight golden brown 4. Immediately after the previous step, add 1 L of chicken broth 5. Leave it to boil for 30 minutes at 190 °C 6. Season the meat with salt and pepper, chop it and form small meatballs 7. Once you have used up all of the meat and formed li�le balls, place them into a pan and add a splash of sun core oil 8. Heat up the stove to 245 °C and stir around the meatballs until they are cooked through 9. Add your meatballs into the jute mallow stew and turn off the stove 10. Crush the garlic and add it to a pan with margarine in it 11. Once the garlic becomes golden brown, immediately add it to the Mulukhiyah and add 2 tbsp of coriander powder
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12. Additionally, you can garnish this dish with pine nuts and add some lemon juice
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Simple Recipe
Layali Lubnan 〜Lebanese Nights Dessert 〜 Serves 4
INGREDIENTS • 1 L milk (3.5% fat) • Six tbsp of sugar • Six tbsp of soft grid • Three tbsp of food starch • 1 tbsp of rose water Decorations: • Mascarpone / Rico�a • Pistachios
INSTRUCTIONS 1. In a large bowl, add all your ingredients in any order except for the rose water. 2. Start mixing it well until the food starch dissolves 3. Once the food starch dissolves, turn on the stove to 220 °C and continue stirring the mixture until it boils. Reduce the heat to 150 °C and add 1 tsp of rose water, as it gives the dessert a unique flavor 4. Let it rest for 5 minutes and serve it into a pyrex roaster 5. Wait for it to cool down and add your garnishes of desire. Then cover the roaster with a plastic foil and put it in the fridge for 60 minutes
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Intermediate Recipe
Harise 〜Syrian Semolina Cake〜 Serves 4
INGREDIENTS • 3 medium sized eggs • 20 g of vanilla sugar • 180 g of sugar • 100 ml of sun core oil • 200 ml of greek yogurt (3.5% fat) 225 g of flour
1. In a mixer, add the eggs as well as the vanilla sugar and start mixing for 4 minutes 2. Add your sugar and continue mixing for another 4 minutes until the consistency becomes thick and a�ains the color white. 3. Gently pour the sun core oil while mixing. Additionally, add your greek yogurt and transfer the mixture into a bowl. 4. Add 225 g of flour slowly while using a spatula.
• 15 g of baking powder
5. Once the flour dissolves, add your grated coconut and start slowly stirring
• 200 g of grated coconut
6. Get a 30 inch round stainless steel plate out and brush it with margarine
• Margarine
7. Add a sheet of cooking paper and pour the harise mixture
Garnish: • Jam • Honey • Nuts • Grated coconut
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INSTRUCTIONS
8. Give it a li�le shake and smooth the top layer with a spatula. 9. Place everything in a preheated oven for 40 minutes. The oven should have reached a temperature of 170 °C (lower layer only). 10. Once it’s baken, take it out of the oven, let it cool and feel free to garnish it as you like. Our recommendation would be to either coat the harise with; jam, honey, nuts or grated coconut.
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Authors Edit This cookbook was inspired by the region of the Middle East. It is a vast region spanning across the Arabian Peninsula, Anatolia, Egypt, Levant, Iran and Iraq. It has many hidden treasures, one being it’s rich and elegant food and cuisine. On a large scale, there aren’t many english translated cookbooks for this region, rather they are all in Arabic and thus, shy away most of the audience. With this cookbook, which was inspired by my personal experience with Middle Eastern cuisine, I wanted to share a few unique and delicious recipes for everyone to try. I have included two breakfasts, appetizers, main courses and desserts. The first breakfast which I displayed was Mamounieh, an ancient dessert originating from Aleppo, Syria. Next up, i decided to create Fa�et Hummus which is a cremany, savory, bread concoction often consumed in Lebanon and Syria. In regards to the selected appetizers, I could not leave out the Syrian special; Yalanji, served as a cold appetizer. Another great appetizer that couldn’t have been left out is Baba ghanoush, which originates from Levant. Furthermore, the first chosen main course will ensure a hefty meal since it is about the Levants and Egyptians stuffed squash. The other main course is Mulukyiah, originating from Ancient Egypt. Finally, the two desserts presented will definitely please the upcoming chef with their unique texture and mouth watering flavor, originated from Lebanon and Egypt. Enjoy the recreation of these recipes and get a taste of the Middle East!
First published by Ahmad Barakat 2022 Copyright © 2022 by Ahmad Barakat All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmi�ed in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without wri�en permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission. Ahmad Barakat asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work. Ahmad Barakat has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party Internet Websites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such Websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. First edition ISBN: 9781458379931 Advisor: bktdeluxe This book was professionally typeset on Reedsy. Find out more at reedsy.com
