FLEMINGTON SISTERS RECIPE BOOK
With deepest respect, we acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which this project took place. We pay our respects to all Elders past and present.
ABOUT US
FLEMINGTON SISTERS
We, Huida Omer, Leila Ali, Halima Ahmed, Emebet Asfaw, Ruth Eyakem, Samira Ali Musa, Awatif Taha and Sara Zakaria are a group of women from different African backgrounds living in the high rise in Flemington and North Melbourne. Food, culture and friendships are so important to us. These things nourish us, keep us connected and keep us confident and strong in who we are.
We loved being together and sharing our recipes and stories for MAV’s Shelter 2 project in 2021. Each of us chose a favourite recipe that has been passed on down the generations in our families. We cooked, we ate, we talked over a weekend with the MAV creative team and now we would like to share with you.
We’d like you to know that participating in this project was a very new experience for us and speaking to people outside of our community about our lives, was a big step. We were happy to share our stories and recipes but most of us felt shy to have our faces photographed or filmed for the project, except for our sister Ruth Eyakem. Maybe next project we will be more confident to show our faces!
Happy cooking and eating!
CREATIVE TEAM
Lead Artist Jamie Lewis
Photography & Graphic Design Deshani Berhardt
Marketing, Video & Web Production Sneha Varma
Creative Producer Anita Larkin
Sound Design & Editing POOKIE.
Ruth Eyakem
Atakilt Wat (Ethiopian Spiced vegetable) by Emebet
INGREDIENTS
• Green beans
• Carrot
• Potato
• 2 tbsp Ginger
• 2 tbsp Garlic
• 2 tbsp oil
• Salt
• Berbere (Ethiopian Spice Powder)
• Sliced Onion
METHOD
1. Boil all the vegetables until semi cooked.
2. Fry the chopped ginger and garlic in some oil and then add the semi cooked vegetables.
3. Add salt and some berbere and your own seasonings and fry
4. Top with sliced onions
Misir Wat (Ethiopian Spiced Red Lentils) by Emebet
INGREDIENTS
• 1 kg Brown Onion
• 1kg Red Lentils
• 3 tbsp Chopped Garlic
• 2 tbsp Chopped Ginger
• 1 Canned Diced Tomato
• 4 tbsp Berbere (Ethiopian Spice Powder)
• Salt
METHOD
1. Cut the onion into small pieces (you can use food processor) and cook the onion on low heat (with no oil) until brown and water is evaporated.
2. Add some oil and add chopped garlic and ginger and cook for a minute.
3. Add 1 can diced tomato and cook on low heat until the oil separates.
4. Add berbere and let it cook for 10 minutes, make sure that it doesn’t burn by stirring every few minutes.
5. Wash and rinse the lentils until the water is clear.
6. After the 10 minutes, add the lentils to the mixture and immediately add salt and cold water.
7. Keep checking every 10 minutes and add cold water as necessary.
8. By 20-30 minutes, the misir wat should be ready.
Niaymia (Dry Okra with Yogurt) by Awatif
INGREDIENTS
• 5 tbsp of vegetable oil
• 1 ½ cup of yogurt
• 3 medium white onions chopped
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tomato diced
• 2 tbsp ghee
• 1 cup water
• 1 Maggie cube stock
• 1 tbsp pasta sauce
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp of chili
• 3 tbsp dry okra powder
METHOD
1. Add vegetable oil to a pot on medium heat.
2. Add onions and stir it till it is golden brown.
3. Mix in the diced tomatoes.
4. Add in the Maggie cube and water.
5. Stir everything together and ensure the Maggie cube is dissolved.
6. Turn the heat down and leave the lid on for about 10 minutes.
7. Turn off the heat, remove the pot and let it cool completely.
8. Then add the yogurt, tomato paste, peanut butter and ghee.
9. Blend it well in the food processor.
10. Put it back in the pot and add the dry okra powder.
11. Leave it for a while, until it is thin.
Porridge
INGREDIENTS
• 7 cups of water
• 2 cups of plain flour
• ¼ cup of yogurt
• ½ tsp of salt
METHOD
1. Boil some water in a pot.
2. Once it is boiled, add some salt.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the plain flour, yogurt and a little water.
4. Add this to the boiling water and keep stirring until its sticky.
5. Take off the heat and let it cool down.
TIP
Add the Niaymia on top of your porridge and enjoy this amazing meal!
Bamya (Okra) by Halima
INGREDIENTS
• 2 lbs okra (bamya)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, minced
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 1 tsp salt, or more to taste
TIP
Serve okra hot. We usually eat it alone, but if we need a more substantial meal I serve it over rice, quinoa or couscous.
• 1 tsp smoked paprika (or substitute regular paprika)
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1/4 tsp cayenne, or to taste
METHOD
1. Prepare your okra by rinsing it clean, then slicing off the top and bottom tips of each piece. At this point the okra will feel slimy. Don’t worry, it will lose that texture as it cooks. To speed the process of prepping the okra, I sometimes line up the stem ends against my chef’s knife. Then slice those stem ends off 4-5 pieces at once. Turn the okra pieces, realign the bottom tips with the knife, then slice off the very bottom tips. By grouping them this way you can speed through the whole batch and prep them relatively fast.
2. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a sauté pan over medium. Add the minced onion and sauté, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes until softened and starting to caramelize. To save time, I usually prep the okra (as outlined above) while the onion is cooking. Just be sure to keep a close eye on the onions and do not let them burn.
3. When the onions are cooked, add the minced garlic to the pan and sauté for another minute till fragrant. Add the okra to the pan and stir. It will feel like a lot of okra at first and the pan will be crowded, but it will quickly shrink up and soften as it cooks.
4. Whisk together 1 1/2 cups hot water, tomato paste, salt, paprika, red pepper flakes, and cayenne. Both the red pepper flakes and cayenne add heat; if you are super spice sensitive, omit the pepper flakes and start with a pinch of cayenne, then add more to taste as desired.
5. Pour the tomato liquid evenly over the top of the okra. Bring to a boil.
6. Cover the saute pan with a lid, vented at the edge. Reduce heat to a simmer. Let the okra cook for about 20-30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so, until the largest pieces of okra have softened to your liking. We like the okra quite tender and almost falling apart, but that is a matter of preference. At the end of cooking, your tomato sauce should have reduced and thickened. If there is a lot of liquid in the pan, remove the lid and turn up the heat to a high simmer till the sauce has reduced (careful, do not let it burn!). Add more salt or spice to taste, if desired.
Aswad
INGREDIENTS
• 2 cups of vegetable oil
• 4 pieces of eggplant chopped
• 2 potatoes, chopped
• 2 carrots, grated
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup of peanut butter
• 2 lemons
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 2 tbsp coriander or parsley
METHOD
1. Heat oil in a frying pan on moderate heat.
2. Fry the eggplant until golden brown.
3. Then fry the potatoes and carrots until golden brown.
4. Put the fried eggplants, potatoes and carrots in a bowl
5. Add the peanut butter, lemon, garlic, garlic, coriander/parsley
6. Mix all of this together.
7. Plate and serve!
(Eggplant Salad) by Huida
Spiced Rice by Leila
INGREDIENTS
• 1 ½ cup white rice
• 3 cups water
• 1 medium onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tbsp grated ginger
• ½ tsp Coriander powder
• ½ tsp cumin powder
• Fresh coriander
• 1 chopped tomato
• Salt to taste
• Little bit oil
METHOD
1. Wash the rice – 2 times
2. Soak in water for 20 minutes
3. In a pot, oil, heat it up and add onion, garlic, ginger, tomato, cumin, coriander powder.
4. Add salt
5. Fry for a few minutes
6. Then add hot water
7. After the water boils, add the rice
8. Reduce the heat and cook for 15 minutes
Suqaar (Sauteed meat) by Leila
INGREDIENTS
• 2 chopped onions
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 tbsp grated ginger
• 1 chopped carrot
• ½ tsp Coriander powder
• ½ tsp cumin powder
• ½ tsp turmeric
• Fresh coriander
• 250 gms chopped lamb
• Salt to taste
• Little bit oil
METHOD
1. In a pot, heat oil
2. Add onion, garlic, ginger with chopped lamb meat and salt and fry for 5 minutes
3. When the meat is cooked, add coriander, cumin and turmeric and carrot and fry for a few minutes
4. Reduce the heat, add a little bit of water and leave it for a few minutes
Geema Kabab by Samira
INGREDIENTS
• 1kg Beef Mince
• 3 Onion
• ½ kg potato
• 1 bag frozen mixed vegetables
• ½ cup of oil
• Spices – garlic, cumin, salt, chilli
• 2 spoons tomato paste
METHOD
1. Cut the onion into small pieces and put it in oil until golden
2. You mix the meat with the onion until the meat goes brown and after that you put spices and salt
3. Next you put the tomato paste
4. Leave for a few minutes put a little bit of water
5. Next put the mixed vegetables and the potato together
6. Mix the whole thing together
7. Cook until ready
Vegetable Rice by Samira
INGREDIENTS
• 2 cups white rice
• 2 tbsp oil
• 4 cup water
• Maggie Stock Cube
• 1 inch Cinnamon
• 4-5 Cardamom
• Salt
• 1 bag frozen mixed vegetables
METHOD
1. Add oil and water
2. Boil the water add salt, cinnamon and cardamom
3. Add 2 cups rice
4. When it is half cooked
5. Add the froxen mix vegetables
6. Reduce the heat, And close the lid – cook till rice is cooked, approximately 15 minutes
Try baklava with a few crunchy peanuts for a textural treat!
Sudanese Baklava by Sara
INGREDIENTS
• Filo pastry
• Fine desiccated coconut or Peanuts
• Pure butter ghee Syrup:
• 2 cups of water
• 2 cups of sugar
• A little bit of water
METHOD
1. First to make the syrup, mix all the syrup ingredients and boil it for 7 minutes and let it cool.
2. Heat the oven to 180 degree Celsius.
3. On a tray, place 4 pieces of filo pastry
4. Brush the ghee on top of the pastry
5. Add the coconut and/or peanuts on top and roll the pastry
6. Cut the rolled pastry into pieces
7. Place the tray with the rolled pastries in the oven for 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.
8. When it is ready, pour the sugar syrup on the baklava and let it soak.
