Syrian Chickpea Fatteh Salad

I first had this in Syria in 2008 for breakfast.  It can be very healthy if you use low fat yogurt and bake the bread and nuts instead of traditional frying.  I had it for my lunch on Saturday.

400g tin chick peas

1 cup strained Laban or Greek-style yogurt

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 pitta bread

1 tablespoon sunflower seeds

1 tablespoon melon seeds

1 tablespoon slivered almonds

Salt to taste

A little olive oil

1/2 teaspoon sumac

1. Set the oven at 180 degrees centigrade

2. Split the pitta bread and cut into small wedges

3. Oil a baking tray with olive oil, place the bread pieces, brush a little olive oil on tops of the bread pieces.

4. Bake for 20 minutes, until crispy

5. Wash the chickpeas and place in a pan with enough water to cover, bring to boil and simmer.

6. Add the garlic and salt to the yogurt mix and beat well.

7. When the pitta is ready, place the nuts and seeds on a baking tray and cook for 5 minutes until golden brown

8. Place the crispy bread pieces on a plate, pour a little of the hot water from the chickpeas over them.

9. Place all the chickpeas over the pitta bread, cover with the yogurt / garlic mix.

10. Garnish with the seeds and nuts, and a little sumac

enjoy

Hummus Bi Tahini - Syrian Chickpea Dip

Hummus was also part of all the meals we had in Syria. I loved it, since I have come back it is my lunch on Saturdays. Hummus and pitta bread....... yummmmmm! This recipe is part of the Golden Jubilee Series.


2 tins (500g / 16 oz) of chickpeas; drained and washed in cold water

1/2 cup Tahini
1 tsp cumin powder
1 lemon; juiced
6-8 cloves garlic
¼ cup olive oil
1 tsp Salt

1 cup Water
2 sprigs of coriander; chopped fine
1 tbspn extra virgin olive oil



Method

1. Place the lemon juice and the garlic in a food processor and liquidise
2. add the chickpeas, tahini, olive oil, cumin, salt and water, liquidlise

3. At this stage you can add more water / oil  or tahini to make it to the desired creaminess if you want.
3. Place in a serving dish, garnish with coriander and the extra virgin olive oil
Serve with warm pitta bread. Should keep in the fridge for 7 days (or in my case, in 3 days it is gone!)

Aleppo Muhammara / Roasted Pepper and Walnut dip

Chachi and I went to Aleppo in August this year, here is a picture of Aleppo Citadel. It was here that we saw MHI twice! And it was also here, in a restaurant across the road from the Citadel where I had the best muhammara ever! No wonder, muhammarra originates in Aleppo, who knew that! I thought it was Turkish!! ;)

If you look at the pictureof the citadel carefully at the top of the arches, you can see the dancers / performers practicing prior to Mowlana Hazar Imam's visit. It was an amazing sight.

This recipe is part of my Golden Jubilee Series.

4 red peppers
2/3 cups breadcrumbs (I used the Japenese panko)
1 cup walnuts
6 cloves garlic
1/2 tspn salt
2 tspn cumin, 1 tspn Aleppo chilli powder (available in Middle Eastern Shops, you can use ordinary Chili powder to taste.
Juice from 1 lemon
1 tablespoons pomegranate syrup or molasses; you can get it in Turkish or Middle Eastern Shops
2 tablespoons olive oil

1. Grill or broil the pepper until they are black, peel the burnt skin, should come of easily if placed in a polythene bag while still hot. Or else you can buy roasted pepper in olive oil (NOT vinager)

2. Place the peppers, breadcrumbs, walnuts, garlic, lemon juice, pomegranate syrup, cumin and salt in a food processor. Grind until you get a fairly smooth paste, add oilive oil and mix.

3. Garnish with parsley, mint or corianderServe with warm pitta bread.

Syrian Fattoush Salad

This salad along with Tabuleh salad were in all the meals we had in Syria, whether it was in Damascus, Homos, Salamiya or Aleppo! It is a very healthy, herby salad with bits of pitta bread. In Syria the pitta bread was fried, I just browned it in the oven. This salad is part of the is part of the Golden Jubilee Series.






Ingredients
1 Cucumber, peeled and diced
3 large tomatoes; cut in cubes
1 large red pepper, seeded and diced
3 sticks celery; sliced
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh mint or 1 tsp. dried mint
1 pita; torn in small bits and bake in the oven for 4 minutes
Dressing
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
pinch of sumac
salt and black pepper
Method
Mixed all the vegetables, herbs and pitta bread
Make the dressing by puting the ingredients in a small bottle, close the top and mix well, pour over, chill and serve in half-an-hour.

Baba Ganoush: Aubergine Dip

We had a lot of this in Syria, in fact with every single meal, it was delcious. This roasted aubergine dish is part of my Golden Jubilee Series


Ingredients

2 Aubergines
2 cloves garlic (minced)
2 tablespoons tahini (sesame seed paste)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons yogurt
salt
black pepper
olive oil to drizzle
Parsley for garnish

1. Wash the aubergines, make some slits on them and put them in a moderate hot oven (180 C) for 45 minutes.
2. Peel the aubergines, and liqudise with the rest of the ingredients
3. Garnish with parsley
4. Serve with warm pitta bread

Makdous - Syrian Pickled Aubergines

My recent visit to Syria made me realise that one of the original Ismaili Cuisine was Syrian, in Salamiya I ate these delicious whole aubergine pickle for breakfast!

Ingredients

8 small round aubergines;
3 cloves garlic; crushed
half cup walnuts; roughly crushed
2 tsp salt
1 tablespoon crushed red chillis
olive oil

Method

1. Cut most of the stem of the aubergeins and steam for 20 minutes or until soft.
2. Cool, cut the aubergine lengthways to about 1/2 inch from the stem, without splitting into two
3. Drain the aubergines in a colander with a weighted plate on top for 2-3 hours
4. Mean while mix the garlic, walnuts, salt and chillis.
5. Stuff the mixture into each aubergine, and place into a glass jar stem side up. Cover jar and leave at room temperature
6. Pour olive oil to cover the jar, seal jar, refridgerate. Pickle should be ready to eat in 7-10 days.