Shish Taouk ( Lebanese Chicken Kebabs) with Baba Ghannouj (Eggplant Dip)

 

 

Ingredients (Makes 5 skewers)

1. Skinless, boneless chicken breast - Around 350 gm, cut into medium cubes (I used 4 chicken breast tenders)

2. Garlic -  3 - 4 cloves, crushed or ground to a paste

    Lemon juice - 1 - 1.5 tbsp

    Tomato paste - 2 tsp

   Dried thyme / Italian herbs - 1 - 1.5 tsp

   Pepper powder - 1 - 1.5 tsp

   All spice - 1/4 tsp (Optional)

   Salt - To taste

3.  Extra virgin olive oil - 2 tbsp

4. Button mushroom - 8 - 10, sliced into halves

5. Bell pepper - 1/2 medium , diced

Method

1. Combine the ingredients numbered 2. Taste-check for salt. Add the chicken cubes and mix everything well. Keep it in the refrigerator overnight or for at least 5 hrs.

2. Soak the wooden skewers for 30 mts - 1 hr.  Mix the mushroom halves and diced bell peppers with olive oil, italian herbs/dried thyme, lemon juice and enough salt. Keep aside for at least 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 450 F. Arrange the chicken, mushroom and bell pepper on the skewers and place them on a baking tray.  Grill/Bake for 15 - 17 mts or until the chicken is done. Avoid over-baking as the chicken might get dry. It is traditionally served with a garlic dip (Toum ). We had it with baba ghanouj ( eggplant dip) and they both were a wonderful combo. Here’s the recipe for Baba Ghannouj.

Baba Ghannouj (Eggplant Dip)

Ingredients

1. Eggplant - 1 large

2. Tahini (sesame seed paste) - 1.5 tbsp

   Lemon juice - 2 - 3 tsp or to taste

   Garlic - 2 cloves, crushed

   Salt - To taste

3. Extra virgin olive oil - 1 tbsp

4. Parsley - 1 tsp chopped, to garnish

 

 

Method

 

Roast the eggplant directly on the burner of a gas stove over medium heat, turning often, until the skin is completely blackened and the flesh is soft, about 10 minutes. Or place the egg plant on a baking tray (rub little olive oil on the eggplant and prick its skin at a couple of places with a fork). Bake at 500 F for 20 mts. Cool down for 5 - 10 minutes and peel off the skin. Scoop out the flesh and remove the seeds. Allow to cool completely. Grind the flesh along with tahini, lemon juice, crushed garlic and salt to a smooth or coarse mixture. Or you can use a fork to mash them instead. Transfer to a small bowl. Drizzle olive oil on top and sprinkle chopped parsley. Serve chilled.

 

 

 

Recipe Adapted from Chicho's Kitchen and My Lebanese Market

Basboosa / Basbousa / Semolina Cake - Celebration Time!!

 

    Hooraaay!  It's celebration time! Guess what??????? Today marks the first anniversary of our blog and we have this feeling that we were doing this for a long time! This blog has been a part and parcel of our life for a year and we presented you 175 different recipes. Unbelievable! When we started out, we had to literally beg our  close friends to follow and try out recipes from our space :), but then after a while things changed, and amazingly we started getting huge response that motivated us to post more and more yummy recipes!  We have always tried to post recipes that were easy to follow and cook so that anybody with a little patience can cook yummy food and delight their loved ones !

  We just have no words to express our heartfelt thanks to every one who supported us - our husbands, family, friends, fellow bloggers, subscribers, readers, everyone! Special thanks to the readers and bloggers who tried and gave their feedback on our recipes. Hope you will continue to support us with your comments / suggestions.

  And this year, God willing, I am planning to go beyond the nadan recipes and post varieties of recipes from around the world ( especially Mediterranean, Thai and Ethiopian which are my favorite cuisines ) and of course more bakes,  healthy recipes and recipes from other states of India, that are easy to prepare and tasty as well. After-all, variety is the spice of life!

  To celebrate this special occasion, we would love to share the recipe for an Egyptian dessert named Basboosa. It is basically semolina cake that has been soaked in a sugar/honey syrup. This dessert is supposed to be really sweet  and it tastes best that way, but you can adjust the quantity of sugar that goes into the syrup, if you want a less sweeter version. Like most of our other recipes, this one was also taste checked by my friends and have won their approval :). In fact it is an extremely tasty one and the recipe is very easy to follow. You are going to love it!!

 

 

Ingredients

Plain Semolina / sooji  / rava - 1.5 cup

Butter - 1 stick or 1/2 cup, softened (If you do not want it to be very rich, you can try adding only 1/2 stick or 1/4 cup. I have tried this recipe twice and the second time I used only 1/4 cup butter but adding 1/2 cup makes it more rich and tasty.)

Plain yoghurt - 1 cup

Baking powder - 1 tsp

Vanilla extract - 1 tsp

For the honey syrup

Honey - 1/2 cup

Sugar - 3/4 cup

Rose water - 3 tbsp or 1 tsp rose essence

Lemon juice - 2 tsp

Method

1. Cream  the butter and 1/2 cup sugar using an electric mixer. Add yoghurt and vanilla extract. Beat until combined. Now add the semolina flour and baking powder. Mix well with a spatula until you have a sticky dough. Let it rest for 30 minutes.

2. Preheat an oven to 375 F. Transfer the dough into a well-greased 7 x 11 inch baking dish or a 10 inch round cake pan and level the dough using your fingers/spatula.

 

3. Bake for 20 minutes. Take out the baking dish using your oven mitts. Now cut the partially baked dough to squares or diamonds. Press an almond or any nut you prefer onto each diamond. Now return the baking dish back into the oven and bake for another 13 - 15 minutes till the edges are brown. Now put it on broil mode for 2 - 3 minutes so that surface will turn golden brown. Take it out of the oven.

 

3. Meanwhile combine the honey,  sugar and 2 tbsp rose water in a saucepan. Stir at medium-low heat until the  sugar dissolves and the mixture has a syrupy consistency ( would not take more than  7 - 10 minutes). Add the lemon juice and 1 tbsp rose water. Turn off the stove. When the basboosa is done in the oven, take it out using your oven mitts. Pour the honey syrup all over the hot basboosa. Cool and take out the cakes from the baking dish using a metal spatula. It tastes best after 1 - 2 days. Enjoy!!

 

Tips:

1. You can use sugar syrup instead of honey syrup.

Recipe for sugar syrup:

Sugar - 3/4 cup

Water - 3/4 cup

Lemon juice - 2 tsp

Rose water - 3 tbsp or rose essence - 1 tsp

Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil stirring occasionally at medium-low heat. When the sugar is dissolved completely, add the lemon juice ( to prevent crystallization). Boil for about 4 - 5 minutes or until it has a syrupy consistency and add the rose water. Mix well and switch off. Pour on the baked diamonds. Cool down and enjoy!!

 

 

 

Love

Maya

 

Roasted Red Bell Pepper Hummus

 

          Hummus is a popular dip/spread in the Middle-East. It is made from chickpeas pureed with tahini(sesame seed paste), garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and salt. Hummus is high in iron and vitamin C, and also has significant amounts of folate and vitamin B6. The chickpeas make it a good source of protein and fibre, tahini consisting mostly of sesame seeds, are an excellent source of the amino acid methionine. Hummus is useful in vegetarian and vegan diets and like other combinations of grains and pulses, when eaten with bread  serves as a complete protein. Hummus is really easy to prepare. I used to make hummus before but had never tried any variation. Recently I had this tasty red bell pepper flavoured hummus at my friend Preetha’s house which I wanted to try. You can make this with dry chickpeas or with the canned ones but it will taste better with the dry ones. I always use the dry ones since they are healthier and are so much cheaper. Hummus can be served with bread or raw vegetables as a dip, as an alternative to butter, as a spread or filling for pita bread or with chips. You can make lots of variations to the basic hummus. This is a version of hummus using roasted red bell pepper and sun-dried tomatoes. I have also posted the recipe for basic hummus below.

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

1. Chickpeas/Garbanzo beans -  2.5 cups
2. Red bell pepper -  1
3. Sun-dried tomatoes in oil - 2 tbsp
4. Tahini(sesame seed paste) -  3 tbsp
5. Garlic  -  4 crushed
6. Lemon juice - 4 tbsp
7. Cumin powder - A pinch (opt)
8. Paprika - 1/4 tsp (opt)
9. Olive oil - 2 tbsp
10. Salt - To taste
11. Parsley - To garnish

 

Method

 

1. Soak the chickpeas overnight in water.  Cook till it is soft and done. Drain and reserve the water in which it is cooked.

2. To roast red bell pepper - I followed the instructions here. Preheat the oven to 450 F. Put the red pepper on a foil and roast it in the oven turning in between(takes around 30 mts). Once it is done, place it in a covered bowl or zipper lock bag so that the skin becomes  easier to peel off.  When it is cooled down, peel off the outer skin and remove the seeds from them.

 

 

3. In a food processor or mixer blend  the chickpeas, garlic, lemon juice, salt and around 1/2 cup of the reserved liquid.  Process until smooth, scraping the sides in between and add the roasted red pepper and sun-dried tomatoes. Blend it again. You can add more of the reserved water if it is thick. Add the olive oil and mix well. Transfer to a serving dish, drizzle some olive oil and sprinkle chopped parsley. This yields around 2.5 cups.  Serve with raw vegetables, pita bread or tortilla chips.

 

 

Tips:

1.  You can make extra quantities and refrigerate upto 1 week or frozen for 2 months or so.

2.  To save time you can use store-bought roasted pepper.

Hummus

Ingredients

1. Chick peas - 2.5 cups
2. Tahini (sesame seed paste) -  3 tbsp (You can find the recipe for tahini here)
3. Garlic  crushed - 4
4. Lemon juice - 4 tbsp
5. Olive oil - 2 tbsp
6. Salt - To taste
7. Parsley - To garnish

Method

1. Soak the chickpeas in water overnight.  Cook till it is soft and done. Drain and reserve the water in which it is cooked.

2. In a food processor blend  the chickpeas, garlic, lemon juice, salt and around 1/2 cup of the reserved liquid to a smooth paste scraping the sides in between. You can add more of the reserved water in case it is thick. Add 1 tbsp olive oil and pulse. Garnish with chopped parsley and the remaining olive oil.

Tips:

1.  You can refrigerate it upto 1 week or frozen for 2-3 months.

2.  You can use store-bought tahini.