Falafel Recipe

Anyone out there who doesn’t love falafel?

Falafel is very common across all Arab and Middle East countries, it is even found in the Turkish cuisine. People disagree about the origins of falafel, some say it dates back to the Pharos, others insist it is an Arabic dish, and some say it is a Hebrew one. Each of these cuisines add their touch to the popular falafel dish and call it their own. While they have their differences in preparing it, in all versions legumes is the main ingredient!

In Egypt they use dried broad beans (fave beans) to prepare falafel. Falafel burgers are then shaped manually. In Egypt, the common falafel burgers are large and stuffed with dried coriander.

In the Levant region, dried chickpeas alone or mixed with broad beans are used as a base, and a mixture of vegetables and spices are added to it. Falafel burgers are usually small and are shaped using a brass hand machine.

Falafel is served with hummus, foul mudamas, pickles, sliced ​​tomatoes and tahini (sesame paste) sauce. A falafel meal has high nutritional value. Studies conducted by the National Nutritional Institute in Cairo, show that falafel has a high iron content.

When I prepare falafel and its smell fills the house, my mind overfills with sweet childhood memories of Friday morning breakfasts when the whole family gathers around the dining table filled with falafel, hummus,foul mudamas, pickles, sliced tomatoes. I can still hear the clattering and laughter. As a child, I remember waking up very early on Friday so that we can go to one Amman’s famous hummus and falafel restaurants and avoid standing in long queues!

You can easily prepare a falafel sandwiches by adding pickles and tahini salad to the falafel, some also add hummus and hot sauce. If you want to learn how to prepare yummy falafel Levantine style, follow these easy steps to prepare the tastiest homemade falafel!

Zebra Present Cake

I love making the birthday cakes for my loved ones!

Is it just me or do you also feel that by making the cake you are expressing how much you love and cherish that person. The final result may not be as perfect as the readymade one decorated by a professional baker, but my cake is made with love. I put my soul into making it!

Two months ago I came across Sweet Kat’s Creations blog, and I loved it! In her blog Kat shares how she assembles these amazing party cakes, step by step with clear pictures. I have been anxiously waiting for an occasion to come… but alas… everyone's birthday is so far away!

In my excitement, I decided to write Kat, and was trilled when she agreed that I share a few of her posts on dish-away. Have been contemplating for a few weeks now which ones to share. Todays birthday cake is an elegant and beautiful one. The White, black and red colors offer a striking contrast that is so catchy, but you can play with the color combinations and come up with amazing combinations that are just as pretty.

Harisa Recipe

Harisa or Haresa is a traditional Middle Eastern sweet that is very popular throughout the Middle East and North Africa. Harisa is given a variety of names, while in most Levantine countries it goes by the name Harisa, in Egypt and some Gulf countries it is named Basbousa, while in some western countries it is called Semolina Cake. 

Many versions of sweets are developed from this basic recipe, the most common is preparing it with coconut or pistachios and nuts. It is also prepared with different kinds of dried fruits. For me, I call the basic Cake “Harisa”, and the one prepared with coconut “Basbousa”, but you will find the name interchangeably used throughout the Middle East. All versions of Harisa or Basbousa whether with coconut or dried fruit or nuts, are yummy.

Harisa is customarily baked in very large aluminum pans (the portions of my recipe requires a 34-36 cm pan, this equates a 13-14 inch pan). As soon as the Harisa is baked and removed from the oven, it is soaked in sugar syrup or Ater. I normally like my sweets not very sweet so I use less Ater than customarily used, but you can adjust the recipe to prepare the Ater with as much as 3 cups of sugar instead of the 2 cups I use.

Hope you give this popular Middle Eastern sweet “Harisa” a try.

Baba Ghanoush Recipe

Middle Eastern cuisine is known for its massive selection of appetizers, referred to as "Mazze". One of the most popular mazes is Baba Ghanoush or Baba Ghanouj.

Baba Ghanoush is prepared with roasted eggplants. A simple google search will yield many versions of Baba Ghanoush, however, in most websites the recipe listed for Baba Ghanoush is for roasted eggplants with Tahini (sesame paste), which in Jordan is quite different that our traditional Baba ghnoush dish.  The roasted eggplants with Tahini is another middle Eastern appetizer that we call Muttabal (click for recipe). The appetizer we refer to as Baba Ghanoush is also prepared with roasted eggplants, but instead of mixing it with Tahini it is mixed with finely diced tomatoes and parsley and blended with a lemon-oil dressing. Some also prepare it with a dressing that includes Pomegrante that is also very good.

In some countries in the Middle East this dish is named: eggplant salad.

Chicken Shawarma Recipe

Shawarma, the burrito of the Middle East!

Shawarma or (Shawerma) شاورما is one of my favorite fast food dishes!!! I still cannot decide which I like better chicken or meat?!?!  As both are yummy… I once had a turkey shawarma – when I was in one of my health eating frenzies – and another time I had Pasterma shawarma, but my favorites remain chicken and meat.

Shawarma sandwiches or wraps consist of thinly sliced cuts of meat or chicken rolled into pita bread. Inside the pita, there is the sauce spread (which one depends whether your sandwich is chicken or red meat) some pickles, tomatoes, and maybe some onions.

Walking downtown in any Middle Eastern city, you will find Shawarma places in almost every street. If you happen to visit a Middle Eastern country you must try a shawarma sandwich! To prepare the shawarma, meat (or chicken) is stacked on a large stick that is facing a standing grill. As the stick rotates, the meat is roasted slowly on all sides. Traditionally, the standing grill used to be wood fire, nowadays the gas flame is the standard. A popular shawarma place will serve more than a thousand sandwich's a night from just one skewer!  The picture of the Chicken Shawerma skewer below was taken around nine o’clock at night. When the grilling started that day, the skewer was more than double this size!!!

Home-made shawarma is not 100% like the restaurant one as it is difficult to replicate it without having the skewer with the standing grill. This recipe is the closest I have come to preparing chicken shawarma. We enjoy it a lot, hope you do as well. Serve it with the garlic sauce from dish-away.

The serving is enough for 8-10 people depending on their appetite.