JMCC / Palestinian Culture

Weekly News digest

Local Dailies & Radio translation

Palestinian Recipes

- Falafel
- Shakshoukeh
- Mafghoussa
- Mutabbal
- Bakdoonsiyeh
- Pickled Green Olives
- Artichoke Heart with Coriander

Salads

- The Green leaves of spring in Palestine
- Fatoush
- Mish
- Arabic or Fallahi Salad
- Jarjeer Salad

Main Dish

- Mjaddara
- Rishtaye
- Chicken Fatteh
- Musakhan
- Roasted Leg of Lamb
- Aubergine with Tomatoes (Msaqa’a)

Deserts

- Mutabak - Halawiyat Zalatimo
- Qatayef
- Cream Pudding with Pistachios " 'Eish es-Saraya"

Appetizers

Abu Shanab's Falafel recipe:

Ingredients:

3 kilograms Chick Peas
1/4 kilogram Garlic
1/2 kilogram Onion
1/4 kilogram Parsley
4 tablespoons Falafel Spice: (Cumin, Turmeric, Coriander, and Cayenne)
2 tablespoons Carboneh (baking soda)
Salt to taste.

Sok the chick Peas in water for at least 8 hours. Grind the Chick Peas, Garlic, Onion and Parsely together, with a small amount of water, adding the falafel spices, carboneh, and salt. Leave set for at least one hour, then deep-fry in hot oil for about three-minutes, or until brown (note: the quantities listed are for restaurant quantities, adjust the ingredients accordingly).

Shakshoukeh (Fried tomatoes)

Ingredients:

4 red tomatoes
1 sweet green pepper
3 garlic cloves
Olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Steps:
1. Cut the green pepper in long stripes.
2. Cut the garlic cloves int hick slices.
3. Fry the green pepper and garlic in olive oil for 1 minute.
4 Cut the tomatoes in small pieces and add to the pepper and garlic.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6 Fry the mixture on medium heat until it is semi dry. You can cover and let it simmer for 5 minutes and then allow it to dry.
7. Serve with green olives and warm Palestinian.

Variations:
You can add two eggs over the mixture and stir with ingredients.
If you like spicy food you can replace the sweet pepper with hot green pepper.
You can also add onions to the pepper and garlic mixture.
Preparations time: 15 minutes.

Mafghoussa (or mashed)

This recipe is from the southern areas of Palestine. It is ideal for a barbecue but can be done on any other occasion.

Ingredients:

3 red tomatoes

2 Zucchini

1 Onion

1 hot green pepper

3 garlic cloves

Olive oil

Salt to taste

Preparation:

Cut the Zucchini, hot green pepper, and onion into two pieces each. Place all the vegetables under the Grill (or on the barbecue) until fully grilled. Remove the skin of the tomatoes and mash all the ingredients including the garlic cloves. Add olive oil and salt to taste.

Optional: You can add sour yogurt or "Jameed" if you like yogurt based foods. This recipe can also be done using tomatoes only with hot green pepper and garlic.

Mutabbal

(Eggplant salad)

There are a variety of eggplant salads in Palestinian cuisine, but this is one which you will find in every restaurant as part of the traditional "Meza".

Ingredients:

2 Large eggplants

2 garlic cloves

2 table spoons of "Tehina"

4 table spoons of lemon juice

1/2 green chili pepper

salt and olive oil to taste

Remove the head of the eggplants, and make two horizontal incisions with the knife on each side of the eggplant. Place the eggplants under the grill for 30 minutes, until the skin is almost burnt. In the meantime, mix the two tablespoons of Tehina with the lemon juice until it becomes a smooth light beige uniform paste. Remove the eggplants, and place them on a plate. Bring a deep dish and open up the eggplants. Start removing the inside of the eggplants and placing it in the deep dish. Make sure you don't take any of the skin. The insides of the eggplant will be slightly watery, so mix it with a fork which would at the same time cut it into smaller pieces, almost a paste though not uniform in any way. Add the Tehina paste and mix well with the fork. Crush the garlic cloves with the chili pepper and add to the mixture. Mix well. Add salt and olive oil to taste.

Bakdoonsiyyeh

(Parsley Salad)

Ingredients:

Half a cup of Tahina

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 bunch parsley

water

salt and olive oil to taste

Before using the Tahina, shake the jar well. Pour half a cup of Tahina into a small soup bowl and add the lemon juice. Mix well until you get a smooth homogeneous mixture. Add one-two tablespoons of water to the mixture and mix well until it is of a soft texture. Chop the parsley finely (after cleaning it thoroughly and removing the stalks) and add it to the Tahina mixture. Add salt and olive oil to taste.

This salad is ideal with fish and meat dishes, but is also tasty on its own with pita bread.

Pickled Green Olives

October and November are the olive harvest months, and fresh green olives can be found everywhere in Palestine. If you want a taste of the original pickled green olives, follow the following steps:

Ingredients:

Crushed green olives (ready for pickling). If you can- not find crushed olives, buy freshly picked ones and make three parallel vertical slits in each olive (a time- consuming process but worthwhile at the end).

Water

Salt

Lemon and hot green chili peppers to taste

1. Soak the green olives in tap water for three days, changing the water every morning.

2. Prepare the pickling solution: one glass water with two tablespoons of salt.

3. On the fourth day, place the olives in the pickling solution and then in a firmly closed jar.

4. After two-three weeks when they are ready for eating, take out a small amount and place it in a plate and add pieces of lemon and hot green chili pepper. Ready to serve.

Artichoke Hearts with Coriander

Just the thing for spring, this vegetarian dish adds a note of sophistication to a Lenten dinner. The artichoke season in Palestine is short, and coriander, typically a spring herb, has become more readily available throughout the year as a result of recent cultivation under glass.

Ingredients:

700 grams of artichoke bottoms
3 tablespoons + 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 ½ tsp salt
½ tsp fresh ground black pepper
¼ cup fresh coriander leaves, washed and
chopped
3-5 garlic cloves, crushed
¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

The preparation of the artichokes:
Peel off the leaves by going around the bottom with a sharp knife; cut off the upper part and core the center clean. Keep a basin of water laced with lemon juice to immediately soak the artichoke bottoms in so that they keep a fresh color.
Saute the artichoke bottoms in a shallow pan in 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil. Add the salt and pepper, cover the pan and leave to simmer for ten minutes over a small fire. Add a little bit of water if necessary.
In a separate pan, saute the crushed garlic and finely chopped coriander in two tablespoons of water. Add to the artichokes and cook for another ten minutes or until the artichokes are cooked to your liking. Remove from the stove and add the lemon juice. Serve lukewarm with pita bread. Recipe written by: Christiane Dabdoub-Nasser, Bethlehem

Salads

The Green leaves of spring in Palestine

In February, March, and April you begin to spot on the sidewalks, in small gardens, in the mountains, a variety of green plants popping naturally from the ground. Even though they might look like grass, Palestinians have used them as an integral part of their diet. They are mostly to be found in the Jericho area, and they are free for the picking. You can also buy them at the local grocer's. The most well known plants are Khubbeizeh, Hindbeh, and Hweirneh. Each one is prepared in a different way, but they are all easy to make.

Khubbeizeh:

Remove half the stalks and cut in small pieces (not too small). Place I table spoon vegetable oil in a small sized pot (according to the amount of Khubbeizeh), and fry one finely chopped onion. As the onion turns golden, place the Khubbeizeh inside the pot and stir with the onion on medium heat. Add salt and cover the pot. Stir occasionally. Leave to fry 10 minutes. Serve with tomatoes and red-hot chili.

Hindbeh salad:

Remove half the stalks and cut in very small pieces. Cover in water and leave aside for 2 - 4 hours (this process ensures that any bitterness is removed from the leaves). Drain the water. Cut one onion in small pieces and add to the Hindbeh. Add salt, lemon, and olive oil to taste. Hindbeh can also be fried in vegetable oil for 5 minutes and served with golden fried onions.

Hwerneh salad:

Remove the stalks and cut the leaves finely. Add 250 grams of yogurt (or according to taste). Add salt to taste. Refrigerate. This salad tastes better with time, so it should have an improved taste the second or third day.

Fattoush

A popular Palestinian salad prepared a lot during the fasting month, Ramadan. It is a very fresh spring salad
that combines many nutritious ingredients.

Ingredients (for 4 persons):

2 tomatoes
2 cucumbers
2 spring onions
Lettuce
1 Radish
Parsley
Green mint
1 loaf of pita bread
Dressing: Lemon, salt, and olive oil

Preparation:
Cut the vegetables into small - medium size pieces. The lettuce, parsley and green mint should be cut in small
pieces. Cut the pita bread into squares of 1 square cm each and either fry them until golden brown or roast
them under the grill. Add the bread to the vegetable mixture. Add lemon, salt, and olive oil to taste.

"Mish" salad

(A yogurt based salad)

A salad only known in Palestinian rural areas, it is a very refreshing (though a little bit hot) salad. It can add excellent taste to almost any meal from barbecued meat to rice dishes. It can also be eaten on its own for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Its name means "sour" in rural colloquial, and it is a good way of making use of soured yogurt.

Ingredients:

500 gms. Of yogurt
(preferably sour regular Palestinian yogurt)
One hot green pepper
One lemon
One Tomatoe
Salt and olive
oil to taste

Preparation:

Cut the hot green pepper, tomatoes, and the lemon into small-medium size pieces and add them to the yogurt. Add salt and olive oil to taste. The salad tastes better if left overnight in the fridge. The longer you leave it, the better the taste. You can always add more pepper, lemon, or tomatoes, or all three when you've eaten them all and a quantity of yogurt still remains.

P.s. In time, you will develop a more accurate measure of the amount of ingredients which suit your taste buds.

Arabic or "Fallahi" salad

A regular salad made to a special recipe used in the villages. This is why it is called "Fallahi" salad (or peasant's salad). It is sometimes called Arabic salad in comparison with "Ifranji" or foreign salad. The main difference is in the size of the vegetable pieces.

Ingredients:

2 red tomatoes

2 spring onions

¼ green hot chili pepper

salt, lemon and olive oil mint (fresh or dried) for garnish

Cut the tomatoes, spring onions and hot chili pepper in very small pieces (as minuscule as you can get). Add salt, lemon, and olive oil to taste. This salad should have a very strong flavor, so generally one would add more lemon and olive oil than the usual salad. A regular small onion can replace the spring onions if they are not in season. Garnish with green or dried mint.

Jarjeer Salad

Jarjeer is one of the most popular greens in Palestine, abundant in the winter time. It has a strong taste and
can be used with any salad. However, the best way to savor its taste is through the following recipe.

Ingredients:

Jarjeer (a bunch)

Onion (spring or regular onions)

Salt

lemon juice

And olive oil to taste

Clean the Jarjeer thoroughly under running water. Cut it in large pieces (each stalk can be cut in three). Cut
the onion into rings. Place the onion rings on top of the Jarjeer. Add salt, lemon, and olive oil to taste.
Garnish with pieces of lemon.

Main Dish

Mjaddara

A fully nutritious meal, Mjaddara is easy to make and very tasty.

Ingredients (for 4 persons)

2 cups of rice
1 cup of brown lentils
One onion
Vegetable oil

Steps:

1. Clean the brown lentils and boil them in a pot until they are soft and edible (15 minutes on medium heat.)

2. Wash the rice and cover it in hot water and leave aside until the lentils are done.

3. Cut the onion in stripes and fry in vegetable oil until golden brown.

4. Drain the water from the lentils and from the rice as well. Place the rice on top of the lentils in the pot and mix. Add a teaspoon of vegetable oil, and mix the ingredients together over medium heat for two minutes. Add salt, pepper, cumin, and cardamom to taste. Cover with hot water (1 cm above the mixture). Let simmer on low heat until the water evaporates (about 15 - 20 minutes).

5. Turn over (like a cake) in a big plate, and cover the top with the fried onion stripes.

6. Serve with yogurt and green salad. Variation: half the onion stripes can be added tothe mixture before adding the water and letting itsimmer. The remaining onion stripes can be used for garnish.

Rishtaye

(Also known as Smat, Msalwaa, or Mjammadeh)

The many different names for this dish suggest that it probably has many different ethnic sources. In the Palestinian society however, and mainly within the Christian community, this dish is linked to what is called "Nidr', meaning when you want something to happen you ask for it in your prayers. If it comes true, the housewife prepares this dish and distributes it to neighbors and friends.

Ingredients (for 2):

1 cup of lentils (orange lentils)

100 gms tagliatelle pasta

Spices:

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon "summak"

Garnish:

2 onions

1 table spoon olive oil

Preparation:

After cleaning the lentils, place them and the tagliatelle in a deep pan and cover with water. When the water starts to boil start stirring the ingredients, adding water whenever the water level becomes minimal, until the mixture turns into a homogeneous thick broth-like mixture. This process should take about 30 minutes of regularly stirring the mixture over medium heat. Add the salt and cumin and stir with the mixture before removing it from the heat. Pour the mixture into individual deep dishes. Place aside to cool.

Garnish: Cut the onion into thin slices and fry in the olive oil until dark brown. Garnish the dish with the onions, and then sprinkle the summakon top.

Serve with green olives, salad or spring onions and radish.

Chicken Fatteh

The word Fatteh generally refers to any meal that contains pieces of fried or roasted bread. Some examples are Hummus Fatteh, Eggplant Fatteh,and chicken Fatteh, which is our recipe for today.

Ingredients:

1 small chicken
I onion
1 cup rice
1 pita bread
500 gms sour yogurt
3 garlic cloves
Spices and seasoning to taste

Preparation:

Clean and season the chicken to taste (salt, pepper, cardamom seeds, and nutmeg). Peel the onion and place the whole onion with the chicken and a cup of water in a chicken oven bag. Roast in the oven over medium heat. Leave to cook for one hour (or more according to the weight of the chicken.) Cut the pita bread into small square pieces and fry them. Cook the rice. Place the bread in the bottom of the serving pan (which needs to be a semi-deep dish.) After the chicken is cooked, pour the chicken stock onto the bread and mix with one crushed garlic clove and one spoon of cooked rice. Place the remaining rice on top of the bread and chicken stock combination and make sure it's fully covered. Mix the two remaining crushed garlic cloves into the yogurt and pour the combination over the rice and bread. Remove the bones from the chicken, and place the chicken pieces on top of the yogurt. Serve immediately.

Optional garnish: fried pine seeds and fresh parsley.

Musakhan

A very famous Palestinian recipe, particularly in the villages, this meal is a symbol of self-sufficiency in rural Palestine. Its ingredients are available in any village house at minimum costs, making a delicious and healthy meal.

Ingredients (for two):

6 large onions
2 "taboun bread"*
250 ml of Frying oil
1 chicken
salt, pepper, summak, allspice

Clean the chicken and cut it into 4 - 6 pieces. Cut one onion in small pieces. Fry it in one table spoon oil until golden. Add the chicken and turn it over in the pot adding salt, pepper, and allspice to taste**. Cover with water and cook until tender. Cut four onions into small-medium size pieces. Deep-fry the onions until golden. After the chicken is done, remove the pieces from the water and place in a grilling pan, adding one onion cut into small pieces with salt, pepper, and "summak". Grill in the oven.

To prepare the bread, spread the fried onions (and their oil) evenly onto the taboun bread. Place the chicken over the bread. Sprinkle with summak. Fried pine seeds are optional garnish. Serve hot with sour yoghurt and salad.

Taboun bread is the traditional Palestinian bread baked over hot stones. It can be bought at some bakeries and major supermarkets. An adequate replacement is the "Shrak" bread, which is another traditional bread that is extremely thin and baked over a round hot plate.

To give an interesting taste to the chicken, add cardamom and bay leaves to the water.

Roasted Leg of Lamb (Fakhdet Kharouf bel Furun)

It is spring and it is Easter Season in the Holy Land! The best time for hikes and best time for cooking prime lamb! A yearling makes this dish both special and quite extravagant and what better time than an Easter Sunday luncheon. I cooked it for French cousins from Burgundy, great connoisseurs in food and wine; they were so delighted with the dish they had seconds and smothered the accompanying rice with the sauce.

Ingredients:

A leg of lamb of about 2.5 kilos (between 5 and 6 lbs.)
4 garlic cloves
A handful of rosemary leaves
2 tsps salt
¾ tsp black pepper
½ tsp allspice
A dash each: nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom
½ cup olive oil (80 ml)
Preheat oven to 240°C (475°F.)

Put the leg of lamb, largely trimmed of its fat, into an ovenproof tray and put in the very hot oven to sear for half an hour, turning it over once. Meanwhile put the garlic, rosemary, salt, spices and olive oil into the food processor and mix at high speed for one minute. It is best to use fresh rosemary and to grind your spices last minute: you use less spices for optimum results.
When the meat is seared, baste it with the mixture on one side and put it back in the oven, which you lower to 220°C. (425°F.), repeat on the same side fifteen minutes later. After another fifteen minutes, turn the meat over and baste the other side twice at fifteen minutes intervals. Cover the meat with foil paper and let it cook for another hour. Transfer the meat to a serving dish and the sauce into a bowl and serve immediately with plain rice and steamed vegetables.Saha u hannieh!!

Christianne Dabdoub Nasser, Bethlehem

Aubergine with Tomatoes (Msaqa’a)

Rihâwi aubergines, baladi tomatoes and olive oil from the grove sum up in one dish the best that the land can offer. A successful musaqa'a is enjoyed down to the last bite for the lucky one who gets to wipe out the last trace of sauce with fresh kmâj or tabûn bread.

Ingredients:

2 big rihâwi eggplants, about 800 grams (1 lb. 12 oz.)
3/4 up olive oil
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 big onion
4 tomatoes
1 tablespoon finely chopped pimiento
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 up tomato juice

Peel eggplants and cut across into medium-thin slices. Sprinkle them generously with salt and set them aside for half an hour. This procedure is important to reduce the amount of oil absorbed by the eggplants. Pat them dry and fry them over medium heat a few slices at a time in hot oil until they are golden. When they are done, remove them from the an and put them immediately on kitchen paper. It is a good idea to take the time and effort to refresh the paper towels in order to allow further absorption of the oil.
Turn on the oven to 190C/375/gas mark 7.
Meanwhile chop onion into thin slices and set aside. Blanch the tomatoes by soaking them in boiling water for a few minutes to allow for easy paring.
Once they are ready, remove the skin and cut them up in coarse chunks. Heat the olive oil in a pan and add the onions. Stir and fry until they are tender and translucent; add the tomatoes stirring them into the onions, then add salt, pepper and allspice. Add the tomato juice and cook for a few minutes until the sauce is ready. Put eggplants in an oven roof late and add the tomato mixture; cover with aluminium foil. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the aluminium foil and bake for another ten minutes making sure it does not get dry. Serve at room temperature.

Deserts

Mutabak - Zalatimo Sweets

Ingredients:

Dough
Syrup**
White cheese *
Powdered sugar

The dough is normal dough used for baking bread, but it is hand rolled - not machine rolled [the secret of Zalatimo Mutabak], then cut into circles approximately the size of a pita, and a small amount of cheese* is added.
The Mutabak is folded into a square and baked for brown. After baking the Mutabak is cut into four squares, covered in Syrup** and powdered sugar is sprinkled on top.
His son Hani, who is being trained to follow in his father's trade, said that the Mutabak should be served hot - because when it cools its only a cold, sweet cheese sandwich.
* The cheese is normal white curd cheese, which starts out being salty, and is soaked in water to draw out the salt. The water may have to be changed four or five times to make the cheese sweet enough.
** The Syrup is equal parts of water and sugar mixed together and boiled until it thicknes.

Qatayef (Ramadan pancakes)

This sweet is prepared only during the Muslim Holy month of Ramadan which will start around the 7^th of December this year. You will find stands set up everywhere you go in Palestine with a hot plate where they pour the batter and in seconds you have round qatayef (pan- cakes) which are placed on top of each other and weighed according to the amount you want to buy. As soon as you reach home, you need to separate them and leave them to cool, otherwise they will stick to each other.

Ingredients:

Qatayef (Pancakes). Buy as many as you will need and no more, estimating a minimum of 2 per person.

Stuffing option 1: White sweetened cheese (can be found in all supermarkets), pinch of cinnamon, sugar to taste.

Stuffing option 2: walnuts, coconut, sugar to taste, pinch of cinnamon.

Sugar water: 1 glass of water, 2 glasses of sugar, a few drops of lemon juice.

For filling option # 1: cut the white cheese into very small pieces and shred them using your hands. Add the cinnamon and sugar and mix.

For filling option # 2: smash the walnuts and add the coconut and cinnamon and sugar together. Place a small amount of either one of the fillings in the center of the Qatayef (pancake) and fold one side towards the other and stick them together by pressing on the sides. You now have a crescent shaped pancake. Fry or bake until golden brown on both sides. Dip into the sugar water and remove. Serve hot.

Sugar water: To prepare, mix all the ingredients in a pan over the stove. Stir continuously until it boils. Continue to stir until the mixture thickens and the sugar is totally dissolved.

Cream Pudding with Pistachios " 'Eish es-Saraya"

Bread means 'eish. 'Eish es Saraya literally the bread of the palaces is an appellation laden with images of one thousand and one dreams and totally appropriate to this delectable dessert. This layered dessert can turn any dinner party into an unforgettable experience. Kishta is a double cream of thick consistency that can be bought from Middle-Eastern pastry shops or supermarkets. A good substitute is double cream or fresh cream.

Ingredients

½ a loaf of sliced white bread (250 grams/9 oz.)
grilled
2 cups water
1 ½ cups sugar
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp rose water
350 grams kishta
1 cup milk
1 ½ tbsps corn flour
2 tbsps rose water
80 grams shelled and chopped pistachios

Chop the grilled bread in a food processor on low so as to get coarse but small chunks. Spread the crumbs at the bottom of a rectangular medium size serving plate -about 25 centimetres/10 inches- with a 6 cm/about 2 ½ inches edge. To prepare the syrup dissolve the sugar in the water and let it boil for a few minutes adding the lemon juice in the process. Add the rose water after you remove it from the heat. Pour it hot over the bread so as to soak it completely. With the back of a fork press the layer of sweetened bread against the bottom of the plate to obtain a more compact layer. In a small casserole mix thoroughly the kishta the milk and corn flour and bring to boil on medium heat stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Cook over low heat for a few minutes or until the cream pudding is thick enough to cling to the back of the spoon. Remove from the heat and add the rose water. Spread the pudding over the bread mixture covering it completely. Sprinkle a thick layer of pistachios on top and let cool. Refrigerate for a few hours before serving. If you are using fresh cream add 3 tablespoons of corn flour to three cups of fresh cream and cook the same way as kishta adding the rose water last.

Christiane Dabdoub Nasser Bethlehem