Middle Eastern Cuisine Recipe

COURTESY KHATIJA EBRAHIM

MALAI SKEWERS

Wash fillets and slit down the center making 6-8 chunky cubes.

Marinated it with:

Fresh cream
Yogurt
Green chilly
Garlic
Abit of red (ginger/garlic) masala
Lemon juice
Lemon pepper
Aromat
Mixed herbs
Salt to taste

Marinate overnight or for a few hours. Skewer on sticks. Can be braaied or I just popped it into a hot oven for 15- 20 mins. Just until done so that they don’t dry out. Serve with a side salad, pitas, yogurt and hummus.

HUMMUS RECIPE
Take a 2 Tablespoon of Sesame seeds and roast in pan. Grind into paste in grinder. Take a can of chickpeas and drain water. Add the Sesame paste and chickpeas and liquidize. You can add abit of the liquid or little vinegar to get desired consistency. You could add a bit of yoghurt to this as well. Add salt, garlic and whatever spice like. like chili or zaatar if you want. Drizzle with olive oil. Enjoy

MARINATED OLIVES
Fresh garlic
Thyme
Origanum
Olive oil
Dried red chillies
Fresh green chillies
Brown vinegar
Sugar
Black pepper

Heat Olive oil in a pan and add garlic, thyme, origanum, whole red chilled, green chillies and black pepper. Fry for a bit then add the sugar and brown vinegar. Place Olives in a sealable container, pour oil over and seal, serve and enjoy.

Spiced chicken Wraps

Ingredients 2-3 cups cooked chicken (roast or pan fried), shredded or sliced) 2 tbsp olive oil 1-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped (or go easy on garlic in Ramadaan) 1 heaped tsp ground cumin 1 heaped tsp paprika (smoked if available) Salt and cracked black pepper to...

Tender Chicken Strips

Ingredients: 500g chicken breast (cut into strips) ½ cup plain yoghurt (this keeps them super tender) 1 tsp garlic 1 tsp red ginger garlic 1 tsp bbq spice 1 tsp chicken spice 1 tsp mexcian spice 1 tsp adega spice 1 tsp paprika ½ tsp black pepper ½ tsp salt 1 tsp lemon...

Japanese Yogurt Cheesecake (Safeera Kaka)

1 tub double cream yogurt Biscoff/tennis biscuits/ nuttikrust biscuits Scoop some yogurt into a bowl Add the biscuits to the yogurt Refrigerate overnight and serve TIPS: Use a flavoured yogurt for a better flavour or sweeten plain yogurt with some honey....

Watermelon Slushy (Safeera Kaka)

1 medium size watermelon cut into cubes and deseeded 3-4 tbl Rose syrup Juice of half a lemon Liqudise the watermelon with the rose syrup You can add more or less according to your preference Freeze for 2-3 hours until it turns into a slush Enjoy on a hot summer...

Mango Lassi (Safeera Kaka)

1 Cup fresh mango cut into slices 1/2 cup milk 1/4 cup plain yoghurt 1 scoop vanilla ice cream (optional) Blend all the ingredients in a high speed blender until smooth. You can add more water or milk as needed if its too thick Add extra yoghurt if you want it more...

Dense Bean Salad (Safeera Kaka)

The Salad: 1 can chickpeas beans, drained, rinsed and dried 1 can white beans, drained, rinsed and dried 1 small red onion, diced (about 3/4 cup when diced) 2 small bell peppers, diced (red, orange or yellow) 1/2 English cucumber, diced 1/2 cup Kalamata olives, pitted...