Couscous with Mutton Tagine

Eating fresh foods is still the best snack and meal option, but for those of us with little time and lots of imagination, it is difficuilt to bring variety of dishes onto our dining table and so  cooking is often reduced to hasty sandwiches, yesterday's leftovers or buying foods in bags or boxes. But there are lots of dishes that could be done in no hassle and less time , adapted from various cuisines like pastas from Italy, titillating tapas and mouthwatering paellas from Spain or Couscous and rice dishes from Morocco etc.

When talking about Morocco, Tagine, salads, couscous and rice dishes come to our minds with the spirit of Moroccan flavours from mint and caraway to chilli and cinnamon. Couscous can be transformed into a delicious dish in no time. You don't need to go to Casablanca for this taste adventure.

This is a simple dish which tastes heavenly when blended well.

Ingredients

(Recipe : Creating Memories )

Chick peas 75 gm (soaked overnight)

Mutton 600 gm

Onion 2 sliced

Saffron a pinch

Ginger crushed 1/4 tsp

Turmeric 1/2 tsp

Pepper 1 tsp

Carrots 300 gm (cut into square chunks)

Pumpkin, peeled and cut into square chunks 450 gms

Raisins 76 gm

Couscous 500 gm

Parsley to garnish

Method

1.Cook the chick peas till done. Remove the skins with your fingers. Discard skins and drain.

2.Place the lamb, onions, saffron, ginger, turmeric, pepper, salt and 1.2litres/5cups of water in a couscousier or large saucepan. Slowly bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for about an hour, until the meat is tender. Use a pressure cooker otherwise. You can reduce water if using cooker.

3.Stir the carrots, pumpkin and raisins into the meat mixture, cover and simmer for a further 30-35 minutes, until the vegetables and meat are completely tender.

4.Prepare the couscous according to the instructions on the packet. You can use hot chicken/ vegetable stock instead of salted water. Spoon on to a serving plate, making a well in the centre.

5.Spoon the stew and gravy into the centre of the couscous, arranging some carrotds down the sides, or alternatively stir the stew into the couscous. Pour extra gravy into a jug. You can do it as we do in Dum process for biriyanis. Garnish with parsley or coriander and serve. 


Linking this post to  Christmas Delicacy

Ful Medames (Fava Bean Dip)

Foul/Ful Medames is a famous Mediterannean dish often eaten for breakfast. This recipe requires some time if traditionally cooked for about 8-10 hours; I did never try though. Fava Beans are soaked overnight and then slow-simmered which is then seasoned with olive oil and spices. But now as cooked fava beans are readily available in cans, it saves time.

Ingredients:


1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
2 cans (3 cups) fava beans
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. red chili powder
3 tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 cup parsley

Method:.

Heat olive oil in a pan and saute onion and garlic till it turns translucent.

Add tomatoes and cook till it turns soft.

Stir in fava beans and spices and cook for about 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and mash them using a fork or potato masher.

Serve them seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice and parsley along with fried egg and pita bread.

Turkish Baklava (Traditional Arabic Dessert)

Enough with Malabar?? nah!! just thought of taking a break in between..

I think most of you all know about Baklava- the traditional Arabic Dessert. Its made of filo pastry and chopped/crushed nuts and sweetened with sugar syrup or honey.  Its an easy one!! The only thing you should know is to 'working with filo pastry'. If you have frozen filo pastry, then its good. Baklava varies from region to region in taste; but the process is just the same. The only difference is in the combination of nuts you use. You can use any nuts of your choice; Walnuts, pecans, almonds, pistachios etc.

Bookmarked this recipe during Daring Bakers' challenge from many blogs.

 

Ingredients:

Phyllo/Filo pastry 1 packet (frozen)

Pistachios 85 gm

Walnuts 60 gms

Almonds 60 gms ( u can use any combination of nuts or just pistachios alone)

Cinnamon powder

Sugar 75gms

Butter 100 gms

For the syrup

Sugar 140ml

Honey 150 ml

Water 150 ml

Orange rind (optional)

Method:

1.Prepare syrup using the syrup ingredients . Boil them for about 10 minutes and then strain the orange peel. Let it cool.

2. Thaw the filo pastry and cut the pastry to fit in your pan.

3..Crush the nuts,cinnamon powder and sugar together until it is finely crushed. You can use food-processor or cut finely with a knife. Some like it finely powdered while others wish to have crunchy bites of nuts.  You can use any combination of nuts. Next time, I would prefer a combination of almonds and pistachios.

4. Melt the butter. Brush the  pan lightly with butter. Now place phyllo pastry and then brush with butter again. Do this atleast 7 times.

5. Now layer half of the nuts mixture on top of that. (The nuts layer should not be too thick as we are layering them twice here. I can't give you the exact measurement as it depends on your baking dish.) Mine was a bit thick and I need to reduce the measure next time if using the same dish.

6. Continue layering phyllo and butter 4 times. Then nuts mixture again .

7. Layer the pastries 4 times again and its done now. Pour the remaining butter on top. (max of 1/4 cup).

8.Preheat oven to 170 degrees. Cut the baklava in desired shapes carefully so that the layers are not disturbed. Bake them until it is golden browned on top.

9. Now when it is hot, pour the cooled syrup on top of it so that it covers the top layer nicely. Leave it to soak for overnight.

Alisa /Arees

I can see ma biriyani weeping without Alisa... :) ..Both goes really well.You can hardly see any malabar wedding without these two dishes . Coming all the way from the middle-east ,this has turned to be an unavoidable dish in malabar functions. Arabs usually make this during special occasions such as Ramadan,Eid or weddings. When they make it in bulk, dig a big hole outside and dump the vessel inside to cook Harees in dum. We make it hassle-free in pressure cookers. But the taste slightly differs. They use lots of mutton & fat in it compared to us.

Back home, people have it with sugar sprinkled on it. But we hate to eat it that way. We usually have it plain or with some delicious chicken or beef fry. Branless wheat is used in this recipe. Vegetarians can avoid chicken .






































Ingredients:

Wheat 1 1/2cups (branless/without skin)
Chicken 1 piece (preferrably leg with thigh)
Garlic 7 pods (whole)
Onion 1 (sliced)
Cinnamon 1" stick
Cardamom 2-3 (i don't use)
salt
Water 4-5 cups

Garnish:

Onions 2
Ghee 1/2 cup
Cashews/rasins

Method:

Soak the wheat overnight for best results. You can cook otherwise too, but will take lesser time if soaked.
 

Boil water in a pressure cooker, add all the ingredients in it & let it boil.

Close the lid & after the first whistle, turn the fire to low & leave it to cook for about 1/2 an hour. The time varies between soaked & unsoaked one. So take care of that. Check that after 20 mts.

Now when the wheat is done, switch off the flame & remove the chicken & whole spices from it.

Remove the bones of the chicken & put the chicken back to the harees/alisa.

Now start whipping the alisa using a wooden spoon, a potato masher at times , a foodprocessor or an egg beater too.... But take care while using a blender or foodprocessor...Just pulse it & don't grind all the wheat; also harees should be cooled enough before using a blender.

Now fry the onions, cashews and raisins in ghee. Serve harees garnished with these along with ghee.

Mutabbel

Mutabbel is a Lebanese dip prepared using aubergines/brinjal/eggplants , combined with Tahini paste and a few other seasonings. Its similar to Hummus or Baba Ganouj. Aubergines are baked or grilled over an open flame and then made paste of it. It s usually eaten as a dip with pita bread or Kubboos or added in other dishes. It has got an earthy light brown colour.I didn't ever know that eggplants have got lots of healing properties till I read about the Siri's Healing Food Event; co-hosted by  Kavita  . So this recipe goes to their event too.

Ingredients:

Eggplants 200 gm

Tahini paste 2 tbsp**

Lime juice 1-2 tbsp

Garlic 2 cloves

Salt to taste

Pomegranate seeds to garnish

Olive oil to garnish 4 tbsp or more


Method:

1.Cook the eggplants either by boiling or on stove top.I prefer to cook on an open flame which gives the authentic flavor of the dish 

If grilling on open flame:

Pierce the eggplants on all the sides & cover it individually using aluminum foil . Don't peel it.Hold the stem of it and cook on an open flame by turning occasionally till it gets cooked nicely. You can burn it a little to get a smoky flavor..

If using microwave:

Cook on HIGH for 10 min. in a covered dish by sprinkling little water over it.

2.Now put this in a bowl of cold water and peel it off.

3.Mash it using a potato masher, a fork or a food processor. Add tahini paste, garlic paste,salt & lime juice to it. Mix nicely. If you are using food-processor or grinder, just pulse it for a few seconds; don't make fine paste of it like hummos.

4.Garnish with olive oil & pomegranate seeds.

**Tahini Paste (could be bought from any supermarkets or made at home)

Ingredients:

• 5 cups sesame seeds
• 1 1/2 cups olive oil or vegetable oil

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 170C. Toast sesame seeds for 5-10 minutes, tossing the seeds frequently with a spatula. Do not allow to brown. Cool for 20 minutes.

Pour sesame seeds into food processor and add oil. Blend for 2 minutes. Check for consistency. The goal is a thick, yet pourable texture. Add more oil and blend until desired consistency.

Link this to Dish it Out co-hosted by Spicy Treats

Fish/chicken Majboos

Majboos is  considered to be the national dish of Arab states which is made from a mixture of spices, meat & basmati rice. In UAE, where I lives, this rice is known as Majboos/Machboos whereas in some other places like Saudi Arabia or Yemen it is known as Kabsa. Eventhough this dish is found in almost all Arab states, it varies slightly in the use of spices according to their native tastes.

Now this recipe is of my Mom, so I guess there will be an Indian touch to the recipe along with the basic spices maintaining the authenticity of the dish. You can prepare this with meat, fish or chicken. The chicken is usually used in whole in the original recipe but we used to make it pieces.These meats are partly fried or grilled first after marination & then added to the rice & allow it to cook completely along with the rice.   This dish closely resembles Biriyani, but the rice, in this recipe, is cooked along with the meat & masala unlike in Biriyanis.

Ingredients:

Fish/Chicken 1/2 kg
Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
Basmati Rice- 1 cup
Water 2 cups (if fish) & 1 1/2 cups (if chicken)...
Onion 1, sliced
Tomato 1 large
Ginger Garlic paste 1 tsp
Green Chilli 2
Coriander leaves 3 tbsp
Coriander powder 1/2 tsp
Fennel seeds (saunf)/Cumin seed(Jeera) 1/2 tsp
Garam masala-1/2 tsp
Dried Black Lemon-1
Coconut 1 tbsp

Method:

1.Soak dried black lemon in 1/4 cup water for sometime. The lemons should be slit before soaking.Dried lemons give a nice aroma & flavor to the dish. It's easily available n the middle-east; but not sure about the rest of the world. I think it's made by steaming the lemon first & then drying it in the hot sun. Heard somewhere so...though not tried before.

2.Marinate fish with 1/2 tsp of garam masala, 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder ,salt & pepper powder. shallow fry if fish & deep fry if chicken. Fry fish in high heat. don't worry if it didn't cook well inside. It ll be cooked again with the rice.

3.Take a deep bottomed vessel, preferably non-stick, heat 1 tbsp of ghee +2tbsp oil in it.  Saute onions till it turns traslucent.Add ginger-garlic paste, green chilli paste & saute for a minute more.

4.Add tomato & cook till it turns tender.

5.Add garam masala & saute again till masala leaves the sides of the pan...preferably 1 minute.

6.Grind the coconut along with Fennel seeds/Cumin***,coriander powder & green chillies (3) & enough water to cook the rice. Add this to the masala.

7. Add rice & fish once it boils. Let it boil for some more time till the water reaches the level of rice.

8.Add coriander leaves, dried lemon with the soaked water & close the lid. Add salt if required (if it needs more salt other than which we added to the onions)

7.Cover and cook till rice is done.

** You can use either Fennel seeds or Cumin seeds. Cumin seeds are used by Arabs whereas ma mom always prefers Fennel seeds..