The Traditional Dish

Edgeware Road, London - The Vegas strip of Middle Eastern resturants!!

2010-09-04T08:29:00.000-07:00

For those of you who have visited or live on Edgeware Road in London, you'd know that it is beaming Arab culture.

Here is a list of the best places to eat Arab food on Edgware Road, London!

The Maroush chain of Lebanese restaurants:

Al Tanoor Lebanese restaurant

Al Dar

Abu Zaad Syrian restaurant

More to come...stay tuned!

Tabbouleh

2010-09-01T10:33:00.002-07:00

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of burghol (crushed wheat)

• 3 bunches of parsley

• 2 tomatoes

• 1 bunch of scallions

• 1/3 cup of lemon juice

• 1 bunch of fresh mint, chopped

• ½ cup olive oil

• ¼ sp cinnamon powder

• Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Wash the wheat and soak it for ½ an hour in cold water. Drain and squeeze well into a large mixing bowl. Wash and chop the scallions and tomatoes and add them to the burghol . chop the parsley finely before washing it. Drain the parsley and add to the wheat mixture. Do the same for the mint leaves.

2. Add lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper and cinnamon. Blend well and serve.

Fattoush

2010-09-01T10:33:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:

• 1 loaf of Arabic bread or 2 hard bread rolls

• 1 ½ cups chopped lettuce

• 2/3 cup of coarsely chopped onions

• 1 ½ cup coarsely chopped scallions

• 1 cup coarsely chopped parsley

• 2 1/1 cups coarsely chopped cucumbers

• 2 cups coarsely chopped tomatoes

• 1/3 cup dried mint leaves

• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed

• ½ cup lemon juice

• 2/3 cup olive oil

• 2 ½ tsp salt

• ½ tsp pepper

• 1 tbls sumac

Method:

1. Cut the bread open and leave it out uncovered over night.

2. Bread the bread into small pieces and place them into a large mixing bowl. Add the next eight ingredients. Mix them well together and set aside to allow the bread to soften a little, about 5 minutes.

3. Blend together the lemon juice, oil, garlic salt pepper and sumac and pour dressing over bread and vegetable mixture. Mix well and serve.

Parsley and onion omellete

2010-09-01T10:32:00.001-07:00

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs

• 1 small onion, finely chopped

• 1 bunch of parsley, finely chopped

• ½ tsp salt

• ½ tsp pepper

• 1 tbls butter

Method:

1. Break the eggs into a mixing bowl and add the salt and pepper. With a large fork, beat the eggs until the whites and the yolks are just blended. Add the chopped onions and parsley to the eggs and beat well together.

2. Place butter in a frying pan over high heat. Once the butter is melted, pour in the omelet mixture. Let the eggs settle for 2-3 seconds and jerk towards you at an angle to begin rolling the omelet. Its colour should be light gold and the inside should remain soft and creamy.

Creamy chicken curry

2010-09-01T10:31:00.000-07:00

Creamy chicken curry

Ingredients:

• 25g plain flour

• 3 tsp garam masala or mild curry powder

• 500g chicken breasts, skinned and cut into strips

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil

• 25g butter

• 1 onion, sliced

• 1 tsp cumin seeds

• 1tsp fennel seeds

• 2 bay leaves

• 400g tin pealed tomatoes

• 2 garlic cloves, crushed

• 1tsp turmeric

• 1 green chilli, finely chopped

• 250g natural yogurt

• 15g fennel fronds or coriander leaves

Method:

Mix together the flour and 2 tsp garam masla or curry powder with some salt and pepper in a dish. Dredge the chicken in this mixture, shaking of any excess. Heat 1 tsb oil and half the butter in a large frying pan and fry the chicken, in batches if necessary, for 2 minutes on each side. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Heat the remaining oil and butter in a sauce pan and saute the onions over a gentle heat for 5 minutes, until soft. Add the cumin seeds, fennel seeds and bay leaves and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, garlic, turmeric and remaining curry powder or garam Marsala and cook for around 10 minutes until the mixture becomes thick. Add the chilli and chicken and simmer for 15 minutes until everything is cooked through. Serve with yogurt and fennel fronds or coriander leaves.

Roasted chicken with Quince cheese

2010-09-01T10:30:00.000-07:00

Roasted chicken with quince cheese

Ingredients:

• 1 red onion, thickly sliced

• 3 tbsp quince cheese

• 2 baby chickens

• Salt and pepper

• 30g butter, softened

• 2 bay leaves

• 1 tbsp Marsala

• 150ml chicken stock

Savoury breadcrumbs

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 20g butter

• 2 shallots, finely chopped

• 8 tbsp coarse, sourdough breadcrumbs

• 1 tbsp chopped walnuts or pine nuts

• 1 tspn raisins, soaked in boiling water

Method:

Preheat oven to 200 degrees, gas mark 6. Lay the sliced red onion on the bottom of a roasting tin. Put half the quince cheese inside each chickens cavity and season inside. Smear the butter over both birds and season again. Lay the pheasants on the onions and tuck in the bay leaves.

Roast for 45 minutes or until the juices run clear when e thigh is pierced with a skewer.

Meanwhile, prepare the breadcrumbs. Heat the oil and butter in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the shallots, breadcrumbs and nuts. Toss together until the breadcrumbs have absorbed all the fat and the mix is crisp and golden-about 5 minutes. Drain on kitchen paper. When ready to use, drain the raisins, squeezing out excess moisture, and toss into the breadcrumbs.

When the chickens are cooked, remove from the oven. Carefully tip each bird so any quince cheese left in the cavities runs out into the pan juices. Transfer the birds to a warmed plate, cover with foil and rest them in a warmed place whilst you make the gravy.

Skim off excess fat from the roasting tin. Remove the bay leaves and onions. Put the tin over medium heat, pour in the Marsala and stir vigorously to lift all the caramelised bits from the tin. Add the stock and bring to the boil, then simmer for 2-3 minutes. Pour into a warmed jug. Carve the chickens and serve with the breadcrumbs and gravy.

Spaghetti casserole

2010-09-01T10:27:00.000-07:00

Spaghetti casserole

Ingredients:

• 1 packed of spaghetti

• 1 lb ground beef

• 1 tbls butter

• 1 tbls tomato paste, blended in water

• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

• 4 thin slices of Gruyere cheese

• 1 egg yolk

• 1 bay leaf

• 1 quartered onion

• 2 cloves of garlic

• ½ cup cream

• 4 cups of white sauce (below)

• Salt to taste

Method:

Break the spaghetti in half and cook in boiling salted water for 8 minutes. sauté the meat in the melted butter until browned. Add the tomato sauce and simmer until the meat is done and the sauce is absorbed. Set aside. In a heavy saucepan prepare the white sauce. Add the onion, bay leaf and garlic to the white sauce and cook for 3 minutes. remove from heat, blend in the egg yolk and grated cheese. Remove the onion, garlic and bay leaf form the sauce and set it aside to cool lukewarm. Add the cream. Grease an oven proof dish and pile on to it the spaghetti and ground meat. Add the white sauce reserving a little for the topping. Mix the ingredients gently. Pour on the remaining white sauce and top with sliced gruyere. Bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes.

White sauce

• 2 tbls butter

• 1 ½ tbls flour

• ½ tsp salt

• 1/8 tsp pepper

• 2 cups milk

Method:

Melt the butter over low heat in a sauce pan. Blend in the flour and seasoning. Cook until the mixture is smooth. Remove it from the heat and stir in the milk. Bring the sauce to the boil stirring constantly. Simmer for 2 minutes. the sauce is now ready for use.

Labneh filling for Samboosa/samossa

2010-09-01T10:26:00.000-07:00

Labneh filling

• 1 cup of onions

• 3 tbls parsley

• 2 tbls green peppers

• 2 cups labneh

• Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Mix all the ingredients well and use the mixture to stuff the sambousik as described in the master recipe.

Muhammara sauce

2010-09-01T10:25:00.001-07:00

Muhammara- sauce

Ingredients

• 4 large onions, finely chopped

• 1 cup of walnuts, pounded

• ¾ cup oil

• 2 tbl spoon powdered hot red pepper

• 2 tbl pine seeds, browned

• 1 cup of breadcrumbs blended in a little water to form a puree

• Salt and pepper

• Cumin to taste

Method:

Sauté the onions until they are browned in the oil. Add the walnuts, the peppers and the puree of breadcrumbs and season to taste. Continue to sauté the mixture on low heat until the ingredients are well blended. Remove it from the fire and top it with the pine seeds. Serve on toast hot or cold.

Makes a good sauce on the side for plain toast or kibbeh.

Green pepper and tomato appetizers

2010-09-01T10:24:00.001-07:00

Green peppers and tomato appetizer

Ingredients:
• 3 green peppers, sliced

• 4 tomatoes, quartered

• 3 tbls oil

• 2 cloves garlic, chopped

• 2 tbls chopped parsley

• Salt and pepper

Method:

Sauté the green pepper slices in hot oil for about 10 minutes. fold in the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 5 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Do not allow the tomatoes to become pulpy. In a separate pan sauté the garlic in1 tsp oil, add the chopped parsley and mix well. Add the mixture to the peppers and tomatoes and toss for two minutes.this appetizer may be served sold or hot on toast or on a serving dish.

Lahm Bi ajeen

2010-09-01T10:21:00.000-07:00

Lahm bi ajeen

Ingredients
• Dough prepared according to sambouskik recipe

• 2 cups minced lamb meat

• 3 medium onions chopped

• 2 tbls pine seeds

• 1 cup labneh

• 1 tbls lemon juice

• 1 ¼ tsp salt

• ½ tsp all spice

Method

Sauté the meat, onions and nuts in butter until the ingredients lose their colour. Season with salt and all spice and set aside to cool. Fold in the labneh and mix well. Roll out the pastry to a ¼ inch thickness. Cut into rounds and place onto a greased baking tray. Allow them to stand for 10 minutes. place portions of the filling rounds and bake them for about 20 minutes. serve.

Samboosa/Samosas

2010-09-01T10:19:00.001-07:00

Sambousik

• 2 cups flour

• 2/3 cups of butter

• 1 tsp yeast

• ¼ cup water

• 1 tsp salt

• A pinch of sugar

To prepare the pastry blend the yeast in 1tsp water and sugar. Set it aside to rise. Rub the shortening and salt into the flour. Work in the blended yeast and knead by adding gradually ¼ cup water to make a stiff dough. Set aside for an hour.

Filling (FOR LABNEH FILLING, CLICK HERE) :

• 2 cups minced lamb meat

• 3 medium onions, finely chopped

• 2 tbl pine seeds

• 1 ¼ tsp salt

• ½ tsp all spice

Saute the meat, onions and pine seeds in butter just until the ingredients lose their colour. Season with salt and spices. Set the mixture aside to cool.

Roll out the dough and cut into circles. Place a tbl of filling into the center of each round. Pinch the edges together and twist forward forming a fringe along the entire edge. Saute the sambousik in a deep hot fat until golden brown. Drain on kitchen towels and serve.

Spinach turnovers

2010-09-01T10:18:00.000-07:00

Spinach turnovers

Ingredients
• 3 cups of flour
• ½ cup olive oil
• 1.2 tsp dried yeast blended in 2 tsp warm water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup lukewarm water

Method

Combine the given four ingredients and add water to them. Gather and press them together to for a dough but do not kneed. Cover and set aside for 2 hours to allow the dough to rise. Roll the dough out on a floured surface to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut it into circles.

Proceed to preparing the filling:
Ingredients
• 2 packages of spinach, chopped
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 5-6 tbl lemon juice
• ¾ cup of olive oil
• 1 ¼ tsp salt
• 1 tsp all spice

Wash and drain the spinach. Combine it withe the rest of the ingredients. Add more lemon juice if desired. Place one tablespoon of this filling on each round of dough. Fold over in a triangle shape. Pinch in edges firmly to prevent the dough from opening while baking. Place the turnovers on a greased baking sheet. Bake until lightly browned.

Borek

2010-09-01T10:16:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:

• Puff pastry

• 1 lb minced beef

• 1 bunch of parsley, chopped

• 1 tbls butter

• 1 tsp salt

• ¼ tsp pepper

Method:

Brown the beef in butter and season it with salt and pepper. Mix the parsley with the meat. Set the mixture aside to cool. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured board to about an 1/8 inch thickness. Cut it into 3 inch squares. Along the edges of the squares place a heaping of the meat mixture. Roll the square into finger shapes pressing the edges together with wet fingertips. Pinch the middle with a fork. In a deep hot frying pan, brown the Boerek until they are done and remove to drain on kitchen towels.