Ingredients for Kabsa:
Lamb’s meat (large cubes) 1 kg
Soaked rice 2 cups
Carrots (peeled and finely diced) 3
Capsicum (seeded and finely diced) 1
Tomato (peeled and diced) 1/2 kg
Finely chopped onion 1/2 kg
Garlic cloves (minced) 6-8
Ground cumin 1 pinch
Ground coriander 1 pinch
Salt to taste
Black pepper taste
Butter or olive oil for frying
Toasted pine nuts 1/4 cup
Kabsa Spice Mix:
Saffron 1/2 tsp
Ground green cardamoms 1/4 tsp
Ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp
Ground allspice 1/2 tsp
White pepper 1/4 teaspoon
Ground dried limes sauce 1/2 tsp
Water 2 cups
Beef stock cube 1
Finely chopped large onion 1
Chopped tomatoes 14 ounces
Garlic cloves (minced) 3
Tomato paste 1 tbsp
Diced celery 1/4 cup
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
Butter 2 tbsp
Method:
Fry meat until browned on all sides.
Add enough water to the pot so that it covers the meat by, bring to a boil then cook gently until tender.
Reserve stock & set meat aside.
Add butter to a pan, fry the onion, capsicum, carrot & spices.
Cook on low heat for about 10 minutes, or until tender.
Add earlier soaked rice to vegetables in the pot, Add meat stock until stock covers rice.
Cover pot.
Cook on low heat for 30 minutes or until tender add a little more stock or water if rice seems to become dry.
Sauce:
Fry onion, garlic and tomato in the butter.
Add tomato paste, celery, salt, cinnamon, water and stock cube.
Cook on medium heat until slightly thickened and celery is tender.
Serve in a large dish or on a platter.
Place the rice first, top with meat & garnish with pine nuts.
Serve the sauce in a jug with a spoon.
Meat Kabsa by Zarnak Sidhwa
Ingredients for Hummus:
Boiled chickpeas 2 cups
Lemon juice 3 tbsp
Sesame seeds 1/2 cup
Crushed garlic clove 1
Salt 1 tsp
Chopped fresh parsley
Boiled chickpea liquid 1/3 cup
Pita bread wedges, crackers or raw vegetables for dipping
Method:
Blend all ingredients well.
Hummus by Zarnak Sidhwa
Ingredients for Middle Eastern Platter:
Lemon juice from 1 or 2 lemons
Olive oil 2 tbsp
Tomatoes (seeded and diced) 4
Cucumber (seeded and diced) 1
Coarsely chopped fresh parsley 1 cup
Diced onion 1
Salt to taste
Ground pepper to taste
Hummus 1 cup
Paprika 1/2 tsp
Feta cheese 8 ounces
Black olives (pitted) 1 cup
Pita breads 4
For Hummus:
Boiled chickpeas 2 cups
Lemon juice 3 tbsp
Sesame seeds 1/2 cup
Crushed garlic clove 1
Salt 1 tsp
Chopped fresh parsley
Boiled chickpea liquid 1/3 cup
Pita bread wedges, crackers or raw vegetables for dipping
Method:
Combine lemon juice and 1 tablespoon olive oil.
In a bowl combine tomatoes, cucumber, and parsley; just before serving add onion and dressing to vegetables.
Season with salt and pepper, and toss to combine.
Serve with hummus (sprinkled with paprika and remaining olive oil), feta (thickly sliced), olives, and pita.
For Hummus, blend all ingredients well.
Middle Eastern platter by Zarnak Sidhwa
Ingredients:
Bakarkhaani ½ kg
Butter 2 tbsp
Milk 1 ½ litres
Condensed milk 1 tin
Vanilla essence 1 tsp
Cream 2 cups
Almonds and pistachios 4 tbsp
Method:
Heat butter, add coarsely chopped bakerkhaani, sauté for a while.
In another pan cook milk, condensed milk, vanilla essence and whisk in cream and mix well.
Spread bakerkhaani in a greased dish and pour milk mixture and sprinkle with nuts. Let it soak for 10-15 minutes and bake at 180 degrees C for 30 minutes.
Serve warm.
Zarnak's wardrobe for this episode was sponsored by Ateeqa's Couture.
Ingredients:
Whole chicken 1
Mix ground spices 1 tbsp (coriander, cumin, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, peppercorn, loomi (dried lime)
Garlic (chopped) 2 cloves
Lemon juice ¼ cup
Oil ½ cup
Onions (chopped) 2 large
Water 6 cups
Basmati rice (washed and soaked) 1-½ cups
Salt to taste
Cinnamon sticks 2
Loomi 2
Cardamom 2
Peppercorn 2
Cloves 2
Coriander seeds ½ tsp
Cumin seeds ½ tsp
Turmeric 1 tsp
Eggs (boiled) 2 boiled
Saffron (soaked in 1 tsp rose water) ½ tsp
Coriander leaves for garnish
Method:
Grind coriander seeds, cumin seeds, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, peppercorn and dried lime in a grinder.
Mix half the ground spices with garlic, lemon juice and 2 tbsp oil in a bowl.
Rub chicken inside out with the mixture, marinate for half an hour.
Heat ¼ cup oil add onion.
And sauté onion.
Stir in the rest of the ground spices, mix well.
Stuff the chicken with ¼ cup of the onion mixture, tie the legs and tuck the wings. Stir the chicken with the rest of the onion over medium high heat, until golden brown.
Add water and let boil, reduce heat cover and simmer for about 45 minutes.
Lift the chicken and keep aside.
Drain rice and add to chicken broth, season with salt and whole spices, until boiling. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 25 – 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Sprinkle saffron mixture over rice.
Brush oven dish with oil.
Spread a rice layer, put chicken and boiled eggs on top, cover with the rest of the rice.
Cover with foil lightly, bake for about 20 minutes.
Sprinkle with chopped coriander serve warm.
Zarnak's wardrobe for this episode was sponsored by Ateeqa's Couture.
Ingredients for Yogurt Garlic Sauce:
Yogurt 1 cup
Garlic minced 2 cloves
Lemon juice 2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Preparation:
In a small mixing bowl, combine yogurt, lemon juice, garlic, and salt.
Mix well.
Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate.
Yogurt Garlic Sauce by Zarnak Sidhwa
Ingredients for Chicken Shawarma
Chicken breast thinly cut ½ kg
Yogurt 1 cup
Vinegar ¼ cup
Garlic, crushed 2 cloves
Black pepper 1 tsp
Salt ½ tsp
Cardamom pods 2
All spice 1 tsp
Lemon (juice) 1
Ingredients for Sauce
Tahini 1 cup
Garlic, crushed 2 cloves
Lemon juice ¼ cup
Yogurt 2 tbsp
Ingredients for Filling
Pita breads 4
Thinly sliced cucumbers as required
Thinly sliced onions as required
Thinly sliced tomatoes as required
Fresh parsley, finely chopped 1/2 cup
Gherkins sliced as required
Salt to taste
Freshly crushed black pepper to taste
Preparation:
Combine all ingredients except for chicken and make a marinade.
If it seems a little dry, add a little olive oil (a tablespoon at a time).
Add chicken, cover and refrigerate few hours, preferably overnight.
In a pan, cook chicken over medium heat until done.
While chicken is cooking, prepare the sauce.
Combine sauce ingredients and mix well.
Set aside.
Take the onions, tomatoes, cucumbers and sprinkle with salt and black pepper.
Add other filling ingredients in a large bowl and combine well.
When the chicken is done, you can shred it, slice it, or leave into large pieces.
Place enough chicken on pita, add veggies and pour sauce.
Roll up and serve with any of the sauces on the side.
Chicken Shawarma by Zarnak Sidhwa
Ingredients for Basbousa:
For Syrup:
2 1/4 cups Sugar
1 1/2 cups Water
Juice from 1 Lemon
1 teaspoon Honey
For Cake:
2 cups Semolina
1 cup Sugar
½ cup Butter, softened
1 cup Milk
1 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Essence
1 tablespoon Baking Powder
1 tablespoon Baking Soda
2 Eggs Blanched split Almonds
Whipped cream
Method :
Prepare syrup first.
Dissolve sugar in water in a medium saucepan.
Add lemon juice and bring to a boil.
Once the syrup begins to boil, add in honey.
Reduce heat and allow to slowly boil for about 8-10 minutes.
Remove from heat and set aside.
Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
Lightly grease and flour a 9x12 baking dish.
Cream together butter and sugar in a mixing bowl.
Add eggs and vanilla.
In a separate bowl, combine semolina, baking powder, and baking soda.
Slowly add to butter and egg mixture.
Stir in milk.
Pour mixture into baking dish and smooth with spoon.
Take a butter knife and make diagonal lines from left to right and complete to make diamond shapes.
Place an almond in the center of each diamond.
Bake for 25 minutes.
Remove cake from oven and pour syrup over cake until no more can be absorbed. Allow to cool for 20 minutes.
Serve immediately with a dollop of whipped cream.
Basbousa by Zarnak Sidhwa
