Sabaayad - Flatbread

This month for Mena Cooking Club I am making a Sabaayad flatbread Djibouti ( we revisiting) which is commonly made in Djibouti and well as Somialia.

This is versatile bread that can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, dinner, with just anything. like fried egg, stew or even wraps . After making this bread, I reaslised this is similar to the paratha that we make in India and also similar to the Heavy Paratha that I have already posted. In this paratha I have used butter so this is more crispy and flaky. Whereas the sabaayad is flaky and soft. 

Since I, have used half and half of all purpose flour and whole wheat flour, this makes the Sabaayad healty, flaky and soft ... not chewy / rubbery .

Ingredients
2 Cups All Purpose Flour
2 Cups Wholemeal Wheat Flour
2 Tablespoon Oil
½ Teaspoon Salt
1.1/3 to 1.1/2 Cups Water to knead the dough
Desi Ghee as required
Flour for dusting the work surface as required

Method

Mix all the flours together with the salt. Add the oil and mix in thoroughly. Add in the water slowly as you knead the dough. The dough should soft and smooth. Cover the dough and let it rest for about an hour.

How to shape the square sabaayad. See step by step pic.

Cut the dough into eight equal portions.( or size is your own choice) and roll them into balls. Keep covered with a moist cloth. 

Dust one ball with dry flour and roll it out to a round thick circle.

Brush the circle with ghee

Fold one side till the center , apply ghee lightly on fold 

Then the other side to over lap the first fold, apply ghee lightly on this fold too

then fold the side too till the center

The fold the other side to overlap the first one and now this become a square. 

In the meantime place a griddle or tava on low flame to heat. 

Roll out this into a big square. It should be rolled from center outwards so that the edges are thinner than the center. Keep dusting the work surface with flour on both sides a couple of time during this process. Parathas should be a little thick (see pic).

Place the paratha on the hot griddle/tava .

Flip it over, after a minute or two and cook this side till brown dots appear and then again flip and cook this side the same way.

Press paratha gently all over with a flat spatula or a cotton cloth, if you see any steam escaping, seal it by pressing it gently, making it balloon up. Brush a little ghee on both surfaces. 

Wrap the flaky sabaayad in a cloth to keep it warm and soft. Serve while hot. 

 I got 8 flat breads , we had it for breakfast and the remaining for dinner with sabji. This goes well with any curry or sabji .

Labels : Sabaayad, Flatbread, Djibouti, Mena Cooking Club, An InLinkz Link-up

TAHDIG WITH POTATO - CRUSTY RICE WITH POTATO

Bahrain officially  called as the Kingdom of Bahrain,  is an island country situated near the western shores of the Persian Gulf in the Middle East. Bahrain has more expats which are outnumbering the locals. Bahrain is modern and cosmopolitan. Hence the cuisine of Baharain is mix of Persian, Arabic and Asian. This month in Mena Cooking club we are exploring the cuisine of Baharain. I choose to make a savory and a sweet dish.

Tahdeek or TAHDIG is an Iranian / Persian traditional dish, which is a crispy / crusty rice. Tah means "bottom" + Dīg means "pot" There are many different version of making this recipe. Some make with yogurt and saffron or with lavash bread or with potato. Here I, have made this recipe, with an addition of my own by adding a pinch of spices to the traditional Tahdig which is actually without any spices.

Ingredients
1  Large Potato
1 Cup Basmati Rice
1/8 Teaspoon  Saffron

2 Tablespoons Water 

1 Clove Garlic

1/8 Teaspoon Black Pepper Powder

1/8 Teaspoon Chilly Flakes
1 Tablespoon Oil

1 Tablespoon Butter

Salt to Taste

Method

Slice potatoes as evenly as possible in about 1/4″ rounds and immerse them in  water with a pinch of salt till further use.

Mix the saffron in 2 tablespoons warm water and a pinch of salt, keep aside.

In the meantime let's cook the rice.  Boil the rice in 4 -5 cups water and a teaspoon of salt, cook the rice till done.  Strain the rice and cool it.  

In a flat round pot add oil and a teaspoon of butter and grease it well.   Then pour the saffron water.

Arrange the slices of potato as seen in the pic.  

Grate the clove of garlic, sprinkle a pinch of chilly flakes and pepper powder.  

Now place the rice on top of the potato and lighlty press.  

Again sprinkle a pinch of black pepper powder and chilly flakes, dot it with remaing butter.  Cover the pot with a aluminum foil and keep it on high flame for 5 to 7 minutes.  Then reduce the flame to very low and let it cook for an hour. 

After an hour switch of the flame and let it cool.  When you open the pot, you will see that it has left the sides that means it's done perfectly. 

  
Overturn it on to a plate and enjoy .... yum ... 
tahdig... crusty potatoes and soft rice ... hmmmm delicious. 

Labels : Rice, Potato, Bahrain, Mena Cooking Club, Continental Cuisine

KHABEES AL NIKHI

Khabees is a traditional sweet found throughout the Arabic country that is made with different types flours  like :- all purpose flour, semolina , chickpea flour and brown flour. When Chickpea is used it's called as Khabees Al Nikhi. Khabees is made with all purpose flour or brown flour and   Al Khabees is made with semolina flour.  This is a simple and easy sweet from Bahrain.   

I took  a dozen of these for my friends, they were so thrilled and enjoyed it... for them these were tasty and healthy balls. My hubby too liked these dates balls though he is not a fan of dates.  

Makes around 18 to 20

Ingredients

2 Cups Chickpea flour  / Besan
5 Tablespoons Level Tea Sugar
1/2 Cup Water
1/3 Cup  Butter
1  Teaspoon Cardamom powder

2 Tablespoon Rose water
16  Dates -  deseeded and chopped
1/3 - 1/2  Cup  Sesame seeds - toasted

Method

In a microwave proof plate add chickpea flour and microwave on high for 2 minutes.  Mix it well,   then microwave for a minute and again mix it well, like wise keep it for  another 3 after every minutes mix it well.  If you find that the flour is not roasted and not giving a nutty flavor then microwave it for every 30 seconds and give it a mix.  This is what I did for another 2 minutes pausing every 30 seconds and mix it well.   It took about 7  minutes to roast the flour in the microwave. 

  

After the chickpea flour is nicely roasted add the butter and stir it when its hot.  Then again microwave it for 2 minutes, pausing every 15  seconds to give it a quick stir. When its hot add the dates and stir it well.  The dates will soften.   Keep this aside.

 In a saucepan, add sugar and water. Bring to a rolling boil, then take it off flame. Add cardamom powder, and rose water mix well.  

Add the sugar water to the chickpea flour until a soft dough has formed. I used all the sugar water. 

Divide the dough into marble size balls, then roll  each in sesame seeds. Place on the baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes in a  preheated oven at 150 degrees.

Look at these pretty balls studded with small white pearls... hmm... beauties..  

These have a natural color because I, used medjool dates. 

My Notes

The flour is traditionally  roasted in a pan and butter is added to sugar water.  But I used the microwave and added the butter to the flour and roasted it in butter for 2 to 3 minutes. 

I found that the microwave is quick and requires less effort and roasted  the flour  to perfection.   

When I was surfacing the net and watching videos they all followed the pan method.    They also kept the flour after adding the sugar water again in the oven to steam it.  This can all be eliminated if you use the microwave method.

Do not keep the sugar water boiling, since this not require any thread consistency.  Soon as it come to a boil, switch off the flame.

Labels :  Sweets & Desserts, Healthy, Mena Cooking Club, Bahrain, Continental Cuisine

An InLinkz Link-up

Chorba Beïda - Algeria

This month in Mena Cooking Club we are exploring the cuisine of Algeria. I choose to make this soup called
Chorba Beïda which is a White Soup. In Arabic Chorba means soup, and Beïda means white.  This is a comforting and filling soup. We had it for our dinner, enjoyed this simple and delicious soup.

Serves 4

Ingredients
250 Grams  Chicken breast - cut into strips
4 Cups Chicken Stock - See Notes

2 Tablespoons Oil
1 Onion - chopped
1/2 Cup Fresh Coriander with the stem - chopped finely
1 Teaspoon Black pepper powder - freshly ground
3/4 Teaspoon Sea Salt or as required
A Stick of Cinnamon
1 Cup Boiled Chickpeas
1 liter and half of water
100 Grams  Rice Vermicelli
Juice of a small Lemon
1 Egg yolk

Method

In a large pan on a medium flame,  add oil when its hot add the onion and  cinnamon stick, saute till translucent, then add chicken saute till it turns from pink to white, add stock, salt,  black pepper, and  the stems and  coriander leaves (reserve a little for garnishing). Satue till the coriander releases an aroma or for about 2 minutes. Pour the stock and the chickpeas, bring it to a rolling boil.  Cover and cook for 30 minutes on medium low flame. After half an hour add the vermicelli into the soup.

Whisk into a bowl the egg yolk and pour the whisked egg yolk into the soup and  keep  stirring till the yolk is cokked and let it simmer again for  another 10 minutes (stir from time to time).
Take off flame and and let the soup rest  for another 10 minutes.

Serve the soup into the bowls, sprinkle with a few leaves of coriander and drizzle with a little of lemon juice and enjoy ....

My Notes:

I used boneless chicken hence used stock.  If you are using  chicken with bones then do add stock, add the same quantity of water.

Labels : Soup, Algeria, Chicken, Mena Cooking Club, Chorba Beïda

An InLinkz Link-up

Red Bean Stew - A Vegetarian a Yemeni stew

This is had for breakfast or dinner in Yemen. We had this for our dinner. When I, served this for dinner and they tasted it, immediately said this is just like the Rajma curry that you make, only less spices. Yes it true, its taste amazing with less spices. Try it and you will love it. Sending this to Mena cooking club , this month we are exploring Yemeni cuisine.


Ingredients

1.1/2 Cups Dried Red Beans / Rajma
1/4 Cup Olive oil
1 Large Onion - finely chopped
3 + 3 Garlic cloves  - finely chopped
1 Large Capsicum- cut in small cubes
2 Tablespoons Sweet Paprika
3  Tablespoons Tomato paste
1 Bay leaf
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Oregano
1 Teaspoon Cayenne
1/2 Teaspoon Sugar
1 Veg Stock Cube
1/4 Teaspoon Freshly ground pepper
2 Tablespoon Coriander Leaves - finely chopped
1 Tablespoon Dill leaves - finely chopped

Method

Wash and soak the beans for 6 hours or overnight in water.

Drain the beans, place the beans in a pressure cooker or a large pot. Add enough water to cook the beans, turn the heat to medium-high and bring to a gentle boil. Cook till the beans are soft and tender yet whole.

Heat oil in a large, skillet and add the onions,  saute till light golden . Add half of the chopped garlic and cook  until the garlic is fragrant.  Add salt and paprika, add the capsicum. Cook, stirring, for a couple of minutes, until the vegetables are well coated with paprika and the mixture is aromatic. Add the tomato paste and bay leaf and water from the beans to the pan, stir  well, add the oregano, the remaining garlic cloves, salt to taste, cayenne and sugar, and continue to simmer for another hour.  Reduce the flame, cover and  let it simmer for half  an hour till the stew is thick. To make it even more thicker smash some of the rajma to make  a thick gravy.

Just before serving, stir in the coriander and dill. Serve each portion with  thick yogurt and thick slices of crusted bread. Hmm mm mmm .... satisfying and delicious...

Labels : Vegetables, Yemeni, Rajma, Mena Cooking Club

An InLinkz Link-up

Jabeez - Yemeni Style Savory Cake

Jabeez is a Yemeni style savory cake served as appetizers during Ramadan. In Mena cooking club this month we are exploring Yemeni cuisine.   I made two recipes from the given list this and the Red Bean Stew.  Wanted to make third  -  Khaliat Al Nahl, but here it too oo very hot to on the oven so left this. Thanks Mena for hosting this month.

Serves -  6 Cakes
Ingredients
1.1/4 Cup Dried Black Eyed Peas 
1/2 Cup  Bread crumbs
2  Scallions / Spring Onions - finely chopped
1 Egg - beaten
2 Tablespoons Capsicum  - finely chopped
1/2 Teaspoon Salt or to taste
1 Teaspoon Jalapenos - finely chopped
1/4 Teaspoon Turmeric
1/2  Teaspoon Black pepper powder
3/4 Teaspoon  Cumin powder
2 Tablespoon  Coriander leaves - finely chopped
Oil for frying 

Method

Wash and soak  the  black eyed peas for an hour or two. Then drain the water and blend it to a fine paste.  If needed add a tablespoon of water, but I did not require,  ground this in a small mixer jar little at a time.

In a bowl add the pea paste along with scallions, jalapenos, capsicum, coriander leaves, cumin powder, black pepper powder,  turmeric and  salt, mix them well.   Add  half the beaten egg and mix well, if the paste is watery , add a tablespoon of bread crumbs(  I did)  It will form into a thick smooth paste. Taste and adjust salt if needed.  Make small cakes and place them  in  a plate and keep it in the refrigerator for a hour to set well.  

Heat 2 tablespoons of  oil in a pan.

Roll each cake in  bread crumbs and then dip each in egg and fry the cakes on medium flame till brown on both sides.  We enjoyed this hot with spicy  chutney. 

Labels:  Black Eyed Peas, Starters, Mena Cooking Club, Yemeni

An InLinkz Link-up