Elite life
Egypt (Egyptian Recipes)
Recipes gathered here are those known to the common Egyptian, irrelevant of their origin. Their names in Arabic are the ones we all know and use.
Ingredients:
2 can chickpeas, drained
1 cup chopped tomatoes or more if you like tomatoes
1/2 cup minced onions
1/2 cup sliced celery
1 cucumber sliced and chopped
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon dill weed
Salt
Pepper
3 teaspoons red wine vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
Cooking Instructions:
Mix oil & vinegar well and set aside. Combine all other ingredients and toss with the oil and vinegar mixture. Chill before serving and garnish with fresh parsley, if desired.
Ingredients:
4-6 slices hard white cheese
4-6 eggs
Cooking oil or spray
Salt
Pepper
Cooking Instructions:
Slice the cheese 1/2 inch thick & fry in skillet, turning & frying on both sides. Remove the cheese to one side of the serving dish, keeping warm. Break eggs and fry in the same fat. Serve the eggs alongside the cheese and season with taste. Garnish as desired. Here in the US, I used Wisconsin Farms' Frying Cheese, which I found at Wal-Mart, since Gibna or local Egyptian cheese, is not available here.
Ingredients:
2 c. cooked white meat chicken, cubed
1/2 c. sliced celery
1 c. coarsely chopped walnuts
1 c. green or red seedless grapes, cut in half lengthwise
3/4 c. scallions, chopped
1/2 c. low fat mayonnaise (less or more to taste) garnish with lettuce, grapes, walnuts if desired
Cooking Instructions:
Combine ingredients gently and serve cold. May be multiplied to increase servings.
Ingredient:
2 1/4 lbs. minced beef
2 onions
2 tb. tomato paste
1/2 ts. nutmeg or cinnamon
3-4 ripe tomatos
Salt
Pepper
Cooking Instructions:
Finely chop the onions and add to the minced ( ground ) beef. Add tomato paste, spices and seasonings. Mix well, then spread on an oven pan or baking dish, to form a layer 1.5 to 2 inches thick. Cut into 4" square sections and release sides. Peel tomatoes, slice and place on meet. Bake in center of preheated 350F oven for 30 minutes or until done.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon cumin seed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper
thinly sliced bell pepper
3 tomatoes, chopped
2 (15 ounces) cans garbanzo beans, drained
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 onion, chopped
Cooking Instructions:
In a large pot over low heat, warm oil and cumin; heat until cumin turns a darker shade of brown. Add salt, chili powder and lemon and pepper seasoning; mix well. Stir in tomatoes; once the juice begins to thicken add in chickpeas and mix well. Add in lemon juice and mix well; add onions and bell pepper and stir until they become soft. Remove from heat and place into a serving bowl; serve immediately.
Ingredients:
1 medium eggplant
1 1/2 lbs lamb shoulder
3 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, diced
1 teaspoon marjoram
1 pinch dried thyme
Salt
Pepper
1 cup consomme
1 cup rice
1 can tomato (2-1/2 cups)
Cooking Instructions:
Peel and cube the eggplant, soak in salted water for 15 minutes, rinse and drain well. Cut lamb into 1-inch squares and saute in butter until brown on all sides. Place in a casserole. Fry onion in the skillet until golden brown. Add onion and eggplant, seasonings and consomme to the casserole. Brown raw rice in a dry skillet and blend with canned tomatoes and their juice. Pour over the contents of the casserole. Bake in a preheated 350F oven until lamb is tender, about 90 minutes.
Ingredients:
1 onion
1 duck, about 4-1/2 pounds
Cooking oil
3-5 mastic grains
1 tablespoon flour
Salt
Pepper
3-5 cardamom seeds
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Cooking Instructions:
Boil water with onion, seasoning, and spices, then add duck and parboil, about 10 minutes. Remove the duck from broth, cool, and cut into joints. Set aside the broth. Fry the duck joints until golden brown, then place in serving dish, keeping warm. Using the leftover oil, fry flour until golden, then remove from flame and gradually add 1-2 cups of broth, stirring constantly until smooth. Adjust seasoning, return to flame, and cook for 3-5 minutes. Add lemon juice and pour over fried duck joints.
Ingredients:
6-8 cups broth of lamb shanks
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons flour
Salt
Pepper
Cooking Instructions:
Keep boned shanks warm in serving bowl. Set aside one ladleful of broth and boil the rest. In another pot melt the butter, remove from flame, and stir in the flour until well blended. Return to flame and cook for 1-2 minutes until flour becomes golden. Remove from flame again and add cool both and beaten egg yolks, stirring constantly. Return to very low flame, adding the boiling soup gradually and stirring constantly. Cook without allowing soup to boil. Add lemon juice and seasoning and pout over warm shanks.
Ingredients:
1 pound beef
3 cups tomato juice
Salt
Pepper
2-1/4 pounds colocasia
1 teaspoon vinegar
2 onions, chopped
Cooking oil
Cooking Instructions:
Cut beef into small cubes. Peel and slice colocasia about 1 inch thick and fry until golden brown. Remove onto absorbent paper. Saute onion until golden, add beef, and cook, stirring until it reasbsorbs its juice. Add tomato juice, vinegar, and seasoning and cook for 20 minutes. Return fried colocasia to pot and simmer for another 10 minutes.
Baked Spinach (Di'iyit sabanikh)
Ingredients:
1/2 cup chickpeas
2-3 cups tomato juice
Salt
Pepper
1 pound spinach, coarsely chopped
1 pound savory minced beef
7-10 garlic cloves, halved diagonally
Cooking oil
Cooking Instructions:
Soak chickpeas overnight, drain, add fresh water and boil for about
10 minutes. Drain. Saute spinach in a small amount of oil until it
wilts. Mix with chickpeas, garlic, and seasoning. Add 1 cup of tomato
juice to savory minced beef and place in bottom of cake mold. Cover with
spinach and top with remaining tomato juice. Bake in preheated 350
degrees oven for 30 minutes. Turn over onto platter before serving.
Ingredients:
1 onion
Cooking oil
2-3 ripe tomatoes
Salt
Pepper
3-6 eggs
Cooking Instructions:
Chop the onion very fine. Peel and slice tomatoes 1/2 inch thick. Fry onion until it softens, then add tomatoes and cook for 10-12 minutes. Break the eggs onto the onion and tomato mixture, and when set sprinkle with seasoning.
Ingredients:
2 chickens, about 2-1/2 pounds each
2 eggs
Cooking oil
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon oil
Salt
Pepper
1 teaspoon cinnamon or nutmeg
Breadcrumbs
Cooking Instructions:
Cut chicken into quarters. Separate drumsticks from legs, then skin and bone (save bones for making stock). Pour the milk into a deep bowl and stir in seasoning and spices. Marinate chicken pieces for 2-3 hours. Beat eggs, adding oil and seasoning. Dip chicken pieces in egg mixture and coat with breadcrumbs. Deep fry until golden.
Ingredients:
3-4-1/2 pounds fish
Oil
1 onion, chopped
Salt
2 cups rice
Cooking Instructions:
Cut fish into neat pieces and fry. Remove onto absorbent paper. With the same oil, fry chopped onion to a rich brown. Add rice and 3 cups water and cook uncovered. When the water is absorbed, place fried fish over rice, lower heat to the minimum, cover, and cook for 15-20 minutes. Season.
Ingredients:
3 each 4-1/2 pounds fish
1 tablespoon raisins
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Oil
1 onion, finely chopped
Salt
Pepper, mixed spices
Cooking Instructions:
Place fish whole (do not remove head) in lightly oiled oven pan and score diagonally 2-3 times. Rub with 1 tablespoon lemon juice and salt. Fry onion until light brown. Add raisins, seasoning, mixed spices, and remaining lemon juice. Stuff fish with this mixture and sew up. Cover with oiled paper, place in preheated 350 F oven, and bake for 30 minutes. To serve, cut thread and drain the stuffing.
Ingredients:
3-4 1/2 pounds fish
Carrot rounds, lemon slices, parsley leaves, and black olives
2 cups tahina sauce
Decoration
Cooking Instructions:
Steam, boil, or fry fish. Skin, bone, and fake in large chunks, if possible. Arrange in a fish-shaped serving dish and cover with tahina sauce. Decorate with carrot rounds, slices of lemon, pitted black olives, and parsley leaves.
Ingredients:
1 pound (500g) molohia leaves (available from specialty stores) or spinach
Salt
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups hot boiled long-grain white rice, as accompaniment
2 pounds (1 kg) boneless red meat or chicken meat, diced
Freshly ground black pepper
10 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon malt vinegar mixed with 1 finely chopped white onion, accompaniment
1 large yellow or red onion, finely diced
4-1/4 cups cold water
2 tablespoons ground coriander
Hot pita bread, cut into triangles, as accompaniment
Cooking Instructions:
Clean and finely chop the molohia leaves (Egyptians usually use a double-handled metal chopper called a makhrata to do this) and set aside. Leaving the fat on the meat, combine it in a large pot with the onion, salt, pepper, and 2 cups of the water. Boil the meat until tender, 30 to 40 minutes, depending on whether you are using red meat or chicken. Remove the meat from the stock and set aside. Add the molohia to the stock and boil for about 5 minutes. Place the butter in a small skillet and briefly fry the garlic and coriander for 1 minute only, without burning. Tip this mixture into the molohia and stock while the stock is still boiling. Be very careful; it may splatter, but it smells fantastic. Serve the soup hot, accompanied by sides dishes of the boiled meat, rice, onion-vinegar mix, and pita bread. Allow your guests to make their own selections and combinations.
Ingredients:
1 leg of lamb
2-3 potatoes, peeled and diced
Cooking oil
10-15 garlic cloves
3-4 tomatoes, peeled and chopped
Salt
Pepper
3-4 carrots, diced
1/2 pound shelled peas
Cooking Instructions:
With the tip of a sharp knife, pierce the leg in several places. Dip each garlic clove in a mixture of salt and pepper and insert in the holes. Rub the leg with cooking oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and place in oven pan. Mix the vegetables and place in oven pan around the leg. Bake in preheated 425 F. oven for 2-3 hours, depending on the weight of the leg. Baste 2-3 times with the juice.
Ingredients:
1 onion, coarsely chopped
Salt
Pepper, mixed spices
2-1/4 pounds beef head meat
Cooking oil
Cooking Instructions:
Rub onion with salt, pepper, and spices and place in pot with the beef and cooking oil. Cook over a very low flame, until the beef has reabsorbed its juice. Add a small amount of water, repeating when necessary, and cook until the beef is tender (about 45 minutes).
Ingredients:
2 pounds (1 kg) okra
6 tablespoons vegetable oil or samna (Egyptian rich clarified butter)
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
3 yellow or white onions, minced
3-1/3 pounds (1.5 kg) bone-in lamb, cubed
2 tomatoes, blanched, peeled, and diced
Juuice of 1 lemon, optional
4 cloves garlic, chopped
Salt
2 teaspoons tomato paste mixed with 1 cup water
6 cups hot cooked long-grain white rice or couscous as accompaniment
Cooking Instructions:
Top and tail the okra, and slice into 1/4-inch-thick rings. Do not remove the seeds. In a large, heavy-based pan, fry the onions and garlic in the oil until they start to brown. Add the lamb and season with salt and pepper. Stir well and cook until the meat starts to brown. Stir in the okra and continue cooking for 10 to 15 minutes on low heat, until the okra begins to soften. Add the tomatoes and the tomato paste blended with water. You may need to add more water later. Stir well, and simmer slowly for 40 minutes, or until the meat is tender, the vegetables are cooked, and the sauce is thick and creamy. Add the cilantro and the lemon juice, and adjust the seasoning. Serve hot with rice.
