Baklava Rolls
Baklava Rolls look incredibly complex but they’re incredibly easy to make. Micro-thin layers of crispy buttery filo pastry with nuts in a fragrant syrup
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Are your Taste Buds Ready To Dance?
Are you taste buds ready to dance? They will with these delicious new recipes from Secrets of a Cairo Kitchen.
Red Pepper and Walnut Dip
Red Pepper and walnut Dip – Muhammara
Red Pepper and Walnut Dip has such a wonderful combination of flavours
Red Pepper and Walnut Dip – Muhammara just has amazing flavours. The pomegranate molasses with its sweet yet tangy sour flavour is so good and when it’s mixed with the sweetness of red peppers it’s wonderful. And then, the walnuts simply takes them to another level. The slight kick of chilli adds a tingle on the taste buds & just completes it.
Muhammara, Red Pepper and Walnut Dip is sensational. It’s definitely one of my favourite dips ever.
It’s an exceptional dip – so unusual
There are many people who may not have come across pomegranate molasses before. Also with the subtle kick of chilli, Muhammara – Red Pepper and Walnut dip is a dish that has people sitting up and taking notice.
The thing is we’re all used to having the regular Houmous and Baba Ghanoush dips. But Red Pepper and Walnut Dip is something much more out of the ordinary. So if you want to get Brownie Points for bringing something new to the table, I would suggest that would be a great choice.
I recommend this fabulous dip with confidence.
The first time I had it was at my daughter’s wedding. They did all the catering themselves, with the help of different friends and family members who were delegated different responsibilities. It was wonderful, with everyone coming together to support them.
The Red Pepper and Walnut Dip was a real Hit !
It was a Middle Eastern type buffet with such a vast array of dishes. All the food was amazing. As I said one of the dips on offer was this Red Pepper and Walnut Dip – Muhammara. It was the first time that many people had tried it, myself included, and everyone was saying things like:-
“Wow, what IS this?”, ” This is fantastic”, “What’s in this dip, it’s wonderful?”
All really positive comments. So yes, like I said I highly recommend it.
This dip couldn’t be easier to make
The wonderful thing is that this epic delight is so quick and ridiculously easy to make.
This recipe uses a jar of ready roasted red peppers for convenience. If you prefer, you could char-grill your own red peppers you will need about 4 or 5 large ripe red Bell Peppers. Check out my recipe for Roasted Red Pepper.
Shop-bought Muhammara isn’t always so good
You can buy ready-made Muhammara in some delicatessens. But the ones I’ve tried are really spicy and have much more chilli than this recipe. Others have tomato puree in them which just overwhelms all the other flavours and just ruins it for me. Besides as I said this is so easy to make it just seems crazy not to make it yourself.
Ingredients
- 1 x 16oz jar roasted red peppers
- ½ cup walnuts, toasted
- 1 piece of pita bread or a dry slice of normal bread
- 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp chilli flakes
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt & Pepper
- Garnish with a couple of leaves of fresh coriander or mint (optional)
Method
Tear up the bread and put it into a food processor. Blitz it until it forms fine breadcrumbs.
Add the walnuts, paprika, cumin, and chilli flakes and process until finely chopped.
Drain the red peppers. Roughly chop them and add them to the food processor. Also add the lemon juice, and pomegranate molasses. Process until the mixture becomes a smooth paste.
With the processor still running, slowly pour in the oil, through the feed tube in the lid and process until combined.
Season with salt and pepper.
Your delicious dip is now ready to serve.
Perfect Red Pepper and Walnut Dip !
Serve in a wide shallow dish.
The vibrant green of the fresh herbs is a great garnish for this dip should you choose to use it. It contrasts so well with the beautiful garnet colour of the dip itself.
Serve with warm flat breads.
I hope you love this dip as much as I do. Let me know what you think
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Halabissah
Halabissah – Chilli Beef and Chickpea Soup
Halabissah – one of Egypt’s favourite street foods
Halabissah is one of Egypt’s favourite street foods. It’s sold by street vendors at times of celebrations, such as Eid. It’s truly delicious, and makes your taste buds celebrate too.
So, what’s so special about Halabissah?
It’s made using a tasty beef stock; clear, un-thickened stock – you could use chicken or vegetable stock if you preferred. Its ingredients include chickpeas, along with raw diced tomato. This incredible delight is then brought to life with chilli and lemon juice.
This combination makes it so much more than just ‘soup’. It’s bursting with flavour and makes your taste buds dance the fandango. The stock is really tasty but it’s the citrus burst from the lemon and heat from the chilli that makes your eyes sparkle and your taste buds tingle.
Halabissah definitely stands out from the crowd
The other amazing thing that makes Halabissah stand out from the crowd is the unmistakeable way it’s served. What other soup is served in a tall glass with a straw? I can’t imagine where that idea came from, but the idea stuck and this is how it’s always served.
*It’s worth mentioning that this is one of the very few things served in Egypt which doesn’t have bread as an accompaniment.
Ingredients
- 2 pints beef stock – or you can use chicken or vegetable stock if you prefer
- 2 cloves garlic – crushed and chopped
- 3 tomatoes – peeled, de-seeded and finely chopped
- 2 cups of cooked chickpeas / 1 tin
- 1 red chilli sliced – finely into rings – seeds removed if you prefer less heat
- a good pinch of chilli flakes
- freshly ground black pepper to season
- juice of half a lemon
- lemon wedges and extra chilli sauce to serve
- Tall glasses and straws are required for an authentic presentation
serves 6
This is how you make halabissah
- Put the chickpeas, garlic, stock and a pinch of chilli flakes into a pan.
- Bring them to the boil and then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer for about 10 minutes to allow the chick peas to absorb the flavours and for the garlic to lose its harsh raw flavour.
Whilst the stock is heating through, prepare the tomatoes
- They need to be peeled, de-seeded and finely chopped.
- To do this, cut a cross in the bottom of the tomato and put them in a pan. Pour boiling water over the tomatoes to cover them. Wait 5 – 10 minutes then pour away the hot water and plunge them into cold water. This should make it easy for you to pull the tomato skins off – if the skin is still firmly fixed to the flesh simply repeat the process
- Next, cut the tomatoes into 4 and scrape out the seeds.
- Now, chop the remaining flesh finely.
Bringing it all together
- The stock should be ready now, so take it off the heat.
- Add the chopped tomatoes to the soup. The tomatoes don’t need to be cooked just warmed and the heat from the stock will do this.
- Adjust the seasoning with salt, freshly ground black pepper and chilli flakes to your taste. I’m told that the chilli should be just enough to make your lips tingle – but then this is a matter of taste.
How to serve your halabissah, your chilli beef and chickpea soup
- Now your halabissah is ready to serve. As I said you need tall, heat proof glasses – to be honest I just use regular tall glasses but I always allow it to cool down a little and put a long spoon in the glass when I pour in the hot liquid, as a precaution to guard against the glass cracking.
- Using a slotted spoon, put a few chick peas and a little chopped tomato in the bottom of each glass and then top up with the stock.
- Lemon slices are offered when serving to be squeezed over the top of your halabissah to add a citrus tingle.
- Additional chilli sauce (or shahta as it’s called) is offered for those who enjoy their snacks with an extra kick.
A big thank you
I must thank my lovely niece, Afaf, for this recipe. She is the one who regularly provides this wonderful snack by the gallon, for big family gatherings.
I do hope you’ll try this recipe. If nothing else, it will definitely be an ice-breaker and a conversation point when you have friends round, simply because of the way it’s served.
The fact that it tastes great will then just be an added bonus.
Let me know how it goes.
Tahini
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Kofta
Kofta – Egyptian meatballs
Kofta are like delicious Egyptian meatballs which have been seasoned perfectly to bring out the wonderful flavours of the meat.
They’re great for large gatherings
Kofta is an absolute favourite with kids as well as adults.
With its popularity it’s great for big family gatherings because it’s guaranteed that just about everyone will love it ( except our vegetarian friends obviously).
It can be made in advance which is a real bonus when you’re hosting, because anything that takes the pressure off is such a blessing in my opinion. It will be ready to pop in the oven just about three quarters of an hour before everyone is ready to eat. And it’ll stay warm ready to serve.
Rice and a mixed salad are ideal accompaniments for kofta especially with a drizzle of garlicky tahini dressing. If you add in warm pita bread there is the option of splitting the pita bread and making a pita bread pocket stuffed with kofta and salad which is easily as good as any take-away and also great for outdoor eating .
Kofta is a real crowd pleaser
The recipe I use now, is one that I have adapted and that I have found to to be a real crowd pleaser. It has loads of flavour but it’s not spicy. Those seeking a hit of chilli, can drizzle hot chilli sauce over, after it’s cooked.
This particular recipe has a few breadcrumbs in it. This helps to retain the juices from the meat which has a lot of the flavour and also keeps the kofta lovely and moist. It does mean that it needs to be cooked in the oven though as it tends to break up if you try cooking it on skewers.
I have a solution for you
If you find it disappointing that you can’t barbeque these kofta and you think that you’ll miss that wonderful smoky flavour, don’t worry I have a solution for that.
You have the option of smoking them once they’re cooked. Don’t worry you don’t need any fancy equipment or ingredients and it is so simple, you’ll be amazed.
This recipe makes enough for about 8 people
Ingredients
- 1 kilo minced beef
- 3 slices of bread – slightly dry is best
- a little oil for frying
- 2 onions finely chopped – optional
- 5 cloves of garlic grated or 3 tsp of garlic puree
- 1 egg
- 2 stock cubes – grated
- 2 tbsp of korma paste (I like to use Pataks)
- 1 tbsp tomato ketchup
- a handful of fresh coriander finely chopped – optional
If you want a smoky barbeque flavour you’ll need this
- a little oil
- a piece of charcoal the size of a bean
- aluminium foil
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C
Here’s how to make your kofta
First put your minced beef into a large bowl & break it up so that when the other ingredients are added it will mix easily.
Blitz your bread
First put the bread in a food processor and blitz it to form breadcrumbs – alternatively you can grate them. Add this to the minced beef in the bowl.
Now let’s fry up those onions
If you are using onions, drizzle oil into a large frying pan and put it over a high flame to heat up. Add the chopped onions and fry them until they become translucent. Put these into the blender with the egg and blitz them for about 20 seconds. Then add these to the breadcrumbs and meat in the bowl.
Mix all your ingredients together
Now, add all the remaining ingredients to the bowl. Mix everything together well – this can be done with a large spoon, but I find that nothing beats working everything together with your hands. Keep mixing until the ingredients are all fully blended.
Let’s start shaping up those kofta
Once everything is very well mixed, it’s time to start forming the kofta.
To make this easy to explain first follow these instructions open your left hand out palm up, then lay the index finger and middle finger of your right hand across your left hand and close your fingers around them – this is about the size your koftas will be.
Squeeze and twist to form the kofta
So, scoop up a spoonful of the mix about the size of a large walnut and lay it across your upper palm – i.e., where the fingers of you right hand were laid. Next close your fingers around it as though you are holding a handle and squeeze the mix and twist it slightly and squeeze and twist to form the kofta. Repeat this process until all the mix is used up.
Lay the kofta out tidily
To bake your kofta in the oven. Lay them in tidy rows on 2 large baking trays.
Bake the kofta in the pre-heated oven for about 25 minutes
Put the baking trays into the preheated oven and cook for about 25 minutes. The kofta is cooked when it is browned on the outside. Break one in half to check it is cooked on the inside – it should be brown, and the juices run clear. If the meat on the inside still looks red, cook for a little longer with aluminium foil over the top of it so that it doesn’t dry out.
If you crave a good smoky barbeque flavour, here’s how – Magic time
Now to add the magic. First pile all your kofta onto one baking tray.
Make your cup
Shape some tin foil into a small egg cup shape – double thickness.
Sit the cup in the baking tray
Make a space in the centre of the tray and sit the tin foil cup in it.
Light the coal
Set the charcoal alight by holding it over the gas flame for a few minutes. When the coal begins to glow blow out the flame.
Let’s get smoking
Drizzle a little oil into the tin foil cup that you have just made and then put the charcoal in the oil.
Quickly cover the baking tray with kitchen foil and close it tightly to stop the smoke from escaping and smoking out your kitchen. Allow it to smoke for 5 minutes.
Keep it nice and warm
Keep the baking tray in a warm place, putting it back in the warm oven for a few minutes, is a good option.
Keep your kofta warm until you are ready to serve
Cover the kofta with aluminium foil until you are ready to serve them – this will keep them warm and stop them from drying out.
What to serve with kofta
As I said, kofta are incredibly popular and they are perfect accompanied by rice, a mixed salad and a drizzle of tahini dressing. You could also serve warm pitta bread, humus. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves if you choose. A few olives or marinated chargrilled red peppers are really good to serve as a side dish with your kofta if you wanted a little extra.
I do hope you enjoy making kofta using this recipe.
Kofta is a real crowd pleaser and guaranteed to satisfy. Enjoy!
You have to try this recipe. It’s so good and it never fails to bring big smiles to everyone’s face.
Let me know how it goes. I love seeing your photos.
If you love smoky barbeque flavours another great recipe to try is Chicken Shawarma. It’s phenomenal.
Click the link to get the recipe.
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