Tag: Middle Eastern

Tiny Baked Potatoes with Chickpeas

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Full of sweet, savory, creamy, and crunchy textures and flavors, this these potatoes with spiced chickpeas are kind of like loaded potatoes in appetizer form — if loaded potatoes were vaguely South Asian or Middle Eastern.

Ingredients:

3 pounds small Yukon gold potatoes, halved (or quartered) to about 2-inch pieces
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt
Pepper
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons nigella seeds
1/2 teaspoon paprika
Zest plus one teaspoon juice from one lemon
1 teaspoon honey
3 green onions
2/3 cup sour cream
2 to 3 tablespoons mango chutney

1. Preheat the oven to 400F degrees. Toss potatoes with half the oil and spread out on a baking sheet. Season with salt and bake for 45 minutes, flipping potatoes halfway through baking time.

2. Meanwhile, transfer the chickpeas into a bowl and pat dry. Toss chickpeas with remaining oil, cumin seeds, 1 teaspoon teaspoon of the nigella seeds, and the paprika. Season and spread on another baking sheet or roasting pan.

3. Roast for 10 to 15 minutes, until just beginning to brown. Stir through the lemon zest and honey and return to the oven for another 5 to 10 minutes, until well-browned and crisp.

4. Chop half of the green onions and stir into sour cream with the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to taste. Finely slice the remaining green onions and set aside.

5. Arrange potatoes on a large platter, and dollop 1 teaspoon of the green onion sour cream to each potato, with a little mango chutney. Scatter the chickpeas on top. Scatter the reserved green onions and remaining nigella seeds, plus a little more black pepper. Serve warm.

Palestinian-Style Potatoes with Spiced Eggs

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Crispy potatoes, creamy spiced eggs, and a handful of herbs make this an easy breakfast I can’t stop thinking about. Adapted from Baladi, this dish is Palestinian, but it reminds me of an equally delicious potato and egg dish my baba makes that’s greater than the sum of its parts: crispy-on-the-outside-but-creamy-on-the-inside potatoes and perfectly cooked eggs. Comfort food at its best.

This recipe serves two but quantities can easily be doubled.

Palestinian potatoes with spiced eggs

Ingredients:

2 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes
1/4 cup olive oil
1 shallot, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
Pinch of paprika
Pinch of cayenne pepper
4 eggs
2 teaspoons chopped cilantro
Flatbread, to serve (optional)
Salt
Black pepper

1. Parboil the potatoes in a pan of boiling water for 5 minutes; drain.

2. Heat the oil in a pan and saute the potatoes until lightly browned. Add the shallots and garlic until softened, then add the spices and mix to combine.

3. Separate the ingredients in the pan into four portions and crack and egg on top of each. Move the mixture around over low heat and gently stir together. Try not to overscramble the eggs so that you have bigger pieces of cooked egg.

4. Season with salt and pepper, add the cilantro, and serve warm.

Persian Mulberry and Hibiscus Chia Seed Jam

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My parents have a giant shahtoot (Persian mulberry) tree and every year, we look forward to staining our fingers (and our clothes) from picking the juicy, crimson berries. This year, I used some to make a fresh, not-too-sweet and super healthy jam. Paired with hibiscus, this jam comes together in minutes and is bound by chia seeds. I use sugar very sparingly here, so this is a jam that won’t keep forever, even in the fridge. (Don’t worry, it won’t last long anyway.)

Persian mulberry and hibiscus chia seed jam

Ingredients:

1/3 cup dried hibiscus flowers
1 1/4 pound (about 1 1/2 pints) Persian mulberries
4 tablespoons chia seeds
4 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons sugar

1. Put the hibiscus in a heatproof bowl and cover with 1/2 cup boiling water. Let steep for 10 minutes. Strain to remove the dried flowers, pressing down to release their flavor.

2. Put the mulberries in a saucepan and slowly heat, roughly crushing the berries with the back of a wooden spoon. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer gently for about 10 minutes, until the juices have run. Stir in the chia seeds and hibiscus water, then cook for another minute. Add honey and sugar, tasting to adjust if needed. Remove from heat and set aside to cool and thicken. Cover and store in the fridge.

Ghalayet Kousa (Sauted Zucchini)

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Sorry guys, this is a zucchini blog now. Iranian ghaliyeh kadoo, meet your Palestinian cousin, ghaleyet kousa. Just as delicious a zucchini dish, ghalayet kousa is a little mintier, a little spicier, and sans turmeric. If you love zucchini like I do, you’ll be making this easy dish all summer long.

Ghalayet kousa

Ingredients:

1/2 cup olive oil
6 zucchini, sliced into 1/2-inch pieces
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 serrano chili, minced
1 teaspoon dried mint
Salt

1. Heat the olive oil in a skillet. Add the zucchini and saute for 3 or 4 minutes. Add the garlic and chili and let the zucchini cook down, stirring occasionally. Season with salt.

2. After about 10 minutes, add the mint and mix with the zucchini. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Mutabal Kousa (Zucchini and Yogurt Dip)

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I first made this Palestinian zucchini, yogurt, and tahini dip last summer when we had way too much zucchini on our hands and didn’t know what to do with it. One bite of the creamy dip flecked with garlic, lemon, and mint, and I was hooked. So naturally, I ended up making this a hundred or so times last summer — and plan on doing the same this year, too. Like Iranian ghaliyeh kadoo, you can serve mutabal kousa with flatbread, or if you’re like me, you can eat it straight out of the bowl.

Mutabal kousa

Ingredients:

1/3 cup olive oil
4 or 5 zucchini, cubed
1 garlic clove, minced
Juice of 1 lemon
3 tablespoons tahini
2 tablespoons Greek yogurt
1 serrano chili, minced
1 teaspoon dried mint
Salt
Flatbread to serve

1. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat and saute the zucchini with 1 teaspoon of salt, until golden grown. Remove from the heat.

2. Smash the zucchini in a bowl with a fork to achieve a chunky texture. Add the garlic, lemon juice, tahini, yogurt, and salt, if needed.

3. Add the chili and dried mint and mix to combine. Serve cold or at room temperature.