Middle Eastern Recipes – Zaatar Halloumi; Saffron Chicken; Khobz Flatbread;
Middle Eastern Cookery Class Recipes
We hope you enjoyed your cookery class, if you have any questions for chef please do ask and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
We Made: Zaatar Halloumi, Hummus, Khobz Flatbread, Shirazi Salad, Saffron Chicken, Batata Harra, Morrocan Tomato Sauce
Zaatar Halloumi
Ingredients – Serves 2:
- – 1x block of halloumi, sliced into thick wedges
- – 1tsp of olive oil
- – 2tbsp of hummus
- – 1tbsp of zaatar
- – Chopped herbs to garnish (coriander, parsley and mint)
Method:
- Preheat a non-stick pan on medium heat and add the oil.
- Sauté the halloumi on both sides until golden brown.
- Leave on the side to cool down slightly and spread hummus on top.
- Finish with a sprinkle of zaatar and chopped herbs.
Hummus
Ingredients:
- – 1 can chickpeas
- – 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice, roughly 1 lemon
- – 3 tbsp well-stirred tahini
- – 1 garlic clove, minced
- – 2 tbsp olive oil
- – 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- – Salt to taste
- – 2 to 3 tbsp water
- – Dash ground paprika or sumac
Method:
- Combine the tahini and lemon juice in a food processor or mixer for 1 minute, scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl then process for 30 seconds more. This extra time helps “whip” or “cream” the tahini, making the hummus smooth and creamy.
- Add olive oil, minced garlic, cumin, and a 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
- Process for 30 seconds, scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl then process another 30 seconds or until well blended.
- Open, drain, and rinse the chickpeas.
- Add half of the chickpeas to the food processor and process for 1 minute. Scrape sides and bottom of the bowl, then add remaining chickpeas and process until thick and quite smooth; 1 to 2 minutes.
- Most likely the hummus will be too thick or still have tiny bits of chickpea. To fix this, with the food processor turned on, slowly add 2 to 3 tablespoons of water until you reach the perfect consistency.
- Taste for salt and adjust as needed.
- Serve hummus with a drizzle of olive oil and dash of paprika.
- Store homemade hummus in an airtight container and refrigerate up to 5 days.
Khobz Flatbread
Ingredients – Makes 10
- 350ml of warm water (might need a little bit more, depending on strength of your flour)
- 1tsp of fast action dried yeast
- 2tbsp of olive oil
- 600g strong white bread flour (plus extra for dusting)
- 1tbsp of caster sugar
- 1tsp of fine salt
- 2tsp Zaatar
Method
- Pour the water into a mixing bowl, stir in the yeast until dissolved.
- Add the oil, flour, sugar, salt, and zaatar. Mix everything and form a quite firm dough, adding more water if too dry, more flour if too wet.
- Leave for 10 minutes covered before kneading it until smooth.
- Transfer into a floured bowl, cover and leave to proof for 60 minutes.
- Divide the dough into 10 equal pieces and shape into balls.
- Cover the balls and rest for 10 minutes.
- Flour the surface and roll them about 1 cm thick.
- Cover the rolled flatbread and rest for another 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, place a non-stick frying pan on medium to high heat and get it smoking hot.
- Place one or two flatbread at time into your pan and cook on each side for roughly 2 minutes.
- Good indicator, when to flip, is if start seeing bubbles on top.
- Get a clean tea towel and stack your flatbreads in it and wrap tightly.
- Rest in the towel for 5 minutes, this will soften the flatbreads.
GF Sweet Potato Roti
Ingredients – Makes 6:
- – 1 cup sweet potatoes, baked until soft, skins discarded
- – 2 cups of good quality gluten free flour, (have some more just in case)
- – Seasoning
Method:
- To make the dough: Mix all the ingredients above in a mixing bowl. Make the sticky dough, wrap it in cling film, and let rest in the fridge for 20 minutes.
- To make the rotis, lightly flour a clean surface and put some flour into a small bowl. Divide the dough into 6 pieces. Roll a piece between your palms to form a ball, flatten it and coat it in the flour. Roll the dough out with a rolling pin to the size of a small saucer (around 10cm in diameter). Dip the roti in the flour and continue rolling it out to around 20cm in diameter.
- Take a tablespoon of the filling and spread it out on one half of the roti. Fold the other half of the roti over the top of the filling so that you end up with a semicircle. Seal it by gently pressing the edges closed, working from one side to the other so as not to trap air into it.
- Put a frying pan on a medium to high heat. When it’s hot, throw on the first roti and leave for around 60 seconds to a minute, until the edges colour and the side is browning nicely in spots. Turn it over and cook for the same length of time on the other side.
- Press down on the roti with a chapatti press or spatula on the back of any uncooked bits until cooked through before transferring to a plate. Repeat with the rest of the dough. To keep your roti warm while you cook the rest, make a foil nest for them to sit in or tuck them in a tea towel.
Shirazi Salad
Ingredients – serves 2
- Fresh Parsley, Coriander, Mint and Chives. Rough chopped handful of each
- 1/2 red onion finely diced
- 1/2 cucumber diced
- 5 cherry tomatoes halved
- 2 radishes sliced
- Splash of olive oil
- Pomegranate seeds
- Juice 1/2 lemon
- Salt & Pepper
Method
- Prepare your vegetables, rip up your herbs (or rough chop, especially the chives)
- Mix all together, then add the lemon juice, olive oil and seasoning – taste, adjust, serve!
Saffron and Harissa Chicken
Ingredients – Serves 2:
- – Pinch of saffron
- – 1 clove of garlic, minced
- – zest of 1 lemon
- – 1tsp of harissa paste
- – 1/2tsp of cumin
- – 2tbsp of Greek yoghurt
- – Salt & Pepper to taste
- – Chicken, either 2 boneless thighs each or a thigh and a leg on the bone.
Vegetarian Version
- – 1/2 cauliflower cut into steaks
Method:
- Mix the yoghurt, saffron, spices and salt and pepper. Add garlic, taste and adjust accordingly. Smear all over the chicken. Set to one side for a while or even cover and fridge over night.
- Preheat the oven to 185C.
- Place the chicken on a baking tray lined with baking paper and oven bake for 15 minutes.
- Pull out of the oven and let rest for 5 minutes.
- Roughly slice the chicken and serve or panfry in a splash of olive oil for extra colour
Batata Hara
Ingredients – Serves 2:
- – 250g small new potatoes, par-boiled
- – 1x red onion, peeled and sliced
- – 3 tbsp olive oil
- – 2 garlic cloves, minced
- – 2 tsp coriander seeds or a little more than 1 tsp ground coriander
- – 1 tsp crushed chilli flakes (optional)
- – 2 tsp ground turmeric
- – Juice of lemon or lime
- – Handful fresh coriander leaves – chopped
- – Handful fresh parsley leaves – chopped
- – Salt and pepper
- Optional to garnish – table spoon pickled drop peppers
Method:
- Heat the olive oil in a cast-iron skillet or non stick frying pan on medium heat. Pan-fry the potatoes on both sides until golden brown. Add the onion and saute until caramelised, stir in the garlic and all the spices. Cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Add drop peppers and chopped herbs and serve immediately
Moroccan Cherry Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
- – 1 tablespoon olive oil
- – 1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced
- – 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
- – 1 red chilli, chopped
- – 1/2 tablespoon tomato paste plus a pinch of sugar
- – 250g cherry tomatoes or if you don’t have, use a similar amount of chopped tinned tomatoes
- – 50ml water or more as needed
- – 2 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander
- – 2tsp of madras
- – 1/4 teaspoon cumin
- – 1tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Method:
- Heat oil in medium pan. Sauté onions for 4-6 minutes until tender and lightly browned. Add garlic, spices, tomato paste (with a pinch of sugar if you prefer sweeter sauces). Stir and cook for 1 minute.
- Add cherry tomatoes, chilli and water. Bring to boil. Then lower heat to simmer, stirring occasionally. The total time will be about 10 minutes, after 5 minutes, help burst tomatoes by gently pressing with spatula or large spoon to burst them (careful not to squirt yourself).
- Stir in coriander. Continue cooking until tomatoes form a sauce with the consistency you like. More cooking will make it thicker. Add more water to thin it out if needed. Taste and adjust seasoning
We Hope You Enjoyed The Class
If you have any feedback about the class or questions for chef please do get in touch. Email: lovetocook@foodsorcery.co.uk
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