This recipe was requested by Aminta … Shawerma is a very popular sandwich across the middle east … it is considered a fast food  .. basically its meat or chicken marinated overnight then set on a stand and roasted until done …. there is two types of shawerma .. chicken and meat … each is marinated differently .. the sandwiches for each type is different too .. a chicken shawerma sandwich would be a wrap that has fried potatoes, cucumber pickles, garlic sauce, and of course the chicken shawerma …. and meat shawerma sandwich would have tomatoes, red onion, parsley, tahini sauce, and the meat shawerma …The traditional shawerma is difficult to make at home because of the equipments used in making it … but i think what you put in the sandwich effects the whole taste …. in my version of the recipe … i roast the tomatoes and onions to give it more flavor and a little charred taste .. as the meat is just stir fried … so to make my version of a shawerma sandwich you will need:

Serves: 4 – 5

For marinate:

- 1/2 kg beef or lamb steak … cut into stripes

- 1/4 cup olive oil

- 1/4 cup red viniger

- 1 medium red onion

- 2 garlic cloves

- 1 ts cinnamon

- 1 ts allspice

- 1/4 ts nutmeg

- 1/4 ts cloves

- salt and pepper

For the Sandwich:

- 1 cup finely chopped parsley

- 3 medium red onions .. cut into wedges

- 3 to 4 medium tomatoes … they must be firm and chopped into wedges

- Tahini sauce

- 1 ts sumac

- 4 tb olive oil

- salt and pepper

- pita bread or any other flat bread you prefer

Start by marinating the meat … in a mini – food processor chop the onions and garlic really fine … if you dont have a mini-food processor .. then mince the garlic and grate the onions …

In a bowl .. mix the onion, garlic, red vinegar, and olive oil …

To the mixture add the meat and the spices (cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, black pepper, and salt) …

Mix everything well together and let it marinate in the refrigerator overnight …

Now for the sandwich:

Place the tomatoes in a bowl … to it add salt, pepper and around 2 tb olive oil …

Mix everything and make sure its all coated in oil … then place it on a baking sheet (skin side down) and  roast at 240°C for 30 to 40 mins … until you see few black edges … not alot of black or it will burn

Do the same to the onions … place it in a bowl and add salt, pepper and 2 tb olive oil …

Mix everything well together and roast them at 240°C for 10 to 15 mins … dont over roast them … just until slightly golden

After the onions are roasted let it cool down a little … then place it in a bowl and add the sumac …  mix it well …

For the meat you have two choices … either place it on a baking sheet in the oven until its done .. or pan or stir fry it like I did … you dont need to add anything to it .. just place the meat along with the marinade on a wok and stir fry it until the meat is done …

Now you got everything ready to make the sandwich … the meat, tomatoes, onions, parsley and tahini sauce …

Making the Sandwich:

Open a pita bread … add a little or everything … so add the meat, tomatoes, onions, parsley … and then drizzle a little tahini sauce on top … then wrap the sandwich …

And there you got Shawerma sandwich .. My Way ..

Enjoy …

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Tahini sauce is the most common and popular sauces that we use in our sandwiches here in the middle east …  its used in the two most famous arab fast food sandwiches … that is … meat shawerma and falafel .. you don’t need many ingredients to make it and its really simple to make … all you need is:

Makes: around 1 cup sauce

- 1/2 cup Tahini

- 3 tb lemon juice

- salt .. to taste

- 1/4 cup water … depending on the thickness you prefer

- small garlic clove .. minced … this is optional .. i didnt use it … but you can add it if you want

In a bowl .. add the tahini and lemon juice …

Mix them well together .. you will realize that it becomes a very thick paste …

Then you add the salt and water … a little at a time … and keep mixing … you can make it as thick as you want .. just be careful not to make it too watery if using it in a sandwich …

P.s you can add the garlic at this point if you want to use it …

And thats it … you got a tahini sauce which you can use as a dip or as a sauce in a sandwich (eg. shawerma sandwich)

Enjoy …

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This recipe was requested by Nansi … Koshary is one of the most popular dishes in Egypt … Its a vegetarian dish that contains layers of different ingredient … rice, lentils, pasta, onion, and tomato sauce are of its main ingredients … some like to add chickpeas to it too … this is my moms recipe who learned it from an Egyptian friend …. to make it you will need:

Serves: 4 – 5

- 2 cups short grain rice (known as Egyptian rice around here) …. you can even use medium grain if you want …

- 1 cup brown lentils … rinsed

- 2 cups cooked elbow pasta .. or any other small pasta you like

- 4 big red onions … chopped in half .. then into crescent shape

- 2 big tomatoes … peeled and chopped .. to know how to peel tomatoes refer to this

- 1 tb tomato sauce

- 2 big garlic cloves … minced

- 1 small onion finely chopped

- 1 ts cumin

- 1/2 ts turmeric

- 1/2 ts safflower

- salt … 2 ts for the rice … and 1 /2 ts for the sauce

- 1 tb ghee or butter

In a pot add the lentils …. then add enough water to cover around 2 inches above the lentils ….

Bring it to a boil and cook until the lentils are just cooked … dont over cook them or they will be too mushy .. you want it to hold its shape

Once the lentils are done … strain it .. and preserve the liquid that you cooked it in … this will be used to cook the rice later …

Now to make the tomato sauce …

In a pot … add the tomatoes, minced garlic, and 1/2 ts salt …. then add to it around 1/2 cup of water … mix everything together … and let it boil over low heat for around 20 to 30 mins .. until it represents pasta sauce .. if its liquids dry out … add a little more water …

Ps. some people like to puree the sauce after its done … its totally upto you

Now for the onions .. after chopping the onions .. heat some oil … and deep fry them until golden …

Be careful not to over fry them or they will become black quickly …

Cooking the rice …

In a pot … melt the ghee or butter …. then to it add the finely chopped onion … and cook it until slightly golden …

Then add 2 1/2 cups of the reserved lentil water ….

Ps. The amount of water used depends on the type of rice used … if you are using eygptian rice then add as much as mentioned if using different you have to adjust accordingly

To the lentil liquid … add the cumin ….

Then add 2 ts salt …. also add the safflower and turmeric …

Once the mixture gets to a boil … add the rice … Cover and cook it over VERY low heat until the rice is done … around 15 mins …

Now all your ingredients are ready ….

To serve it … you start by a layer of rice …. then a layer of lentils … then the cooked pasta …. then add the tomato sauce .. and finally add a little of onion …

And thats it …. you got a healthy vegetarian Koshary  …

Enjoy …

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This recipe was requested by Nansi and by Ammara … I think now a day there is no one who doesnt know what hummus is … its a chickpea dip flavored with lemon and tahini … Normally in the Levant  hummus is part of our breakfast along with falafel, and foul (fava bean dip) … its usually served along with pitta bread and a cup of black tea with mint … its really simple to make … all you need is:

Serves: 2 – 4

- 1 1/4 cup cooked chickpea

- 3 tb tahini

- 3 tb lemon juice

- 1 small garlic clove … minced

- 1 ts cumin powder

- 1/2 ts salt

- 3 to 4 tb water

- olive oil … as much as you like

In a food processor … add the chickpeas and lemon …

Ps. The chickpeas can either be boiled at home or you can use the canned one …

Add the cumin and minced garlic …

Also add the tahini …

And finally add the salt … and few table spoons of water .. around 3 …

Ps. if you boiled the chickpeas at home you can use its boiling water instead of normal water …

Blend everything together and check for the thickness of the dip .. if you find it to be too thick add a little more water … also give it a taste and see if it needs anything …

Then spread the hummus on a dish and add olive oil on top of it …

And thats it … serve it with pitta bread …

Enjoy …

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This recipe was requested by Annie  … It is originally form northern Palestine (Gaza)… the word  “Idreh” means clay pot in Palestine …  a clay pot is used to bake the rice and meat in the oven … but as I dont have the clay pot .. i made it with a normal pot on the stove top …the recipe consists of rice, whole garlic, meat and hummus ( whole chickpea) … and is decorated with nuts such as blanched almonds and pine nuts … its a very simple recipe .. to make it you will need:

Serves: 4 to 5

- 1 tb ghee or butter

- 1 kg Lamb meat

- 1 small onion … finely chopped

- 2 tb ghee or butter

- 2 big red onoins … cut in half then chopped into moon shape

- 2 garlic head … separate the cloves and DON’T peel them

-  1 cup chickpeas … cooked ( you can use canned if you like)

- 1/8 ts of all the following spices ( black pepper,  allspice, ground coriander, ground cloves, nutmeg, ground fennel seeds, ginger powder)

- 1 ts ground cardamom

- 4 ts salt

- 4 cups medium grain rice … i used Jasmine rice

- 2 tb ghee

- 2 tb blanched almonds … this is optional

- 2 tb pine nuts … this is optional

In a Pressure cooker … melt 1 tb of ghee or butter .. then add the chopped onion …

Add the meat… then season with 1/4 ts of black pepper, all-spice and salt … and cook until the meat changes color and all its liquids is released and starting to dry out …

Then add enough water to cover around 2 inches above the meat …

Cover the pressure cooker and cook  for half an hour … until the meat is well done and tender …

Ps. make sure you make enough stock as you are goin to use it to cook the rice ..

In a pot melt 2 tb of ghee or butter … then add the onions to it and cook until its translucent …

Then add the garlic cloves .. and stir for another minute …

Ps. not peeling the garlic lets it keep its shape …

Add the chickpeas … stir and cook for 2 more minutes …

Now add the meat … and stir everything together …

Mix all the spices in small dish .. then add it to the mixture along with the salt …

Then add 7 cups of the stock to the mixture …

Finally add the rice … stir it together .. then cover it and cook over very low heat until the rice is cooked … around 15 minutes

While waiting for the rice to cook … melt 2 tb of ghee or butter … then add the almonds and fry until golden in color … then set it aside in a plate …

Then add the pine nuts to the same ghee or butter and cook until golden in color ..

Mix the pine nuts and almonds and set them aside …

Once the rice is cooked … add the ghee that you browned the nuts in on top of the rice …

And that’s it ….  serve the Idreh topped with the golden nuts …

Enjoy …

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