Tag Archives: Lebanese

Jalapeno Hummus


Jalapeno Hummus

Ingredients

2 cups chickpeas, boiled

2 tbsp. Tahini (to make your own, see below)

2 whole heads, roasted garlic

1 tsp. salt

1 cup olive oil

1 tbsp. lemon juice

4 tbsp. pickled jalapenos (to make your own, see below)

Reserve some chickpeas and jalapenos for garnish

Add the boiled chickpeas, 1/ cup of the chickpea liqueur, roasted garlic, jalapenos, salt, lemon juice and half of the olive oil to a mixer and blend till smooth.  Add some more chana liqueur to get the contents of the mixer moving, if required.

Remove to a bowl.  Refrigerate for half hour to set, if the hummus is runny.  Garnish with the remaining olive oil, jalapenos and chickpeas.  Serve as an accompaniment, starter, appetizer, snack or even as breakfast with pita bread or crisps. Taste delicious with freshly baked homemade Foccacia!

To make homemade Tahini

1 cup white sesame seeds

¼ cup olive oil

½ tsp sea salt

2 tbsp. lime juice

2-3 cloves roasted garlic

1 tbsp. water

Dry roast the sesame seeds till light brown.  Leave to cool.  Grind the sesame seeds to a crumbly paste.  Add garlic, lime juice, salt and water and grind to a smooth paste, adding olive oil little by little.  Remove to a jar, top with olive oil and store.

To make homemade pickled jalapenos

1 cup vinegar

½ cup olive oil

1 tbsp. sugar

1 tbsp. salt

¼ kg. jalapenos

Mix together the vinegar, olive oil, sugar and salt.  Slice the jalapenos into rounds.  Add this to the vinegar mixture, to cover the jalapenos completely.  Transfer all of it to a glass bottle or covered bowl and keep at room temperature for two days.  Thereafter refrigerate and use when required, in garnish, sandwiches, salads, hummus, etc.

Toum


Traditional Homemade Lebanese Garlic Sauce

Toum (Garlic Sauce) usually used as a dip for grilled chicken, meat, etc. So creamy and fluffy and ah the taste… simply lip-smacking, you can just eat and lick it as it is. You would never believe it is homemade! Serve with Shish Taouk, Souvlaki chicken, Crispy fried chicken and any grilled meats or roasted vegetable. Slather on pita bread sandwiches or serve as a regular dip!

Traditional homemade garlic sauce

Ingredients

  • 1 cup garlic
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • ¼ cup lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup iced water
  • 3 cups oil, like canola, sunflower

Method

  • Peel garlic and remove the germ if desired (makes the taste less sharp) by cutting in half and scooping out the germ in the centre of the garlic.  I skipped this step today due to lack of time.
  • Place the garlic with salt in a blender and process till garlic is smooth, use the lemon juice at intervals to facilitate movement of the garlic. 
  • Add a little water if the lemon juice is not sufficient.  Adding more lemon juice may make it too sour.
  • Once the garlic becomes a smooth paste, start adding the first cup of oil in a continuous drizzle while the blender is running. 
  • Stop the blender to give it a rest.
  • Then continue adding the remaining oil alternating with the iced water till all oil and water are incorporated. 
  • The paste should be light and fluffy by now.  
  • If not add one egg white and run the blender for 2 minutes to achieve the fluffy consistency.
  • Transfer to a sterilized glass jar or a container and refrigerate. 
  • Use for a month, if it lasts that long! 
  • This recipe makes a large quantity of toum.  So it would be better to try with half or quarter of the recipe. 
  • But bear in mind that if the toum doesn’t become thick and fluffy, the garlic mixture should not be wasted, use it in cooking where garlic paste (with tartness) is required.

Arabian Lamb Stew


Arabian Lamb Stew Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 Kg. Lamb/Mutton
  • 1 Large onion, chopped
  • 4 Garlic cloves, chopped
  • ¼ cup tomato paste
  • 1 large potato, cubed
  • 2 Zucchinis, sliced into thick slices
  • 2 Carrots, sliced into thick slices
  • Salt to taste
  • 5 whole cardamoms
  • 5 whole cloves
  • ½ tsp. cumin seeds
  • 2 tsp. Lebanese 7 spice mix (or garam masala)
  • 2 tbsp. Olive oil

Method

  1. Clean, cut and wash lamb. Drain and set aside. 
  2. Heat a pan and add the chopped onion, fry till light brown. 
  3. Add the lamb and cook on high till the water almost dries up and lamb changes color. 
  4. Add the whole spices and garlic and stir. 
  5. Add the tomato paste and water and let it boil, lower heat and cook for one hour. 
  6. Then add the potatoes, zucchini & carrots, and salt and cook further 15 to 20 minutes. 
  7. Add some hot to thin the gravy if required. 
  8. When meat and vegetables are tender, turn off heat. 
  9. Serve hot with rice or bread.

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