A Week of Recipes (3/9 - 3/15)
Happy Sunday once again and happy almost St. Patrick’s Day. This year my wife and I were invited to a very fun St. Paddy’s themed party by a long time friend since my middle school days! I have to say I’m blessed to have made such amazing friends that no matter how long it’s been since you’ve seen them, things pick up right where they left off.
This week was the second week of Ramadan so I have another few recipes that are very common during this month. The first is Kebab Hindi which is basically kafta meatballs baked in a tomato stew with lots of onions and jalapenos. Second we have probably the most popular item in the whole month of Ramad - Atayef. You might also see it written as “Qatayef.” This dessert is deep fried pancakes filled with cheese or nuts. Sounds a bit different than your normal dessert but I promise they’ll blow your mind…especially this recipe I have here. They’re the best I’ve ever had! And last we have arguably the most popular salad from the Middle East - Fattoush. This is a salad of several herbs and spices mixed together. It fights for top contender alongside Tabbouleh, both are extremely delicious. But is the most common salad to have during Ramadan so that’s why it’s here. I’ll break down each below.
Kebab Hindi translates to Indian Kebab. This is by no means an Indian recipe. What I’ve learned, from asking several mothers and cooks, is that the amount of spice resembles the spice in Indian cuisine. Lot’s of Indian food use meatballs in a tomato broth with spice so I guess the name makes sense? But despite the confusing name, they are absolutely delicious. It was one of my favorite dishes to have at dinner parties and it was enjoyed by people of all ages. It looks incredible too especially when presented in a large tray. You just want to dive in a swim in it. But don’t….it’s spicy.
The Atayef or “Qatayef” are the most popular dessert from the Middle East. They make their special appearance during Ramadan usually. They are basically deep fried pancakes stuffed with either a sweet cheese or cinnamon sugar walnuts. Then they are drowned in the Levantine style simple syrup which is essentially a cold syrup infused with rose water and orange blossom water. Then at the end they’re topped with crushed pistachios. This recipe here is my Mom’s recipe. They are the BEST Atayef I have ever had and I say this as objectively as possible. Yes they’re my moms but I’ve eaten a lot of Atayef and these are the best! I had to really work to get her to share the recipe with me and the deal was I had to make them with her so here we are.
Finally I have the famous Fattoush which is a salad made up of several herbs and spices and gets it’s name from the crumbled pita chips we add at the end. They’re basically our version of croutons. It’s nothing crazy but my Mom’s side of the family is from Gaza and on the coast, they like to add spice to everything they eat. It’s still a refreshing salad but the little bit of heat we add to it is just so perfect. So it’s not your typical Fattoush, it’s a Gazawi style Fattoush to give you a small twist on this classic.
Great recipes! Thank you for this!