by Anissa Helou
Pita Bread, for serving
Put all the ingredients except the pita in a bowl and mix well. Transfer to a salad bowl and serve with more olive oil and pita bread.
Paneer
INDIA | PAKISTAN | BANGLADESH
This is the South Asian version of the Levantine qarisheh except that once the milk has curdled and been strained of all the whey, it is pressed into a block, which is then cut into squares or rectangles and used in various dishes, such as the Paneer Makhni or the Spinach with Paneer.
MAKES 1 BLOCK (ABOUT 9 OUNCES/250 G)
2 quarts (2 liters) whole milk
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Put the milk in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. As soon as the milk comes to a boil, add the lemon juice—you can also use vinegar, but I prefer lemon juice. When the milk separates and starts to curdle, take it off the heat and strain it through cheesecloth. The whey will take a few hours to drain away completely, at which stage tighten the cheesecloth around the curds and place in a square mold on a plate. Weight down the curds to let them set into a block. This should take less than an hour.
Paneer Makhni
SERVES 4 TO 6
8 medium tomatoes (1¾ pounds/800 g total), quartered
¼ cup (60 ml) vegetable oil
4 green cardamom pods
6 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
6 cloves garlic, minced to a fine paste
2 inches (5 cm) fresh ginger, peeled and finely minced
2 small green chilies, thinly sliced
One 7-ounce (200 g) block paneer, store-bought or homemade, halved lengthwise
1½ teaspoons Kashmiri chili powder
Sea salt
A few sprigs cilantro, most of the bottom stems discarded, finely chopped
1 teaspoon Garam Masala 1
4 dried fenugreek leaves
2 tablespoons honey
¼ cup (60 ml) whole milk
Indian Flatbread, for serving
1. Puree the tomatoes in a food processor. Transfer to a large pot and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let bubble gently until it has reduced by one-quarter; this should take 20 to 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a deep sauté pan over medium heat. Add the cardamom, cloves, cinnamon stick, garlic, and ginger and sauté until fragrant. Add the green chilies and sauté for a couple of minutes more.
3. Add the reduced tomato sauce to the sauté pan and let bubble gently while you fry the paneer.
4. Heat the remaining oil in a skillet over medium heat until hot. Slide the paneer slices into the pan. Sprinkle with half the chili powder and season with salt to taste and pan-fry until golden, about 3 minutes. Flip over, season with the remaining chili powder and salt to taste and pan-fry until golden. Take out of the pan and cut into medium cubes.
5. Add the cilantro, garam masala, fenugreek leaves, and honey to the tomato sauce and mix well. Add the paneer cubes to the sauce. Let bubble for a couple more minutes, then stir in the milk. (If not serving the dish immediately, do not stir in the milk until you reheat just before serving.) Let bubble for a few seconds and serve hot with bread.
Yogurt Drink
AYRAN
TURKEY | LEBANON | SYRIA
Ayran is one of the most refreshing drinks made with yogurt. It is called doogh or dugh in Iran and Azerbajian, ayran in Turkey and the rest of the Levant, and lassi in India and Pakistan. Ayran or lassi are often served as alcohol-free drinks with roast meat, kebabs, or biryani, and when lassi is made sweet, it is served on its own. I give three variations here: a plain Turkish ayran (with a variation for doogh), a sweet lassi, and a mango lassi. The best ayran I have ever had was in Konya, in Turkey, at a place that only served firni kebab (lamb cooked in fat in big copper dishes in wood-fired ovens) together with ayran. Their ayran was sour and frothy, slightly salty, and incredibly refreshing, a perfect accompaniment to the fatty roast lamb. As we finished our meal, a sporty-looking young man sitting across from us—I was with Nevin Halici, the grande dame of Turkish cooking—started asking Nevin questions about me in Turkish, finishing with a marriage proposal. She mischievously relayed everything he said to me so that I understood the conversation when I would have preferred not to, because at the end I had to graciously decline his offer, through Nevin of course. The exchange was very amusing, and the gentleman wouldn’t let us go without offering us a second round of ayran despite my not having accepted his extravagant proposal.
SERVES 4
2 cups (500 g) sheep yogurt (or goat or cow’s milk yogurt)
4 to 6 ice cubes
Sea salt
Put the yogurt, 1½ cups (375 ml) water, ice cubes, and salt to taste in a blender and process until frothy. Serve with more ice cubes if you want your ayran to be more chilled, although if you start out with refrigerated yogurt and water, your ayran will be chilled enough. Pour into 4 glasses and serve.
DOOGH: To turn your ayran into Iranian doogh, add ½ to 1 teaspoon dried mint, or very finely chopped fresh mint (1 to 2 teaspoons) to taste.
Mango Yogurt Drink
MANGO LASSI
INDIA | PAKISTAN | BANGLADESH
The best time to prepare this is obviously during mango season. Alphonso mangoes are my favorite, but honey mangoes also work well. Avoid those that are stringy, and chill all your ingredients before preparing the lassi. This way when you make and serve the lassi it will already be chilled. And here you would do well to use a rather loose yogurt so the drink is not too dense. If it turns out too thick, loosen it with a little milk or water.
SERVES 4
Pulp from 4 Alphonso or honey mangoes (about 1½ cups/310 ml)
1⅓ cups (340 g) whole-milk yogurt
2 tablespoons raw cane sugar
Ice cubes (optional)
Combine the mango pulp, yogurt, and sugar in a blender or food processor and process until the mixture is foamy. Divide among 4 glasses and serve cold. You can add a couple of ice cubes in each glass if you want the lassi to be very chilled.
Sweet Yogurt Drink
SWEET LASSI
INDIA | PAKISTAN | BANGLADESH
Sweet lassi is usually consumed in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh between meals or when guests come to visit. When I was in Pakistan recently, I stopped at a lassi vendor and watched him whisk his lassi with a special wooden implement called a madani, which has a long, thick handle and a round bottom block carved with wings so that when it is twirled inside the drink, it whisks it the same way as if you were using an electric beater. Even though lassi vendors whisk their lassi by hand, they are amazingly quick and efficient at producing a lot of froth, furiously twirling the madani handle in between the palms of their hands with the whisk part inside the bulbous metal lassi jar, spinning one way and the other in quick succession until a thick foam covers the drink, at which point the vendor pours the lassi into either tin or plastic cups. You can also make a sweet lassi with mango, but if you do, be sure to use less sugar than in the classic Indian/Pakistani version. For a savory lassi, omit the sugar and cardamom and, if you want, add a pinch of salt and cumin to the yogurt, and process as below. Or make ayran or doogh; it’s more or less the same.
SERVES 4
2 cups (500 g) sheep yogurt
¼ cup (60 g) raw cane sugar
Seeds from 4 green cardamom pods, coarsely ground
Ice cubes (optional)
Put the yogurt, 1⅓ cups (325 ml) cold water, the sugar, and cardamom in a food processor and process until you have a nice foam floating over the lassi. Serve in 4 glasses. Add a couple of ice cubes to each glass if you want your lassi extra cold and serve immediately.
Cooked Yogurt Sauce
LABAN MATBOOKH
LEBANON | SYRIA | PALESTINE
Cooking with yogurt is very common in Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan, as well as in Turkey and parts of Southern and Central Asia. Goat yogurt is the most stable yogurt to use in cooking, but i
t is safer to use a stabilizer when boiling yogurt, regardless of the type. Many use cornstarch and/or egg. I like to use only egg, as cornstarch tends to make the yogurt sauce coarser. Ideally you should cook the dish and serve it immediately as the sauce risks curdling during reheating, especially if done too quickly and if the sauce is allowed to boil hard. This sauce is the base for several dishes and can be flavored with mint or cilantro depending on what you are using it for.
SERVES 4 TO 6
2 tablespoons (30 g) unsalted butter
½ bunch cilantro (about 3½ ounces/100 g), most of the bottom stems discarded, finely chopped, or ¼ bunch mint (2 ounces/50 g), leaves stripped off the stems, finely chopped (or 3 tablespoons finely crumbled dried mint)
4 large cloves garlic, minced to a fine paste
4 cups (1 kg) yogurt
1 organic egg
1. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the chopped fresh herb of choice (or dried mint) and garlic and sauté for 1 minute, or until the herb has wilted. Take off the heat.
2. Whisk the yogurt and egg together in a large heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly (or else the yogurt will curdle). When the yogurt has come to a boil, reduce the heat to low and let simmer for 3 minutes, still stirring.
3. Add the herb-garlic mixture and set aside to use with the recipes for Lamb Shanks in Yogurt, Kibbeh Balls in Minty Yogurt Sauce, and Lebanese Dumplings in Yogurt Sauce.
Festive Jordanian Lamb in Yogurt over a Bed of Rice and Bread
MANSAF
JORDAN
Mansaf is a typical Bedouin dish that comes from Hebron in the West Bank. It is served at large family gatherings, for celebrations, or simply to honor special guests. Traditionally it was made with a whole lamb, with the lamb’s head proudly placed in the middle of the dish to indicate that the animal had been slaughtered for the occasion; but nowadays, it is more often than not made with a shoulder, a leg, or shanks. The meat is cooked in a yogurt sauce made with jameed, or dried yogurt.
Jameed is how Bedouins preserve the milk from their goats. To make it, the yogurt is drained in cotton sacks to remove the whey and salted every day until it thickens. The sacks are regularly rinsed with water on the outside to get rid of every trace of whey. The strained yogurt is then rolled into balls (either round or with a pointed top) and put to dry in the shade (if dried under direct sun, the jameed will be yellow instead of white) until the balls of jameed are rock hard to the core, after which they are stored away.
Jameed is mixed with water to reconstitute it before being used in in this dish. You can also make mansaf with fresh yogurt, although the flavor will not be as sour (the fermentation process gives jameed a particular flavor that imparts a faintly sour taste to the lamb as it cooks). I personally use a mixture of jameed for the sour flavor and fresh yogurt for creaminess. I have adapted the recipe below from one I found in a small Arabic cookbook, The Palestinian Kitchen. In the original recipe, the lamb is cooked in the yogurt-jameed mixture from the outset, but the yogurt can curdle during such long cooking, so I boil the lamb separately, then finish it in the yogurt sauce. While the flavor may not be quite so intense, the consistency of the sauce is creamier. You can also make mansaf with chicken but the dish will not be as celebratory as when made with lamb.
SERVES 6
4 lamb shanks (3 pounds 5 ounces/1.5 kg total)
1 medium onion (about 5 ounces/150 g), peeled
1 cinnamon stick
Sea salt
2 jameed balls (each about the size of a tennis ball), soaked overnight in 3 cups (750 ml) water (see Note)
4 cups (1 kg) Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
Good pinch of saffron threads
7 tablespoons (105 g) unsalted butter
2½ cups (500 g) Calasparra or Egyptian rice, rinsed under cold water and drained
FOR SERVING
⅔ cup (100 g) pine nuts
⅔ cup (100 g) blanched almonds
2 loaves handkerchief bread
A few sprigs flat-leaf parsley, most of the bottom stems discarded, finely chopped
1. Put the shanks in a large pot and cover with water. Add the onion and cinnamon stick and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, skimming the froth from the surface. Reduce the heat to medium-low, season with salt to taste, cover, and simmer for 1 hour, or until the meat is tender.
2. Meanwhile, knead the jameed in its soaking water to help it dissolve completely. Strain the liquid into a large pot in case there are still little pellets of undissolved jameed. Add the Greek yogurt and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly to prevent the yogurt from curdling. Stir in the allspice, cinnamon, black pepper, and saffron. Remove from the heat as soon as the yogurt comes to a boil. Cover the pan with a clean kitchen towel and keep warm.
3. Melt the butter in a small pot and add the rice, stirring it in the butter until well coated. Add 4 cups (1 liter) water and season with salt to taste. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the rice is tender and the water is fully absorbed. Wrap the lid in a clean kitchen towel and replace over the rice.
4. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C).
5. Spread the pine nuts and almonds on separate nonstick baking sheets and toast in the oven until they turn golden brown (5 to 6 minutes for the pine nuts, 7 to 8 minutes for the almonds). Remove from the oven.
6. Remove the cooked lamb from the broth and take the meat off the bone. Drop the boiled lamb into the yogurt sauce and place the pan over low heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring all the time, adding a ladle or two of broth until you have a sauce the consistency of light cream. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
7. To serve, lay the bread over a large round serving platter. Spread the rice over the bread, then arrange the meat over the rice. Ladle as much yogurt sauce as you would like over the meat and rice without making the dish soupy. Pour any leftover sauce into a sauceboat. Garnish with the toasted nuts and serve immediately.
NOTE: If dried jameed is not available, use 1½ cups (355 ml) prepared jameed stock or soup.
Lamb Shanks in Yogurt
LABAN EMMOH
LEBANON
In Arabic, laban emmoh means “the milk of its mother,” and this dish is named this because the meat is cooked in the milk of the ewe—well, actually yogurt, but yogurt starts out as milk. It is one of my favorite dishes and I often make and serve it in the summer because the sauce is light and somewhat refreshing even if it is eaten hot. And I can imagine a similar dish being very much what early Muslims ate, as the meat and milk from their flocks was pretty much all they had, together with dates.
SERVES 6
4 lamb shanks (3 pounds 5 ounces/1.5 kg total)
Sea salt
16 baby onions (14 ounces/400 g total), peeled
Cooked Yogurt Sauce
Lebanese/Syrian Vermicelli Rice or bread, for serving
1. Put the shanks in a large pot. Add 5 cups (1.25 liters) water and bring to a boil over medium heat, skimming the froth from the surface. Cover the pot and let bubble gently for 1 hour, or until the meat is very tender. Add 1 tablespoon sea salt and the baby onions and let simmer for 10 more minutes, or until the onions are just firm-tender.
2. Meanwhile, make the cooked yogurt sauce through step 2, setting the herb-garlic mixture aside. For the yogurt, use a pot large enough to eventually hold the cooked shanks and onions. Keep the sauce warm while the meat finishes cooking.
3. When the meat and onions are done, return the yogurt sauce to medium-low heat and stir until it starts simmering. Add the meat and onions and stir in the reserved herb-garlic mixture. Add ¼ cup (60 ml) meat broth and simmer, stirring gently so as not to undo the onions, for 3 to 5 more minutes, until the onions are just tender.
4. Serve hot with the vermicelli rice or with good bread.<
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Grilled Eggplant Puree and Minced Meat in Tomato Sauce
BATERSH
SYRIA
I remember first having this dish, a specialty of Hama, in Syria, in the delightful courtyard of an Ottoman house converted into a restaurant in what was left of the old quarter of Hama—the father of the current president destroyed much of the city to quell an uprising by the Muslim Brotherhood. Batersh is a delightful dish, rather similar to the Turkish hunkar begendi, except that in the Turkish version, the meat is cut into chunks and the eggplant puree is fluffier.
SERVES 4
FOR THE EGGPLANT PUREE
4 large eggplants (2¼ pounds/1 kg total)
2 cloves garlic, minced to a fine paste
⅓ cup (90 g) yogurt
⅓ cup (80 ml) tahini
Sea salt
FOR THE MEAT TOPPING
3 tablespoons (45 g) unsalted butter
1 pound 2 ounces (500 g) lean ground lamb, from the shoulder or leg
One 14-ounce (400 g) can Italian chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
Sea salt and finely ground black pepper
FOR SERVING
A few sprigs flat-leaf parsley, most of the stems discarded, finely chopped
2 ounces (60 g) pine nuts, toasted in a hot oven for 5 to 7 minutes, until golden brown
Pita Bread or Saj Bread
1. To make the eggplant puree: Prick the eggplants with the tip of a knife in a few places and char over an outdoor grill, over a gas burner, or under the broiler until the skin is blackened and the eggplants are very soft, about 20 to 25 minutes on each side. (I normally char the skin over a gas flame to get the smoky flavor, then I put the eggplants to roast in a hot oven for 30 minutes or so to cook them through; this way I avoid the mess of the flying charred skin all over the gas burner and I still get a smoky taste.)