Machboos from Qatar

Machboos is like a Middle Eastern version of paella.  This popular dish can be made with meat, poultry or seafood.  It is the paste that gives it its unique flavour.  I guess you can make it vegetarian by substituting the meat with vegetables.  I first had machboos at the Qatari stand at an international food festival and was hooked.  This recipe is quite simple.  Don't let the many ingredients make you believe it's complicated.

The Paste
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon ground bay leaves
1 tablespoon paprika
4 cardamom pods
4 whole cloves
6 peppercorns
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
The Dish
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 onion finely sliced
3 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 can whole peeled tomatoes
1 stock cube
500g beef/lamb/chicken cut into cubes
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups water
1 1/2 cups basmati rice
pinch of saffron
drizzle of yoghurt
To make the paste, put all the ingredients for the paste in a small bowl and grind together.  Next put the oil in a pot or wok and add the onion and garlic.  Saute until soft.  Add the spice paste and mix it in well with the onions and garlic.  Add the meat and brown for about 4 minutes.  Empty in the can of whole peeled tomatoes and add the stock cube.  Add the water.  Let it simmer until the meat is cooked.  Add the rice and stir it in well.  Add the pinch of saffron.  Let it continue to simmer until the rice is cooked.  If you taste and the rice isn't quite cooked, then add a little more water if the water has cooked off.  Make sure that the rice doesn't become overcooked and soggy.  It should have the consistency of the rice in a paella.
Serve in bowls with a drizzle of yoghurt and a salad.
Cindy Vine is a South African currently living and working in Kyiv in Ukraine. She is the author of Hush Baby, Defective, C U @ 8, Not Telling and The Case of Billy B. All her books are available on Amazon in both print and Kindle format. http://cindyvine.com

Koshari from Egypt

When I first saw a recipe for koshari, I thought you must be kidding me!  Rice, lentils and pasta?  Seriously?  And this is the most popular street food in Egypt and some even call it the national dish?  There must be a mistake.  The more research I did, the more I found it wasn't a mistake.  I was intrigued as to how it would all come together to make a tasty dish.  What I found out, was not only was it delicious but it was incredibly easy to make.  So here is my take on koshari, ideal for vegetarians and perfect for beginner cooks.

1 cup brown lentils
9 cups water
1 cup basmati rice
1 cup uncooked pasta (Macaroni or similar)
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground bay leaves
1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
2 large onions thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic finely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon baharat spice*
Put 3 cups of water in a pot with 1 cup of lentils.  Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat.  Add in the salt, bay leaves, 1 teaspoon of garlic and cumin.  Cover the pot and let it simmer for 30 minutes.  Keep an eye on the lentils that all the water doesn't cook away.  If need be top up the water.  When the lentils are soft, add the rice and another 3 cups of the water and continue simmering for about 20 minutes until the rice is cooked.  In the meantime, cook the pasta in the remaining 3 cups of water in a separate pot.  Drain the excess water from the pasta when it is done and set the pasta aside.  In a frying pan, fry the onions and garlic until it is caramelised.  Add the tomatoes, chili powder, black pepper, vinegar and baharat spice and let it cook for 10 minutes until it forms a thick sauce.
The time has come to assemble your dish.  Place some of the lentil/rice mixture on each plate.  Put a couple of spoonfuls of pasta on top and finish it off with the spicy tomato sauce.
*baharat spice is a Middle Eastern spice blend.  If you don't have a Middle Eastern store near you it's quite easy to make yourself.  Fill a container with it to get that special Middle Eastern flavour in your cooking.  All you need to do is mix together: 2 teaspoons paprika, 2 teaspoons ground cumin, 1 teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon ground coriander, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon cardamom, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves.
Cindy Vine is a South African currently living and working in Kyiv in Ukraine. She is the author of Hush Baby, Defective, C U @ 8, Not Telling and The Case of Billy B. All her books are available on Amazon in both print and Kindle format. http://cindyvine.com

Baba Ganoush from Middle East

Baba Ganoush is a classic aubergine dip found all over the Middle East region.  Incidentally, aubergine is also known as eggplant and brinjal.  It just depends on where in the world you come from.  Baba Ganoush is very easy to make and is best served with pita bread or pita chips.  To make pita chips, you just cut the pita bread into 4 wedges and bake them in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius until they are lightly browned and crisp.  The trick to making a great Baba Ganoush, is to roast the aubergine so that you get a smoky flavour.

1 large aubergine
2 tablespoons tahini
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon cumin
3 cloves garlic finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
drizzle of olive oil for presentation
Roast your aubergine with the skin on in the oven for about half an hour at 190 degrees Celsius.  Let it cool for about 10 minutes before you remove the soft insides.
While the aubergine is doing its thing, mix the tahini, finely chopped garlic, cumin, lemon juice and salt in a bowl.  Use a fork to mash the roasted aubergine which you removed from its skin, into the tahini mixture.  Don't make it into a puree as you want it to have some texture.  Stir in the chopped parsley and drizzle with olive oil just before serving.  You can make Bab Ganoush ahead of time as it lasts about 2 days in the fridge.
Cindy Vine is a South African currently living and working in Kyiv in Ukraine.  She is the author of Hush Baby, Defective, C U @ 8, Not Telling and The Case of Billy B.  All her books are available on Amazon in both print and Kindle format. http://cindyvine.com

Pita Bread from the Middle East

Like hummus, many Middle Eastern and North African countries lay claim to pita bread.  Therefore I am just giving the region it comes from rather than a specific country.
Pita bread is very easy to make, homemade is much tastier than the shop-bought varieties, and it freezes very well.  You can eat it with hummus or fill the pita pocket with whatever you like to eat.

1 cup warm water
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons olive oil
Mix the water and yeast and let it stand for about 5 minutes until the yeast dissolves.  Add the liquid to 2 and a half cups of the flour.  Add in the salt and olive oil.  Mix until you have a soft dough that does not stick to your fingers when you knead it.  Add a little more of the flour if it is too soft.  The dough needs to be kneaded until it is smooth and elastic.  Put it in a warm place to let it rise for about an hour or two.  Preheat the oven at 220 degrees Celsius.  Knead the dough again and divide it into 8 balls.  Flatten the ball with the palm of your hand on a floured surface.  Then roll out the flattened ball to make a thin circular shape about the size of a large saucer or side plate.  Bake the pitas for about 3 minutes until they start to puff up.  Although pitas are best eaten immediately, they do keep well in an airtight bag or container that is refrigerated.  Alternatively, cover the baked pitas individually in clingwrap and freeze them.
Cindy Vine lives and works in Ukraine and is the author of The Colorful Art of Pain, The Great Mountain to Mountain Safari and Survival Tips for the Suddenly Single.  All her books are available on Amazon in both Kindle and print format.  She is currently working on a cookbook called Around the World on 80 Plates.

Hummus from the Middle East

I am not allocating hummus to a country but rather to a region.  Israelis and Arabs both claim it as their own and it's best not to argue with either of them.  So we'll just say that hummus is a classic dip from the Middle East and will be found on menus all over the region and in North Africa.
Homemade hummus is far tastier than the shop-bought ones and is surprisingly easy to make.  Whereas I put in curry powder in this recipe you can leave it out and add in pumpkin or roasted capsicum, or whatever takes your fancy.  This is a tahini-less recipe as one can't get tahini where I live.  I bought dried chickpeas, soaked them overnight and then cooked them until soft.  You can cheat and buy a can of ready-cooked chickpeas.  We won't hold that against you!

Hummus
2 cups cooked chickpeas
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon salt (to taste)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon chili powder
Gather all your ingredients and throw them into a blender.  Blend until smooth.  The end.  As easy as that.
I sprinkle a little paprika on mine after I've spooned it into a bowl, and then dribble a little olive oil onto it. Just to pretty it up.

Cindy Vine is a South African currently living and working in Ukraine.  She is the author of The Great Mountain to Mountain Safari, The Colorful Art of Pain, Hush Baby and The Case of Billy B, all available on Amazon in both Kindle and print format.