I was so impatient to cook after my travel to Muscat/Oman, that I called my dinner“First Arabic night“, because I want to continue with more dinner parties like this. I don’t know if it’s going to become thousand and one, but some more I am sure. I had only one guest, my college and friend Julia, because I announced this dinner only the same day in the morning. I was too impatient . It was an arabic inspired simple and extremely delicious meal. To accompany the recipes I want to show you a collection of pictures of this very impressive country.

Oriental Salad

• 200 g green asparagus, cut into small pieces and cooked
• 1  cucumber, peeled and finely
• 1/2 red chili, seeded and finely diced
• 1 onion, finely chopped and marinated for one hour
• 1/4 tsp dried mint
• 1 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1 tbsp chopped mint
• 1 tbsp golden raisins
• 1 tbsp dried barberries
• 1 tbsp toasted pistachios
• 1/2 tsp pomegranates molasses
• 1 tsp white wine vinegar
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 tsp hot turkish pepper paste
• salt

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl.

 

My Lamb Shawarma

• 1 x 1kg leg of a small lamb

 

• 1/2 bunch of coriander
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• zest and juice of one lemon
• 50 ml olive oil
• 1/2 tsp sweet paprika
• 1/8 tsp kashmir chili powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground fennel
• 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp ground pepper
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice

Chop the coriander roughly and mix with the other ingredients to make a wet paste. With a strong knife make some slits through the meat to allow the marinade to seep in. Cover the meat all over with the marinade and leave overnight in the fridge.

Put your oven to the highest temperature. The lamb takes about one hour to cook medium rare. From time to time put some water into the dish with the meat to avoid the marinade to dry out. Leave to rest for 15 minutes before serving.

 

Flatbreads with onion and nigella seeds

(from Ottolenghi the Guardian)

• 3 1/2 tbsp olive oil, plus 1 tsp extra to oil the bowl
• 1 large onion, peeled and finely sliced
• 1 tsp nigella seeds
• 400 g strong bred flour
• 1/2 tsp caster sugar
• 1 sachet fast-action yeast
• salt
•  75 g ghee

Put  two tablespoons of oil in a medium saucepan on a medium heat.Once hot add the onion and fry gently for 20 minutes, stirring every four minutes until soft and caramelized . Stir in the nigella seeds, then spoon  on to a kitchen towel to absorb some of the oil. Tip into a small bowl and set aside.

Put the flour into a large bowl, add the sugar , yeast , the remaining oil, half a teaspoon salt and 250 ml warm water. Mix with your hands so the mixture comes together, then lift out of the bowl, place on a work surface and knead for eight minutes, dusting with flour as needed. Brush the inside of the bowl with a teaspoon of oil, then return the dough to the bowl, cover with cling-film, and set aside somewhere warm for an hour, until doubled in size.

Remove the dough from the bowl, flatten out slightly, then cover with the onion mix. Keep folding in the edges of the dough until the onion is mixed in. Return to the bowl and set aside for 30 minutes.

Remove the dough from the bowl again and roll into a long sausage. Cut into eight or more equal pieces and set aside. Take one piece of dough, sprinkle with a little flour and roll into a 14 cm-diameter rough circle. Sprinkle each side with a pinch of salt, and repeat with the remaining  dough.

Put a large, heavy frying pan on a medium-low heat and add two to three reasons of ghee. Once melted, lay in two or three flat breads and fry for three minutes on each side. remove from the pan and put on a kitchen towel to absorb any excess oil. Repeat with the remaining breads and serve while warm.

Serve everything together with hummus , aubergine salad and beetroot mutabal.