Spahis ? Kaki sfeeha.

Japanese-Lebanese-Gourmande fusion : Lebanese sfiha (sfeeha, small meat pies) with Japanese kaki, and coconut tzatziki.

Cut thinly lamb meat, season with salt. Cut a little kaki persimmon. Cut onion and kabocha pumpkin in small cubes, garlic thinly, stir-fry with lamb fat. Season with a little salt, cumin, cinnamon, nutgmeg, black pepper. Add the meat and fruit to the onions. Shred a few leaves of mint and some fresh thyme, add them.

Dough : flour, cumin seeds, a little baking powder, a drizzle of olive oil. Mix. Add just enough hot water to form a ball.

Take a ball of dough, spread in a circle, put filling in the middle and pinch the squares to form a basket.

Paint with olive oil and bake.

Garnish with a drizzle of olive oil, chili flakes and mint leaves. Serve hot.

Tzatziki : cucumbers and a little goya (bitter squash), the sauce is made with coconut cream, garlic, mint and thyme.

The perfect pair.

Japanesed mudardara

Another version of adapted murdardara (the Middle-East rice lentil dish). I served it inside a Japanese meal that contained :

aka endomame (click here)

A kasujiru soup with kombu dashi (seaweed stock) as a base, onion, daikon and kabocha as items.

sake kasu and miso as flavoring.

I made it in the rice cooker like for this easy mudardara. The veggies today were kujo negi leeks, new ginger, onion, myoga, with cumin as main spice.

A sliced of grilled salted salmon :

Raw myoga, blanched komatsuna greens, blanched okra, fried tofu :

Pineapple biryani

That’s biryani party at the Daring Cook’s challenge.

Grace, one of our talented non-blogging Daring Kitchen members, was our Daring Cooks’ August hostess who shared with us some of her family’s tried and true Bengali Biryani recipes – all of them delicious and all of them prepared fresh from our own kitchens!

I had a weird one in archives :

fusion biryani

I made 2.

seafood biryani (coming soon)

And this veggie biryani with a fruity touch :

Pineapple biryani. I took the recipe at the end as a guideline…I drifted away a little to adapt to my products.

Pineapple is the accent.

Pearl sweet corn.

Okra and red bell pepper. I used these season veggies for the gravy. I replace the coriander by mitsuba leaves.

The gravy, with home-made ghee.
Besides I prepared a ghee flavored rice with turmeric, cashew nuts and pineapple dices.
I had no basmati or other biryani specific rice. The only long grain rice I could get is Thai jasmine rice. I cooked it in the rice-cooker.

Layer rice and gravy, close the lid and reheat slowly.

First side dish : chick pea raita. I mixed boiled chick peas, coconut yogurt, very little grated garlic, salt, lemon juice and stalks of mitsuba. Let a few hours in the fridge.

Aubergine chutney as a second side.

Basic recipe from the challenge :

Vegetable Biryani:

Servings: 6

Ingredients

4 tablespoons (60 ml) (2 oz) (60 ml) ghee
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
½ inch (2½ cm) ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
4 tablespoons (60 ml) (2/3 oz) (20 gm) desiccated coconut
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon chilli powder
½ teaspoon turmeric
Salt
14 oz (400 gm) canned tomatoes
9 oz (250 gm) frozen sweetcorn, thawed
5 oz (150 gm) paneer, cut into ½ inch (1 cm) pieces
2 tablespoons fresh coriander, chopped
2 tablespoons (30 ml) lemon juice
1 tablespoon fresh mint, chopped

Rice:
6 tablespoons (90 ml) (3 oz) (90 ml) ghee
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
4 whole cloves
4 whole black peppercorns
1 small cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
1 cardamom pod
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 cup (240 ml) (6½ oz) (185 gm) basmati rice, soaked for 30 minutes and drained
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon cumin
Salt
1 cup (250 ml) (6-1/3 oz) (180 gm) raisins
½ cup (120 ml) (85 gm) (3 oz) blanched almonds, halved
½ cup (120 ml) (85 gm) (3 oz) cashews, halved
2 cups (500 ml) water
Directions:

1. Melt the ghee in a large saucepan over medium high heat and fry the cumin seeds until fragrant. Add the garlic, ginger, and onion and fry until golden brown. Stir in the coconut and fry for 2 minutes. Stir in the spices, salt, tomatoes, sweet corn, and paneer. Cook for about 20 minutes or until all the liquid has been absorbed. Stir in the coriander, lemon juice, and mint. Remove from the heat.
2. For the rice, melt the rest of the ghee in another large saucepan and fry the whole spices until fragrant. Add the onion and fry until golden brown. Mix in the rice and fry for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in the spices, salt, raisins, nuts, and water and bring to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat for 10 minutes or until the rice is dry.
3. Layer the rice and vegetables in thin layers in a large saucepan, starting and ending with a layer of rice. Cover and cook over low heat for 5 minutes.

Nuts, herbs and spices, that’s dukka

I had never heard about this product. Originally from Egypt, dukka (duqqa) is a kind of spice mix used in Middle-Eastern cuisines. The quickest way to taste it was to make mine. That’s without warranty of having the authentic flavor but that doesn’t matter as long as it’s good. Some day I’ll go there to taste the original.

Spices : black pepper, coriander seeds, raw sea salt, dry mint.
“Nuts” : sesame seeds, walnut, cashew nut.
I roasted them in 2 batches. I’ve added cumin powder and paprika powder. And in a mortar, ground finely the spices and more coarsely the nuts.

Boiled chick peas were waiting to become hummus. I’ve added garlic, a little yuzu juice, olive oil on top.

I eat it as a dip for veggie sticks (red bell pepper and cucumbers).

Chilled molokhia and tarako soba

To dishes refreshed for Summer. The green broth molokhia, raw and chilled. And tarako pasta, in cold soba mode.

モロヘイヤMoloheya as they say here, or mulukhiyah, molohiya or molocha, corète potagère, mouloukhia… Well that herb of Pharaohs.

Made into chilled soup. In the blender : a cup of leaves, a little harissa hot chili paste, a branch of coriander leaves and 2 ice-cubes. More coriander to garnish.