Prawn Malai curry

Ingredients
500 gms prawns
4 to 5 tbsp oil
1 big or 2 medium sized onions (grated )
6 to 7 cloves garlic (crushed)
2 bay leaves
3 to 4 green cardamoms (peeled)
1 stick cinnamon
¼ tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp red chilli powder (or as per taste)
200 ml coconut milk
salt to taste
2 to 3 green chillies (slit)

Method
Clean, de-vein and wash prawns well.Lightly, heat oil in a kadai. Lightly fry the prawns and keep aside. In the same oil add onions, crushed garlic, bay leaves, cardamoms and cinnamon.

Add turmeric powder and red chilli powder. Sauté on a low flame till the onions are light brown. Add coconut milk. Boil. Add salt and mix well. Add fried prawns and cook for few minutes.

Remove from gas. Add slit green chillies. Cover for few minutes and serve hot with roti/ rice or even bread.

Stuffed Dates - Arabian Dish

12-16 dates
1 tsp lemon rind
12-16 almonds
100 grams ricotta cheese
2 tbsps castor sugar

Slit dates carefully and remove the seeds. Gently open them and set aside.

Finely grate lemon rind. Roast almonds and set aside.

Mix ricotta cheese and castor sugar well. You can use cream cheese or fresh chenna, well mashed, instead of ricotta cheese.

Add a pinch of lemon rind and mix. Make a cone with butter paper, put the cheese stuffing into it and pipe it into the date slits.

Place an almond on top of the cheese in each date. You can use blanched almonds or cashewnuts or walnuts too. Instead of dates you can stuff prunes (dried apricots) similarly. Serve at room temperature.

Shawarma - Arabian Dish

4 chicken breasts
4 pita bread
4 tbsps olive oil
Salt to taste For yogurt sauce
1 cup yogurt
Salt to taste
4 cloves garlic, ground
2 tbsps lemon juice
1 sprig fresh parsley
For salad
1 medium onion, sliced
1 medium tomato, sliced
2 jalapenos, sliced
Salt to taste
2 tbsps tahina
3 tbsps yogurt
6-8 fresh mint leaves, hand torn

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Slit chicken breasts lengthwise without cutting through. Dribble olive oil over them, sprinkle salt and fold the pieces. Thread these pieces onto a skewer. Keep the skewer on the rack. Place rack in the preheated oven.

Add salt, garlic paste to yogurt and whisk well. Add lemon juice and mix.

Put this mixture over a muslin cloth kept over a bowl, gather the edges and squeeze tight for smooth yogurt sauce. Garnish with a sprig of parsley. Keep aside.

Once the chicken is cooked, remove from oven and cut into fine shreds keeping it on the skewer itself.

Toast pita breads lightly. Slit them open to form a pocket.

Mix onion, tomato, jalapenos, salt, tahina, yogurt and mint leaves to form a salad.

Stuff the pita pocket with some shredded chicken mixture and top with onion tomato salad. Serve with yogurt sauce

Kibbeh bi Shamiyeh - Arabian Dish

300 grams lamb mince
3/4 cup burghul
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
1 tsp cumin powder
1/4 tsp white pepper powder
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
Oil to deep fry
For filling
100 grams lamb mince
2 tbsps olive oil
2 small onions, finely chopped
Salt to taste
1 tbsp Lebanese spice
2 tbsps pine nuts

Soak burghul in one cup of water for half an hour and drain.

Take lamb mince in a blender. Add roughly chopped onion, cumin powder, white pepper powder, salt, cayenne pepper (or red chilli powder) and blend till smooth. Transfer into a bowl.

Add burghul and mix thoroughly.

Heat olive oil in a pan, add finely chopped onions and sauté till light brown.

Add lamb mince and cook. Add salt and cook till dry. Add Lebanese spice powder (a mixture of cinnamon, cloves, green cardamoms and red chillies) and stir. Add pine nuts and mix. The stuffing is ready.

Dampen your palms, take a lemon-sized portion of mutton-burghul mixture, make a dent and place a little stuffing in it. Roll again and shape it like a cylinder. Similarly make all the kibbehs. Refrigerate for about half an hour.

Heat sufficient oil in a deep pan to medium hot and deep-fry the kibbehs till golden brown and crisp on the outside. Drain on absorbent paper and serve hot or at room temperature. They taste equally good.

Fattoush - Arabian bites

1 medium green capsicum, seeded, cubed
1 medium tomato, cubed
1 medium cucumber, cubed
1 medium onion, cubed
2-3 slices bread, cubed
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small bunch lettuce (iceberg), hand torn
5-6 black olives
5-6 green olives
1-2 sprigs fresh parsley
For dressing
3 tbsps olive oil
1 tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice
Salt to taste
5-6 black peppercorns, crushed
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 tsp dried mint

Heat olive oil in a pan, add bread pieces and sauté on medium heat to make croutons.

To make the dressing take olive oil in a bowl, add vinegar, lemon juice, salt, crushed black peppercorns, parsley, dried mint and whisk well.

Tear iceberg lettuce into a bowl. Add all the vegetables and onion. Add black and green olives. Tear parsley and add. Toss well.

Just before serving pour the dressing over, add the croutons and toss.
Serve immediately