Moroccan Chickpea & Lentil Soup

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium white onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 1 medium red onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 1 fennel bulb, peeled, cored and chopped (about 1 cup)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 (14 ounce) cans chopped tomatoes (with juice)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons sugar (or to taste)
• 4 cups low sodium vegetable broth
• 1 cup dried lentils, picked through and rinsed
• 3 cups canned chick-peas, drained and rinsed
• 4 sprigs cilantro
• 4 sprigs parsley
• 2 dried bay leaves
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. In a medium sized pot heat the olive oil at medium heat and add fennel, gently cooking for a couple of minutes while the fennel releases its natural juices.
2. Add the red and white onions, cook until soft and translucent, but without turning brown, stirring mixture from time to time, about 12 minutes.
3. Add tomatoes and increase heat to high until the mixture comes to a simmer (about 5 minutes).
4. Add the ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, garlic and saffron if using, letting them infuse the mixture with their flavors for a few more minutes.
5. Add the lentils, vegetable stock, sprigs of cilantro and parsley and bay leaves and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.
6. Season with salt, pepper and sugar, stirring the mixture a couple of times. Cover pot and let simmer for about 25 minutes or until the lentils are tender.
7. Add the cooked chickpeas and cook uncovered for another 5 to 7 minutes until heated through.
8. Mix well, season again with salt, pepper and sugar to taste. Remove bay leafs and sprigs of cilantro and parsley.

Source: food.com

Fricassees

Ingredients (for 20 fricassees)
For the dough, you will need:
- 500g flour
- 1 tablespoon of oil
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon of yeast
- salt
- warm water

For the stuffing, you will need:
- a potato boiled or steamed and then mashed
- 140g of canned tuna
- 50g of pitted black olives
- 2 boiled eggs
- 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise (optional)
- harissa diluted in water (optional)
- salt and pepper
- oil for frying

Preparation:

For the dough, start by diluting the yeast in some warm water. Then put the flour in a container, form a well and add salt, egg, oil and yeast. Mix everything slowly while adding some warm water. Knead well until you get soft and pliable dough.

Cover the dough and let it rise in a warm place for 30 minutes. Make small balls of dough, the stretch them slightly on both tips and flatten them into an oblong shape. Arrange them on a plate dusted with flour and let them rise another 30 minutes. Finally, fry fricassees in a hot oil bath, brown them well and then place them on absorbent paper.

For the stuffing:
In a container, mix the mashed potatoes, tuna, hard-boiled eggs (crumbled), olives (broken into pieces), salt, pepper and mayonnaise.

Cut open the fricassee on one side, put some harissa if you prefer it spicy and then stuff it with the mixture.

Your appetizing fricassees are ready to be served!

Lemon Rice

Ingredients:

2cups boiled Rice
1/3rd cup Lemon Rice
6Tbsp Oil
1/2tsp Black Mustard seeds
Few curry leaves
3-4 green chilies
Salt to taste
1/4th tsp. turmeric powder
1/4th cup peanuts

Method:

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, allow to splutter.

Add turmeric powder and peanuts, fry till brown.

Now add green chilies, curry leaves, salt and fry for 2 minutes.

Take it off from the flame and add lemon juice and mix well.

Now add this to the boiled rice and mix well.Lemon rice is ready to be served.

source: indianfoodforever.com

Zlébia

Ingredients:
-1 cup of flour
-2 teaspoons of corn starch
-1/2 teaspoon of cardamom
-1 teaspoon of yeast
-1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
-1 teaspoon of yogurt
- about 3 or 4 cups of water
- honey (as much as desired)

Mix all the ingredients but the honey together and whip them with the mixer. If you don’t have a mixer, just give this hardest part to someone close by who would like to build their muscles.

Whip the ingredients till you get a nice paste, and then put it aside to sit in a warm place.

In a deep pan start heating the oil to fry the Zlébia.

Once the oil is hot, use a funnel to start pouring the paste into the pan in a spiral shape. Let it fry from both sides until it turns golden and crunchy.

When they are finished let them cool in another bowl.

Heat the honey till it is a liquid consistency, then dip the pastry into it.

Bon appétit!
Source: Tunisia-live.net

Paneer Tikka

You will Need

• 200gms of Paneer
• One Onion,Tomato,Capsicum
• Sour cream or Hung Curd
• A pinch of Turmeric powder
• Half a tsp of Chilli Powder
• Half a tsp of Garam Masala Powder
• Half a tsp of Chat Masala Powder
• Half a tsp of Ginger garlic paste
• Salt to taste
• One tbs of Lime juice
• Few Skewers

How to
1.Soak the skewer sticks in water to protect it from burning or turning black.Cut the paneer in to medium sized blocks.dice the onions,capsicum,tomato(remove the pulpy part ) into same size as the Paneer.

2.For preparing the hung curd hand half a cup of curd in a muslin cloth for an hour.Mix the sour cream or hung curd with salt,turmeric,chilli,both masalas,lime juice and mix well.

3.Marinate the paneer blocks with the above mixture and leave it in the refrigerator for half an hour. If you want, you can marinate the vegetables too.

4.Arrange the paneer and the vegetables in the skewer as shown in the picture.

5.Preheat the oven at 230 degrees and bake it for 12 minutes or until the edges of the Paneer becomes brown. We do not like the smoky taste too much, so mine has not turned black at the edges (like the ones in restaurants).We all like it this way so I stopped baking further. If you like it smoky, bake it further for few more minutes.
If you are making on the tawa heat the tawa spread few tbs of oil and shallow fry the tikkas with vegetables in the skewers.Turn on all sides and fry uniformly until required.
After baking sprinkle chat masala powder and lime juice on top and serve with green chutney and some onions.
Source: umakitchen.com

Chorba Soup

The basic ingredients that you will need for Chorba are:

- one onion

- one carrot, peeled, and finely chopped

- 500g of chicken or lamb cut into small pieces

- 4 tablespoons of barley

- 1/4 bunch of parsley

- 5 cloves of garlic

- 1 Tablespoon of olive oil

- 1 1/2 tablespoon of tomato paste

- 2 teaspoons of salt

- 2 teaspoons of paprika

- 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper

- 1 teaspoon of turmeric

- 1 teaspoon of ground caraway seeds

- 1/2 lemon for squeezing

If you want, you can also add some harissa, or even a beaten egg, depending on your personal taste.

Method:
Preparing the Chorba is quite easy and takes about 45 minutes.
First of all, you put some oil in a large pot then add, one by one, the chopped onion, meat, tomato paste and spices.
Sauté over medium heat for 2 minutes, and then add two liters of hot water.
Put a lid on the pot and cook from the boil for 45 minutes.
After 15 minutes, add the barley.
Then after 10 more minutes, add the carrot.
Five minutes before the end of the cooking, add the crushed garlic and chopped parsley.
When your Chorba is ready, add few drops of lemon and savor it while it is warm.

Source: tunisia-live.net

Cajun Chicken Wrap

Ingredients:
4 small chicken breasts, sliced into strips
1 tablespoon Cajun spice
2 teaspoons olive oil
4 large flour tortillas
1/2 cup tzatikki dip
1 medium zuccini, grated
1 large carrot, grated

Method:

1. Place chicken strips, Cajun spice and oil in a bowl, cover and set aside for 10 minutes.
2. Heat a large non-stick fry pan over a medium-high heat.
3. Place the chicken strips in the pan and cook, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes or until brown and cooked through. Transfer to a bowl and keep warm.
4. Top each tortilla with Tzatziki dip, carrot, zuccini and grated carrot.
5. Serve immediately with a green salad of your choice.