belly taz

does anyone have a good recipe for falafel....tried and tested

Demelza

yeah I'll tell you how to make it .......

(By the way, in Arabic it's called Ta'meya !! xx)

You'll need:

2 big handfulls of skinned white beans
small handfull of fresh parsley leaves
small handfull of fresh dill leaves
small handfull of fresh corriander
2 onions
10 garlic cloves
2 pinches of baking soda
2 pinches of cumin
salt
small handfull of semami seeds
cooking oil


Soak the beans overnight. Next day drain them and smash together with the parsley, dill, corriander, onions, garlic, baking soda and cumin and salt. and leave it for 1 hour to stand. Then with wet hands, shape small amounts into small disc shapes (about 1 and a half inches wide and 2 cm thick), coat them in the sesami seeds and deep fry !! mmmmm.....

(I say mmmm....although i overdosed on them once and have never eaten them since xx)

Demelza

aaahhhhh good idea......lets talk food !!! my Favourite subject......:p :p :p :p

belly taz

thanx for that D i will go shopping tomorrow to buy the ingredents....i will let you know how they turn out...

belly taz

do you have any other good arbic recipes...

Mayte

I had this once at a Lebanese/Met. resturant in San diego ( Rannoosh in Hilcrest/Downtown SD), just incase anyone wants to look it up, the food is great! Maybe I'll try to make some! thanks for the recipe!

Demelza

U'r welcome Mayte x .....There is a Tarboush, Ranoush, Yanoush, Ayoush and a Maroush all on Edgeware Road in London....all owned by a Lebanese guy. I wonder if its the same geeza who owns the one all those thousands of miles away in San Diego. He's loaded ! Nice food x

IBelly Taz, am not good at alot of things...buy I have to admit that I am a wicked cook ! and I know how to make most arabic food.......I'll write you sum tomorrow x

Demelza

Egyptian Rice

This one took years of practice to get it just right! Forget learning from a recipe book, this method is the way the real Egyptian women do it .......

You'll need:

2 glasses of short grain rice (washed to get rid of all the starch)
2 and a half glasses of water (1 and a half cold, and 1 hot)
3 chicken stock cubes
1 good handfull of vermicelli (those tiny little pasta noodles)
about quarter of a glass of oil
(if you want to make more, do not double the quantity of water....this is the secret. If say, you have 3 glasses of rice, then use 3 and a half glasses of water, if you use 1 glasse of rice, use 1 and a half glasses of water and so on, - always just half a glass more of water than the rice !)

Fry the vermicelli in the pan with the oil, on a high heat untill they go brown. (stir them all the time because they change colour very quickly, and don't let them burn)

As soon as the vermicelli has turned brown, throw in the rice and stir well, untill each grain has a fine coating of oil, and is becoming hot...

When you feel that the pan really can't stand getting any hotter, throw in the cold water (this bit makes a wonderfull loud hissing noise)....Stir.

Disolve the chicken stock cubes in the glass of hot water and add that aswell.

Stir the rice untill the water just starts to bubble. Then immediately cover and turn the heat down to the lowest possible setting.

Now leave the rice to cook, and DO NOT open the cover for at least 40 minutes.
There will be no water to drain, and the rice will be just superb. It will be fluffy and delicious, and don't worry if some of the rice is stuck to the bottom of the pan, this is the best part, which is crisp and golden brown (a delicasy at the table!):p

Demelza

By the way, if you can get hold of a book called 'Memories of a lost Egypt' by Colette Rossant, it's really worth reading it. It's one of my favourite books and I treasure it dearly.
The author is french, and writes of the lost Egypt of her childhood when she was abandoned by her flighty, widowed mother to be raised by her Egyptian grandparents in pre-world war II. . . She has a passionate relationship with both food and Egypt, and has produced a beautiful memoir with recipes xx

belly taz

kool thanx for that....i will try the rice this week all the girls from class are getting together so i will make it and take it along... just one thing no salt or spices in the rice.