Tag Archives: Middle Eastern redaction

Basaliyya By al-Mu’tamid: Cheek Meat with Onions and Pumpkin, Plain Dishes (Sawadhij)

Basaliyya By al-Mu’tamid: Cheek Meat with Onions and Pumpkin

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Basaliyya By al-Mu’tamid: Cheek Meat with Onions and Pumpkin

Translation:

Take chunks of meat from ribs and thighs and slice them into finger-like strips.  Soak the meat in cold water, as this will drain the blood and remove the dirt.  Hot water, on the other hand, will lock them in.

Take the meat out of the cold water and put it in a pot with a fresh batch of water along with a lot of pounded tallow.  You may add galangal and cassia.

Chop onion, the amount needed is to be equal to one third of the meat used. If gourd is in season, then go ahead and use it.  However, cut it like you did with the meat.  When the pot comes to a boil and the onion and gourd.

The amount of water you added first should not be much

Continue cooking the pot until the pot is dry.  Add murri (Liquid fermented sauce) and dry spices like black pepper, cassia, coriander, and cumin.  Add as well on ladleful of vinegar and a small amount of rue. (Annals of the Caliphs’ Kitchen pp. 317)

Ingredients:

1 lb. meat

3 C. Pumpkin

½ lg onion

1 tsp galangal, black pepper, cinnamon, cumin, coriander

½ vinegar

Redaction:

Cut your beef into small pieces.  Rinse the beef in cold water, put into a pot with ground galangal and cinnamon.

I used half a large onion cut thin(ish).  I used a Cinderella pumpkin for the gourd, cutting the peeled chunks into small pieces. 

I cut smaller than finger length as I don’t want to chew large bits of pumpkin.  Add

When the pot boils add pumpkin and onions.  When the meat is cooked to tenderize add the cumin, coriander, and vinegar. Originally, I forgot this part and ate the thick stew/porridge without. 

It’s amazing!  Next pass through the kitchen I added the missing, cumin, coriander, and vinegar.  Even better! 

On its own, it’s very good.  I had it over riced for a touch more filling dish. 

The cheek meat is either very tender or a touch chewy from the marbling on the inside.

Meat Porridges (Hara'is) and Oven Dishes (Tannuriyyat), Medieval Middle Eastern Redactions, Shawi: Grilled Meat

Shawi: Grilled Meat

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Even though this dish says “grilled”, it’s not.  Even though it looks a little bland, it’s an amazing dish with more flavor than can be described in the word “grilled”.  Fast and easy.  You spend as much time on prepping as you do cooking.  Give this one a try, if your short on time or just need something showstopping on the taste buds.

 

Shawi: Grilled Meat

Translation:

Take fatty good grilling meat and sheep’s tail.  Chop finely.  Put in a shallow earthenware pot.  Put it over the fire.  Take for it roasted walnut hearts and throw over roasted and pounded coriander and caraway, parsley, mint and lime.  Put in the middle a little atraf al-tib.  Put in a dish and eat hot.  It is tasty.  (Kanz al-Fawa’id fi Tanwi’ al-Mawa’id/Salloum, pg 50-51)

 

Ingredients:

1 – 1.5 lbs Meat

1/2 C. Olive Oil or sheep tail fat

2 C. Roasted Walnuts

1 tsp. caraway (roasted and ground)

1 tsp. ground coriander, parsley and mint

2 Tbs. lime juice

 

Redaction:

I gathered all the ingredients together.

I had beef for grilling on hand so went with that.  Any good quality meat will do.  I cut the meat into about 1/2 to 1/3 what I would normally for making kabobs.  I wanted to have easily chewed pieces not huge dripping chunks.  The meat was then put into a shallow tajine bottom.

 

I left the lid off as the recipe didn’t say to cover.  I think my idea of small is not the original cook’s idea of “finely”.  I’m ok with this.

 

Next I took roasted walnuts, spices and lime juice. Everything was mixed together then popped into the oven at 350 for 10-15 minutes.

 

If you’ll notice the meat is still a little pink at the center.  This is a fast cooking dish.

 

The reason you don’t see this on a plate over roasted vegetables or sauted spinach…it was eaten to fast.  I just got enough into this bowl before it was devoured.  This is a damn good recipe!

Hasa Aldaan (Lamb Soup), Medieval Middle Eastern Redactions, Sour Dishes (Hawamid)

Hasa Aldaan; Lamb Soup

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This recipe came about as I was in the process of making lamb stock.  I had lamb bones in the freezer that needed to be used so I tossed them in a crock pot and cooked for a day.  My roommate, who is very pregnant, came home waxing enthusiastically about how good the soup smelled.  She was in need of food and an ear so we talked as I worked on this recipe.

Hasa Aldaan

Lamb Soup

Translation:

Another recipe for the meat of mountain sheep: take it complete with bones and wash it well and, having added asafetida, onions, fresh ginger, salt, fresh greens and fresh coriander, cook it.  Put in plenty of water.  Add some pepper and lime juice and, when it is well cooked, take it off and either eat as it is or else flavor it with asafetida essence.  (The Nimatnama Manuscript of the Sultans of Mandu, pp. 26)

 

Ingredients:

1 lb lamp with bones

1/2 onion

1/2 tsp asafetida

2 Tbs. fresh ginger chopped

1 tsp. salt (or to taste)

2 C. Spinach (or greens of your liking)

1 tsp ground Coriander or 1/4 C. chopped Cilantro

2 Tbs. lime juice

 

Redaction:

I took the broth with chunks of lamb, de-boning as I went, so that the lamb meat was shredding as I stirred.

I added spinach.  Why spinach?  Because that’s the greens I had on hand.  You can use just about any greens found so don’t limit yourself to just one type.  Try different flavors.

 

Because I was only cooking for two, I used half an onion.  The ginger chopped down to a little more than expected but I love fresh ginger in soup so I kept the extra.  I only had dried coriander on hand so that was what was used.  If you have fresh, use that! The salt ended up being 2 tsp, being to my taste.

Here everything but the lime juice has been added and is simmering.  Not boiling, simmering.

The lime juice was added at the end and give a nice bright flavor.

I liked this recipe.  It’s more than meat, greens, salt and water.  You get to play with the flavoring a little as you try different greens, with fresh or dried coriander