Mak Eton's Marble Cake

Ingredients for Mak Eton's Marble Cake:

Abang's Lamb Curry

China's Best Lamb Curry

Best Lamb Curry in China...ever! Abang made this in Dalian China where he is currently working. Look at that mouth-watering curry..simply beautiful.

Ful Medammes

"Fattoush Fetish"

Every Middle-Eastern girl I know has a Fattoush recipe she holds dearly in her heart, "adopted" from grandma or mom.
No two recipes are the same...and they all taste good. I am lost as to which one to follow, so I make my own.

I find Fattoush salad very "addictive", just can't get enough of them. Refreshingly citrusy from Sumac and lemon juice, mildly fragrant from the olive oil, cumin, garlic, parsley and mint.
Oh I have added chilli powder as well. Its a cold cold world and I needed some warmth :).  If you detest chillis, leave them out.

Ingredients for my version of "Fattoush Salad":
Toasted flat bread (Middle-Eastern) or pita, break into small pieces
Some lettuce leaves, torn or chopped into bite pieces
1 chopped cucumber
1 chopped tomato
1 chopped capsicum
1/2 sliced onion
2 chopped spring onions
5 green olives
5 kalamata olives
1 tablespoon chopped mint leaves
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 clove garlic, crushed with a pinch of salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon sumac
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder

Mix everything in a large bowl. For best results, use your hands.
Serve the salad with more crispy toasted bread.
I eat this with anything from fish to meat, even good on its own.
This time I have it with some rice, courtesy of my friend Sakura from Kabob Station at : http://www.kabobstation.wordpress.com/



Kofta & Chips

Kofta and Chips are my favourite snack. The Kofta is "Turkish-inspired". It is super simple to make and I can eat loads of them.

Ingredients for Kofta:
500g Minced lamb
1 Onion - grated
2 Garlic cloves - grated
1  teaspoon ground Cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground Ginger
1 teaspoon Paprika
1 teaspoon Chilli powder
2  tablespoons minced fresh Mint
2 tablespoons minced Parsley
1 tablespoon Sumac
 1 egg
Salt & Pepper to taste

Mix all the ingredients well in a big bowl. Shape the mix into small oval patties.
Brush them with olive oil and grill them about 10 minutes on each side turning once.
I stuffed them in a pita with Harissa and Tahini and ate them with fried potato chips.
You may also serve them with yoghurt, couscous, rice or salad.

Chicken Kebabs with Lemon Tahini Dip

Don't know much about Middle Eastern cooking but I do like the flavours. This is  "Moroccan- inspired"  as the spices which I had chosen are closer to "Ras-al-hanout". The citrusy sweetness from the orange juice also lends a "Moroccan" twist.

I could not find the Ras-al-hanout spice mix here, so I did my own with a blend of ground cardamom, clove, cinnamon, dried chili, coriander, cumin, nutmeg, peppercorn, and turmeric.





Ingredients for Chicken Kebabs:
4-5 cups chicken thigh cut into one inch pieces
Grated zest and juice of 1 orange
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves crushed
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp ground clove
1/4 tsp ground cinammon
1/2 tsp ground chilli
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/2 tsp ground paprika
1 tsp ground turmeic
A sprig of thyme or rosemary
2 tbsp yoghurt
Mix all of the above in a ziplock bag and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 3 hours.
After which, take the bag out from the fridge and let it return to room temperature before adding 1/2 tsp salt. Slide them on pre-soaked bamboo skewers.

I grilled them in the oven as I did not have a barbeque grill going on. If you have one, that would be better. I like Lemon Tahini dip. You may use any other dip, it would surely taste as good.

Lemon Tahini Dip:
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 tsp garlic paste
5 tbsp tahini
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp chopped basil
Pinch of Paprika

Mix the lemon juice, garlic paste, tahini, ground cumin, and chilli powder. Add a little water for a lighter consistency and garnish with chopped basil and paprika.
Serve with rice, couscous or bread and salad.

Lamb and Puri

I love Lamb curry and Puri. I could remember when I was eleven and we had moved in to our spanky new house. We had a Punjabi Indian family as neighbours and their house always smelt of heavenly curries. It smelt different from the curries which my mom made. I thought my mom's were great but that new smell from the Punjabi lady's kitchen moved me beyond words.

I had to ask her, just needed to find out what she had thrown into her pot. So nosy little me went poking around her kitchen one day. My oh my what a learing experience that was, she had me learning on  all kinds of Indian spices, her home made roasted spices for garam masala (her secret recipe), asafoetida and for the first time in my life I knew that mustard oil existed. This is something which my mom never use.

So everytime I made lamb and puri, it brings me down memory lane, back to her kitchen. She would serve it with jeera rice as well as puri or chapati and some lovely "spicy potato mash".