Kameel Majdali's Road Ahead

It is as delicious as it is simple to make. Labneh is a thick, cheese-like dip made from plain yoghurt. It is hard to get this wrong and your family will thank you for it. Ingredients: 1 kg of Greek yoghurt 1 tsp salt The key to labneh is to get it to drain in the fridge for 12-24 hours. Use the following equipment: Cheesecloth String Colander or sieve Large bowl to drain water. Line the sieve or colander with cheesecloth. Lay it in one direction and then another. Place the colander/sieve in the large bowl. Add the salt to the yoghurt and stir thoroughly. Place all the yoghurt into the cheesecloth lined colander, then pull the edges of the cloth and tie with a string. Allow the liquid to drain from the yoghurt for 12-24 hours - the longer it drains, the thicker and creamier it becomes. Your kilo of yoghurt will render 500 grams of drained labneh. Remove, place in a serving bowl, pour a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and dust light...

This buttery rice with golden noodles makes a wonderful addition to any dish. Makes 6 cups 3 cups short grain rice 1/2 cup butter Stock or stock cubes 1/2 cup egg noodles, broken up 1               Wash the rice and soak it for a least an hour, or 2 or overnight. The longer, the better. It will be more nutritious, too; 2               Melt the butter in the pot. Make sure the heat is not too high or it will burn. Lightly brown the broken egg noodles until golden 3               Quickly add the drained rice into the pot and stir until nicely coated with the butter and noodle mixture, add salt as desired and stir again. 4               Add cold stock or water (with stock cubes) until it is 2 cm ab...

We have been serving this stir-fry style dish for years and it always hits a home run. Ingredients 2 T. oil (coconut, peanut, olive oil, or some other healthy oil) 1 onion, chopped finely 2-3 cloves of garlic 1-2 carrots, grated or chopped small 3 celery ribs, chopped finely 500 to 750 grams of mince (ground) meat: beef, chicken breast, or turkey 1/2 cup of rice, preferably long-grain (basmati, jasmine, or similar) 2 chicken stock cubes or a packet of dry chicken noodle soup 2 cups of liquid chicken stock 2 T. curry powder 1 cup water 1/2 cabbage, cored and shredded 1-2 spring (green) onions for garnish (optional) Directions 1.     Heat a wok or frying pan with oil, using medium to high heat. Pan fry onions, garlic, carrots and celery for 3 minutes. Add meat and cook for 5 minutes, making sure the mince is broken up. Drain excess fat. 2.     To this mixture add rice, stock cubes/soup mix, liquid chicken stock,...

Hummus is a famous Middle Eastern dip which is now found around the world, including in many supermarkets in the West. Some of its key ingredients include chickpeas, sesame seed paste (tahina), garlic and lemons. Nutritionally, it is high up the ladder: dietary fibre, protein, Vitamin C, manganese, folate, iron, zinc, and more. How do you eat it? It is often served as an appetiser in the Middle East mezze, and has a variety of garnishes: paprika, olive oil, chopped cucumber or tomato, parsley, caramelised onion, and the list goes on. You can scoop it up using pita bread, spread in on the inside of a falafel sandwich, or simply serve as a side dish. Hummus is very common throughout the Arab world. The Israelis also love it, too, in part because it perfectly fits within their religious dietary laws. Hummus can be eaten with meat dishes as well as milk dishes. According to The Christian Science Monitor, Israel’s have made hummus a national food symbol and eat twice as much as ...

Tabbouleh is not just a salad - it is an experience. It is rightly considered Lebanon ’ s national salad and originating from its mountain region. From there, it has spread across the Middle East and the world. My Lebanese mother, grandmother, great-aunt, were all ‘ tabbouleh queens. ’ I have known this salad all my life and always looked forward to eating it. The bright fresh green bowl of parsley, diced tomatoes, spring onions, and tangy vinaigrette dressing, made this a taste sensation. What I thought could only be found in my family home started to show up in restaurants and in the deli section of many supermarkets. Admittedly, the commercial version lagged behind the fresh, home-made tabbouleh, yet the proliferation testifies to its popularity. Tabbouleh is often served as part of the mezze. a selection of small dishes that serve as an appetiser before the main meal. Other dips like hummus (chick pea dip) and baba ghanouj (eggplant dip) are also part of a traditional ...