Eastern Intrigue

Middle Eastern and ‘Jewish’ cuisine is a great interest of mine.  I’m not Jewish but a lot of the food still provides me with a sense of homely comfort, a feeling that I grew up with it, even though I didn’t.

My amazing friend Francesca sent me a copy of Aromas of Aleppo: The Legendary Cuisine of Syrian Jews (Poopa Dweck) for Christmas and I feel rather ashamed that it’s taken me so long to cook from it.  Although I have read it from cover to cover, so maybe I shouldn’t feel so bad.

Aromas of Aleppo: The Legendary Cuisine of Syrian Jews is a fabulous book, which not only contains lots of lovely recipes alongside amazing photographs but a little cultural history of the Syrian Jews.  This added background is something I much appreciate and admire in cookery books; okay sometimes you just want the recipe – something quick to follow but other times you (or at least I do) want to curl up in a comfy armchair with a steaming mug of tea and a book to dive into and submerge into the origins of the food mentioned.

Aromas of Aleppo: The Legendary Cuisine of Syrian Jews has an accompanying website which can be found here.

The first recipe I decided to try was mujedrah (rice with brown lentils and caramelised onions), but to make the dish more of a complete meal I decided to add some roasted vegetables.  I roasted the vegetables, onions, peppers, butternut squash, sweet potato and aubergine with some olive oil and Aleppo spice blend (obtained from The Spice Shop). 

The Jews of Aleppo were famed for their refined and tasty cuisine, which was regarded as ‘the pearl of the Arab kitchen’ and after eating this wonderful dish, it is easy to see why.  The flavours were subtle yet defined and very very moreish.  The only disappointment was that I didn’t have any fresh herbs to scatter over at the end, that would have really freshened the meal up.

I served it, as Poopa suggests, with thick yogurt, cucumber, hummus and some amba sauce (which was also a gorgeous gift from Francesca).

I can’t wait to get cooking from this book again.  Many thanks to Francesca!!!!

The Recipe:

• 1/4 cup brown lentils
• 2 cups thinly sliced onions
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup long grain white rice
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 3 cups roasted mixed vegetables (which have been roasted with 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 tablespoon of Aleppo spice mix)

1. Combine the lentils with 1 cup water in a large saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 10 – 15 minutes, or until the lentils are al dente, or slightly firm.
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute the onions in the vegetable oil over medium heat for 30 minutes, or until thoroughly caramelised.
3. When the lentils are al dente, drain the liquid into a measuring cup and add enough water to bring the total amount of liquid to 1 1/2 cups. Return to the saucepan and add the rice, salt and a third of the onions.  Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes.
4. Add the butter to the rice and continue simmering for 10 more minutes.  Toss the vegetables through the rice and before serving, top the mujedrah with the remaining fried onions and their cooking oil.

Serves: 6-8

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