KOSHARY

The Egyptian famous meals which is typically preferred by most of Egypt's guests is Koshary .

Koshary is well known all over Egypt & the most Professional restaurants specialized in presenting this meal are located in Giza. This nice meal has a very integrated nutritional value as it contains all what you need, this balanced meal contains carbohydrates, minerals and protein by adding    Boiled black lentil (skinned lintel) which make a complete meal

The funny thing about it ,that because  it is  sheep ,  easy to find the Koshary restaurants any where in Cairo , most of  fat Egyptians think that the main reason for putting on weight is eating too much Koshry .

KOSHARY:

Ingredients:

1-      Macaroni

2-      White Rice (short grain) + vermicelli (option)

3-      Black Lentil + Grounded cumin

4-      Fried onion

5-      Vinegar and garlic (hot sauce)

6-      Paprika (hot sauce)

7-      Tomato sauce

8-      Boiled chickpeas (option)

Method:

1-      wash the (short grain) rice thoroughly and drain it well , heat up some corn oil   and add the rice and stir continuously it then add water and cover on moderate oven .

2-      boil the macaroni in boiling salted water (1 liter per 100 gr. Of macaroni)stirring occasionally. Cook and test until desired degree tenderness is reached. Drain in colander.

3-      Wash the black lintel and drain well after done and add ground cumin and salt.

4-      Slice onion in a thin half rings shape and fry in oil till reach the golden brown  

      color.

5-      Boil the check peas in salted water until the desired degrees

6-      Prepare the tomato sauce by cutting the tomatoes and heat up the oil in a pan along with onions, garlic then add tomato puree and ripe mixed tomato juice .. add seasoning , (salt and ground pepper) strain through a sieve .

7-      Prepare D'aa (mixture of garlic , vinegar and paprika)

   

Serving your Dish:

-          put the rice then the macaroni and top it with the black lintel then our some   

      tomato sauce and Do'aa (garlic and vinegar mixture) , finally scatter some  

      chickpeas  and go ahead.

Hints :

 1-      Serve hot ( recommended ) as complete lunch course.

2-      Use your own preferable kind of oil , the best is  corn oil.

3-      Make the quantity that you expect to serve immediately , this meal is not recommended to be kept in fridge.

4-      Koshary is always followed by dessert of rich rice pudding and honey and cream may be added with roasted cracked nuts.

5-      The black (skin) lintel and chickpeas give the Koshary it complete nutrition value as a source of protein in addition to carbohydrates , minerals ,  vitamins and iron.

by Randa A.Tawwab

Social trip in an interesting local place

this article was written by my students about one of our social trip together supported with photos

hope to enjoying this , Jeje

1)by  Beáta Jirkovszky - Hungary 

As many languages you know as many persons you are” – says a saying in my country, Hungary, Europe. It is an obvious fact that learning a language not only means acquiring vocabulary and grammar, but also having a deep cultural insight into lifestyle, religion, habits and besides many more even the cuisine. In the Arabic classes with our teacher Ms. Jehan (Gigi) cultural studies are a coherent part of the lesson. The topics are raised by our everyday issues and experiences. Her interpretations about life in Egypt vary from down-to Earth to philosophic. That brings our life in Egypt more closer to the real Egyptian way and makes us understand this culture even more.

As one example of cultural studies within Arabic lessons our group made an outing to have real Egyptian breakfast (full) in an authentic diner at Sayida Zeenab district. Without Gigi we would never had entered such a place for eating purposes, but our primary mistrust vanished right after we tasted the countless forms and varieties of Tameyas, beans, dips and salads – a revelation on every plate! I personally hardly could stop eating. And what more I felt good even the day after!

2) by NUR AIDA SULAIMAN - Malaysia

last month me and my friends from the Arabic class went to a local restaurant in El Sayida Zeyinab 
we were amazed at the variety of bean ( fool )dishes offered there .

for example we had fool with garlic and tomato , fool with teHina  , fool with onions , fool with olives oil and fool with eggs

and we had falafel , it was very hot and I liked very much  ( I took some with me home ) and eggplants with garlic we had our notebook and we asked Jehan for the recipes .

maybe one day  we can make other gathering for a " cooking session " , good activities outside class not only to practice but to know each other .

lucky me , I got a very nice group of classmates  , every one went back with a smile in their face 

we all had a good time and we all signed up for next level .

lastly , thank you very much Jehan .

3)by Debbie Talbot - England

We've been having Arabic classes with Jehan for about 2 months now, learning the basic language, quite a bit on going grocery shopping, and always ended up talking about different foods we can eat and buy from our countries.

Jehan thought it would be very educational for us to try the real Arabic food, so we decided to meet up for breakfast in one of the local restaurants down town.

We tried all varietys of breakfast food, and it was a great way of coming together as a group outside the class. Well done Jehan.

Foul mahroos

Foul mahroos ( from Egypt )

by / Elham Abd El Tawwab

This bean dip is my kids favorite for breakfast .

it tastes great with cracker bread , pitta bread or tortellya chips .

Ingredients :

1 can plain fava bean ( Americana or California garden foul medames )

½ tea spoon cayenne pepper

1 table spoon olive oil

¼ tea spoon cumin powder

1 garlic clove ( optional )

Method :

Mix the can contents ( the fava bean + the its water ) + all the other ingredients in the blender or a food processor until smooth .

Serve in a plate and top with olive oil and garnish with parsley .

Food around the world - Spain

GAZPACHO

Summer Soup you drink it cold .

add by : Lina from Colombia

Ingredients

• 10 oz of bread

• 21 oz. of tomato

• 2 cloves of garlic

• 2 onions

• 2 red and green peppers

• 1 cucumber

• 7 tablespoons of olive oil

• 2 tablespoons of vinegar

• 1 1/2 tablespoon of water

Preparation

In a big mortar mash the cumin, the garlic and the soaked bread, in a plastic bowl mix the chopped onion, the chopped tomato, the oil, the vinegar, the salt and the contents of the mortar, mash it with the mixer and add very cold water to mix everything. Add salt and strain it. Keep it in the fridge until served.

Serve with the tomato, the cucumber, the pepper and the toasted bread cut to dices.

Food around the world _ Turkey (1)

Hi all
I had a lot of comment about the " roz bilaban " , a lot of students made it and they like it
a lot ,,, so we would like to know what do you eat in your country so i asked some student from different countries to write one of the most famous dishes in there country ,,

we will start today with "Chala" from Turkey

enjoy it ,,, jeje

Patlican Karniyarik (Eggplant Stuffed with Meat)

Karniyarik is a "certified Turkish" recipe, which is widely made and loved almost in all over Turkey. It is a truth that Karniyarik is not a light dish, but it is absolutely delicious.
Please try to use fresh eggplants as they tend to get soft in the refrigerator. Also, forget about huge American eggplants. It is better to use medium sized ones or Asian eggplants.

Ingredients

6 medium sized eggplants

2 onions, finely chopped

3 tomatoes, peeled and chopped

250 grams minced meat

5 tablespoons oil

250 grams chopped parsley

2 green peppers, sliced

salt, pepper

1. Remove tops of eggplants. Make a deep lengthwise incision in each eggplant.

2. Put them in salted water for about 20 minutes.

3. Drain and pat dry with paper towel. Fry eggplants lightly in oil, turning constantly. Remove from pan and set aside.

4. Brown onions, minced meat and peppers lightly. Add tomatoes and continue to cook for several minutes.

5. Remove from heat and add salt and pepper to taste.

6. Place eggplants in deep baking dish, cut sides facing up. Fill each eggplant with

the mince mixture. Top each eggplant with a slice of tomato and green pepper.

7. Add a cup of water to dish, cover and cook for 20-25 minutes or until tender, in oven or on stove top.

Food around the world _ Egypt (2)

Um 3ali

Ingredients:

500g of cooked puff pastry
1/2 a cup of chopped/water
4 cups of milk
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/2 a cup of sultanas
1/2 a cup of walnuts
1/4 of a cup of sugar
250g of whipped cream
some vanilla essence (optional)

Preparation:

Mix the nuts, cinnamon and vanilla.
Grease a baking mould.
Cut the puff pastry in half and cut the half into pieces.
Pour the milk into a saucepan with the sugar and bring it to the boil.
Sprinkle some of the nuts, cinnamon and vanilla over the puff pastry pieces.
Place another layer of puff pastry on top.
Sprinkle the rest of the nuts, cinnamon and vanilla, and add a last layer of puff pastry.
Pour the hot milk over the puff pastry.
Spread the whipped cream over the puff pastry until the surface is completely covered.
Bake in the oven on a medium heat for 30 minutes or until golden brown.
Serve fresh from the oven.

Food around the world _ Egypt (1)

As a consequence of the Turkish dominance of Egypt for hundreds of years, Egyptian cuisine has accordingly been greatly influenced by this particular country’s gastronomy. The cuisines of neighbouring Arab countries like Lebanon, Syria and Palestine have also had an impact.

Egyptians eat three meals per day: fitaar, or breakfast, is taken early in the morning. This usually consists of fuul (broad beans served with oil), t'ameyah (deep-fried broad bean puree), eggs, jam or cheese with what is termed ‘balady’ bread or 'aysh balady (an unleavened bread made from coarse wheat and bran).

Roz bil laban ( rice pudding )

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of short-grain rice
5 cups of water
4 cups of milk
1 cup of sugar
2 tablespoons of corn starch dissolved in watera pinch of ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
a sprinkling of chopped nuts
a sprinkling of raisins

Preparation:

Pour the rinsed rice into a pan with the water.
Simmer the rice over a medium heat until it is cooked.
Add the sugar and then the milk and vanilla essence whilst stirring the mixture constantly to avoid burning the rice.
Bring the rice to the boil and add the corn starch. Keep stirring the mixture until it thickens.
Take the mixture off the heat and shape it into small balls.
Sprinkle the ground cinnamon, chopped nuts and raisins over the balls.
Serve cold.