Here are a few facts about Syria:

• Capitals: Damascus
• Population: about 23 million
• Area: 185 180 km²
• Currency: Syrian pound

For the Syrian meal I made quite a few recipes. First I made an eggplant dish called mutabal along with some traditional Syrian bread called manoushi bread. I also made some sfeeha for appetizer. Sfeeha are like small meat pies or small pizzas with lamb and pomagranate molasses. Then for the main course I made fattoush which is a salad containing lots of vegetables and herbs with some pita bread (I replaced the pita bread with manoushi bread) and dressed with olive oil, lemon juice and sumac. Lastly as the main dish with the salad I made kibbeh bil sanieh, it’s ground beef with bulgur cooked in the oven. Here are the recipes for all these dishes.

Mutabal

Ingredients:

• 1 eggplant
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 3/4 cup yogurt
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat the over at 325F.

Clean and cut the eggplant in half. Leave the skin on. Brush some olive oil on the open part of the eggplant and put it in the oven for about 45 minutes (until it is cooked through).

Once the eggplant is cooked, let it cool, remove skin and cut in 1 inch cubes and put in a bowl. Measure all the other ingredients except the olive oil and mix them in the bowl with the eggplant. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Put the mutabal in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. When ready to serve, drizzle with olive oil and serve with pita or manoushi bread.

Manoushi bread

Ingredients:

• 350g all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon dry yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon sugar
• 200ml warm water
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:

Measure all the ingredients to have them ready.

Start by sifting the flour in a large bowl. Add the yeast and the salt.

Dissolve the sugar in the warm water and gradually add to the dry ingredients while stirring, continue adding water until the mixture turns into a sticky dough (you might not need all the water).

Add the olive oil and knead with your hands or an electric mixer with a dough hook. Knead for 10 minutes until the dough is smooth.

Put the dough in a bowl and let rest covered for 2 hours. The dough will double in size.

After 2 hours, knock the air out of the dough and divide it in 12 balls. Place the balls on a lightly floured tray and cover them for 10 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 450F.

After 10 minutes, roll each ball into a 6 inch circle and put them in the hot oven for 4-5 minutes. You should start to see some golden brown spots on them.

Take out of the oven and keep in a dry towel until serving. You can slightly reheat them to serve.

Sfeeha

Ingredients:

For the filling:

• 1 pound lamb
• 1 onion
• 1/4 cup pomegranate molasses
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• Salt and pepper

For the dough:

• 2 and 1/2 cups of flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil

Directions:

For the filling, chop the onion finely and place in a bowl. Add all the filling ingredients to the onion and mix well with your hands.

Then to make the dough, in an other bowl combine  the flour, sugar, cornstarch and salt. Add water and knead until the dough comes together. Add the oil and knead until the dough is smooth.

Preheat the oven to 450F.

Split the dough in 15 balls and roll into thin dough circles using a rolling pin.

Add a good amount of filling on top and cook in the oven for about 10-13 minutes. The dough needs to be cooked and slightly brown on the edges.

Fattoush

Ingredients:

• 1 pita or manoushi bread
• 2 large Lebanese cucumbers or 8 small ones
• 2 tomatoes
• 6 radishes
• 1/2 red bell pepper
• 1/2 green bell pepper
• 4 large leafs of iceberg lettuce
• 1/2 cup mint
• 1/2 cup parsley
• 3 scallions

For the dressing:

• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 2 teaspoons sumac
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Directions:

Start by preparing all the ingredients.Cut the cucumber in 1/2 inch slices, dice the bell peppers, cut the tomatoes in 1 inch cubes, chop the mint and the parsley, cut the iceberg lettuce leafs, slice the radishes and the scallion thinly.

Add all these ingredients into a large salad bowl.

For the dressing, measure the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt and spices.

Mix them into a bowl.

When ready to serve, chop a pita or manoushi bread in 1 inch squares and add to the vegetables, add the dressing and stir well.

Kibbeh bil sanieh

Ingredients:

For the filling:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1.5 pound ground beef
• 2 large onions
• 1 teaspoon baharat (recipe below)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 3 tablespoons pine nuts

For the kibbeh:

• 1 and 1/2 cup bulgur
• 1.5 pound ground beef
• 1 onion
• 1 teaspoon baharat (recipe below)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 3 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:

Let the bulgur soak for at least 4 hours (ideally overnight) in 250ml of water.

The next day, start preparing the filling. Chop the onions. In a hot pan with olive oil, cook the meat until the juices start to evaporate and the meat is cooked. Add the chopped onions and the rest of the filling ingredients except the pine nuts and butter.

Cook until the onions are translucent, remove from heat and let cool.

In the meantime, brown the pine nuts in a small pan with the butter (careful! they burn easily). Once the pine nuts are browned add to the filling meat mixture.

Now prepare the kibbeh. Grate the onion and add all the ingredients to a large bowl. Mix well.

Preheat the oven at 350F.

Divide the kibbeh in half. Take the first half and spread evenly at the bottom of a large round cooking tray with edges. You can make small balls and flatten them into thin patties that you lay next to each other.

Add the filling on top of the first layer of kibbeh.

With the second half of the kibbeh, cover the filling evenly. Make sure it’s evenly distributed on top of the filling. You should end up with a flat surface on top.

Brush the top with olive oil. Poke a small hole in the center with your finger and with a knife cut wedges around the hole.

Put the whole plate in the oven for 25 minutes and serve.

Baharat

Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

Directions:

Mix all the spices together.

دعونا أكل