Pistachio Stuffed dates

                                                                              Receta en Español

Dates are typical from Saudi Arabia, they are cooked stuffed with nuts,coconut or chocolate, today I show you how to cook Pistachio Stuffed dates.

Ingredients:

• 22 Dates.
• 70 grams natural husked Pistachios.
• 2 dessert spoons of orange blossom water.

Method:

1. Grind pistachios.

2. Mix ground pistachios with blossom water.
3. Mix well until you obtain a paste.

4. Cut dates along side , get rid of the seed.
5. Put the mixture of pistachios with blossom water inside  the dates.

My comments to the Recipe:

They are very easy to make and extremely delicious, pistachios and dates make a perfect match. You should try them!.



Saudi Arabia

Kabsa (chicken rice from Saudi Arabia)

                                                                               Receta en Español

Kabsa is the national dish of Saudi Arabia, it is rice accompanied by chicken, lamb or fish. The recipe I present to you is rice accompanied by chicken.

I found this recipe at this blog where you can find other Saudi recipes:

http://www.yasalamcooking.com/chicken-kabsa/#.UoqAEHiDN0s

Ingredients:

• 1 Chicken in Pieces.
• 1 cup basmati rice.
• oil.
• 1 tomato diced.
• 2 chillis cut into strips.
• 2 bay leaves.
• Half a stock cube.
• 1 onion in pieces.
• 2 cloves of garlic.
• 6 cardamom beans.
• 5 cloves.
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon.
• 2 black lemons.
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin.
• 1 teaspoon coriander.
• 1 teaspoon salt.
• 1 teaspoon ground pepper.
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger.
• 200 grams tomato sauce.
• Some raisins.
• (Optional) 1 diced boiled egg and some toasted almonds.

Method:

1. put oil,onion and garlic in a casserole, put on a medium heat and sautée until gold.
2. Add bay leaves, cardamon, coriander, salt, black lemons, pepper, ginger, cumin, cloves, cinnamon. Sautée for a minute.
3. Add tomato sauce, diced tomato, stock cube and chillis.
4. Mix well and put on a low heat.
5. Add chicken and cook for some minutes stirring well to mix chicken with the spices.

6. Add water to cover the chicken totally, put on a high heat and boil, After reaching boiling point put on a low heat and cook for 35 minutes covered with a lid.

7. Once chicken is done, take 2 cups of the broth you have obtained after cooking it, we will use this broth to cook the rice.
8. Mix the broth with the rice in another casserole, put on a high heat , after reaching boiling point put on a low heat and cook covered for 10 minutes.
9. Serve chicken on the rice, add raisins, (egg and almonds if you want).

Where to buy the ingredients:

I bought black lemons in a shop at Antonio Calvo street, close to Madrid's mosque.



Saudi Arabia

Hummus

                                                                               Receta en Español

Hummus is an arab word to name cheakpeas, this is a very popular dish all over Middle East.

Ingredients

• 200 grams cheakpeas.
• 2 tablespoons of tahini.
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice.
• 2 garlic cloves.
• Salt.
• A pinch of cumin.
• A pinch of ground coriander.
• A pinch of grounded black pepper.
• A pinch of sweet paprika.
• A splash of olive oil.

Method:

1. Soak cheakpeas over night, you can add a teaspoon of baking soda to make them get soft  faster.
2. Put cheakpeas in a pressure cooker with water and salt. Water should just cover cheakpeas.
3. Close the pressure cooker and set on a high heat, once steam comes out of the safety valve , put on a low heat and cook  for 1 hour.
4. Drain cheakpeas , put them in a food processor, add garlic cloves, tahini, lemon, coriander, pepper and cumin. Process until you get a puree, if it is too dick you can add some water.

6. Put the purée in a dish, pour a splash of olive oil , sprinkle cumin and paprika.
7. You can conserve hummus in the fridge for a week, you should eat it accompanied by  khubz.



Saudi Arabia