FOOD
Ramadan Iftar Feast
Wrap up Ramadan with these AMAZING Palestinian Iftar recipes.
FOOD
Ramadan Iftar Feast
Wrap up Ramadan with these AMAZING Palestinian Iftar recipes.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds shredded phyllo dough, ground
- 5 ½ tablespoons sweet butter, divided
- 1 cup margarine, melted
- 2 teaspoons powdered orange dye
- 12 ounces ackawi cheese
- 12 ounces sweet white cheese
- 1 ½ cups mozzarella
- 2 cups simple syrup
- ¼ cup ground pistachios, for garnish
Steps
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Soak ackawi cheese in water for at least 6 hours to remove saltiness.
- Mix ground kanafeh dough with margarine and 3 tablespoons of melted sweet butter.
- Add 2 teaspoons of powdered orange dye to 2 1/2 tablespoons of butter and spread out into a large pan.
- Spread out kanafeh dough mixture into a pan, on top of the butter, and press it flat.
- Grind ackawi cheese, sweet white cheese and mozzarella in a food processor.
- Layer cheese mixture on top of the kanafeh and bake in the oven until lightly golden and the cheese is melted, about 20 minutes.
- Pour simple syrup over the kanafeh and top with pistachios. Serve immediately and enjoy!
Ingredients
Cookie Dough
- 1 ½ pounds farina
- 1 ½ pounds semolina
- 1 ½ pounds sweet butter
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 ¼ cups confectioners sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup fennel powder
- 1 tablespoon mahlab
- 2 tablespoons anise powder
- 1 ½ tablespoons nutmeg
- ½ tablespoon baking powder
- 1/4 cup water
Date Filling
- 2 ½ pounds date paste
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- ½ tablespoon nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon fennel powder
- 1 tablespoon anise powder
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- For topping:
- Powdered sugar
- Ground pistachios
Steps
Cookie Dough
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Mix farina, semolina and sweet butter. Cover and let it sit at room temperature overnight.
- Mix in confectioners sugar, granulated sugar, fennel powder, mahlab, anise powder and baking powder.
- Add water and avoid over-mixing by using just your fingers, set aside.
- Prepare the date filling.
Date Filling
- Mix date paste with cinnamon, nutmeg, fennel powder and anise powder.
- Roll the date mixture and into small 1 ½ inch sized balls, then roll the dough into slightly bigger balls, about 1 ¾ inch in size.
- Lightly flatten one of the dough balls and place a date ball into the center.
- Roll together then press into a date cookie mold until it’s level with the edge.
- Tap the mold against a hard surface to remove the cookie.
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes at 400 degrees until golden brown, sprinkle with powdered sugar or ground pistachios.
- Serve and enjoy!
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh grape leaves
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 8 grey squash
- 2 pounds white short-grain rice
- 1 pound ground beef
- 2 cups chopped onion
- 2 cups chopped tomatoes
- 1 ½ cups parsley
- 5 cloves garlic, chopped
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- ½ tablespoon turmeric
- 1 tablespoon salt
- ½ tablespoon black pepper
- For cooking:
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 ½ cups water
- 2 tablespoons salt, divided
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
- 1 - 2 lemons, as preferred
- 9 garlic cloves
- ½ cup sliced onion
- 1 whole tomato, sliced
- 1 potato, sliced
Steps
- Add juice of one lemon to a medium pot of water and bring to a boil.
- Add about 10 grape leaves and cook for 1 ½ minutes until they begin to change to an olive color. Drain then wash with cold water.
- Core grey squash and set aside.
- Soak rice in water for 10 minutes, drain and mix with, ground beef, chopped onion, parsley, chopped garlic, black pepper, cumin, turmeric and olive oil.
- Lay out a grape leaves and place a small amount of rice in the middle, roll it up and repeat.
- Fill grey squash with the same rice mixture.
- Add a tablespoon of oil, garlic cloves, sliced onions, potatoes and tomatoes to the bottom of a large pot.
- Add a single layer of rolled grape leaves, then all of the stuffed squash.
- Fill the pot with the rest of the grape leaves then add salt, lemon juice and about 4 1/2 cups of water, until it reaches just under the top layer of grape leaves.
- Cover with an upside down plate to weigh it down.
- Cook for 1 hour and 45 minutes on medium heat or until the rice is cooked all the way through.
- Remove the lid and plate and carefully flip onto a tray. Serve and enjoy!
Ingredients
Chicken and Stock
- 2 ½ tablespoons olive oil
- 3 pounds chicken
- 1 ½ cups chopped onion
- 3 bay leaves
- 2 sticks cinnamon
- ¼ cup cardamom pods
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 4 ½ cups water
Rice MIxture
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 ½ pounds jasmine rice
- 1 ¾ cups vermicelli
- 1 tablespoon salt
- ½ tablespoon pepper
- ½ tablespoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ tablespoon allspice
- ½ tablespoon cardamom
- 1 tablespoon 7 spice blend
Fried Vegetables
- 1 head cauliflower, separated
- 1 eggplant, peeled and sliced
- 3 potatoes, sliced
- 5 cups canola oil
Steps
Chicken and Stock
- Add oil, chopped onion, chicken, bay leaves, cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks and salt to a large pot and simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add water and bring to a boil, skimming the foam off the top as it goes.
- Remove chicken and place it in the maqlooba pot; save the stock for the rice mixture.
Rice MIxture
- Fry vermicelli until golden brown, then place on paper towel.
- Soak rice for 10 minutes, then drain and add salt, pepper, turmeric, cinnamon, all spice, powdered cardamom and 7 spice blend. Mix in the vermicelli and layer it over the chicken and fried vegetables.
- Ladle in about 4 cups of the leftover chicken stock or until you can see it a quarter inch under the rice.
- Cover with a lid and cook on medium until the stock boils away.
- Once the stock boil away, after about 25 to 30 minutes, remove the lid, place a large pan on top of the pot and flip. Carefully remove the pot.
- Serve and enjoy!
Fried Vegetables
- Fry sliced eggplant, potatoes and cauliflower in the canola oil.
- Dry on paper towels then layer them on top of the chicken in the maqlooba pot.