Tarator dip sauce recipe

Tarator dip/sauce is a well-known sour Middle Eastern sauce commonly used with fish, falafel or shawrma sandwiches. I like to have it as a thick dip pretty much like hummus, you can control the thickness of this dip by adding more water if you prefer it thinner and more like a sauce.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 5 minutes
Total time: 10 minutes
Yield: 1 cup of sauce

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup tahini
• 2 tbs fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 garlic clove (crushed)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbs chopped parsley

Cooking Directions

1. Put all of the ingredients except the chopped parsley in a blender and blend them all together very well 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Add the chopped parsley to the dip and combine well 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Put it in a serving dish and decorate it
   
   
   
   
4. Serve it cold

Watermelon Salad

Watermelon salad is great for outdoor picnics, you can also have it as dinner or a healthy snack between meals. It is a great salad to cool down the summer heat and can be done in less than 10 minutes.

Ingredients: 

4 cup watermelon (cut into cubes)

2 cup fresh white cheese “Akkawi” (cut into cubes)

½ cup fresh mint leaves

Steps: 

watch the steps demonstrated in the video above

Cheese and chicken sambosa (samosa)

Samobsa is an everyday must have in Ramadan. Cheese and chicken sambosa is my favorite. It is easy to make and super delicious.

Makes: 18 samobsa

Ingredients:

1 boneless chicken breast (cooked)

½ cup sweet corn (cooked)

1/3 cup cream cheese

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp white pepper

18 sambosa leaves

Flour and water to stick the leaf

Steps: 

watch the steps demonstrated in the video above

Stuffed grape leaves

Stuffed grape leaves are common in the middle east. They can be served as a cold appetizer or as a main dish if it contains meat. This version is meatless and is usually served cold. You can serve it along with tomatoes, slices of lemon or garlic cloves. 

Ingredients:

0.5kg grape leaves (washed and drained)

1 cup short grain rice

1 cup chopped parsley

½ cup chopped mint leaves

½ cup chopped scallions

2 medium tomatoes (cut into cubes)

1 medium tomato (sliced)

½ cup lemon juice

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp salt

½ tsp black pepper powder

¼ tsp cinnamon powder

1 tbs pomegranate molasses

4 cups water (or more, depends on the size of the pot)

Steps: 

watch the steps demonstrated in the video above

Hummus

Hummus is a natural source of fibers and proteins, it is rich in folic acid (folate) which helps in preventing cancer. You can have it as a dip, spread or an addition to your favorite sandwich.

Ingredients:
400g cooked chick peas
2 tbs Tahini
1 garlic clove (crushed)
¼ tsp salt
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tbs warm water
to decorate: sprinkle paprika and drizzle some extra virgin olive oil

Steps: 

watch the steps demonstrated in the video above

Baba ghanoush (Middle Eastern dip)

Baba ghanoush (Middle-eastern dip)

This delicious dip is served as an appetizer in the middle-eastern cuisine. The smoky flavor of baked eggplants mixed with Tahini makes it a very special dish.

Serves: 3 dishes
Preparation and cooking time: Preparation: 10 minutes

                                                     Baking: 40 minutes

                                                     Cooling: 15 minutes

                                                      Total: 1 hour

Ingredients:

0.5kg eggplant (1 large eggplant)

2 garlic cloves

3 tablespoon Tahini

Juice of 1 lemon

1 teaspoon salt

Garnish:

Chopped parsley

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Steps:

Preheat the oven to 190 degree Celsius.

Wash the eggplant and put in a heat proof skillet

Bake it for 40 minutes

Take the hot eggplant out of the oven and pour a cold glass of water on it (to ease peeling the skin off)

Leave it to cool down for 20 minutes before peeling the skin off

Add the salt, garlic and smash it well

Add the lemon juice, tahini and mix

Sprinkle chopped parsley on top and drizzle some extra-virgin olive oil on the sides

Serve it cold

Spinach pies

Spinach pies (Spinach fatayer)

makes: 15-20 pie
Preparation and cooking time: Preparation: 25 minutes

                                                          Baking: 15-20 minutes

                                                          Total: 40-45 minutes

Ingredients:
Dough:

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

¾ cup warm water (or more, depends on the dough)

2 teaspoon instant yeast

2 tablespoon granulated sugar

2 tablespoon powdered milk

Pinch of salt

1 tablespoon milk (optional, to brush the pies before baking)

Filling:

1 kg spinach

1 large onion (cut into cubes)

1 tablespoon sumac

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Juice of 1 lemon

Steps:

Mix the dry ingredients of the dough with the oil well.

Add water gradually until a dough is formed

Cover the dough for 20 minutes in room temperature

Meanwhile, wash, dry and cut the spinach

Add the salt and squeeze the spinach very well to get all the water out

Dry the spinach and keep them aside (make sure they are dry of water)

Cut the onion into cubes

Add the onion to spinach and sprinkle them with sumac

Add the extra-virgin olive oil, lemon juice and mix well

Preheat the oven to 190 C

Divide the dough into two halves

Sprinkle some flour and spread one half of the dough to 0.5cm thickness or less (the thinner the better)

With a pastry cutter, cut the dough into circles

Fill each circle with one teaspoon of the filling or more (depends on how big is the circle)

Fold the pie as shown in the pictures below

Prick each side of the pie with a tooth pick (this step is important to prevent the pie from opening inside the oven)

Brush with milk (optional)

Bake them for 15-20 minutes or until nice and golden

Serve them hot