A Yemeniyah's Recipes

Adeni Jabeez – جبيز العدني

October 11, 2013 by lamyaalmas

My dad is waiting for me to visit Yemen again so I can make these for him. When I was a kid we would enjoy them together. I seem to share my dad’s taste in food. Now that I am married and have my own home, all those dishes we used to have together bring back memories and Jabeez is one of those dishes. I’ve only seen this eaten in Aden, and no where else in Yemen. So I am going to call this Adeni Jabeez. I was reminded of it by some Adeni friends on Facebook . I looked up the recipe and tried it a couple of times. Turned out great. These ingredients are for 4 thick Jabeez or 6 thin ones-I prefer them thick. you will need:

1) Soak 1 cup of washed black eyed peas for an hour. Then place peas in a blender and just add enough water to help the blender along. Then place in a sieve and let the water drain. You don’t want it too dry, but not soupy either. So like a wet paste. Here is what it looks like:

2) 1/2cup of white flour

3) 1/2 cup of chopped green onions

4) 1 egg

5) 1 medium onion finely chopped

6) 1 tablespoon yeast

7) 1/2 tsp of salt or to taste

8) 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric

9) 1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper

10) 1 teaspoon ground cumin

11) 1/4 cup of finely minced cilantro

12) 2 cups of water

13) Olive oil for frying or vegetable oil works just as well. You won’t need a lot, about a tablespoon or two for each so that it doesn’t stick to the skillet.

Place all the ingredients in a bowl:

Add the water and then mix all the ingredients together. I use my hands. It’ll look like this:

Cover and let sit for an hour before you start frying it. Once an hour passes, heat a skillet and add a tablespoon or two of oil to it and then take a cup full of the mixture and form a circle. Usually in Aden they scoop up the mixture in a small metal bowl and then pour it onto the skillet and then use the bottom part of the bowl to spread it out on the skillet to form a patty.

Let it brown on one side and then carefully flip for the other side to brown using a flat utensil. Be careful while flipping it as it can break easily. Here is a pic of one side browned :

Plate and enjoy with your favorite dip. I made two dips. One was of tamarind with red chilly pepper, lemon and salt to taste. The other was yogurt, lemon, dried mint and salt.

Posted in Vegetarian, Yemeni Dishes | 20 Comments »

Luqmat Al Qadhi [The Judge’s Morsel/Bite] ~ لقمة القاضي

June 3, 2013 by lamyaalmas

This dessert is called Luqmat Al Qadhi or Luqaymaat “The Judge’s Morsel” or “The Judge’s Bites” and they are popular all over the Middle East. I was told it was given this name because these sweet doughy balls are so delicious that they can sway the opinion of a judge. Whether fact or fiction, this dessert is indeed delicious. I like these to be crispy rather than soft and doughy, and this recipe is just perfect for me. I hope it works out just as well as it does for me.

You will need:

1) 1 cup of white flour

2) 2 tablespoons of corn starch

3) 1 teaspoon of yeast

4) 2 tablespoons of oil (canola, corn, vegetable)

5) 1 teaspoon of sugar

6) 1/8 tsp of salt

7) 1 cup and a 1/2 of warm water or as needed

8) Oil for frying–I used Canola

For the sugar syrup:

1) 1 cup sugar

2) 1 cup water

3) 1/2 tsp of orange blossom water

4) few drops of lemon

5) Thin slice of lemon with peel

Place all of these in a saucepan and boil under medium heat for 15-20 minutes. You want a thick syrup, a watery one will interfere with the crunchy texture of your doughy sweets.

Now to start making the Luqaymaat/bites. Mix the flour, starch and salt together . Mix the yeast and the sugar and add a 1/2 cup of water to them. Then add them to the flour, then add the oil and the rest of the water. Mix the dough well. The consistency should be thicker than a cake batter. You should actually be able to scoop it all up in your hand. Cover with a plastic wrap and let rise for 45 minutes to an hour. When it has risen, heat the oil under medium heat. It is hot enough when you add a little batter it starts sizzling right away and rises to the surface.

Now you can spoon the batter into the oil in a number of ways. I just place a bowl of water next to me, dip my fingers and then take some dough with the tips of my fingers and drop it carefully into the oil. Then I continue rolling them in the oil until they are golden brown. Fish then out with a slotted spoon, shake out the oil and drop them into the sugar syrup. Continue the same until all the dough is gone. This recipe makes about 3 generous servings or 4 reasonable servings.

*Other suggestions for uniform sized Luqaymaat is to take a spoon and dip it in oil and then fill it with dough and slowly drop it into the oil. Continue until the rest of the dough is done.

Enjoy with sugarless tea or coffee.

Posted in Sweet Tooth (Desserts) | 13 Comments »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »