Kefta, mutabal, and a sad attempt at falafel.
I love when there are a variety of foods to choose from when it's time to sit down and eat, so I was very excited about making this meal.
A lot of the recipes that I found for Palestine were for dips, or for falafel. These all feel like side dishes to me, so I decided I was going to make a few different things all at once. The first was falafel. If you don't know what falafel is, it's a dough that is made from chickpeas, herbs, and spices, and then crispy fried. Falafel is probably the most ubiquitous food for the region, followed by hummus. But I found that in Palestine, there is a similar dip called mutabal that is very popular. Finally, since we are not vegetarians and Younes's feelings would probably be hurt without it, I needed a meat dish. That's where the kefta comes in. This kefta is best described as a somewhat flat, wide meatloaf.
If you're interested in trying them yourself, here are the recipes I used:
Kefta: The kefta and the mutabal were both very easy to make. The kefta is made just like a meatloaf, but it forgoes all the extras of an American-style meatloaf, like eggs and breadcrumbs. This is just ground lamb, ground beef, parsley, and spices. The recipe had two options for a sauce topping, and I chose the tomato sauce with sliced tomatoes and pine nuts. Younes loved it! And I mean he loved it. (So did I, honestly.)
Mutabal: I also really liked the mutabal. Mutabal is a dip like hummus, only its main ingredient is roasted eggplant, instead of chickpeas. It's blended together with garlic, olive oil, greek yogurt, lemon, and tahini. If you're not sure what tahini is, it's a paste made from sesame seeds. It's a very common ingredient in middle eastern kitchens.
This recipe for mutabal turned out to be rich and creamy - the perfect companion for a warm piece of pita bread. So if you want to be less basic, don't make hummus, make mutabal. 😉
Falafel: I saved what was supposed to be the best for last. I've never tried to make falafel at home before, and it didn't seem to me like it would be that hard. Well, hopefully someone can tell me what went wrong because this was a fail. Don't misunderstand, it still tasted great, and it certainly looked like I was on the right path with the dough... it just all fell apart when it came time to fry them. LITERALLY.
Even if it didn't turn out perfectly, this meal was still pretty amazing. I served it with a tomato and cucumber salad, pita bread, a tahina sauce, and olives. Typical Middle Eastern, I do believe.
Bismillah!
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