Rice one white one brown

   This is a very simple yet delicious way of cooking rice from Egyptian cuisine we call it half and half  because half the rice is white and the other half is golden.

rice from Egyptian cuisine

Ingredients

1 cup or rice washed and well drained.

2 table spoons of qualified butter + 2 table spoones of vegetable oil 

or use oil only but don't use butter only , it will burn

1 and 1/2 cup of broth

Preparation

   In a pot put the oil and the qualified butter heat them well then add 1/3 of the rice.

   Stir the rice on medium low heat , you would keep stirring for about 10 minutes, or until the rice gets a beautiful golden color, then add the rest of the rice , the boiling broth and salt only ( no pepper)

   bring the rice to a boil , then put it on loooow heat for 10 to 15 minutes.

serve it next to vegetable stews  or meat or chicken with vegetables.

this was a simple way of preparing rice from Egyptian cuisine , I hope you try it , if you did please give me your feed back.                                 

Mesaqua

    Mosaqua or Mesaqua is a very popular dish in all arab countries , but every region has its unnique mesaqua, and I will take today about Egyptian Mesaqua.

    In Egypt, we have 2 versions of Mesaqua , vegetarian and non vegetarian , the vegetarian one is usually eaten for breakfast, the non vegetarian mesaquaa is a main course in launch which is the most important meal of the day for the Egyptians, it's usually the only meal in which animal protein is served.

vegetarian mesaqua

 Description

mosaqu'a is mainly fried eggplant that is cooked in tomato sauce.

in Arabic, mesaqua means ( served cold ) but actually it's delicious cold and hot.

Mesaqua is not the right dish for you if you are trying to lose weight, it contains a lot of oil

vegeterian mesaqua
Egyptian cuisine

 Ingredients

one large egg plant

4 cloves of garlic

2 large tomatoes diced or blended
1 chili pepper ( optional )

one green bell pepper 

vegetable oil

 Preparation

    first peel the eggplant , cut it into thin slices

    put some salt over the eggplant and leave it until you make the sauce.

    for the sauce, cook the garlic for a minute in some vegetable oil , add the tomato , salt and pepper and leave it in medium heat for  10 minutes.be sure not to add too many salt because the egg plant is already salted.

    in a pan heat some oil and deep fry the slices og egg plant and the pepper until it's golden.

    put the eggplant and the bell pepper in another pan, pour the tomato sauce over it , put it under the broiler for  a minute or two and this is the Egyptien mesaquaa.

  

I hope you try it and try another dishes of the Egyptian Cuisine, if you like it, please give me your feedback.

   

mesaqua with meat

Description

It's similar to non vegeterian mesaqua , the difference is in the sauce and the addition of Assaj .

messaqua with meat
Egyptian cuisine

Ingredients

1 large eggplant

1 large onion

1 tomato sliced

2 tomatoes diced

1 bell pepper
1 chilli pepper ( optional)

5 table spoons of Assaj

vegetable oil

Preparation

peel the eggplant, cut it into thin slices, put some salt on it and leave it aside.

in a pan , put 2 table spoons of oil , add the diced onion and stir until translucent then add the diced tomatoes, a cup of  broth or water if not available , salt and pepper then leave it on medium heat for 10 minutes, when it's done, add the Assaj .

deep fry the eggplant slices in vegetable oil, when you are done put the eggplant slices, the green pepper slices, the tomato slices in an oven dish , pour the sauce over the eggplant and put it in hot oven for 10 minutes

serve with arabian bread ( beta bread ).

this was how to make messaqua , on of the most popular and delicious dishes of egyptian cuisine , enjoy it

eggplant

Nutrition

Eggplant is very low in calories , 100 grams of eggplant have only 29 calories ( so make sure to add calories to it by frying it hahahaha) , it also has lots of fibers , eating raw eggplant helps with constipation , it's also diuretic.

Assaj

       Assaj itself is not a dish on any Egyptien table, but its a main ingredient of many dishes in Egyptien cuisine, so I am explaining it in separate entry rather than writing the way of preparing Assaj every time I blog about a dish containing it.

         

 plain Assaj
Egyptien cuisine

 Description

Assaj is mainly cooked ground maet

for non vegetarian meals

easy

  Ingredients

1 kilo of ground  meat ( beef or lamb)

3 large onions (diced)

2 table spoons of butter or oil

    This amount can be used in many dishes in the Egyptian and Arab cuisines , you may prepare less amount according to the number people you would serve, i prefer to make a lot of Assaj, divide it , and freeze it until needed.

 Preparation

Assaj with pine nuts
Egyptien cuisine

    In a large pan put the oil or butter, add the onion and stir it untill it's translucent.

    Add the meat , stir the meat and break the lumps with a large spoon until you find no large pieces of meat and it's all like sand and you will see it browning a bit

     leave it until its liquids evaporate , pine nuts are traditionally added at this point but you may not use it if not available , your Assaj is now ready to use it in many delicious dishes of the Egyptien cuisine.

Lentil soup

     Lentil soup is very simple and popular in Egyptien cuisine, traditionally made in winter nights , its full of protien and low in carbohydrates.

lentil soup from Egyptien cuisine

Description

vegetarian

healthy , low fat 

fast and easy

yellow lentils

Ingredients

for 2 persons

2 cups of yellow or orange lentils

One large and one small onion

One tomato

One carrot

2 cloves of garlic

1/2 a cup of dried noodles

dried noodles

2 tablespoons of butter or oil

Cooking

        Its a 2 steps process

        First step you wash the lentils and put it in large pot with a litre of water, the large onion, tomato, garlic, and the carrot all cut in large pieces on high heat for, when it starts to boil, skim the  Impurities Then leave it for 10 minutes. 

       blend the soup fully or partially as preferred ( I usually blend the vegetables and leave the lentils non- blended) 

        Second step : in a pan put the butter , crack the noodles into small pieces and add it to the butter , stirr in medium heat until its golden , add the diced small onion and stir for another couple minutes.

add the noodles and onion to the soup, salt and pepper and half  teaspoon of cumin  , bring it to boil again and serve.

   Nutrition

lentils is a source of  protein and amino Acids , it is a source of iron , calcium , and vitamin B

lentils soup contains veggies which is a source of fibers , Lycopene and vitamin A in carrots

this is lentil soup , one of the most popular dishes of Egyptian cuisine , I hope you try it and give me your feedback      

Introduction to Egyptien cuisine

 Egyptien cuisine may not be the most famous or popular cuisine in the wold , even  among arab cuisine it's less famous than the moroccan cuisine but still we cook delicious food in Egypt that should be known all over the world.

     In this blog I will try to demonstrate how we cook in Egypt and I will write about different types of food , vegeterien and non-vegeterien, desserts, drinks, and appetizers.

      Egypt mainly is agricultural country, most families can easily get fresh and organic cooking ingredients and this is one of our secrets to deiceous and healthy food

      The main protein we use is buffalo meat and poultry , lamb is popular as well and because of the muslim majority

, pork is hardly used.,  its only used among some christian families.

       As for the fat we use , its usually buffalo butter or white butter, its made of buffalo milk and it tastes different

 than cow milk butter but of course you can use cow milk butter or oil .

      I hope you like Egyptien cuisine and try it , if you did , please give me your feed back