Cookies Stuffed with Lokum - Kak Halqom - كعك حلقوم

Hope everyone had a great Eid! We had hoped to put up some Eid cookie recipes before the day but it was not to be. This is one of the recipes for cookies we made which was a great favorite with everyone, coming second only to everyone's favorite, magroud! These cookies are soft and crumbly and stuffed with nuggets of unflavored lokum (Turkish Delight) which melt in your mouth. We liked the fact that they look like leaves and preferred them without the traditional powdered sugar coating.

Ingredients

3 to 3and 1/2 cups flour 

1/2 cup orange blossom water

1 cup ghee or melted  butter

1/2 cup oil

1 teaspoon yeast added to1/4 cup warm milk 

2 tablespoons powdered sugar 

(or melt the sugar in the orange blossom water)

1 teaspoon baking powder

About 400g unflavored  lokum (Turkish Delight)

icing sugar for coating (optional)

Mix all the ingredients for the dough, which should be soft but easy to handle.

Cut the lokum cubes into small pieces.

Make an oval shape, flatten it slightly with a finger, place the piece of lokum inside and roll the edges over.

Smoothen and shape, using the garasa.

 Place them in when the oven has reached a temperature of 220 celsius.

Remove when golden brown and roll in powdered sugar. Or not, as the case may be :)

Libyan Dried Meat (Jerky): Gideed قديد ليبي

This is the Libyan way of drying and preserving meat. If you happen to visit Libya during Eid Adha, you will see thin strips of meat hanging from lines in the gardens and on the rooftops. This is gideed, dried meat which is used in many traditional Libyan recipes such as Megata/Rishdet Burma (Libyan home-made pasta). The meat is cut into strips and salted and dried, with spices added to prevent bacteria. The meat is then quickly fried in hot oil and then preserved in jars sealed with melted fat. A healthier if untraditional adaptated recipe is to use half the salt, skip the frying and freeze the gideed instead.

Ingredients
For every 2 kg boneless fresh beef or lamb meat / do not wash the meat.
8 tablespoon salt (or 4 if drying indoors)
2 tablespoon turmeric
1 tablespoon ground hot red chili pepper
Olive or veg. oil for brushing if drying outdoors
More olive oil for quick frying (if not freezing)

 

Cut the meat into strips.

 

Use a knife to puncture the meat at intervals.

Sprinkle the salt and spices and rub in both sides of the meat using your gloved hand.

 

Alternately, brush on the spices and salt and press it down.

Leave to absorb salt and spices for about 1 hour.

 

Hang the meat in a warm and dry place. Remember to put a tray covered with kitchen towel underneath to absorb any dripping. If outdoors, hang on sunny days, but in this case you have to use more salt and to brush both sides  generously with oil immediately before hanging it to protect the meat from insects.

You can even dry the meat in a tray in the oven if it is a hot air oven, 50c for about 10 hours, turning every 2 hours.

When the meat is completely dry cut it into smaller pieces and store. The time the meat takes to dry depends on the method used: 10 to 12 hours in the hot air oven, 2/5 days hanging inside in front of a radiator or outdoors. The traditional way of storing the gideed is to quickly fry in batches in hot oil, then place in jars where the melted fat forms a protective seal. Alternately, (more healthily) put the gideed pieces in plastic bags and freeze.

Eid Feast

Eid Mubarak! We hope you all had a wonderful time, sharing the Eid feast with family and friends. Our tradition has always been to have a barbecue and a family gathering. Everyone knows that if the Little Eid (Eid ul Fitr) is all about dessert, in the Big Eid (Eid Adha), it's all about meat. 

Lamb, Pumpkin and Chickpea Stew with Raisins: Tbeikhet 'Eid طبيخة عيد

This recipe was featured on My Halal Kitchen's post on Traditional Eid Foods

 This pumpkin stew requires no special ingredients, yet has an exotic taste, with the perfect combination of flavors and textures. The pumpkin and raisins give this stew a hint of sweetness typical of savory specialties in Eastern Libya, where aromatic spices like cloves, cinnamon, cardamom and especially shaiba leaves are used more often than hot spices and turmeric. This stew is from the town of Derna. Known as Eid Stew, it is made on feast days as a distinctive flavorsome dish suitable for special occasions yet very easy to put together. This recipe is perfect for Halloween.  For dessert pumpkin and bechamel pudding is a tried and tested favourite.

 Serves 4

Ingredients

4 servings of lamb, bone in, washed and drained

1/2 kilo pumpkin. peeled and cut into medium cubes

1 medium onion,  finely chopped

4 tablespoons clarified butter (samn/ghee) or oil

1 cup cooked chickpeas
1 cup raisins 

1 can crushed sieved tomatoes or 2 tablespoons tomato puree disolved in 2 cups water

10 cloves
5 bay leaves 

3 cinnamon sticks or 2 heaped teaspoons cinnamon
1 heaped teaspoon ginger
A few shaiba leaves, known as dagad phool in Indian cuisine (optional)
Salt to taste

In a heavy base pot put ghee, onions, lamb and add ground and whole spices then cook on medium heat. Stir constantly until the onion softens and the oil/ghee is infused with the spices. 

Add the sieved crushed tomato and leave on low heat for  about 10 minutes, then add about 2 cups of boiling water and cook on medium heat unitl the lamb is well done (45-60 minutes).

Add the pumkin, raisins and cooked chickpeas, cover the pot and cook for a further 30 minutes. Add water when needed, but a little at a time so the sauce is concentrated. 

Serve hot with warm tanoor bread to soak up the sauce. 

Libyan Savoury Cookies: Kaak Malih كعك مالح ليبي

These savoury cookies are the typical accompaniment  to thick Arabic coffee, and they are also served with tea alongside sweet cookies and Libyan special breads. This savoury cookie recipe is very easy and uses store cupboard ingredients, making Kaak Malih an everyday treat. The savoury cookies are usually shaped into simple rings or braided as shown below. These savoury biscuits are light and very moreish so bake a little extra for everyone.

Makes 30  Cookies

Ingredients
100 ml milk
100 ml melted butter
100 ml corn oil
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 headed teaspoon salt
300 grams flour

Decoration
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup sesame seeds

Pour the milk, melted butter and oil into a mixing bowl and mix.

Sift the flour salt and baking powder into the bowl.

Combine into a dough, preferably with an electric mixer.

Knead just until  smooth, don't handle the dough too much.

Place in a plastic bag and leave in the fridge for an hour.

Roll into ropes and cut  finger size pieces.

Thin out each finger then braid.

Place on an oven tray covered with baking paper.

Brush with the beaten egg. Sprinkle sesame seeds on each.

Bake at 220°C in the middle of the oven for around 12 minutes until light gold in colour.

Shortbread Cookies with Cloves: Ghraiba bil qurunful الغريبة بالقرنفل

Ghraiba are delicious, easy to make and endlessly versatile, a simple recipe that allows for different flavorings.

These Arab shortbread biscuits are both a stand by for unexpected guests and ubiquitous on special occasions like Eid.

This version cuts the melt-in-the-mouth sweetness of Ghraiba with the sharp piquancy of cloves.

Ingredients

200g butter
60g powdered sugar
300 g flour (may vary depending on the type of flour used.)
1 tbs of finally grated cloves 
2 teaspoons vanilla powder or 1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Decoration
A handful  of  cloves
Powdered sugar (optional)

Mix the sugar, butter and flour into a smooth dough. 300g of flour (about 3 cups) should be enough, but depending on the kind of flour you use you may need more. Add as much flour as you need until the dough is firm enough to shape.

Grind the cloves into a rough powder.

Sprinkle the powder on the dough, add the vanilla and work in.

Divide the dough into small lumps.

Take a bit of dough and roll it into balls. Press it gently between the hollows of your palms to make a slightly convex shape: Press a clove in the centre of each ghraiba. Some people prefer to use slivered almonds even in clove ghraiba, but I think whole cloves are prettier. Being in the oven weakens their taste, and fills the kitchen with the aroma of cloves!

Bake in the over at 220°C degrees for about 10 minutes. Take them out of the oven when they are still pale or your buttery soft ghraiba will harden and become indistinguishable form sugar cookies. It is usual to cover Ghraiba in powdered sugar, which is best done when the cookies get cold. They are sweet enough as they are though.

Date Filled Semolina Cookies: Magroodh مقروض ليبي

Magroodh (or Magroud) is the quintessential Libyan biscuit, and is an important part of every Eid. Makroot is the fried variant made in the rest of North Africa, while the Libyan Magroud is baked. Magroodh is made mainly from semolia and has a soft crumbly texture, and the filling combines sesame, cinnamon, nutmeg and dates. The final step of coating the magroud with orange-blossom infused syrup keeps them moist and adds another layer of flavor. Traditionally olive oil is used instead of corn oil, and warm natural honey is used in stead of syrup

Ingredients:

3 cups semolina

1 cup flour

1 cup corn oil

11/2 tsp baking powder

1 tablespoon orange blossom water or rose water 
 added to about 1/2  litre warm water to knead the dough

Filling:

750g date paste

2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoons grated nutmeg
1 tablespoon oil

1/2 cup sesame seeds (lightly roasted)

Syrup:
4 cup boilling water

3 cups Sugar

1tbsp lemon juice
1 lemon slice
2 tbsp orange blossom water
Decoration:
1/2 cup sesame seeds (lightly roasted)

Prepare the syrup by simmering all the ingredients on moderate heat for approx. 30 min until they reaches a syrupy consistency.. Add orange blossom and set aside to cool. For a richer taste, add 1 tablespoons of honey while the syrup is still warm. Set aside.

Mix the semolina, flour, baking powder.

Add the oil and mix. Cover and leave it to rest for at least one hour

Cut the date paste into small pieces and knead. Add some olive oil if the paste is not soft enough to be kneaded. Add cinnamon, grated nutmeg, sesame and work them in.

Roll out the sesame date paste with your palm into 4 long ropes. 

Divide the dough into 4 portions, take one portion of the dough and add the orange blossom flavoured  warm water a little at a time. Knead well until the dough becomes smooth and easy to shape. The dough will also   become lighter in colour

  Form the dough into a furrow shape

Place on of the rolls in the bed.

Pinch closed and smoothen the dough over the date roll.

Cut the roll into small pieces, at a slight angle, forming a diamond shape.

Decorate.

Place in a preheated oven at 220°C until golden. It  takes about 12 minutes.

Pour the cold sugar syrup over the  warm magroudh.

Turn the magroodh every 15 minutes, leaving it to soak in the syrup from the front, back and on each side. Remove from the syrup and put in sieve to remove the excess syrup, sprinkle with pan-roasted sesame seeds, and leave to rest (preferably overnight) before serving.

 Serve with tea or Arabic coffee