Mezze Platter 

Mezze Platter is one of my most loved dishes since I am totally fan of Middle Eastern flavors. To woo me is quite easy in this case. Any time if you call me on a dinner, to make me feel nice and special, all you need to do is call for some Middle Eastern food

My Mezze Platter has some Whole Wheat Pita Pocket, Falafel, Tzatziki Dip, Some Classic Hummus, Green Schug Dip and some fresh salad with Vinaigrette

Dips like Tzatziki, Schug, Hummus – all can be made in advance. Other than Hummus, the other two dips are specially to be had chilled. These two dips Tzatziki and Schug – follow a slow cooking technique or cold cooking technique. They are to be made in advance and kept for chilling. The flavors settle in it and make it exciting.

Lets start with recipes…

 

Tzatziki Dip :-

That's the white colored dip on the platter.

Ingredients –

Hung curd – 1 cup

Cucumber – ¾ cup finely chopped

Garlic – 3 -4 cloves

Salt – to taste

Method -

1.      Hang curd to remove excess of water and make a hung curd – 1 cup should be the quantity of hung curd.

2.      Finely chopped cucumber should be squeezed between palms to remove excess water and added to hung curd

3.      Grate in this 3-4 garlic  cloves and salt to taste. You can also add ½ tsp of chopped fresh mint leaves in this

4.      Mix well and put in the refrigerate for the garlic flavors to come out well.

 

Schug :-

That's the pale green colored dip on the platter

Ingredients -

Capsicum – 2 big sized

Pine nuts – 2 tbsp

Sesame seeds – 1 tbsp

Salt – to taste

Lemon juice – ½ tsp

Olive oil – a generous drizzle

 Method -

1.      Grease the capsicum and put it on gas for charring. The outer skin will burn slowly.

2.      Put the capsicum in cold water and remove the black burnt skin

3.      Toast pine nuts and gently crush them once cool. This could be done by pressing them under a rolling pin.

4.      Toast sesame and keep them aside

5.      Put the capsicum in blender, add salt and lemon juice. Blend it coarse.

6.      Pour this coarse mixture in a bowl, add olive oil, toasted sesame seed and pine nuts.

7.      Mix well and keep in refrigerator for chilling

 

Hummus :-

That's the pale yellow colored dip in the centre

Ingredients –

Soaked chick peas – 1 cup. Soak Chickpeas overnight

Garlic – 3-4 cloves

Salt – to taste

Olive oil – ¼ cup + a generous drizzle

Paprika – to sprinkle

Lemond juice – 1 tsp

Green chili – 2

Method -

1.      Pressure cook chick peas with 3-4 cloves of garlic for 4-5 whistles.

2.      Drain the same and keep aside for it to come to room temperature for blending.

3.      Put chick peas, salt, lemon , green chilli and oil in the blender. Blend fine or a little coarse if you like

4.      Put it in a bowl, make a pit and drizzle olive oil generously. Sprinkle the paprika and serve.

 

Falafel :-

These are kabaab kinds made from Chickpeas

Ingredients –

Chickpeas – 1 cup . Soak overnight. Soaked chickpeas should be taken 1 cup

Coriander – ½ cup

Onion – 1, diced

Green chili – 2

Salt – To taste

Lime – 1 tsp

Garlic – 5 cloves

Cumin powder – 1 tsp

Coriander powder – 1 tsp

Method -

1.      Put soaked peas in a blender, with green chili, garlic, salt, lime, onion , coriander, coriander powder and cumin powder

2.      Blend coarse and take it out in a bowl.

3.      Refrigerate for 2 hours atleast.

4.      Wet the palms and take portions of this mixture and shape them as falafals.

5.      Fry them on a low flame till nicely cooked and brown in color.

   

 

Whole Wheat Pita Bread :-

That's a kind of flat bread made in middle eastern areas with the use of yeast.

Ingredients –

Whole wheat flour – 1 ½  cup

Yeast – 1 tsp

Sugar – 1 tsp

Oil – 2 tbsp

Warm water – ¼ cup + as much needed to knead a dough.

Salt – to taste

 Method -

1.      In a bowl, take ¼ cup warm water, add 1 tsp sugar and 1 tsp yeast. Mix well and cover it .

2.      Let this mixture set for 5 minutes for yeast to activate

3.      In a bowl, take whole wheat flour and mix salt . Make a pit and pour the yeast mix and oil.

4.      Knead a nice dough – not too soft and not too hard kinds. Knead well for 15 minutes.

5.      Cover the dough and let it rest for 2 hours

6.      Punch the dough and make big balls out of it

7.      Roll it into 7” pita a little like thick rotis. Keep aside and cover them. Let it rest for 15 – 30 minutes

8.      Heat a Tawa / Skillet. Apply a light layer of oil only in starting, to make the tawa smoking hot.

9.      Place one pita on it and flip the other side immediately as you see the side being cooked  a little

10.   After flipping, let it cook well. In these two flippings only, the pita will puff up like a ball. Toast a little more on both sides and remove from Tawa

11.   The puffing will ensure that when the pita is cut into half semi-circle, it will open up like a pocket .

 

Please note:-

Vinaigrette that I had used is simple on 2 tbsp oil + 1 tbsp vinegar + ½ tsp sugar + 1 tsp chili flakes. Mixed this well and tossed salad into this.