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
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
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.
Comments
Post a Comment