Orange Blossom Water

Ma’akarounah Bel-Laban is pasta in yogurt sauce. Usually spaghetti is used for making this dish.

Let’s make Ma’akarounah Bel-Laban:

1. Bring large pot of salted water to boil.

2, 3, 4, 5. Add spaghetti, stir and cook until al dente, follow packet direction for cooking time.

6. Once cooked, take the pot and put under running water.

7, 8. Drain the spaghetti into a colander and rinse it under running water (I want to wash off the starch).

9. Keep spaghetti in the colander and allow to drain, and set aside.

10. In a large pot, heat 1 1/4 tablespoons ghee and bring it to high heat, then turn off heat and allow the ghee to slightly cool, just leave it for about 5 to 7 minutes.

11. Add spaghetti to ghee.

12, 13, 14. Hold the pot and shake it several times to flip spaghetti and help coating with ghee.

15. Turn on heat, gently toss spaghetti to coat with ghee, I use my hand because using a spoon or a fork may turn spaghetti into small pieces.

16. Turn off heat, and transfer spaghetti into a large bowl.

17. In a bowl, put drained yogurt.

18. Add crushed garlic and salt to yogurt.

19. Gradually add water to yogurt, and whisk during adding the water.

20, 22. Whisk yogurt until all ingredients combined.

22, 24, 24, 26. Gradually add spaghetti to yogurt mixture, and gently toss until all spaghetti is coated with yogurt, then transfer into serving plate.

27. In a pan, heat 2 tablespoons ghee and bring it to high heat.

28. Add heated ghee to spaghetti (just add ghee and don’t toss), sprinkle dish with black pepper and serve at room temperature.

29. If you are not going to serve it immediately, cover it with plastic wrap and keep it at room temperature for several hours then serve it. Store leftovers in the fridge.

Here is an idea for serving this dish and it’s popular in Syria:

30. Transfer spaghetti (the spaghetti in yogurt sauce) into a serving dish.

31. Crack an egg into a bowl.

32. Season egg with salt and black pepper.

33, 34. Whisk egg using a fork.

35. In a pan, heat 1 teaspoon ghee and bring it to high heat.

36, 37. Add egg to ghee.

38, 39, 40. During frying the egg, use a spoon and move egg to cook the yolk, consider not turnnig the cooked egg into pieces.

42, 43, 44. Once egg is done, add it on top of the spaghetti, and sprinkle with black pepper.

46. Serve immediately.

Ma’akarounah Bel-Laban

From: Family Recipe / Servings: 5 – 6 People
PDF Text Only / Print With Images

Salted water, for cooking spaghetti 500 g dry spaghetti 1 1/4 tbsp ghee 925 g drained yogurt 2 garlic cloves, crushed 3 tsp salt, or adjust to taste 1/2 cup water 2 tbsp ghee, preferably samneh Arabi (Syrian ghee made from sheep’s milk) Black pepper For egg 1 large egg Salt Black pepper 1 tsp ghee, preferably samneh Arabi (Syrian ghee made from sheep’s milk)

Bring large pot of salted water Add spaghetti, stir and cook until al dente, follow packet direction for cooking time. Once cooked, take the pot and put under running water. Drain the spaghetti into a colander and rinse it under running water (I want to wash off the starch). Keep spaghetti in the colander and allow to drain, and set aside. In a large pot, heat 1 1/4 tablespoons ghee and bring it to high heat, then turn off heat and allow the ghee to slightly cool, just leave it for about 5 to 7 minutes. Add spaghetti to ghee. Hold the pot and shake it several times to flip spaghetti and help coating with ghee. Turn on heat, gently toss spaghetti to coat with ghee, I use my hand because using a spoon or a fork may turn spaghetti into small pieces. Turn off heat, and transfer spaghetti into a large bowl. In a bowl, put drained yogurt. Add crushed garlic and salt to yogurt. Gradually add water to yogurt, and whisk during adding the water. Whisk yogurt until all ingredients combined. Gradually add spaghetti to yogurt mixture, and gently toss until all spaghetti is coated with yogurt, then transfer into serving plate. In a pan, heat 2 tablespoons ghee and bring it to high heat. Add heated ghee to spaghetti (just add ghee and don’t toss), sprinkle dish with black pepper and serve at room temperature. If you are not going to serve it immediately, cover it with plastic wrap and keep it at room temperature for several hours then serve it. Store leftovers in the fridge. Here is another idea for serving this dish and it’s popular in Syria: Transfer spaghetti (the spaghetti in yogurt sauce) into a serving dish. Crack an egg into a bowl. Season egg with salt and black pepper. Whisk egg using a fork. In a pan, heat 1 teaspoon ghee and bring it to high heat. Add egg to ghee. During frying the egg, use a spoon and move egg to cook the yolk, consider not turning the cooked egg into pieces. Once egg is done, add it on top of the spaghetti, and sprinkle with black pepper. Serve immediately.

Notes and Tips

Look at picture here of spaghetti I use.

I have a big quantity of yogurt about more than one kilogram, so I drain all the quantity of yogurt in a cloth to dry (the day before you plan to make this dish, drain the yogurt), then after all the quantity drained well to dry, I measured 925 g drained yogurt for cooking.

Adding fried egg on top of this dish is an option.

I’ve used samneh Arabi (Syrian ghee made from sheep’s milk) which is preferred as it gives unique taste, but of course you can substitute it with any ghee you have.

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 21st, 2013 at 11:25 AM and is filed under Syrian Cooking. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.