Orange Blossom Water

Today’s recipe is about Salbin or A’kkoub or Ka’oub (English : gundelia). The gundelia is a spiny, thistle-like flowering plant of the genus gundelia L. in the sunflower family. They occur in the semi-desert areas of Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Iraq, Iran, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Anatolia, available in the markets during March and April.

Gundelia must be cleaned before using it. To clean gundelia, remove the thorns, then cut it into pieces and wash it with water, then you can use it fresh or freeze it. Before freezing, fill a pot with water, salt and some sugar and bring it to boil, then add gundelia for few minutes then plunge into a bowl of cold water (this is known in English as blanching, in Syria we call it “Tahbil”), drain then place in freezer bags and store in the freezer.

In Syria, it is cooked in two ways (cooked in another ways in some Syrian villages):
Salbin Bel-Lahmeh: salbin cooked with ghee and meat.
Salbin Bet-Tehineh: salbin cooked with olive oil, garlic, paprika, tahini and lemon juice (will be my next post).

Let’s make Salbin Bel-Lahmeh:

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Fatteh or fattah is an Arabic dish that uses pieces of toasted or fresh flatbread as a foundation upon which various ingredients are added on top.

Fatteh can be made with chickpeas (Arabic: Fattet Humus), or with chicken (Arabic : Fattet Dajaj), or with eggplants like today’s recipe.

Fattet Al-Makdous is a specialty of Damascus, it is made by layering crispy flatbread, topped with a tomato sauce flavored with (yogurt, tahini, pomegranate molasses and crushed garlic), then topped with meat-nut mixture and deep fried eggplants stuffed with meat.

Let’s make Fattet Al-Makdous:

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Kibbeh Bes-Seiniyeh means kibbeh in a tray or kibbeh pie . Kibbeh is layered with meat-nut mixture, baked and served with salad or yogurt.

Let’s make Kibbeh Bes-Seiniyeh:

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Fasouliyeh Khadrah Bel-Bandourah is prepared from green beans cooked with meat, onion and tomato sauce.

Let’s make Fasouliyeh Khadrah Bel-Bandourah:

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Batata Harrah (Batata Harra) is usually served as mezze (appetizer) , it is prepared from fried potato cubes, seasoned in a sauce of olive oil, garlic, coriander, cayenne pepper, paprika and lemon juice.

Let’s make Batata Harrah:

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