Shish Taouk and Saffron Rice

The above photo was taken by my husband to commemorate my occassional spurts of culinary enthusiasm :-D

There was this nice Mediterranean/middle eastern restaurant near my town. This was owned and run by an Egyptian and had the most delectable fare! Our discovery of this restaurant was serendipitous as it was in a nondescript location. We got hooked on to their yummy pita breads, hummus, and kabobs and not to mention their heavenly baklava. It was kind of pricey, given the location and ambience but perhaps this might be due to the fact that NY Times raved about it.

They had an open kitchen and I loved to watch them cook. I had befriended the hostess who was Egyptian as well. She thought we were Pakistani and always called my husband “Khalid.” We never corrected her or clarified to her that we weren’t Pakistani or even Muslim for that matter. In fact last year for Ramadan she told me that she had biryani, tandoori chicken and kabobs for Iftar and that I could order if I wanted since it would be too much for a working woman to cook at home. I told her that we don’t fast which was half-truth, as I never disclosed the reason why. Anyway a few months ago the owner told me that he was planning to return to Egypt and that he was selling the place to some other person. He said that the restaurant would still be middle-eastern though. We checked it out under the new management and were quite disappointed. So I decided to try out Shish Taouk at home.

Shish Taouk,” I think means “skewered chicken pieces cooked over charcoal.” I had got the recipe from a Lebanese classmate. I love collecting recipes but most of the time I am too lazy to try anything out. Anyway it is served with rice, garlic paste and salad. The restaurant used to offer a platter with pita bread and hummus. I was quite pleased with the result and hence sharing this recipe on my blog.

Shish Taouk

2 pounds of chicken (boneless, skinless breast meat)
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, ground into a paste
Juice from 1 lemon
1/4 teaspoon cumin powder (I lightly roasted the cumin desi-style but it is not required)
1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper
1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder (recipe calls for cayenne pepper but who the hell cares)

Mix oil, garlic, lemon juice, and spices in a large bowl. Cut chicken into cubes, then add to the bowl, stirring to coat the chicken with marinade. Marinate it at least for 3 hours.
Put chicken onto skewers. Grill over hot charcoal for 10 - 15 minutes OR broil in the oven, turning frequently and basting with marinade. I added tomatoes and capsicum to the skewer as well.

Serves 4.

This was served with Saffron rice and garlic paste, recipe as given below.

Saffron Rice

2 cups Basmati rice, pinch of saffron, 1 ½ cups of water, ½ cup pine nuts and salt to taste. The recipe calls for butter but I didn’t add it, yet it turned out well.

Garlic Paste

1 cup whole blanched almonds

3 tbsp white bread crumbs

4 large garlic cloves crushed

2 tsp lemon juice

Salt and pepper

2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

4 tbsp hot water

Grind the almonds, add the bread crumbs, crushed garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper to it. Mix it very well in a food processor OR a blender. Very slowly add the olive oil to make it homogenous. Then add the water and blend it in. Refrigerate it for at least two hours before serving.

Salad:

Iceburg lettuce and julienned carrots; dressed with lemon juice, salt and pepper for that kick!

BON APPETIT!