Ramadhan with eggplant a la Middle East

A. Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

To welcome Ramadhan, Jakarta's JW Marriott Hotel has invited the head chef of its sister hotel in Dubai to show how to prepare Middle Eastern cuisine popular during the fasting month.

Chef Khalil Zakeen demonstrated the preparation of three favorite cuisines: moutabel, Sheikh All Mahisy and katayef bil achta, to several guests and journalists.

"The cuisines are very popular during Ramadhan in Middle Eastern countries as a salad, main course and dessert respectively," the Syrian-born chef said.

The main ingredients of moutabel and Sheikh All Mahisy are eggplant, while katayef bil achta is similar to serabi (local cake mixed with coconut milk).

The ingredients of moutabel are eggplant (1,000 grams) -- usually imported, as local ones tend to be too small -- tahini paste (87.5g), salt (6.25g), lemon juice (37.5 ml), olive oil (50 milliliters), lemon salt (5g), garlic, sumac (mixed herbs) and yogurt (optional).

To make moutabel: First, grill the eggplant and peel it, chop it finely. Second, mash the eggplant and mix it with tahini, lemon juice and garlic. Third, season with salt and white pepper. Fourth, serve with olive oil and sumac as topping.

Zakeen said the dish was served like a cold salad and usually eaten with toasted bread before the main item, Sheikh All Mahisy (stuffed eggplant).

The ingredients of Sheik All Mahisy are small eggplants (12 of them) and olive oil (250 ml).

For the meat filling, take the finely minced lamb (500g), finely chopped onion (15g), finely chopped garlic (50g), finely chopped pine nuts (100g), roasted, ground cinnamon (20g), ground coriander (15g), parsley or coriander (100g), chopped, cubed fresh tomato (250g), and tomato puree (50g).

The ingredients for the tomato sauce are tomatoes (0.5 kg), onions (150g) and garlic (50g).

First, remove the stalks from the eggplant and peel in 1 cm intervals to give a striped effect, cut deep slits along one side of each eggplant. Second, heat the oil and fry the eggplant and remove.

Heat the remaining oil then add the minced meat, onions and garlic then add the spices, pine nut and fresh chopped tomato. Add salt and pepper to taste, parsley and remove from the heat.

Fill the fried eggplant with cooked meat. Arrange in a baking dish, pour tomato on top and season with salt and pepper. Bake in a hot oven for 30 minutes.

Zakeen said the lamb could be substituted with beef and it could also be served with rice.

Meanwhile, the ingredients of the dessert, katayef bil achta, are divided into two parts: the katayef (pancake) and the achta (filling).

For the katayef, it needs flour (three cups), yeast (0.5 teaspoon) and milk (three cups), while for achta, it needs milk (3 cups), cornflour (0.25 cup), sugar (1 cup) and rose water (1 teaspoon).

For the katayef, mix all the ingredients together and make a dough. Pour the mixture into a hot pan and cook one side only. Keep the pancake at room temperature then stuff it with achta and serve it with syrup.

For the achta, boil two cups of milk then add sugar. Dissolve corn flour in the remaining cup of cold milk and add to the boiling milk. Stir well until thick, finally adding the rose water. Pour the mixture into a serving bowl and let it cool.

If the local serabi is served hot, the katayef bil achta is served cold.

It is relatively easy to prepare Middle East cuisine. Even the main ingredient, eggplant, is relatively easy to find and popular here.