Middle Eastern recipes

Cooking Middle Eastern food at home

This cooking is built on contrast: something rich (tahini, olive oil, yoghurt), something sharp (lemon, sumac, vinegar), and a warm spice or two. If you cook Pakistani food, the spice cupboard is already half stocked. The difference is restraint. You use fewer spices, and you add them so each one can still be tasted.

Key ingredients and how to balance them

• Tahini: Look for a pourable, pale paste that tastes nutty rather than bitter. Stir the jar well, because the oil separates. Imported brands are sold in larger stores in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, and online.
• Chickpeas: Kabuli chana is the right type. Dried and soaked chickpeas give a better texture than tinned ones.
• Lemon and garlic: Use fresh lemon only. Add garlic in small amounts, because raw garlic gets sharper as a dish sits.
• Spices: Cumin, coriander, paprika, cinnamon and black pepper do most of the work. Sumac and za'atar are useful finishing spices. If you can't find Aleppo pepper, mild crushed red chilli or Kashmiri chilli flakes are a fair substitute.
• Olive oil: Use a decent one for finishing and a plainer one for cooking.

Techniques that matter

Blend hummus in the right order. For silky hummus, cook the chickpeas until they are soft enough to crush between two fingers. Overcooked is better than undercooked. Whip the tahini with lemon juice and a little ice-cold water first, until it turns pale and thick. Then add the chickpeas and blend for longer than seems necessary. A grainy result usually means undercooked chickpeas or too short a blend.

Marinate, then cook hot. In a chicken shawarma bowl, thigh meat works better than breast because it stays juicy. Marinate it in yoghurt, lemon, garlic and spices for at least a few hours. Then cook it in a heavy pan or on a grill over high heat, without crowding, so the edges char rather than steam. If the pan floods with liquid, the heat is too low or the pan is too full. Cook in batches.

Cook the sauce down before adding eggs. Shakshuka starts as a tomato and pepper base, similar to a good masala. Simmer it until the oil separates at the edges and the sauce is thick enough to hold a spoon-shaped hollow. Make wells, crack in the eggs, cover the pan and check after a few minutes. You want set whites and yolks that still move. A watery sauce is the most common mistake, and it leaves the eggs poaching in liquid.

Bread, rice and everyday versus special meals

Bread is the way you eat most of these dishes. Pita or khubz is easy to find in Pakistani bakeries. Warm it on a dry tawa for a few seconds per side, or wrap it in foil and heat it in the oven. Fresh tandoori roti or naan will also work with shakshuka and hummus.

Rice is usually simple: basmati, washed and cooked with a little butter or oil, often with toasted vermicelli. Toast the vermicelli until golden before adding the rice, and watch it closely, because it darkens fast.

Everyday meals are often a spread of small dishes: hummus, salad, bread, and one main such as shakshuka for breakfast or shawarma for dinner. For guests, serve the same dishes in larger quantities. Add rice, grilled meat and several dips, and finish with olive oil, parsley or a sprinkle of sumac.