From the land of burning sand and starry skies of the Middle East countries, explore a whole new sphere of tantalizing culinary delights. Like the never ending story of Arabian Nights, the ongoing ‘Arabian Food Festival’ at Cilantro, Beaumonde the Fern is a delectable journey through the unexplored flavours of the land. And as we are celebrating Ramzan month, what better time to experience the lip-smacking delights other than now?
From the selective festival menu, foodies can start with hot ‘Shourabat Mozaat’ or Meat Joint soup which has soup meat (cubed), fine noodles, cinnamon stick, parsley, salt, pepper and meat bones. “The cinnamon stick added to the soup enhances its taste and this soup goes well with toasted Arab bread,” says chef Vinay Nigam. For the vegans, chef recommends Shourabat ‘Adas or Lentil soup which is a traditional Lebanese soup.
About the Arabian food, the chef adds, “Generally Arabian food is less spicy and in most of the dishes, along with regular spices, cardamom and cinnamon are important ingredients.”
For health conscious people, the festival menu offers a spread of salads to choose from. There is the classic Middle Eastern salad made with bulgur wheat, tomatoes, cucumbers, parsley, mint, scallions, and a light lemon-olive oil dressing named ‘Tabbouleh’ and other sought after one is the colourful Fattoush salad. “Fattoush salad is a mix of fried Arabic bread, parsley, cucumber, tomato, lemon, lettuce leaves and mint. People who like the a sour taste in their salads, will like Fattoush for sure,” recommends Vinay who is engaged in the preparations of the vast Arabian platter for more than two months.
After a delightful serving of salad, one can now move on to starters. There is the crispy delicious delicacy made from chickpeas and spices known as ‘Falafel’ or the chef recommended ‘Samak Maqli’ (fried fish) to savour. “Samak Maqli is easy to make. Fish is marinated with Arabic spices and grilled. The dish is served with fried Arabic bread and grilled vegetables,” says the chef.
Moving on to main course, one can pick the spicy chicken preparation known as ‘Moroccan Couscous’.
“It is a spicy Arabic preparation made in chicken stock, and chicken is cooked in Arabic spices like red chilly, green chilly, dry red chilly, cinnamon, cardamom and chopped ginger,” explains Vinay. This famous Moroccan dish features a mound of steamed couscous topped by stewed vegetables and meat. Another delicacies to pick from the non vegan platter are ‘Arabic shrimp with cumin’ and ‘Rice with meat and fava beans’ (Fool ma ‘Rizz rice). “Rice with meat and fava beans is less spicy and is a preparation of rice with minced beef kheema,” adds chef. For vegans there are ‘Mahshi batinjaan bi Zayt’ (stuffed eggplant with oil) and ‘Yakhnie’ (vegetable stews) to gorge into.
After the sumptuous main course, savour the delicious date desserts like ‘Ma’amool B’Tamer’ (date cakes) and ‘Bint al Sahn’ (honey cake) from the festival spread. Or one can have sips of traditional ‘Cinnamon tea’ and Lebanese coffee from the beverages section. This delectable Arabian food journey will be on till September 15 from 12.30 pm - 3.30 pm and 7 pm to 10.30 pm.
(About The Writer: Chef Ripu Dhamn Handa is a winner of Master Chef India 2013, a reality show aired on StarPlus Television)
