Last week I cooked food from Palestine, which has been in the news a lot lately due to the conflict with Israel. If you would like to make a donation to help those affected, I found a list of charities you can support on Charity Navigator.
Palestine is a country in West Asia which shares most of its borders with Israel, with Jordan to the east and Egypt to the southwest. It consists of two areas separated by Israel: the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Palestine has been occupied by humans for a long time, and has always seen many travelers passing through, including armies and merchants. The area is religiously significant in that it’s known as the ‘Holy Land’ in multiple religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It is also where key events in the Bible and Quran were said to take place. This is just one of the reasons behind the conflict with Israel.
During World War I, Britain occupied Palestine, which had been controlled by the Ottoman Empire. A large number of Jewish immigrants were allowed into the region, and they did not get on with the local Arab population. The fighting grew to a point where the United Nations stepped in and proposed a plan for two different states—one Arab and one Jewish—while Jerusalem would be independent. However, this plan was never put into place as a civil war broke out.
Since then, much of Palestine’s population has been displaced, and Israel was established. The nations have been in conflict ever since; though it has been worse at some points than others. At the moment it’s particularly bad, with the Gaza Strip turned into a war zone and most of its population displaced.
What Do People Eat in Palestine?
Palestinian cuisine has a lot in common with that of the surrounding regions, with dishes similar to those found Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. Rice and various types of flatbread are common staple foods, and bulgur is also popular in some places.
Seafood and meat, particularly lamb, beef, and chicken, are popular in most main dishes. However, lots of vegetables are also used, such as bell peppers, eggplant, onion, and cauliflower.
Dishes are often seasoned with a wide range of spices, such as cinnamon, cumin, sumac, allspice, coriander, and cardamom. Chili peppers are popular in some parts.
Cheese is often mild and can be found in desserts. Other popular dessert ingredients include nuts and dried fruit, including dates, which are also a common snack food.
What I Made
- Maqloubah (Rice with Cauliflower and Chicken)
- Kafta Bi Bandora (Spiced Meat Patties with Vegetables and Tomato Sauce)
- Taboon (Flatbread)
- Mussakhan (Sumac Chicken and Onions on Flatbread)
- Salata Falahiyeh (Cucumber, Tomato, and Onion Salad)
Scroll down to read about other popular Palestinian dishes I didn’t make!
Maqloubah (Rice with Cauliflower and Chicken)
This is a rice dish made by layering meat and/or vegetables in a pot, followed by a spiced rice mixture. Then after cooking, the contents are turned out onto a plate so that the meat and vegetables are on top. This process is similar to making tahdig, which I made for Iran. However, tahdig doesn’t have a bunch of ingredients at the bottom of the pan; instead the rice sits at the bottom so that you have a crispy layer on top once you turn it out.
I began by coating some cauliflower florets in olive oil, salt, and ground cumin and roasting them until golden.
Next, I rubbed chicken thighs with olive oil, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and salt, and browned them. I added water and continued to cook until the chicken was cooked through. Then I drained the chicken and reserved the water.
I combined basmati rice with cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, turmeric, allspice, salt, and pepper, and set that aside
I added onion to the pot I’d cooked the chicken in and cooked it for a few minutes, then added garlic and cooked for another minute or so. Then I began layering the other ingredients over the top: sliced tomato, the roasted cauliflower, the chicken, and the rice. I poured over the broth reserved from cooking the chicken, covered the pot, and let the rice cook.
Once the rice was done, I let the pot sit off heat for about 20 minutes, which is meant to help the layers hold together. Then I inverted the whole thing onto a plate. I think mine came out pretty well! I do have to say though, I halved the recipe, and it was pretty awkward for me to invert the rice onto the plate. I can only imagine how much trouble I would have had with a bigger pot!
I garnished the maqloubah with almonds and parsley, and served it with some plain Greek yogurt. I liked this; the rice had good flavor. But it was a lot of work and I’m not sure it’s something I’d make again. Then again, rice dishes generally aren’t my favorite.
The recipe I used is from Palestine in a Dish.
Kafta Bi Bandora (Spiced Meat Patties with Vegetables and Tomato Sauce)
Kafta is a common dish found across the Middle East and beyond, consisting of minced meat mixed with spices and formed into patties or meatballs. There are many variations, but this kafta bi bandora includes vegetables and a tomato sauce.
I started by slicing some Russet potatoes and roasting them in the oven.
Meanwhile, I added the seasonings for the meat to a food processor: bread, tomato, onion, garlic, chili, cilantro, parsley, allspice, cinnamon, black pepper, cumin, ground coriander, olive oil, and salt. I processed everything to create a coarse paste. I added this to ground beef and mixed it well. Then I formed the mixture into patties and baked them in the oven until browned on top.
While the meat was cooking, I made the sauce. I mixed together crushed tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, water, salt, and pepper.
Next, it was time to assemble. I arranged the meat patties in a shingle pattern with the potato slices and sliced green bell pepper. I added a bit more potato because I ran out of bell pepper! Then I poured over the tomato sauce.
I baked everything until the sauce was bubbling, then served it with taboon bread (next recipe).
I really loved this! I think the meat turned out very flavorful and would even be amazing without any of the vegetables or sauce, though I think the combination worked well. This is something I’d make again, especially since it made great leftovers.
To make this, I used a recipe from Serious Eats.
Taboon (Flatbread)
These flatbreads are traditionally baked on stones in a clay oven from which they take their name. I don’t have a clay oven and I didn’t seek out stones that would be suitable for baking this bread at home, so my taboon are not so authentic.
I began by making a dough out of white bread flour, whole wheat flour, salt, sugar, oil, yeast, and water. After kneading, I let it sit, covered, until doubled in size—this took nearly two hours as it’s cold in my kitchen at the moment.
I divided the risen dough into eight pieces, shaped them into balls, and let them rest for about half an hour.
At this point, I could have set river rocks in a cast iron pan and baked them in the oven until hot. Instead, I heated an empty cast iron pan on the stove. I had actually intended to use the oven for these but I was baking my kafta bi bandora at a much lower temperature at the time so I had to change course.
For each piece of dough, I flattened and stretched it out, then set it in the dry skillet and let it cook until browned on both sides.
Despite my change in cooking method, I think these still came out nicely. They were great as the base for my mussakhan (next dish) and I also enjoyed them with the kafta bi bandora.
The recipe I used for these is from Serious Eats.
Mussakhan (Sumac Chicken and Onions on Flatbread)
Mussakhan, Palestine’s national dish, is made by roasting marinated chicken with onion and serving it on flatbread.
I used boneless chicken thighs here to save on cooking time, though traditionally bone-in thighs and/or drumsticks would be used. I marinated the chicken and sliced red onion in lemon juice, olive oil, sumac, garlic, cumin, allspice, cinnamon, salt, and pepper.
After marinating, I roasted the chicken and onion until the chicken was cooked through.
Meanwhile, I toasted some pine nuts until golden and warmed up some of the taboon bread I made earlier in the week.
I served the chicken and red onion on top of the taboon bread and garnished with parsley, more sumac, and the toasted pine nuts. I think usually you would just serve this on one big platter but I made individual plates.
I thought this was really good, but that didn’t surprise me since I love sumac and that’s one of the main flavors here.
This recipe came from NY Times Cooking.
Salata Falahiyeh (Cucumber, Tomato, and Onion Salad)
If you’ve been around for the majority of this cooking challenge, this salad will seem familiar to you. Many countries have their own version of a salad with tomato, cucumber, and onion. I guess that proves that these ingredients go very well together!
This version also includes lemon juice, lemon zest, mint, olive oil, and of course salt and pepper. The recipe also says you can add green chili and finely chopped lemon, but I did not include them.
This was simple to make; I just chopped up the vegetables and tossed everything together. I used dried mint, but you could also use fresh. This made a great side dish for the mussakhan.
The recipe I used is from Serious Eats.
Other Popular Palestinian Dishes
- Knafeh – a dessert made with shredded phyllo dough, mild white cheese, syrup (which can be flavored with rose water), and pistachios (other nuts can also be used). I really wanted to make this but just couldn’t fit in a dessert this week.
- Qidreh – a dish consisting of spiced rice and bone-in lamb; it looks similar to the shuwa I made for Oman.
- Maftool – pearl couscous cooked in a stew with vegetables and/or meat.
Final Thoughts
I loved all the food from Palestine I made this week! My favorite would be the kafta bi bandora, followed closely by the mussakhan.
Next week, I will be cooking food from Panama.