An Eid al-Fitr Feast
Celebrate Eid al-Fitr with a delectable feast that your loved ones will cherish. Indulge in a delightful combination of succulent kofta, flavourful baba ghanoush and a refreshing side of fattoush salad.
Kofta ingredients
1 cup of loosely packed parsley leaves
1 small yellow onion, coarsely chopped
500g minced Halal beef (please note you can swap this to lamb if preferred)
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon coriander
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (remove if you don’t like spice)
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons of pine nuts
Black pepper to taste
Smokey baba ghanoush ingredients
2 medium eggplants
2 tablespoons tahini
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½ tablespoon lemon juice
1 minced garlic clove
Salt to taste
Fattoush salad ingredients
2 cucumbers, halved lengthways and cut in slices (with the seeds scooped out)
2 tomatoes, halved and chopped in chunks (with the seeds removed)
1 small cos lettuce, roughly chopped
1 bunch of radishes, cut in quarters lengthways
Handful of parsley leaves
3 green onions, thinly sliced
2 large pitta bread
Dressing
3 tablespoons olive oil (plus set aside an extra tablespoon to brush on the bread)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Two minced garlic cloves
1 teaspoon sumac
1 teaspoon pomegranate molasses
½ teaspoon mint
Salt and ground pepper to taste
Turn your gas stove to medium-high heat and place your eggplant above the flames. Use your tongs to rotate the eggplant every 3-4 minutes.
Remove with hands and squeeze out the excess moisture over a sink.
Place mixture back into a large, dry bowl.
Add beef, onion, spices, salt, and pine nuts to the bowl and mix well with your hands. Ensure the texture turns into a thick paste.
Take out a small handful and roll it into a 1-inch thick, football-shape.
Push a wooden square into one edge of the ‘football’ and push until it emerges on the other side.
Place it on a baking paper lined tray and repeat the rolling process until the mixture is finished. Then, set it aside.
In the meantime, brush your purchased pita bread generously with oil on both sides and oven bake on medium heat until golden brown. Allow the bread to cool and break it apart into chunky shards.
Now, preheat a BBQ or grill pan to medium-high and place your kofta on the grill.
Keep rotating sticks for 4-5 minutes so the entire surface gets nice and charred. Once cooked, place on a serving tray.
Mix all the ingredients for the salad dressing in a small jar and set aside.
Continue roasting eggplant for approximately 15 minutes, until the skin is deeply charred, and the eggplant starts to deflate. Please note you can use a barbeque for this step if preferred.
Assemble salad ingredients and chunks of toasted pita in a large bowl.
Shake your jar of dressing and drizzle it over the salad.
Once deflated, place the eggplant in a large bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. Allow them to steam and cool for 15 minutes so the excess liquid can be removed.
Cut the eggplant in half, lengthways and get rid of any excess liquid.
Scoop out the flesh into a smaller mixer and add the rest of the ingredients listed above.
Then, pulse (but be sure to not blend so the mixture is too smooth). Alternatively, you can place all the ingredients in a bowl and mash for a chunkier dip.
Then scrape out the mixture and transfer it into a container and place it in the fridge.
Preheat oven to 160°C.
Meanwhile, make the kofta mixture. To start place the parsley and onion in a bowl or food processor and pulse until finely chopped.