Snacks

3 recipes

Falafel Lebnani

Dried chickpeas soak overnight (never cooked, chickpeas must remain raw). Drained, blitzed with onion, garlic, a heaped pile of fresh parsley and coriander, ground cumin, ground coriander, salt, black pepper and Aleppo pepper into a coarse green paste. Rested for 30 minutes. Baking soda mixed in just before frying. Shaped into small (3 cm) patties or balls, a falafel scoop (zalabia) gives the cleanest shape but two spoons work. Optionally rolled in sesame seeds. Deep-fried in oil at 175°C for 2-3 minutes per side until amber-gold and crisp. Stuffed into pita with tahini, salad and pickles.

37 minutes Serves4

Fatayer Jibneh

A soft yeasted olive-oil dough rises for 45 minutes. Filling: grated akkawi (desalted first if very salty) or a mix of low-moisture mozzarella + halloumi (rinsed to reduce salt), crumbled feta, chopped parsley, mint, dried mint, black pepper and a touch of nigella seed. Dough divides into 16 balls; each rolls into a 10 cm disc. A heaped tablespoon of cheese mix sits in the centre. Folded into a tricorn: three sides of the disc fold up over the filling, pinched at the top in three seams. Brushed with olive oil. Baked at 220°C for 15-18 minutes until deep gold.

1 hour 43 minutes Serves4

Kibbeh Mqliyeh

Same technique as Jordan kibbeh-nayyeh-balls (these snacks are siblings across the Levant). Fine bulgur soaks, drains, squeezes dry. Lean lamb (or beef) blitzes with onion, baharat, allspice, salt and ice water to a smooth paste; the bulgur folds in to make a smooth, slightly tacky dough. Filling cooks separately: fattier lamb mince sautées with onion, baharat, cinnamon, allspice and pine nuts; cooled. Dough divides; each piece shapes into a football (thin walls, pointed tips), filled with cool filling, sealed and re-pointed. Deep-fried for 3-4 minutes; served with yogurt-mint sauce.

1 hour 12 minutes Serves4