Falasṭīn

Ingredients (per batch)

• 6 cups all-purpose flour
• 2½ cups warm water
• 4½ tsp active dry yeast (2 packets)
• 2 tsp sugar · 1 tbsp salt
• ¼ cup olive oil

Method

1. Stir yeast and sugar into the warm water; wait 10 minutes until foamy.
2. Whisk flour and salt, add the yeast mixture and oil, and bring together into a rough dough. Knead 8–10 minutes until smooth.
3. Rise in an oiled, covered bowl until doubled, about 90 minutes. Divide into 12 balls; rest 15 minutes.
4. Heat the oven (or grill) as hot as it goes with a pizza stone inside, at least 30 minutes.
5. Stretch each ball to a 7–8 inch round and dimple all over with your fingertips. That's the taboon signature.
6. Bake on the stone until puffed and charred in spots, 3–5 minutes. Wrap in a towel to keep soft.

Adapted from Waleed Asadi

Ingredients

• 2 cups dry chickpeas
• 1 cup tahini
• 2–3 garlic cloves
• Juice of 2–3 lemons
• 1–1½ cups very cold water · salt

Method

1. Soak the chickpeas overnight in plenty of water; they'll double in size.
2. Drain, then boil in fresh water about 2 hours, past tender, to the edge of falling apart. Reserve ½ cup of the cooking water, drain, and let cool.
3. Blend chickpeas with the reserved cooking water, tahini, garlic, lemon, and salt until thick and a little coarse.
4. With the machine running, add cold water a splash at a time until it turns pale, fluffy, and completely smooth. Finish with olive oil and sumac.

Adapted from Wafa Shami, Palestine in a Dish

Ingredients

• 2 large eggplants
• ½ cup tahini
• Juice of 2–3 lemons (be generous)
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• Salt · olive oil · pomegranate seeds

Method

1. Slit the eggplant skins a few times, then char over a gas flame, a grill, or under a hot broiler, turning, until the insides are completely soft and the outsides are blackened and collapsed.
2. Cool, peel, and drain off excess liquid.
3. Mash with a fork; it should stay a little chunky, not purée.
4. Fold in tahini, lemon, garlic, and salt. Finish with olive oil and pomegranate seeds.

Adapted from Heifa Odeh, Fufu's Kitchen

Ingredients

• 6 red bell peppers, sliced
• ½ cup olive oil, divided
• ½ cup walnuts, toasted
• 2 tbsp each: pomegranate molasses, sumac, tomato paste
• 2 tbsp Aleppo pepper · salt and pepper

Method

1. Roast the peppers at 400°F with half the oil, salt, and pepper until soft and caramelized, 30–35 minutes.
2. Cool slightly, then pulse in a food processor with everything else, including the remaining oil, until smooth overall with a little walnut texture left.
3. Serve drizzled with olive oil and topped with chopped walnuts.

Adapted from Sohla El-Waylly, Serious Eats

Ingredients

• 1 cup garlic cloves, halved, germ removed
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• ¼ cup lemon juice, divided
• ¼ cup ice water, divided
• 3 cups neutral oil

Method

1. Process garlic and salt to a fine paste, scraping down often. Add a spoonful of lemon juice and process until smooth and slightly fluffy.
2. With the machine running, drizzle in oil in the thinnest stream you can manage, about ½ cup, then a spoonful of lemon juice.
3. Keep alternating: ½ cup oil, then a spoonful of lemon juice until it's gone, then ice water, until everything is in and the sauce is white, thick, and fluffy.
4. Patience is the whole recipe. Rushing the oil is how it breaks. Keeps a month in the fridge.

Adapted from Wafa Shami, Palestine in a Dish

Ingredients

• 6 bunches flat-leaf parsley (yes, six)
• ¾ cup fine bulgur (#1)
• Juice of 4 lemons
• 5 ripe tomatoes, finely diced (not too juicy)
• 6 scallions, finely sliced · ¾ cup fresh mint, chopped
• ½ cup olive oil · salt

Method

1. Soak the bulgur in the lemon juice, not water, for 10–15 minutes while you chop. It drinks the flavor and stays dry.
2. Wash the parsley well and dry it completely, then chop it fine. Wet parsley turns to mush; this step is the whole salad.
3. Toss parsley, tomatoes, scallions, and mint with the bulgur and its lemon juice.
4. Dress with olive oil and salt just before serving. It should taste bright, green, and a little sharp.

Adapted from Yasmin Khan's Zaitoun, via NYT Cooking

Ingredients

• 4 lbs bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs and drumsticks
• Juice of 2 large lemons · ½ cup olive oil
• 3 tbsp sumac, plus more to finish
• 8 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tsp each cumin and allspice · ½ tsp cinnamon · salt and pepper
• 2 large red onions, thinly sliced
• 4 tbsp pine nuts · parsley · fresh taboon bread

Method

1. Slash the chicken pieces a few times, then massage with lemon, most of the oil, the sumac, garlic, spices, salt, and pepper. Toss in the onion. Marinate 1–3 hours.
2. Roast everything across two sheet pans at 375°F until the juices run clear, 40–45 minutes. Tent with foil.
3. Fry the pine nuts in the last spoon of oil until golden.
4. Warm the taboon, pile the chicken and onions on top, and pour the pan juices over so the bread drinks them. Shower with pine nuts, parsley, and more sumac.

Adapted from Heifa Odeh, Fufu's Kitchen

Ingredients

• 2½–3 lbs bone-in lamb shoulder, in medium pieces
• 1 yellow onion · 3 cardamom pods · 2 bay leaves · 1 tsp allspice · salt and pepper
• 2¼ cups jasmine or basmati rice
• 1 tsp cinnamon · ½ tsp turmeric · ½ tsp cumin (for the rice)
• 2 eggplants, in rounds · 1 head cauliflower, in florets · olive oil
• 2 tomatoes, sliced (for the bottom of the pot)
• Toasted slivered almonds · parsley

Method

1. Cover the lamb with water, bring to a simmer, and skim until clear. Add the onion, cardamom, bay, allspice, salt, and pepper, and simmer until tender, 1½–2 hours. Strain and keep the broth; it cooks the rice.
2. Meanwhile, toss the eggplant and cauliflower with olive oil, salt, and pepper and roast at 400°F until deeply golden.
3. Rinse and soak the rice, drain, and toss with the rice spices and salt.
4. Layer the pot: tomato slices on the bottom, then the lamb, then the roasted vegetables, then the rice. Don't stir.
5. Pour in hot lamb broth to about ½ inch over the rice, bring to a boil, then cover and simmer low until the rice is tender and the liquid is gone, 30–40 minutes. Rest 15 minutes, covered, off heat.
6. The moment: set a platter over the pot, flip with conviction, and lift slowly. Finish with almonds and parsley.

Ingredients

• 1 lb kataifi (shredded phyllo), thawed
• 1 cup clarified butter, melted (plus orange food coloring, optional but classic)
• 1 lb fresh mozzarella + ⅓ cup whole-milk ricotta
• Syrup: 2 cups sugar, 1 cup water, squeeze of lemon, 1 tbsp orange blossom water, splash of rosewater
• Ground pistachios · dried rose petals

Method

1. Make the syrup first: simmer sugar, water, and lemon 10 minutes, then stir in the orange blossom and rosewater off heat. Cool.
2. Slice the mozzarella thin and press it dry between towels; excess water is the enemy of a crisp kanafeh. Mix with the ricotta.
3. Pulse the kataifi into short strands and work the butter through with your hands (tint the butter first if going classic orange).
4. Press half firmly into a buttered pan, layer the cheese, and press the rest of the kataifi on top.
5. Bake at 375°F until deep golden, 30–40 minutes, while everyone eats dinner.
6. Flip onto a platter, pour the cool syrup over the hot kanafeh, and finish with pistachios and rose. Serve within minutes; this dish does not wait.