![]() Lightly salt the chicken pieces and place them in a deep pan over a handful of the rinsed rices scatter with the fried onion and half the mixed spice. Add the sliced onion and cook until golden. Add the almonds and toast until golden and fragrant transfer to a plate. Wipe out the pan and add a bit of olive oil. Transfer to a large plate.Īdd the cauliflower florets to the oil and fry for 20 minutes until brown. Reheat the reserved oil and fry the aubergine over medium to high heat for 10 minutes, until golden. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, toss the aubergine slices with salt and leave for 20 minutes to remove excess moisture. Transfer to a plate and reserve the frying oil. Fry the potato slices over medium heat till golden, about 15 minutes. In a large frying pan, add 4 tbsp of sunflower oil. In a pot of boiling water, parboil the cauliflower florets until just tender, about 10 minutes. Spoon out the chicken and reserve about 1 ½ litres of broth discard the onion and herbs. In a large pot, simmer the chicken legs in water over medium heat with the quartered onion, cardamom, bay leaves, rosemary and a large pinch of salt until cooked, about 30 minutes. Thus, the upside-down dish stands at centre stage before slowly collapsing – and the family dives in. ![]() The magic comes when it is served at the table with a flourish Asous flips the saucepan onto a platter, then gently shakes the pan to loosen and empty out the contents. When it comes to the celebratory dish of maqloubeh, Asous clears as much kitchen space as she can for its preparation. She wants it to be perfect, as this is the dish that her family pines for: textured, creamy chicken, vegetables and rice enhanced with the flavours of bay, rosemary, cardamom and black pepper. She exclaimed, "Keep the perfect unsplit ones for a year and you have brilliant crimson seeds!" For any other needs, one of her children drives her 10km to the town of Nablus, where street stalls and a souk offer a cornucopia of grains, vegetables, fruits, spices and utensils. For her, pomegranates are another treasure. From her tiny kitchen, she creates gargantuan feasts that she serves in her courtyard, where friends and family gather to eat and enjoy time together.Īpart from the olive trees, essential ingredients come from her two-storey chicken coop, lemon trees and vegetable patch (for green peppers, potatoes, onions and lettuce), while Asous also makes her own za'atar (an aromatic seasoning mix) from home-grown sesame and thyme. In Burin, where she lives with her schoolteacher husband and three adult children, Asous is also renowned locally for her peerless cooking. For her, "Olives mean life, and oil is the pillar of the house." Asous sells some of the oil or gives it to her brother's family in Jordan, while keeping the rest. After the October harvest each year, the best olives are packaged in recycled plastic soda bottles for sale as cured table olives, while the rest are sent off to the village press to be made into unctuous, deep-green virgin olive oil. This past March, she travelled to London for Fairtrade Fortnight to broadcast the issues facing farmers in occupied West Bank. Wherever she goes, Asous captivates audiences with her zeal, candour and sense of sumud – a Palestinian trait meaning "resilience".Īsous' knowledge of farming comes from a lifetime of nurturing some 600 olive trees that produce fat green, purple and black fruit. She has been invited on three occasions to Turin, Italy, by Slow Food to demonstrate Palestinian dishes and talk about farming. ![]() Little by little, Asous' star has been rising as she shares her insights into healthy eating, organic farming and heritage seeds. One delicious version of this convivial meal is regularly prepared by olive farmer Doha Asous, a diminutive, feisty woman based in the village of Burin in the northern West Bank, who passes her passion for and knowledge of organic agriculture onto fellow Palestinian farmers as well as those further afield. Like the spelling of its name, there are numerous variations between families, religions and countries, but above all it's considered a comforting dish to be shared among friends. Its history spans several centuries throughout the Levant and is thought to originate in medieval Baghdad. Ultimately, it's a "cake" of chicken pieces braised with aubergines, potatoes and cauliflower, with alternating layers of rice – though some make it with lamb and other vegetables. For many Palestinians, Eid al-Adha (the Feast of Sacrifice), held on 28 June this year, is celebrated with the most festive dish of all: maqloubeh (meaning "upside-down").
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