Yotam Ottolenghi’s Middle Eastern recipes | Food (2024)

Beef skewers with dried lime and sumac onions (main picture)

Dried limes, also known as Iranian limes, Omani limes and various other names, are widely used across the Middle East, adding an earthy sourness to soups, stews, marinades and stuffings. I’ve used black dried limes here, but lighter ones are also fine. You’ll find them in Middle-Eastern supermarkets and online.

Prep 15 min
Marinate 2 hr
Cook 25 min
Serves 4

For the sumac onions
1 red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
1½ tsp sumac
¾ tbsp cider vinegar
4 shop-bought naan or pitta
1½ tbsp picked parsley leaves
1½ tbsp picked mint leaves

Equipment
8 metal 25cm-long skewers, or wooden skewers soaked in water for 10 minutes

For the sumac onions, mix the onion, sumac, vinegar and an eighth of a teaspoon of salt, and leave to soften for at least 30 minutes.

Thread the beef on to the skewers, packing the cubes closely together. Generously grease a grill pan with sunflower oil and put on a high heat. Once smoking, lay in the skewers in batches and cook, turning as you go, for about three to four minutes in total, until charred all over but not over-cooked. Transfer to a tray and cover with foil to keep warm.

Warm the bread on a hot grill for about 30 seconds on each side.

To serve, put a flatbread on each plate and top with two beef skewers each, brushing them with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkling with the chilli. Toss the parsley and mint into the sumac onions, divide the mixture between the plates and serve.

Machboos rubyan (AKA spiced rice)

Soak 2 hr
Prep 25 min
Cook 1 hr 55 min
Serves 6

Tip the soaked rice into a sieve and leave to drain. Peel and de-vein the prawns, saving the heads and shells. In a bowl, mix the peeled prawns with the garam masala, a quarter-teaspoon of turmeric, two cloves of crushed garlic, a tablespoon of olive oil, half a teaspoon of salt and a good grind of pepper, then refrigerate.

Put the onion wedges in a large saucepan for which you have a lid, then add the prawn heads and shells, lemon halves, head of garlic, stock, one cinnamon stick and a teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil on a medium-high heat, then lower the heat to medium-low, cover the pot and simmer for 25 minutes. Strain through a sieve set over a saucepan; discard the solids.Measure out 650ml of the liquid and keep warm (reserve any excess prawn stock for another dish).

Stir in the rice, to coat, then add the remaining prawn stock, one and three-quarter teaspoons of salt and a good grind of pepper. Bring to a boil, cover tightly first with foil and then with the lid, turn down the heat to low and cook for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat, keeping the lid on, and leave to rest for 15 minutes. Uncover, dot with 20g butter, cover again, and leave to sit for 10 minutes more, until the butter has melted through the fluffy rice.

Meanwhile, heat a tablespoon of oil and the remaining 15g butter in a large saute pan on a medium-high flame. Add the sliced onion and cook, stirring often, until soft and deeply browned – about 12 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, return the pan to a high heat and add the remaining tablespoon of oil. In two batches, add the marinated prawns and cook until browned and cooked through – about three minutes per batch. Transfer the prawns to a bowl and mix through the dill, chilli, lemon juice and remaining coriander.

Spread the rice on a large platter, top with the browned onions and then the prawns, and serve warm.

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Chopped salad with feta and yoghurt

Prep 20 min
Cook 5 min
Serves 4 as a side

3 sticks celery, cut into 12mm-thick slices
1 cucumber, cut in half lengthways, deseeded and cut into 2.5mm half- moons
1 green pepper, deseeded and cut into 2.5mm-thick strips
½ red onion, peeled and very thinly sliced
3 tbsp dill leaves, roughly chopped
3 tbsp coriander leaves, roughly chopped
2 tsp dried mint
1 tbsp coriander seeds, toasted and roughly crushed
120g Greek-style yoghurt
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice (ie, from 1-2 lemons)
Salt and black pepper
100g feta, thinly sliced into random shards
1 tsp sumac

In a separate small bowl, whisk together the yoghurt, two tablespoons of oil, the lemon juice, three-quarters of a teaspoon of salt and a good grind of pepper, then pour over the vegetables and toss well to combine.

Transfer half the salad to a large serving platter and top with half the feta. Repeat with another layer each of salad and feta, then top with the sumac and remaining coriander seeds, and finish by drizzling over the remaining tablespoon of oil.