No, i am not on a middle-eastern cuisine cooking spree. Its just that i was pressed for time due to work, had left over pitas (yeah store-bought- i didnt make them this time) and this is the only cuisine i could think of wherein i could cook 3 dishes in under 20 minutes (yes, isnt it a surprise- quick, easy and delicious to boot) without any laborious preparation.

All these dishes are from Sana Abourek's book "Secrets of Healthy Middle-Eastern cuisine".


Chickpea and cumin salad (Salatat Hummus Bel Kammoun)




The only change that i made to the dish was addition of red bell pepper and using only 1/2 cup parsley instead of the required 1 cup.

1 can chickpeas
1/2 cup parsely
1 cup cumin yoghurt sauce
2tbs dry mint
1/4th tsp crushed red pepper
2 tbs red bell pepper-finely chopped
salt to taste


1. Combine the chickpeas and parsely. Pour the cumin yorhurt sauce, add the rest of the ingredients.
2. Mix well and serve.




For Cumin yoghurt sauce (Kammoun wa laban)-

The recipe calls for 1/2 cup lemon juice but i used a little less since i was afraid it would make the sauce too sour. Also instead of the recommende 3 cloves of garlic i used only 1 small clove.

1 cup plain nonfat yoghurt
1/3rd cup lemon juice
2 tbs cumin
1 clove garlic

Blend all the ingredients into a smooth paste.


Tahini and Pomegranate Sauce (Tahini Wa Rumman)

This recipe calls for pomegranate paste but since i didnt have any on hand i used the pomegranate molasses that i had made previously and ommitted the use of 1/2 cup water. This sauce is used as a dip for roasted vegetables and chicken. I also reduced the quantity to garlic required to one.




2 tbsp tahini
1/4th cup pomegranate molasses
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1 small clove garlic
1/2 tsp red pepper

1. Blend all the ingredients in the food processor to get a smooth paste.