The countdown is on… 

In less than two weeks time, Muslims around the world will be celebrating the end of the Holy Month of Ramadan with the festival of breaking the fast, the beloved Eid al-Fitr. From extravagant spreads and desserts to wonderful decorations and lights around Dubai, family and friends celebrate with distinct family recipes, regional dishes, gift-giving, prayers, and heartfelt gatherings.

To inspire your Eid spread, three Dubai chefs share with us their favourite celebratory recipes: 

Haya Bishouty, Haya’s Kitchen

Chicken Msakhan (National Dish of Palestine) 

“Growing up, Msakhan was a dish that brought my whole family together. We would be in awe at the beauty of the Msakhan stacks piled up on my Teta’s table. We would roll our sleeves up, grab some Msakhan and dive in with our hands – it’s the only true way to eat it!”

INGREDIENTS

Chicken stock: Onions:
1 chicken, cut into 4 pieces with skin and bone 750 gms chopped onions
4 bay leaves 3/4 cup Palestinian olive oil
5 whole cardamom ½ tsp ground black pepper
1 cinnamon stick ½ tsp ground cumin
1 onion, quartered 1 tsp salt
4 whole cloves 1 ½ cup chicken broth
1 tsp salt 4 tbsp Palestinian sumac
2 cups water
Chicken rub: To assemble:
1 ¾ tsp salt 2 Palestinian Taboon bread, quartered
½ tbsp ground allspice Fried almonds and pine nuts
½ tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp ground black pepper
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp Palestinian sumac
¼ cup water
¼ cup Palestinian olive oil

METHOD

  1. Preheat the oven to 180℃
  2. Place the chicken into a deep pot. Add boiling water and the chicken stock ingredients, and boil for 15 minutes with the lid on – make sure the chicken is covered in water. Skim off the surface of the liquid
  3. Take the chicken out of the pot, place in an oven proof tray and add the spice rub onto the chicken – spread it evenly. Add the water and oil and place in the oven for 45 minutes
  4. Meanwhile, place the onions in a large pot. Add the oil and spices, and cook the onions for about 20 minutes on a medium heat. Keep stirring the onions to make sure they don’t stick at the bottom of the pot. Then add the sumac and chicken broth and continue to cook for another 20 minutes – until the onions are tender and the liquid has reduced by a quarter
  5.  Fry the almonds and pine nuts in olive oil until golden
  6.  To assemble, you’ll need to: Take the taboon bread, dip it fully into the onion pot to allow it to be coated on both sides. Place the bread on a round baking tray. Add a layer of onions on top of the bread and then sprinkle some fresh sumac. Keep layering until all the bread is finished. Add the chicken on top as the last layer and pop the tray in the oven on broil for about 10 minutes. Top with the fried nuts and serve with plain yoghurt.

Visit @hayasktchn

Khalid Walid, Khalid Eats

Stuffed vine leaves and koosa

“It takes hours of love and labour, but seeing people devour it smiling makes it worth it”.

INGREDIENTS

500g vine leaves  For the stuffing:
3kg Koosa or marrow  2 cups Egyptian rice 
2kg lamb chops  500g minced lamb
2kg tomato  1/4 cup ghee
3 cups bone broth  1/2 cup bone broth
1/2 cup lemon juice 2tsp all spice powder 
3 tbs ghee 1 tsp cinnamon powder
2 tsp salt 1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp all spice powder  1/2 tsp cardamom powder 
1 tsp cinnamon powder 3 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper

METHOD

  1. Soak Egyptian rice for at least an hour, keep changing the water until it’s clear, strain very well
  2. Add the rest of the stuffing ingredients to the strained rice, mix gently and set aside (the mixture should be moist and falls apart, add more broth if dense)
  3. Stuff the koosa and the vine leaves and set aside
  4. Rub the lamb chops with the listed spices and sear on both sides with ghee
  5. In a large pot, lay discs of tomato at the bottom and layer the seared lamb chops, koosa and vine leaves
  6. Lay a plate on the koosa to weight it down then add hot broth the the pot submerging 70% of the pot
  7. Allow the broth to come to a boil, should take around 30 minutes, then reduce the heat to low and slow cook for 4 to 5 hours
  8. 4 hours in, taste the broth for salt and add the lemon juice
  9. Flip the pot into a large serving plate and enjoy.

Visit @khalideats

Salam Dakkak, Bait Maryam

Kaak Bi Tamer (Eid cookies/maamoul)

“The smell of fresh maamoul coming out of the oven takes us down memory lane, reminds us of home when all the families get together close to the end of Ramadan where they bake the cookies together. It’s such a beautiful time and experience we look forward to through these small date cookies.”

INGREDIENTS

Cookie dough: 
1kg flour 180 grams olive oil
100 grams sugar 180 grams sunflower oil
40 grams anise 270 grams water
10 grams black sesame
50 grams white sesame Date paste: 
3 grams salt 1kg dates
2 grams mahlab 30 grams ghee
2 grams yeast 5 grams cinnamon
180 grams butter 1 grams anise

METHOD

  1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius. Line baking sheets with parchment paper
  2. In a food processor, grind together the sugar and anise
  3. Toast the white sesame slightly
  4. In a bowl, add the flour, white & black sesame, yeast, salt, mahlab, olive oil & mix well
  5. Start adding the water gradually and mix well until well combined and dough is formed
  6. Date paste: Combine all ingredients in food processor and mix until all a smooth paste forms
  7. For every 1kg of date paste, add 5gm of cinnamon, 1 gm of anise and 30gm of ghee
  8. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes.  

Visit @bait.maryam

Images: Provided/Social