Syrian cuisine is distinguished by its many delicious dishes that are well known in Arab cuisine as a whole, and the prepared Syrian dishes differ from one region to another in Syria from Damascus to the Levant, Aleppo, Homs and Latakia, according to the diversity of the nature of the region, the ingredients used and the recipe used for preparation and modified with the taste of the housewife.
Syrian cuisine is one of the ancient and authentic cuisines in the Arab world. It is distinguished by its diversity due to the different nature of each region in Syria. As each of the Syrian cities has its own distinct and famous dishes, this made the Syrian cuisine rich in its ingredients, the diversity of its dishes, and even its sweets as well. In this article, we will introduce you to the most important dishes of Syrian cuisine, whether they are appetizers, desserts, or main dishes.
Syrian cuisine is one of the ancient Arab kitchens in the Arab world due to the diversity and multiplicity of its dishes. There are many popular and traditional Syrian dishes that have been famous since ancient times, and perhaps the most important of them are Baba Ghanouj, meat with dough, Mahshi, kebabs, meat in pan, Maaruk, Tabbouleh, Kibbeh, meatballs, Shakria, Sheesh Barak and many others.
It is widely known that each region in Syria and its cities has specific dishes that are prepared in a unique way. In this article, we will discuss a group of famous and delicious Syrian dishes.
Kibbeh in Pan
Ingredients
For kibbeh dough
800 gm of brown bulgur.
800 gm of mincemeat (lamb).
2 red onions cut into quarters.
¼ teaspoon of Aleppo spice.
Pinch of red Aleppo pepper.
A sprinkle of cumin.
A sprinkle of dried mint.
150 gm of a bread butter.
For the filling
700 gm of coarsely chopped lamb.
500 gm of finely chopped onions.
50 gm of toasted pine nuts.
2 tablespoons of ghee.
¼ teaspoon of Aleppo spice.
¼ teaspoon of black pepper.
¼ teaspoon of cinnamon powder.
Salt, to taste.
250 gm of ground lamb.
50 gm of almonds, cut into halves, for garnish.
Preparation
Soak the bulgur in about three cups of water and season it with onions and spices.
Melt the ghee in a saucepan, then add the onion and sauté it for three minutes without changing its color, then add the meat filling and sauté it until it is cooked.
Add the spices and adjust the flavor, then add the pine nuts and leave the mixture aside to cool.
Mix the bulgur with some of the mincemeat, and pass the bulgur from the meat machine twice, and if the bulgur is dry, add some water.
Add the mincemeat and rub it well with the bulgur in a ceramic bowl until it sticks and the mixture is homogeneous.
Cut the kibbeh into balls according to the size of the tray used so that the weight of each ball is approximately 200 gm, and open the balls using fingers or a rolling pin on baking paper or wrapping paper to take the form of small round pancakes.
Put half of the filling in the middle, then close it with another layer of dough and close it tightly.
Shape the surface of the kibbeh in the shape of a diamond, add ghee and decorate the balls with almonds.
Bake the kibbeh in the oven until golden brown.
Meat in Pan
Ingredients
800 gm of finely minced lamb.
3 onions, cut into strips.
3 tomatoes, cut into slices.
3 potatoes, cut into slices.
2 tablespoons of ghee or vegetable oil.
½ cup of water.
2 teaspoons of salt.
2 teaspoons of black pepper.
Preparation
Put the minced meat in a deep bowl, add salt, black pepper, and finely chopped onions, and stir all the ingredients together by hand.
Spread the marinated meat in the tray, then we distribute the onion slices on it.
Lay out the tomato slices, then the potato slices.
Pour ghee or vegetable oil, then add water.
Put the tray in the oven at a temperature of 140 Celsius for an hour and a half or until it is cooked.
take the tray out of the oven and serve hot.
Shakria
Ingredients:
200 gm of lamb, cut into large pieces.
1 liter of milk.
1 bay leaf.
1 cinnamon stick.
1 teaspoon of cardamom.
1 egg.
1 onion.
2 tablespoons of starch.
1 teaspoon of salt.
Preparation
Put the meat in a pot on the fire and add water to it.
Add the onions, cardamom pods, and cinnamon sticks, and leave the meat on the fire until it is cooked.
Put the milk in a saucepan, add the egg to it and stir well until the egg mixes with the milk.
Dissolve the starch in a little water, then pour it over the milk, and put it on the fire with constant stirring until it boils.
reduce the temperature after the milk boils, then add the meat after it is cooked with a cup of meat broth and leave it on the fire to boil with milk for ten minutes, then add the salt.
Remove the milk from the fire, then pour it into a serving dish, and serve it hot.
Sufiha Shamiya
Ingredients
For the dough
2 tablespoons of powdered milk.
Small spoon of salt.
3cups of all-purpose flour.
1 tablespoon of sugar.
1 cup of warm water.
1 teaspoon of baking powder.
1 tablespoon of yeast.
1 quarter cup of corn oil.
For the filling
2 large onions, grated.
2 large diced tomatoes.
500 grams of fine ground beef.
3 crushed cloves of garlic.
2 pods of finely chopped green pepper.
¼ cup of pomegranate molasses.
3 tablespoons of tahini.
1 Yogurt.
1 teaspoon of cinnamon.
1 teaspoon salt and black pepper.
1 teaspoon of mixed spice.
½ cup of pine nuts.
Preparation
For the dough
Put two and a half cups of flour in the bowl of the electric mixer and add: milk, oil, yeast, baking powder, water, salt, sugar and install the dough hook.
Run the mixer on a slow speed and mix the ingredients together until the dough forms and separates from the edges of the bowl.
Add the rest of the flour if the dough was soft.
Put the dough in a bowl greased with a little oil and grease the surface of the dough with oil, then cover the dough dish with a piece of nylon.
Put the bowl in a warm place and leave it for about an hour or until the dough ferments and doubles in size.
For the filling
Put the meat with onions and tomatoes in a deep dish and add: molasses, tahini, yogurt, hot pepper, cinnamon, salt, pepper, allspice and pine nuts.
Stir the ingredients together using a wide plastic spoon.
Cut the dough into small balls the size of a walnut.
Press it with your fingers until it becomes a medium-sized disk (it is important to have small hollows in the dough disks).
Leave the dough disks to rest for fifteen minutes.
Plate application
Prepare oven-specific, short-rimmed trays.
Preheat the oven to two hundred degrees Celsius and install a mesh oven rack in the center of the oven.
Arrange dough disks in oven trays.
Distribute the filling over the dough disks using a large tablespoon.
Put the trays into the preheated oven for ten minutes, until the tray turns golden.
Arrange the plate on a wide serving plate and serve hot.
Shishbarak
Ingredients
For the dough
1 cup and a half of flour.
¼ teaspoon of salt.
3/4 cup of whole milk.
½ cup of water.
For the filling
4 tablespoons of butter.
1 chopped medium onion.
1 teaspoon of salt.
500 grams of minced meat.
½ cup of water. teaspoon of mixed spices.
½ cup of water. cup of chopped parsley.
For the milk
2tablespoons of starch.
1 teaspoon of salt.
4 tablespoons of butter.
1 egg.
4 crushed cloves of garlic.
1 liter of curdled milk.
½ cup of chopped green coriander.
Preparation
For the dough
Sift the flour with salt in a deep bowl, add milk, then stir the ingredients together.
Add more water until a soft dough forms, then knead the dough for two to three minutes.
Cover the bowl of the dough and leave it for about an hour to rest.
For the filling
Put the butter in a saucepan and put the saucepan over a medium heat, add the meat and stir until its water dries up.
Add the rest of the filling ingredients, stir the ingredients, and cook the mixture for two to three minutes, then add the chopped parsley.
For Shishbarak
Preheat the oven to two hundred degrees Celsius.
Roll out the dough and cut it into small circles, put a little filling in the center of the circles, lock the sides and fix the two ends together until they become a cap.
Put the discs on a tray sprinkled with flour and bake in the hot oven for ten to fifteen minutes, until they are dry and golden.
Dissolve the starch in half a cup of water, then add the mixture to the curdled milk, then add the eggs.
Filter the mixture through a fine strainer.
Boil the milk mixture with constant stirring and put the Shishbarak beads in it and leave the cheeseburger mixture with the milk on a low heat for eight or ten minutes.
Sauté the garlic with the butter, add the coriander, and stir the mixture until it wilts for a minute or two.
Add the coriander mixture to the milk and serve immediately.
Shami Meat Plate
Ingredients
2 tablespoons of powdered milk.
3 cups of flour.
1 tablespoon of yeast.
1 teaspoon of salt.
1 teaspoon of baking powder.
1 tablespoon of sugar.
1 cup of warm water.
¼ cup of corn oil.
For the filling
2 large onions, grated.
500 grams of finely minced meat.
3 crushed cloves of garlic.
2 large diced tomatoes.
¼ cup of pomegranate molasses.
2 pods of green pepper, finely chopped.
¼ cup of yogurt.
¼ cup of tahini.
1 teaspoon of salt.
1 teaspoon of cinnamon.
1 teaspoon of mixed spice.
½ cup of pine nuts.
¼ teaspoon of black pepper.
Preparation
Mix all the ingredients for the dough with each other, then put it in a warm place until it ferments for an hour.
Put the meat, tomatoes, onions, pomegranate molasses, pepper, cinnamon, tahini, salt, yogurt, spices, pepper, and pine nuts in a deep dish, and stir the ingredients.
Prepare trays with short edges and grease them with a little oil or ghee.
Cut the dough into balls the size of two tablespoons, and press the dough with your fingers until it becomes a medium-sized disk; So that we have small cavities in the dough disks.
Set the dough disks aside to rest for fifteen minutes.
Install a mesh rack in the center of the oven, and preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
Spread the filling on the dough disks using a large spoon.
Put the trays in the oven for ten minutes, until we get golden discs from the tray.
Fattah Tassquia
Ingredients
½ cup of a vegetarian oil.
2 loaves of dry bread cut into small squares.
½ teaspoon of salt.
1 cup of boiled chickpeas with boiling water.
½ squeezed lemon.
250 gm of ground chickpeas.
½ teaspoon of white pepper.
5 cloves of garlic.
½ cup of water.
2 tablespoons of yogurt.
½ teaspoon of cumin.
For garnish
2 tablespoons of pine nuts.
250 gm of minced meat.
A pinch of paprika.
1 pomegranate.
A pinch of cumin.
A pinch of chopped parsley.
2 tablespoons of Arabic ghee.
Preparation
Fry the bread in oil in a frying pan until it turns golden and set it aside.
Add water to the chickpeas in a bowl, and stir until the ingredients are completely mixed, and add lemon juice, salt, garlic, cumin, white pepper, yoghurt, and a spoonful of chickpea boiling water, and stir well until we get a creamy mixture.
Put the boiled chickpeas and its water on the fire until it gets hot.
Put a spoonful of oil in a frying pan, put the meat and stir it until it turns brown, and add the pine nuts until browned and set aside.
Put the fried bread in a deep plate, add a small amount of chickpea water, until the bread is saturated with water, add the boiled chickpeas, and put the rosary mixture.
Garnish the surface with fried minced meat, chopped parsley, pomegranate, toasted pine nuts, and sprinkle a small amount of cumin and paprika on the surface.
Melt the fat and put it on a side plate.
Abu Shalhoub
Ingredient
250 gm of veal, cut into medium-sized cubes.
500 gm of zucchini, cut into medium cubes.
1 onion finely chopped.
2 cups of coarse bulgur.
2 tablespoons of ghee.
1 teaspoon of salt.
½ teaspoon of black pepper.
3 cups of water.
Preparation
Put the ghee on the fire and leave it until it melts, then add the onions and stir until it wilts for several minutes.
Add the meat and stir until it takes a slight color, then add the zucchini pieces and leave them for two minutes.
Sprinkle salt, pepper, add water and let it come to a boil.
Wash the bulgur under water several times, then soak it in a quantity of warm water for 15 minutes, then drain it well from the soaking water, add it to the rest of the ingredients and leave it for a quarter of an hour on a low heat or until it is cooked.
Pour Abu Shalhoub into serving plates and serve with yoghurt.
Fatteh Ghee
Ingredients
For first layer
1 cup of canned chickpeas.
1 cup of canned chickpeas finely ground.
5 cloves of crushed garlic.
½ lemon Juice.
2 tablespoons of yogurt or curd.
½ cup of vegetable oil.
½ cup of water.
2 loaves of Arabic bread, cut into cubes.
½ teaspoon of cumin.
½ teaspoon of salt.
½ teaspoon of white pepper.
For second layer
500 gm of finely chopped veal.
2 tablespoons of ghee.
2 tablespoons of pine nuts.
¼ cup finely chopped fresh parsley.
1 pomegranate.
A pinch of cumin.
A pinch of sweet paprika.
Preparation
Put the vegetable oil on the fire until it heats up, then put the bread and fry it until it turns golden.
Add water to the ground chickpeas, stir well until the mixture becomes smooth, then add lemon juice, salt, white pepper, cumin, curd and stir well.
Put the chickpeas with water on the fire until it becomes hot.
Put a tablespoon of oil on the fire, add the meat and stir, then add the pine nuts and leave it until it takes a slight color, then remove the meat from the fire.
Prepare a deep plate, put the toasted bread in it, and then sprinkle it with a little chickpea water.
Add the chickpeas, then pour the ground chickpeas mixture.
Place the meat on top, and sprinkle with parsley, pomegranate, cumin and paprika.
Put the ghee on the fire until it gets hot, then pour it over the fattah.
Mujaddra
Mujadara is one of the famous dishes in the countries of the Levant, especially in Syria, and is characterized by its delicious taste and ease of preparation.
Ingredients
½ cup of boiled brown lentils with a little cumin.
1 cup of basmati rice.
1 onion sliced.
1 fried onion (sliced) for garnish.
1 tablespoon of olive oil.
1 teaspoon of black pepper.
1 teaspoon of mixed spice.
Salt, to taste.
1 liter of water.
Preparation
Heat the oil on the fire and put the onions with stirring until their color changes and tends to golden.
Add the boiled lentils after filtering from the water, add the washed and drained rice.
Stir the ingredients well and add the spices (black pepper – salt – mixed spice).
Pour hot water and cover the pot and leave it on a low heat for twenty minutes until it is cooked, then pour it into a dish and decorate it with the fried champignon slices.
to prepare bulgur, apply the same method of preparation as before, with the replacement of rice with coarse bulgur.
It takes about 20 minutes on low heat to cook.
Mujadara is served as a hot meal, accompanied by a vegetable salad and yoghurt.
Stuffed Zucchini
Ingredients
2 kg of zucchini
3 cups of rice
3 cups of minced meat
¼ teaspoon of cumin
¼ teaspoon of turmeric
¼ teaspoon of black pepper
¼ teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of ghee
6 cloves of mashed garlic
¼ teaspoon of lemon
For broth
1 cup of water
2 tomatoes
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
8 cloves garlic
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup of lemon juice
Preparation
In a bowl, put rice, meat, cumin, turmeric, black pepper, salt, ghee, garlic and lemon salt. Mix the ingredients until they overlap.
Stuff the zucchini stuffing and put it in a deep saucepan.
In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the tomato puree, tomato paste, garlic, salt and lemon juice. Leave the mixture on the fire until it boils.
Add the zucchini grains to the broth, reduce the heat and leave the pot on the fire for an hour until the zucchini is tender.
Serve it hot.
Yalanji Syrian Eggplant
Ingredients
For the filling
1 cup of Egyptian rice
Minced – half a pack of parsley
2 chopped tomatoes
1 minced onions
4 minced garlic cloves
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
2 tablespoons of pomegranate honey
1 tablespoon of salt
5 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon of black pepper
1 tablespoon of dried mint
1 kg of eggplant of a small size
For the sauce
2 tablespoons tomato paste
4 cups of boiled water
2 tablespoons of pomegranate honey
Preparation
For the filling
In a bowl, put rice, garlic, tomatoes, parsley, olive oil, tomato paste, pomegranate molasses, onions and flavor it with salt, black pepper and dried mint.
Stir the ingredients until they overlap.
Stuff the eggplant with the rice mixture to three quarters, then put it in a saucepan.
For the sauce
In a bowl, put the tomato paste, pomegranate molasses, salt and water and stir until the ingredients are combined.
Pour the sauce over the eggplant in the pot and put it on a medium heat until the mixture boils.
Cover the pot and leave it on a low heat until the mixture thickens.
Appetizers
Baba Ghanouj Shami
Ingredients
2 large eggplants.
1 large tomato, finely chopped.
3 cloves of crushed garlic.
A few mint leaves, finely chopped.
1 teaspoon of salt.
½ teaspoon of black pepper.
1½ tablespoons of lemon juice.
1½ teaspoons of pomegranate molasses.
1 green bell pepper, coarsely chopped.
2 tablespoons of parsley leaves, finely chopped.
1 cup of olive oil.
Preparation
Roast the eggplant on the stove, then peel it and carefully extract the pulp.
Mash the pulp well in a deep bowl, then add the tomatoes, mint, garlic, pepper and parsley, and mix the ingredients well with each other.
Where we mash it with a fork.
Flavor the seasoning with salt, black pepper, lemon juice, and pomegranate molasses and mix again, then put the dish in the refrigerator and serve it cold.
Tabbouleh
Ingredients
4 tomatoes.
4 cucumbers.
4 bunches of parsley.
1 cup of fine bulgur.
1 teaspoon of dry mint.
A little bit of salt.
Juice of a large lemon.
1 tablespoon of olive oil.
Preparation
Cut the tomatoes and cucumbers into small pieces and leave them together in a bowl.
Chop the parsley and mix it with the tomato and cucumber, then add the mint and salt.
Wash the bulgur, then soak it in water a little.
Drain it from the water and mix it with the rest of the ingredients, and add lemon juice and olive oil to them.
Homs Sham
Ingredients
250 gm of boiled chickpeas.
2 cups of water.
2 tomatoes.
1 Green pepper.
5 mashed garlic cloves.
2 tablespoons of tomato paste.
1 1ablespoon of salt.
1 teaspoon of black pepper.
1 teaspoon of paprika.
1 teaspoon of cumin.
½ tablespoon of onion powder.
A sprinkle of sugar.
Preparation
In a saucepan, put the boiled chickpeas and 4 cups of water. Make sure to apply this method to boil chickpeas without soaking.
Put the tomatoes, green peppers and garlic in the bowl of an electric mixer.
Add a cup of water and grind the ingredients with a blender.
Add the chili puree and continue to grind the ingredients with the mixer until the ingredients are homogeneous.
Pour the mixture over the chickpeas with a fine strainer.
Add tomato paste and spices and stir.
Put the pot on a medium heat and leave the mixture to boil for 15 to 20 minutes on the fire before serving it hot.
Baba Ghanoush
Ingredients
500 gm of grilled eggplant.
1 teaspoon of finely chopped green sweet pepper.
1 finely chopped tomato.
5 tablespoons of finely chopped parsley.
1 clove of mashed garlic.
½ cup of pomegranate.
3 tablespoons of pomegranate molasses.
3 tablespoons of olive oil.
1 teaspoon of salt.
2 tablespoons of lemon juice.
Preparation
Mash the eggplant in a wide and deep bowl.
Add the mashed garlic, pomegranate molasses, salt, a spoonful of parsley, and lemon juice, and stir them together.
Pour the mixture into a serving dish, and decorate with chopped green pepper, parsley, tomatoes, pomegranate seeds and olive oil.
Desserts
Nammoura Sweets
Ingredients
1 cup of ghee.
4 tablespoons of soft butter.
5 cups of semolina, preferably coarse.
2 cups of sugar, preferably soft.
1 cup of finely ground coconut.
2 cups of yogurt.
1 teaspoon of baking powder.
½ teaspoon of baking soda.
a little bit of salt.
4 tablespoons of rose water.
1 cup of chopped almonds, for garnish.
For the syrup
4 cups of sugar.
4 cups of water.
1 teaspoon of rose water.
1 teaspoon of lemon juice.
Preparation
Melt the amount of ghee and butter by placing them in a saucepan over a low heat until they melt.
Melt the ghee and butter in a deep bowl, then add the semolina and mix them together for a minute, then leave the mixture for half an hour or a little more.
Add sugar, yogurt, coconut, baking powder, baking soda, salt, blossom water and rose water to the semolina mixture, then mix them in the blender for a full minute until you notice the formation of a smooth mixture.
Grease a baking dish with some ghee and pour the mixture into it. Leave the mixture to rest for half an hour after its surface is leveled.
Turn on the oven at 180 degrees Celsius, then cut the tiger in the form of cubes, and distribute the chopped almonds on it, then put it in the oven on the middle shelf.
Leave the Nammoura for half an hour in the oven, and take it out when it becomes golden in color. Prepare the syrup in the meantime;
Put the sugar and water in a saucepan over a medium heat for ten minutes, then add the blossom water, rose water, and lemon juice, and leave the mixture to boil for ten minutes before removing it.
Add hot syrup to the Nammoura as soon as it is taken out of the oven, then leave it to cool before serving.
Tamryia
Ingredients
3 cups of flour.
½ teaspoon of salt.
1 teaspoon of baking powder.
2 cups of Water.
1 cup of melted ghee.
Vegetable oil for frying
Preparation
In a bowl, put the flour, salt and baking powder. Stir until ingredients are combined.
Add water and knead the ingredients until the dough becomes sticky.
Cover the dough and leave it for 15 minutes to rest.
Cut the dough into 16 equal pieces.
Cover and leave again to rest for 10 minutes.
On a hard surface, spread a little ghee and roll it into a dough ball. Continue rolling the dough until it becomes thin while brushing it with ghee.
Fold the dough in half and place it on a tray.
Repeat this process until you have used up all the quantity.
Cover the dough and put it in the fridge for a quarter of an hour.
Take a dough, stretch it lengthwise, and start rolling it, brushing it with ghee, then press to form a date disc.
Repeat this process until you have used up all the quantity.
In a saucepan over a medium heat, heat a lot of oil and fry the dates, stirring them in the oil, until they are golden brown.
Drain the dates from the oil, dip them in the syrup, and then serve them cold.
Lady’s fingers
Ingredients
1 cup of semolina.
1 cup of flour.
1 cup of any vegetable oil.
1 spoonful of instant yeast.
2 tablespoons of anise.
A pinch of salt.
A pinch of sugar.
3 cups of syrup.
Frying oil.
Preparation
Mix the flour and semolina in a bowl and put a pinch of sugar and salt on it, then anise and vegetable oil, and dissolve the instant yeast in warm water and leave it for five minutes.
Put it on the mixture and knead it until it becomes a cohesive dough and leave it for an hour to ferment.
Take a small piece of dough and using your finger to press the dough with our fingers to form a whole and so on until the completion of the entire dough.
Put these pieces after shaping them in oil to fry them until they turn red, then take them out and put them in the syrup for a short period, then put them on the strainer and serve to eat.
Aleppo Mushabik
Ingredients
1 cup and a half of semolina.
¼ cup of flour.
1 cup of warm water.
1 teaspoon of instant yeast.
1 tablespoon of oil.
1 tablespoon of sugar.
A pinch of salt.
Oil for frying.
1 cup of syrup.
Preparation
Bring a bowl and mix semolina, flour, oil, sugar and salt and mix them until we get a soft and semi-liquid mixture.
Leave it to ferment for about a quarter of an hour.
Put this mixture in a confectioner’s bag or any other bag with a small circular hole at the end of it so that the mixture comes out in the form of balls or any other shape.
Heat the oil and put the mixture forms in it until it is fried and browned, then lift it and repeat until we finish the whole amount.
Dip it in the syrup and serve on the plate.
Crunchy Balah Al Sham
Ingredients
1 cup of water.
1 cup of corn oil.
A pinch of salt and sugar.
¼ spoonful of baking powder.
2 eggs.
½ teaspoon of vanilla.
1 cup of frying oil.
Preparation
Put the pot on the fire, put the oil in it, add the water to it and leave it to heat up.
Add the flour to it, stir it until it dissolves and leave it to cool.
Put the mixture in the mixer, and put the eggs, baking powder and vanilla on it, then sugar and salt, and beat well until a smooth dough is formed.
Put the dough in a pastry bag and pour the dough into the shape of long fingers and put them in oil for frying.
Fry all the quantity until golden brown, then lift and dip in syrup and serve.
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