To make the tomato sauce, dry-fry the cumin seeds in a large saucepan over a medium heat for 1–2 minutes until they release their aroma. Heat the oil in the pan and fry the onions until nicely browned around the edges. Sabrina Ghayour, a food writer and chef, is a married to her husband, Stephen Lynn. They recently celebrated their one-year anniversary. When I was a kid, my grandma’s sister, who we called Mama Gohar, was the best cook I knew. Actually, she may well have been the only cook I knew, as my Mum didn’t cook and my grandmother never quite took to domesticity in the way her sister did. Colourful, hilarious, inappropriate and lovable she was; a cook she was not. But Mama Gohar’s mind-blowing cooking made up for it. Like us, she was Persian, but was married to an Iraqi man, which meant I got to try a whole load of other stuff too, like kibbeh halab (crunchy rice-based meatballs with spiced lamb and pine nuts) and dolmeh (meat‑stuffed vine leaves poached slowly in pomegranate molasses). Their busy household was always brimming with food to feed the masses – their five children, numerous grandkids and all the little gate crashers (like myself) who pilfered kibbeh and crispy fried onions from the stovetop, or pinched mini meatballs from the fridge. To make the dressing, mix all of the ingredients together in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper. Meanwhile, boil the eggs for 6 minutes. Drain them, then plunge them into iced water so you can peel the shell off easily when cooked. Halve the eggs and set them aside.

Preheat a griddle pan over a medium-high heat. Brush the aubergine slices with olive oil on one side and chargrill for about 6‑8 minutes on each side, brushing the reverse side with more oil as you turn them over, until the texture softens and they are cooked through with nice griddle marks. Set aside. Radish, cucumber and red onion salad with mint and orange blossom dressing. Photograph: Liz & Max Haarala Hamilton Sabrina Ghayour was born in Tehran, Iran, and moved to west London with her mother at the start of the 1979 Iranian revolution. [3] Career [ edit ]To make the salsa, combine the tomatoes, onion, and dill in a bowl. Add the olive oil and sugar and season well with salt and pepper. Mix together and set aside.

Middle Eastern food can be heavy and plentiful, so you need to pair it with light, refreshing dishes that cleanse the palate and aid digestion. This is just that kind of dish – it is a perfect accompaniment to heavy meat and poultry dishes, providing a lovely fresh flavour – and it looks beautiful, too. The lightly sweetened dressing works well, counteracting the acidity, and I just love the intense crunchiness of this salad. To make the fried onions, heat the oil and fry the onions until deeply browned and crispy. Transfer to drain on kitchen paper. Combine the toasted hazelnuts with the breadcrumbs and chopped parsley, sprinkle the mixture over the stew and serve with rice, flatbread or potatoes. To make the meatballs, preheat a large frying pan over a medium heat. Put all the ingredients, except the oil, in a large mixing bowl and, using your hands, mix everything together really well for 6-8 minutes, ensuring you break up all the clumps of lamb so that everything is combined and the mixture is smooth – this will make for light and smooth meatballs.Heat another frying pan over a medium heat, pour in about 1cm vegetable oil and bring to a gentle frying temperature. To test the temperature, add a breadcrumb to the oil. If it bubbles nicely without sizzling too much, the oil is hot enough. (CAUTION: Hot oil can be dangerous. Do not leave unattended.)