Believe it or not, the process of making your food from scratch can be more rewarding than the delicious food itself. If you’re a hapless newlywed, just happen to miss Mama’s (or Baba’s, or any member of your family, who happened to cook for you) cooking in a land far away, or live alone for the privacy, we’ve listed down our favorite homemade Egyptian recipes that you can make at home without resorting to expensive and artificial tasting takeout. So bring out your apron, spatula, and cooking mits, and alf hana.
Chicken Curry with Basmati White Rice
Ingredients:
- ½ kg chicken breasts
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 cup onion
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp curry
- ¼ tbsp cinnamon, paprika powder, ginger powder, and clove
- 1 cup yogurt
- 1 chicken Maggi stock cube
- 1 cup cooking cream
- 1 cup red and green pepper
- parsley
- 1 cup basmati white rice
Instructions:
- Heat the oil then put onion, garlic, pepper for 10 mins.
- When they turn gold, put the chicken with all spices.
- When it cooked well, start to put yogurt, Maggi and cooking cream with curry and flipping them all, then leave them for 15 minutes.
- Start to cook the rice while the chicken is cooking.
- When they all are done, top with parsley, and alf hana.
Mushroom & Cream Spaghetti
Ingredients:
- ½ kg spaghetti
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 cup onion
- ¼ tbsp cinnamon & ginger powder
- 1 beef Maggi stock cube
- 1½ cup cooking cream
- 2 cups fresh mushroom
- 1 cup yogurt
- ½ kg meatballs
- 4 butter cubes
Instructions:
- Start with cutting the mushrooms, melt the cube of butter, then add the chopped mushrooms.
- After it turns gold, add onions, garlic, cooking cream and yoghurt.
- After the mixture solidifies, add the spaghetti.
- Start to cook the meatballs with spices.
- After it cooks well, just mix them all together, and alf hana!
Macarona Béchamel with Chicken Panne
Ingredients:
- 1⁄2 kg penne pasta
- 1⁄2 kg minced beef
- 1 chopped onion
- 1 chopped green pepper
- 2 tbsp oil (whatever your choice of oil is)
- 3 tbsp flour
- 1 tbsp starch
- 2 cups butter
- 5 cups milk
- 1⁄2 tsp mix spices
- 1⁄8 tsp nutmeg
- salt & black pepper (basically whatever seasoning you like)
- ½ kg boneless chicken breast
Instructions:
- Put the pasta in boiling salted water.
- Heat the oil, then add the onion and stir until golden.
- Add the green pepper and stir for 2 minutes, then add the beef, salt, black pepper, and condiments, then flip well.
- Leave the meat on medium heat until cooked and the liquid evaporates, flipping from time to time.
- Melt the starch in half a glass of milk.
- Over medium heat, heat the butter, then add the flour and stir for 2 minutes.
- Slowly add the milk, flip continuously until the flour has dissolved, then add the starch, salt, black pepper and keep flipping until boiling.
- Turn on the oven at 200.
- Unite the bechamel mix with pasta.
- In an oven tray, spread a layer of bechamel at the bottom of the tray, then place half the pasta, then the meat, then the rest of the pasta, then put the rest of the bechamel.
- Put the tray in the oven for 40 minutes, until the top layer is golden.
- As for the chicken, check out our nifty guide to cooking mama’s infamous panne, and alf hana!
Potato Tray with Vermicelli Rice (Saneyet Batates)
Ingredients:
- 2 cups vermicelli rice
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cups butter
- 2 cups boiled water
- salt & pepper (and whatever seasoning you like)
- 1 Maggi stock cube
- 5 potatoes cut into thick slices or cubes
- 5 cups potato sauce
- 3 chopped onions
- 1 cup of garlic
- basil
- ½ kg boiled beef
Instructions:
- Medium heat to the oil and butter, then add the vermicelli until golden.
- Proceed by boiling the water with Maggi, pepper and salt.
- After boiling the water, add the rice and vermicelli together for 15 to 20 mins.
- Mix with onions and garlic then soak it all in an oven tray.
- Mix the tomato sauce and spices with butter on the stove.
- Add the liquid mixture onto the potato slices in the tray so that they’re fully immersed.
- Pack the beef on top and let it cook on top of the potatoes for minutes until it all boils.
- Put in a medium-heat oven for about an hour until cooked, alf hana!
Beef Golash
Ingredients:
- 1/2 kg golash
- 1⁄2 kg minced beef
- 1 large chopped onion
- 1⁄2 red, yellow and green pieces of pepper
- 1⁄4 cup butter
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 egg
- 1⁄2 glass milk
- 1⁄2 tbsp mix spices
- whatever seasoning you like (we recommend salt and pepper obvi)
Instructions:
- Heat the oil, then add the onions.
- Add the beef until it changes color, then add salt, black pepper and spices.
- Leave the beef to simmer, until it is cooked and the liquids dry up, then proceed by flipping it from time to time.
- Add the peppers.
- Brush an oven tray with butter, then add two sheets, then brush with butter from the top.
- Repeat the steps until you finish half the amount, then spread the beef over the golash.
- Place two golash sheets on top of the beef, then brush with butter from the top, until the rest of the golash is finished.
- Brush the face with butter, then cut the golash into squares before putting the tray in the oven.
- Put the tray in the oven for 20 minutes.
- Mix the milk, egg and black pepper well in a bowl.
- Take the tray from the oven, then spread the milk and egg mixture over the golash.
- Leave the tray in the oven for 15 minutes.
Baked Rice (Roz Muammar) with Chicken
Ingredients:
- Chicken breasts chopped into 8 pieces
- 2 cups Egyptian rice
- 1 cup full fat milk
- 1 cup water
- 2 tbsps cream
- 2 tbsp salt and pepper with butter
Instructions:
- Season the chicken however you want with salt and pepper.
- Brush the bottom of the casserole and the sides with a little butter and cream.
- Add half the rice in the casserole.
- Add the seasoned chicken on the rice, then brush some butter and cream onto them.
- Add the rest of the rice on the chicken.
- Mix milk and water in a bowl that is on the stove.
- Add milk and rice water in the casserole and then butter and cream on the tray.
- Place the casserole into a high-temperature oven.
- Cover the casserole and reduce the heat for 40 minutes, and as always, alf hana!