Temani Recipes
Use fresh herbs when possible

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Ful Moodamas (Temani Chili)

Ingredients:

For Spices (flavor):

Preparations

Soak the ful in water for duration of the whole night. Later—put the soaked ful in the pot, and cover the ful with a good amount of water and eggs. Cook over a small flame until there is a softening of the ful and lower the highness of flame. Crush a little of the ful with a little of the fire’s liquid. Take out the eggs and peel them, serve them in bowls with puree of ful, pour the olive oil over the ful, tehina, sprinkle cumin and salt, sprinkle (spread) the parsley, crushed garlic, add a small drop of lemon juice and one complete brown egg in center small dish (bowl). Serve hot…

This ful was traditionally eaten by the people of Egypt (perhaps the Jews of Egypt).

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Cooked Fish

Ingredients & Spices (flavor):

Preparations

Thoroughly clean fish. Put the fish in a clean pot. Mix onions, mint, haweeg, black pepper, oil, salt, and water together and pour on the fish (in the pot). 

Cook on a low flame and when the fish will soften, lower the flame.  Cool and refrigerate when finished.  Serve cold. This recipe serves four to six people. This is a true Yeminite dish.

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Samak Yemeni (Yemenite Poached Fish)

1 tbsp. olive oil
3 cups water
16 oz. tomato sauce
1 tbsp. fish spice, or to taste (see below)
1 tbsp. hawaij (see below)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 scallion, with stalk, chopped

3 lbs. firm white-fleshed fish fillets, such as whiting, flounder or cod, cut into 3-inch pieces

1. Mix oil, water, tomato sauce, fish spice and hawaij in a large skillet and simmer on a low flame for 15 minutes.

2. Add scallion to pan. Slide fish pieces carefully into pan, making sure not to break them up. Simmer on a low flame for 15 minutes. Remove from flame and let cool. Remove fish pieces to a serving dish and pour sauce on top. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Serves 4 as a main dish, 6 as an appetizer.

Fish Spice Mixture:

3 tbsp. black peppercorns
2 tbsp. garlic powder
2 tbsp. cumin
8 cloves
8 cardamom pods

In a spice or coffee grinder, or with a mortar and pestle, grind spices together finely and store in a tightly closed container.

Hawaij Spice Mixture

3 tbsp. cumin
4 tsp. black peppercorns
4 tbsp. turmeric
6 cloves
7 cardamom pods

Follow the same procedure as in the fish-spice mixture.

 

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Alyssa's Temani Pitot:

The recipe, which I am making with success:

3 cups flour
1 packet yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 cups warm (not hot, lukewarm) water.

Also: keep a bowl or cup of warm water to keep your hands from getting too sticky.

Combine yeast, sugar, salt and 1 cup of the water. Then add flour and start to knead with hands. Begin to add second cup of water a bit at a time. Knead until lumps are removed, adding additional water if necessary. At this point you should have a wet, sticky melon-sized ball of dough.

Let rise one hour, knead again, let rise again. Separate into 5 small balls (about the size of tennis balls). You may employ some flour to separate and powder the separated dough.

If you've ever watched someone making pizza, the action of getting the balls of dough into pita-shaped dough is the same. Either hold the dough in one hand and let it start to stretch away as you work around the "edge" of the dough- or more advanced people may know how to use their fists to toss the dough into a flat circle.

A pita oven (was sent as a gift from Israel) is wiped with a small amount of oil. The pita oven is shaped like two frying pans- one has no heating element but is placed on a stove burner on a low (2,3, or 4) temperature. The top "frying pan" is turned on/plugged in. It resembles a broiler oven. Cover and heat for several seconds until the top starts to brown. Option: add olive oil and za'atar to the top of the pitot.  Pitot are cooked one by one in this manner.

If you don't have a pita oven, It seems to me that a broiler set on high could be used with perhaps a metal broiler pan- and perhaps you have to flip the pita since the heating only comes from the top. (Or a hot oven with a pizza stone?)

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MASHED CHATZILIM:

2 chatzilim
1 green pepper (also known as "bell peppers")
1 red pepper
0.5 Cup chopped parsley
as many garlic cloves you like (at least 5)
2 green onions
Juice from half a lemon
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper.

Pierce the chatzilim and peppers, slice in half and grill in oven,
preferably until the skin is blackish. Take them out, let cool. Peel off
most of the skin of the chatzilim (leave a little to taste). Mash peppers
and chatzilim with fork. Mix in the rest. Add salt and pepper to taste.


FRIED CHATZILIM:

This is very easy and very delicious. It's perfect for making on erev
Shabbat for eating on Shabbat afternoon.

Take as many chatzilim as you need.
Vegetable oil for frying (using olive oil will only make them taste bad)
Salt
Lemon juice
Garlic

Make a marinade out of the lemon and garlic. Peel and slice the chatzilim,
and let them sit for half an hour so the brown juices come out (looses its
bitterness then).

Heat up oil in a medium skillet. Pat the chatzilim dry. Fry them until dark
golden. Transfer to a bowl. When you're done, pour the marinade over them
and refrigerate overnight.


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ZHOUG:

6 medium chili peppers, (3 red, 3 green)
1 Cup chopped parsley
1 Cup chopped cilantro/coriander
4 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon cumin

Puree the chilies in a blender or food processor. Add parsley, cilantro and
garlic. Add olive oil and seasonings and blend again

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