Aish Baladi/Egyptian Flatbread

Cant believe we are already in September, how fast na! looks like  just now we had a month of blogging marathon in April and here comes an another month of Blogging marathon. If you are a follower of my space, you might have noticed that i will be running two months of Mega marathon with different interesting theme for 26 days. And here comes an another Mega marathon and this time i will be running with A-Z International flatbreads. How exciting na, i have spend enough time to grab some interesting flatbreads around the world and am very much to happy to showcase them in my space. Though Valli gave three themes which includes:

1)A to Z Indian flatbread (excluding dosas,crepes and pancakes)

2) Ato Z International Flatbreads (with 1 Indian bread) and

3) A to Z Indian bread (includes dosas, crepes and pancakes)

But my pick was International flatbreads. Seriously its really interesting to dish out some flatbreads which are quite unknown for my knowledge. Trust me, i enjoyed thoroughly to dish out those 26 flatbreads from various International Cuisine.

Am kick starting this month's Mega marathon with Aish Baladi from Egypt. Baladi means traditional or authentic in English, but the word “Aish” is the key to understanding the special place of bread in Egyptian heritage. Aish means “life”, which is how Egyptians have perceived bread since ancient times. Bread is considered aa a commodity that Egyptians cannot live without in their daily meal. Its a must for them and you can see bread on every table, from breakfast to dinner.“Aish Baladi” has been a dear friend to Egyptians since ancient times. Aish Baladi is not only a food item for Egyptians; it is a reflection of Egyptian culture and a significant meaning of life

Halabessa/Halabisa/Egyptian Chickpeas Spicy Soup

Halabessa/Halabisa is a well known Egyptian Chickpeas soup which calls for chickpeas with some simple ingredients. This soup is served with lemon, mostly hot during winter as this soup is very warming,wholesome, nutritious, hearty and comforting while the weather is down. People call this soup as snack soup, since this soup is a savoury drink which is served in glass cup with a spoon and lemon wedge. Actually Egyptian drink this soup and enjoy eating the cooked chickpeas with the spoon given along with the soup. Actually every food stall in Egypt sells this mildly spicy Halabisa during winter as a street food and this soup is also quite popular in Gulf countries especially in Iraq but Iraqian version of this chickpeas soup is cooked without tomatoes. Yes Egyptian version calls for some tomato pieces and tomato paste which gives a pleasant colour to this simple soup.

Shorba Adas/Egyptian Lentil Soup ~~ Egyptian Cuisine

Egyptian cuisine cuisine makes heavy use of legumes and vegetables, since Egypt's rich Nile valley and delta produce large quantities of these crops in high quality.Bread made from a simple recipe forms the backbone of Egyptian cuisine. It is consumed at almost all Egyptian meals; a working-class or rural Egyptian meal might consist of little more than bread and beans.The local bread is a form of hearty, thick, glutenous pita bread called Eish Masri. Egyptian cuisine is notably conducive to vegetarian diets, as it relies heavily on vegetable dishes. Although food in Alexandria and on the Egyptian coast tends to use a great deal of fish and other seafood, for the most part Egyptian cuisine is based on foods that grow out of the ground. Meat has been very expensive for most Egyptians throughout history, and many vegetarian dishes have developed to work around this economic reality.Egyptian cuisine is characterized by dishes such as Ful Medames, mashed fava beans; Koshari, a mixture of lentils, rice, pasta, and other ingredients; 'Molokheyya, a green plant chopped and cooked with garlic and coriander sauce; and Fetir Meshaltet. Egyptian cuisine shares similarities with food of the Eastern Mediterranean region, such as rice-stuffed vegetables, grape leaves, Shawerma, Kebab, Falafel, Baba Ghannoug, and baklava.Some consider Koshari - a mixture of rice, lentils, and macaroni - to be the national dish. Ful Medames is also one of the most popular dishes. Fava bean is also used in making falafel (also known as ta`meyya), which originated in Egypt and spread to other parts of the Middle East.

Umm Ali~~Egyptian Pudding

To chose a food under International cuisine with starting letter as 'U' wasnt that much difficult for me, coz Umm ali was in my to do list since ages. Actually this Umm ali, a delicious dessert goes for an easy breezy preparation and its a famous bread pudding of Egypt. Everyone have their own version of Umm ali, some may goes for phyllo dough, some goes for crossisants while other goes for stale bread. But i chosed puff pastry to make this flaky and very nutty pudding. I used dessicated coconut flakes, nuts and some dry fruits. This recipe can be adapted easily with anything thats available in your pantry.

This pudding have a story behind it, but who cares we just enjoyed thoroughly this easy pudding, every single bite of this pudding is just out of the world. Within less than half an hour, this incredible pudding gets ready to relish and you can have it either warm or chilled with a scoop of vanilla icecream. Somehow i'll advice you to use puff pastry for making this pudding than crossisants or stale breads coz puff pastry gives a superb flaky texture to this pudding. If you a crowd to feed during a party, make this Umm ali for the dessert am sure everyone will enjoy thoroughly this pudding coz its completely egg free and very simple to prepare.