Five (5) Delicious Dips in ‘Arabian’ Cuisine

Here are five delicious dips from Arabic/ Levant Cuisine

1. Hummus

The standard bearer, and vanilla essence of Arabian dips. It is made from boiled chickpeas, pureed and flavoured with tahini- sesame seed paste, olive oil, lemon juice.

Variations range from chunky to smooth, made with freshly boiled or tinned chickpeas, served simply or elaborately with olive oil and paprika for colour.

I like it. very much.

Recipe: Tried & tested by myself

2. Muhammara

My life hasn’t been the same since paths crossed with Muhammara – smoky, nutty and choc full of flavour, this red pepper tip is one of my favourite Arabian dips ever.

The best versions combine roasted red bell peppers, processed with toast bread, walnuts and pomegranate molasses which lend a sweet and sour flavour to the dip.

Variations include using canned red peppers – I advice rinsing the peppers as the preserving liquid is quite tart. I’ve made it with both almonds and walnuts – with what I had at home. I love.

Recipe: Tried & Tested by myself

3. Baba Ghanoush & Mouttabal

Both dips are made with cooked eggplants, the best ones are full of smoky flavour. There are some variations, and as many versions and discourses on one not being the other. I won’t go there…

The version I tried was thinned with yogurt but still contained Tahini and garlic and the smokiness of the grilled eggplants.

Recipe: By me, on food52.com

4. Toum

For me, Toum was the star of the show. Beautifully white, deeply garlicky, this sauce is creamy and smooth and I was totally blown away by the colour. So pure and clean and inviting. Think of it as a garlicky version of aioli.

The version I tried was perfectly made – light to taste, smooth and a perfect companion for chicken, and fries and pita.

I’m definitely going to try to make this at home. Yes, I’ll have to clean large amounts of garlic and all but hey, it’ll be worth it. And for the dragon breath too 🙂

Recipe: From the Splendid Table

5. Yogurt-Tahini (Parsley) sauce

Lara introduced me to this at Barracuda, where we slathered it on grilled fish.

Light, tangy and herby – this combination is great with rice as well. As I discovered, not to mention easy to out together.

I’ll definitely  be making more of this

Recipe: Here are two versions – with parsley, and without

What are your favourite ‘Arabian/ Levant’ dips? And why? What do you serve them with?

I’m looking for more additions.

Stay well xxx[wpurp-searchable-recipe]Five (5) Delicious Dips in ‘Arabian’ Cuisine – – – [/wpurp-searchable-recipe]