Welcome to Bahrain! Community Forums - p2

Fri Apr 06, 2012 7:31 pm

Food.com Groupie

For our lunch today I made and we enjoyed,

Bahraini Prawns / Shrimp in Tomato Sauce #304009 by Um Safia
Saffron Basmati Rice #112717 by Tasty Tidbits

Second review didn't show up yet so here it is:

This is good just not as good as Bahraini Sweet Rice (Muhammar). It was hardly sweet. This goes really well with Kuwaiti Curried Chicken (Quwarmah Ala Dajaj). We had it with Bahraini Prawns / Shrimp in Tomato Sauce & a fresh salad. I used butter instead of vegetable oil to add more flavour, soaked white Basmati rice, the regular amount of water I cook rice with & I covered the pot after it came to a boil, sea salt, to taste, Iranian saffron ground with amortar and pestle and then 1 tbs rose water added, oh dear I forgot the pistachio nuts (I think that would have added greatly to the dish so I will not star rate), plus the rest of the ingredients. Made for Welcome to Bahrain!

UmmBinat

Fri Apr 06, 2012 8:30 pm

Food.com Groupie

"Bahrain has practically the same dishes made up in other Arabian and Middle Eastern countries, like Hummus and Tabouleh (which are from the Levant region) the Felafels are also very popular here. The Shawarma - The Middle Eastern answer to Hamburgers!
But, that doesn't mean Bahrain doesn't have any of its own unique dishes. Bahrain, being the small island that it is, produces a stable amount of fruits and vegetables, especially Dates. Indeed, Dates are the pride of Bahrain and because of so many Date Palm trees located here, Bahrain was nicknamed the "Land of a Million Date Palms" (sounds better in Arabic!)."

http://intlhistory.blogspot.ca/2011/06/study-on-bahraini-cuisine-food.html

UmmBinat

Sat Apr 07, 2012 9:40 am

Food.com Groupie

"The June month challenge at the Walima club is for a recipe from Bahrain. Bahrini food was influenced by many factors such as its location as linking point between the east and the west, its history, the countries surrounding it and the big expat community that it hosts. Indian flavors among the many Asian flavors, Iranian, Arabic and European flavors influence the cuisine in Bahrain, which makes it a great place to try many different foods and flavors all in one place.
Arlette chose two recipes for this month's challenge. The first one is a fish dish with special sauce and the second one is called Khabeesah, which is a dessert type of recipe that is common in Bahrain. I choose to cook the savory meal . Fish is a natural resource at the island kingdom and also rice is a stable food in Bahrain, and since I live in Bahrain, it was easy to obtain all the ingredients for this recipe.
I made little variation in the recipe, where the original recipe calls for pureeing the sauce and pouring it over the half baked fish then continue baking in the sauce until fully done. I just cooked the sauce fully and baked the fish fully and served each item separately next to Basmati rice. I left the choice to the individual to mix the fish with the sauce and rice.
The recipe is very easy to prepare and cook. The sauce is very flavorful with all the ingredients in it. I used fresh white fish that is a local fish found abundantly in Bahrain, similar to grouper fish."

The video: http://youtu.be/OsJWyOvCB6c

Fish Stew
Ingredients:

1 tsp of turmeric
2 tbsp of vegetable oil
1 kg of fish fillet cubed
2 jalapeno peppers seeds removed and finely chopped
1 tbsp of freshly chopped fresh ginger
4 cloves of garlic chopped
I found at the market this jar of ginger and garlic paste that I used, it was good but I added more garlic to intensify its flavor.
2 med size chopped onions
2 med chopped tomatoes
1 1/2 tsp of mustard
2 ½ cups of water
2 cubes of chicken broth , unless you have homemade chicken stock
I used vegetable stock cubes.
Replace the water with stock
2 tbsp of freshly chopped cilantro, I used a bunch of cilantro and parsley and cooked with the sauce.

Preparation:

Mix the turmeric with veggie oil, and marinate the fish in it for couple of minutes.
Then lay the fish on a baking tray and bake in a preheated 400F oven for 18 minutes to turn golden brown.
In a food processor, add the garlic, onion, jalapeno peppers tomatoes ginger and mustard, and whip until it turns to paste.
I did not puree my sauce, I felt that it would taste better chunky.
Heat a non stick pan and cook the paste on medium heat, without oil, till it start to turn golden,(takes around 5 min) add the water and dissolved chicken bouillon or the chicken stock, whatever you have on hand, and cook for 7-8 minutes more to become a thick sauce, pour over the fish in the oven and continue cooking for 10 more minutes.
I baked the fish fully until it was done, I served the sauce on the side without pouring it on the fish, and rice on the side, it tasted delicious.
Serve over Basmati rice and sprinkle fresh cilantro on top..

http://mimicooks.com