Happy National Day! I hope you are having a lovely Wednesday, and looking forward to the patriotic festivities of this lovely, breezy long weekend.

A big ‘thank-you’ to all of you who took part in the Seven Sands contest. I wish I could take you all to this stunning new Emirati restaurant, but there can only be one winner. Congratulations once again @tulip_dsilva I hope you enjoy Seven Sands as much as I did.

For those of you who want to try out Seven Sands, look up their details on my previous post and give them a visit. Or you can try recreating two of their star dishes all by yourself!

Seven Sands has generously shared their prized recipes for Humeidh with Green Mango Salad and Maleh Korse (baked Emirati fish parcels). What better way to spend the National Day weekend than creating a bit of Emirati goodness in your very own kitchen? 🙂

HUMEIDH WITH GREEN MANGO SALAD

Serves 1, Preparation Time 25 minutes

Humeidh is a bitter herb known by botanists as Fumaria Parviflora that is a common sight across shaded areas of the deserts in the Arabian Peninsula. It is an annual plant that grows up to 15cm in height and has a delicate stem. Not only does Humeidh provide a tasty salad leaf and garnish, but it was also used by the Bedouin for medicinal purposes, being of particular benefit to sufferers of dyspepsia. This simple bitter-sour salad is one of the few on offer today at Seven Sands that use entirely local ingredients.

Ingredients:

• Green chilli 2 pcs
• Green mango 300 g
• Humiedh leaf 500 g
• Lemon juice 100 ml
• Pomegranate syrup 30 ml
• Seedless tomato wedges 50 g
• Olive oil 4 tsp
• Pepper to taste
• Salt to taste

 

Directions:

1. Shred the humeidh leaves, and cut the green mango into thin wedges.
2. Combine in a bowl and add olive oil and lemon juice.
3. Toss the humideh well.
4. Arrange it on the plate, and garnish with seedless tomato wedges, julienne spring onion and green chili.
5. Sprinkle crushed black pepper, and squeeze pomegranate syrup dots onto the plate as per taste.

 

MALEH KORSE (Baked Emirati Fish Parcels)

Serves 2, Preparation time 50 minutes

For the Dough:

• 2 cups plain flour
• ½ tablespoon sugar
• ½ tablespoon salt
• 3/4 cup water

 

To make the dough:

1. Sift the flour into a working surface. Mix in salt and sugar. Make a well in the center.
2. Pour olive oil and vegetable oil into the well. Mix the dry ingredients into the liquid.
3. Add water gradually. Knead the dough into a ball (if the dough is too stiff add some water).
4. Knead the dough on a floured working surface until it is smooth and elastic this can be done in an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, or in a food processor.
5. Form the dough into a ball and put into a lightly floured bowl, covered with a damp cloth. Leave in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size- about 6 hour.

 

For the Filling:

• Corn Oil 80 g
• Chopped onion 100 g
• Chopped local parsley 40 g
• Chopped fresh coriander 30 g
• Mashed garlic 20 g
• Mashed ginger 10 g
• Bezar spice 5 g
• Mixed chopped capsicum
• Ready flack maleh fish
• Whole lemon 1 pcs

 

To make the Filling:

1. Heat the pan and add corn oil, sauté gradually onion, ginger, garlic, parsley, coriander, capsicum for 2 minutes
2. Then add the maleh fish and bezar spice and strain to cool

 

To make the Parcels:

• Roll out dough using a rolling pin till dough is as thin as possible (5 mm). Invert a round cutter with on dough and press to have equal circles.
• Place the filling on each piece which forms a half moon shape.
• Press edges firmly with fingertips to seal completely (put flour on finger tips to help seal).
• Place the korse in hot oven (180° C) for 10 minutes.
• Arrange it in the plate and serve it with your favorite green salad.