Today I felt nostalgic for the good old days, when I was young and my grandmother used to make delicious food for me and my siblings. Maybe because it is Mother Day in many countries (we celebrate in Lebanon on the 21st of March with the beginning of spring). I remembered that I didn’t like the fried zucchini so grandmother dipped them in a batter before frying, which I found made it delicious.
Before posting, I did some research on Google to find out about the meaning of Shakshouka, and I found that this is a very popular dish in a lot of Mediterranean countries. Many dishes of Lebanese Cuisine have a Turkish source. I assume that during the Ottoman occupation of these countries, some of their plates passed around. Most of these countries make the Shakshouka as a main dish with eggs on top, and that in Syria they call it Jaz Maz. But, in my family we have it as a side dish along with the fried zucchini, eggplants and other fried vegetables, sans egg. Whatever the source of this dish is, it will always be associated with nice memories from my childhood.
Ingredients for the Shakshouka:
- 2 green peppers
- 4 red tomatoes
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon dried coriander
- a pinch of chili pepper (if you like it more spicy, you can put more chili)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Shakshouka
Preparation:
- Heat the oil in a saucepan and fry the onion for 2 minutes
- Dice the green pepper and fry with the onion for 3 extra minutes
- Peel the tomatoes and dice them very small and add over the green pepper and the onion, reduce the fire and cover the casserole and let it simmer
- In the meantime mix the garlic with salt, dried coriander and the chili and add it over the tomatoes and green pepper, mix well all the ingredients and let it cook for about 5 minutes
- Serve it as a side dish with fried zucchini and eggplants
Ingredients of the batter:
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup water
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon salt
Preparation of the batter:
- Mix all the ingredients together
- Cut all the vegetable you want to fry: zucchini, eggplant, dip in the batter and deep fry for about 5 minutes until golden
Fried eggplant
ET VOILA..C’EST TOUT.
Tabkhet el yom 
Looks SO good Nina! Thank you!
I cannot wait to try this recipe out for myself! The bit of history behind the Shakshouka is interesting also. I would think that it is served with some rice on the side, but I prefer the fried vegetables anyways.
Usually we eat it cold, but if you like you can have it with rice as well.:)
I love shakshuka! Yum!
Do you know if there’s a way to make the batter without eggs? This looks great!
Hi. I think you can try it without eggs ( I mean the same recipe) It should work 🙂