I was ecstatic, enraptured, joyous … I was right there in the middle of the bakery section of the Lebanese supermarket, with my jaw dropped open n eyes popping out … I could not believe my eyes, I had just discovered, that they started making my favourite pita bread in rye too ! Quite a site that must’ve been of me holding the packet of bread in my hand, frozen in time, unaware of my surroundings and dreaming of the zillion things I could do with this bread. How does the bread taste ? … alright -  now this is a really pathetic effort to describe it but – its tastes of rye ! Well ok … its dark, deep, intense, slightly sour n bitter … you know … a really good rye taste ! Obviously I’ll need to do atleast a 100 posts before I think I might have done justice to the bread, but you’d be bored out your wits so I’ll spare you for now, leaving you with just these …

Fattoush – Lebanese Toasted Bread Salad

  • toasted rye bread pieces
  • 2 tomatoes – quatered or cut in slices
  • 1 green cucumber – cubed in large pieces
  • 1 red onion cubed ( optional )
  • ice berg/ romaine lettuce – roughly cut
  • parsley + mint  – chopped
  • 2 cloves crushed garlic
  • 1 tsp sumac
  • 2 tablespoon lime juice
  • 5 tablespoons olive oil
  • salt to taste

Start with toasting the pita bread in the oven . Roughly tear the pita bread, spread them out on a baking tray , drizzle some olive oil and bake them at 180 C for  a few minutes or till toasted. Set aside. For the dressing mix together, the garlic, sumac, olive oil and lemon juice. Season with salt, whisk together. For the salad, in a bowl toss together the tomatoes, cucumber , lettuce, parsley and mint. You could by all means use onions, they are always used in the original recipe, I just didn’t feel like having some this time ! Add the toasted bread and pour the dressing over and give it a good toss again. Serve immediately.

Reshmi Chicken Kebab with Cumin Raita and Rye Pita Bread

Right so now from Lebanon we hop right over to India. I thought the rye bread goes really well with these soft and creamy yet flavoursome kebabs. Just get them off the skewer, place them in the center of the bread with some raita/yogurt dip , some lettuce and finely slices onion with lime n salt … make a roll and you’re ready to go !

  • de-bone 2 chicken thighs, cut the meat in cubes
  • 1 tablespoon of ginger+garlic paste
  • 2 tablespoons yogurt
  • 2 tablespoons double cream
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 1 tsp freshly ground toasted cumin powder
  • juice of 1 lime
  • salt to taste

Marinate the chicken cubes atleast for an hour better still overnight in all the above ingredients. Thread on skewers and you can either grill them on the BBQ or on a griddle pan with some olive oil. Cook for about 15 mins or till tender. Serve hot with chilled raita ( yogurt + salt+ freshly toasted cumin powder+ finely chopped mint leaves) and onion salad ( thinly sliced onion rings with salt and lime on top, and all of it mixed together).

And when really not in the mood to get fancy, simply enjoy the bread dipped in some luscious labneh with some red paprika n sumac sprinkled on top ! Simply Delightful !



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