The Art of CookingLooking Beyond the Plate A Project by Art Route Collective

Introduction

About ArtsEkta

About Our Partners

From January to July 2017, ArtsEkta ran a series of creative workshops at The Morton Centre in Belfast and at ArtsEkta’s Murray Street art room for refugee women. The aim of the workshops was to connect and integrate refugees from across the world with each other and with Northern Ireland through sharing recipes and illustrating and embroidering imagery of food.

Every culture has its favourite recipes - there are those for everyday consumption and others created painstakingly as the centrepiece of a feast. There are recipes that have common names in countries on separate continents - eg. chapatti is known in both India and Somalia as a staple food and others region specific.

We hope you enjoy and try making this eclectic collection of recipes - you’ll find dishes from Syria, Sudan and even Spain! These are dishes made not by chefs, but by everyday folk, it’s authentic home-cooking from their hometowns. The money raised from this project will go back into the refugee community to help them integrate and participate in local society, and as one of the ladies said, Northern Ireland is their “home away from home.”

ArtsEkta (Ekta means bonding/uniting in the Indian language) is a multi-award winning arts and cultural organisation that works to develop intercultural relationships at the heart of the community and is home to the Belfast Mela. We are dedicated to strengthening and deepening relationships between different cultures and communities through a series of exciting and inspiring cultural based programmes.

I would like to thank all the participants, project staff and facilitators who worked together to produce this vibrant and diverse recipe booklet. The Art Route Collective has members from different cultures and backgrounds but once again this booklet illustrates that food unites us and similar recipes are enjoyed and shared across the world.

Nisha Tandon OBE, Executive Director, ArtsEkta

The Public Health Agency (PHA) was established in 2009 under a major reform of health structures in Northern Ireland. The PHA was set up to provide a renewed and enhanced focus on public health and wellbeing by bringing together a wide range of public health functions under one organisation. The PHA is also required to create better inter-sectoral working, including enhanced partnership arrangements with local government, to tackle the underlying causes of poor health and reduce health inequalities.

This project is funded by the PHA.

Recipes

Syrian, Iranian & Spanish Rice Pudding

INGREDIENTS

METHOD

This dish was one that the Syrian grandmother of our group Insaf kept telling us about and it’s also something that cool hip mum Nasreen from Iran wants to make if she’s able to set up her own company in the future. It was also a recipe one of our facilitators Paula made in Spain, but with her own twist. A simple but delicious winter dessert to warm the soul.

1 litre milk250g sugar1/2 - 1 cup of cooked rice (depending on preferred consistency of pudding)1 Vanilla PodRose WaterStarch

1. Boil rice in water until cooked (ration 1:2 of rice : water)2. Add cooked rice to milk on a medium heat3. Add starch and sugar (to taste)4. Add Vanilla & Rose Water

* For a Spanish twist on this Syrian recipe, simply add Lemon & Cinnamon instead of Vanilla and Rosewater

Kabsa

INGREDIENTS

METHOD

This dish is a traditional one, often regarded as the national dish of Saudi Arabia.

1/4 cup butter1.5 kg chicken cut into 8-10 pieces1 large onion (finely chopped)6 garlic cloves (minced)1/4 cup tomatoes (pureed)400g canned, chopped tomatoes3 medium carrots (grated)2 whole cloves1 pinch of grated nutmeg1 pinch of ground cumin1 pinch of ground coriander1/4 cup Almonds (optional)1/4 cup Raisins (optional)SaltFreshly ground black pepper

1. Melt butter in a large saucepan and add chicken, onion and garlic until onions are tender. Add tomato puree and simmer.

2. Add carrots, tomatoes and all of the spices including pepper and salt. Add enough water to cover all the ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes.

3. Add rice into the pot and simmer until rice is fully cooked. Extra water may be required at this stage, so keep an eye on the pot - roughly 35-40 minutes!

4. You can serve the dish garnished with almonds and raisins (optional).

Kissra

INGREDIENTS

METHOD

The main Sudanese dish is a special type of bread called Kissra which is made of durra or corn. Kissra is usually the accompaniment for stew and has become the main dish in Sudan, particularly in Central Sudan.

3 cups rye flour (dura)1 cup wheat flourI cup of ricewater

Prep - Mix the flours and water into thick paste and cover. Leave overnight.

1. Add a small amount of oil to the frying pan and put a small blob of mixture. Spread the mixture using a spatula, working in a circular way. Fry until the edges of the kissra start to lift up. Layer in a stack.

2. Serve with a stew. Sudanese stews are normally made with dried meat, dried onions, spices and peanut butter.

Yoghurt Cucumber Salad

INGREDIENTS

METHOD

This is a classic Middle Eastern and Asian accompaniment to any dish, particularly the hot ones - to cool the palate!

1/2 cucumber1/4 cup lemon juice2/3 cup yoghurt1/4 cup water1 garlic clove1 whole serrano pepper1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper olive oil

1. Cut cucumbers into cubes.2. In a bowl, mix the lemon juice, yoghurt, water, garlic and seasoning to make your salad

dressing.3. Add your cubed cucumbers to your dressing.4. Garnish with a splash of olive oil.

Syrian-Mexican Chicken StewThis is a fusion recipe from one of our Syrian ladies that also loves Mexican food.

2 carrots (chopped)1 onion2 tomatoes1 red pepper1 yellow pepper1 green peppersliced chicken thighs (boned and skinned)salt and peppersmoked paprika1 cup of rice

1. Fry the onion until brown and add the sliced chicken.2. When the chicken is cooked, add seasoning (salt and pepper) to taste.3. Add the spices, peppers, carrots, tomatoes and a cup of water. Continue to simmer.4. When the stew is cooked, add the rice and continue to simmer on a low heat.5. Serve when the rice is fully cooked.

INGREDIENTS

METHOD

Syrian White Bean Stew

INGREDIENTS

METHOD

This is a warm and filling stew that is eaten regularly in Syria as it is easy to prepare and can feed the whole family.

1 tin of white beans500g chopped or diced goat/lamb2 onions sliced in quarterscoriander seedstomato pastesalt

1. Put all ingredients into a pressure cooker and cook for 30 minutes. Open lid, stir and cook for a further 15 minutes. You can also use a lidded saucepan if you don’t have a pressure cooker.

MaqloobaThe name of this dish means “upside down rice.” It is a dish popular in Syria but also many other countries in the Levant. It is similar to the South Asian “biryani.”

1 large aubergine cut into pieces250g lamb or chicken mince4 – 5 tomatoes1 cup of rice500ml of lamb or chicken stockSaltPepper

1. Fry aubergine and keep to one side2. Fry mince and keep to one side3. Slice tomatoes and layer aubergines and mince on top4. Add rice, water, chicken stock, salt and pepper5. Cook until rice is soft 6. Flip over dish once rice is ready

INGREDIENTS

METHOD

Chicken and Chickpea Curry

INGREDIENTS

METHOD

This is a popular dish in India and Pakistan submitted by one of our volunteers. The chickpeas make the dish a meal in itself – so filling!

1/2 kg chicken1 tbsp garlic paste1 tbsp red chilli powder1 tsp turmeric powder2 tbsp coriander powder1 tbsp garam masala4 tbsp vegetable oil4-6 whole black peppercorns2-3 cloves1 cinnamon stick1 tin chopped tomatoes1 tin chickpeasSalt to taste2-3 Green chilliesCoriander leaves to garnish

1. Fry onions in oil2. Fry chicken in oil, then add the garlic paste and fry. Add whole peppercorns, a couple of

cloves and a small stick of cinnamon.3. Make a paste with chilli powder, turmeric, ground coriander powder and garam masala in

water. Add this to the chicken and continue to fry until the oil begins to separate.4. Add the tin of tomatoes and let it cook. Fry until the oil is separated again.5. Add the tin of chickpeas and some water and leave to cook on a slow heat until the

chickpeas are a bit softer.6. Garnish with green chillies and coriander.

Tortilla EspañolaThis is a popular dish in Spain enjoyed at any time of the day really!

4 potatoes4 eggssunflower oil1 onion2 garlic clovesspicessalt

1. Cover a frying pan with sunflower oil and heat up.2. Peel and chop the potatoes into fine pieces and drop into the pan when the oil is hot.3. Cut the onion into fine pieces and drop into the pan with the spices and potatoes. Drop in

the garlic cloves.4. Remove from the heat and add salt and spices. 5. Beat the eggs in a bowl.6. When the potatoes and onion are well cooked, add the eggs to the mix.7. Ensure the egg mix is covering the full pan in a layer.8. Let the mixture cook and when it starts to become more solid, flip over the tortilla.9. Once the tortilla is cooked on both sides, your dish is ready to eat.

INGREDIENTS

METHOD

Glendinning House 6 Murray Street Belfast, BT1 6DN

Tel: +44 (0)28 9023 1381info@artsekta.org.ukwww.artsekta.org.uk

ArtsEkta is a charity registered with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland (NIC102412) and has one wholly owned trading subsidiary Ekta Events C.I.C.

If you would like to join the Art Route Collective please contact ArtsEkta on info@artsekta.org.uk

This project is funded by the PHA Supported by Bryson Intercultural On behalf of the Vulnerable Syrian Refugee Consortium and the Department for Communities