As the January chill sets in, London-based Syrian chef Imad Alarnab offers a delicious culinary antidote with two traditional recipes designed to warm and nourish. The founder of Imad's Syrian Kitchen and Aram shares a pair of soulful dishes that transform simple ingredients into deeply satisfying meals.
Silky Red Lentil Soup with a Nutty Twist
The first recipe is a creamy red lentil soup, described as a quiet celebration of comfort and spice. The process begins with gently sauteing finely chopped onion and grated carrot until translucent. Garlic, tomato paste, and a blend of spices including smoked paprika, cumin, and coriander are then added and cooked to release their aromas.
Dried red lentils are stirred in before the mixture is covered with water and simmered for approximately 30 minutes until the lentils are soft. The hot soup is then blended until perfectly smooth.
The defining flourish is a homemade dukkah oil. Coriander seeds, cumin seeds, and urfa chilli are dry-toasted until fragrant, combined with lemon zest, and roughly blended. This coarse spice mix is then infused into rapeseed oil, brought to a boil, and left to cool. A slick of this aromatic oil over the served soup adds a nutty, citrusy, and earthy dimension.
A Hearty Chickpea and Aubergine Stew
The second offering is a robust Levantine dish known as Mnazaleh, a chickpea stew with aubergine and tahini. This is a slower-cooked recipe, taking over two hours, but results in a profoundly flavourful and nourishing one-pot meal.
The base starts with red onion and garlic sauteed in olive oil. Sliced red romano peppers are added, followed by spices including smoked paprika, ground cumin, and cumin seeds. Dried chickpeas, tinned tomatoes, and water are then combined and left to simmer for about two hours until the sauce thickens and the chickpeas become tender.
In a separate step, chunky cubes of aubergine are deep-fried in rapeseed oil until golden and drained. Once the stew has reached the desired consistency, the fried aubergine is stirred through, adding a smoky softness to the texture. The dish is finished with a generous drizzle of creamy tahini paste and a scattering of chopped flat-leaf parsley.
Comfort Food for the Winter Months
Both recipes exemplify the kind of rustic, soulful cooking that makes Syrian cuisine so beloved. The red lentil soup, with its silky texture and spiced oil, is a simple yet elegant bowl of comfort. The chickpea and aubergine stew is a more substantial affair, its rich tomato base and melty vegetables offering deep, earthy flavours.
Imad Alarnab, through his London restaurants and these shared recipes, continues to highlight the warmth and generosity of Syrian culinary traditions. These dishes provide not just a meal, but a heartening experience perfectly suited to the colder weather, proving that humble ingredients can yield extraordinary results.
