In the Centre #13 | Recipes from Lugma
Incredible spatchcock chicken; top tier dal; and Bahraini vegetable fritters
Hi everyone
This week I’m pleased to present a trio of recipes from
’s new cookbook: Lugma; Abundant Dishes & Stories from My Middle East (out today!).If you don’t already know Noor and her recipes, it’s likely that, well, actually you do.
Previously head of the Ottolenghi Test Kitchen, Noor was involved in recipe development for the Falastin and Flavour cookbooks; will have been behind loads of your favourite recipes in The Guardian and New York Times; and was the named co-author of the Test Kitchen books, Shelf Love and Extra Good Things.
Picture those books and recipes and you’ll be reminded of bold and enticing Middle Eastern flavours, but also dishes with contemporary (often vegetable forward) twists for the global palate; imaginative ingredient matches; plus clever seasoning hacks and tips that make what you cook the intangible (and often seemingly unreachable) twenty per cent better.
Lugma very much continues along those lines. But it’s all Noor — one Bahraini’s personal take on Middle Eastern cuisine.
The food of her childhood involved an abundance of herbs, dried limes and sour flavours from Iran; the liberal spice and chilli heat from India; the elaborate rice dishes which her homeland is famous for; and on the dishes of the Levant that the world is more familiar with. And that’s represented and reflected in Lugma … albeit filtered through a Westernised gaze (Noor is now a Londoner and previously lived, trained and cooked in New York). So there’s a more diverse and eclectic range of ingredients and style of dish than you might find in a cookbook that was merely reporting traditional cuisine.
Standard cover quote here: ‘there’s so much in the book I want to cook and eat’. But it’s absolutely true — this is a creative collection of dishes with a personal, coherent and engaging narrative thread.
From gateway ideas like simple buttery spiced eggs with tomatoes, cardamom pancakes with honey lime syrup, and slow cooked fenugreek lamb with pickled chillies; through to more involved and traditional soups, salads and mezze, I’m hooked. Although I have to say the rice section is a standout chapter that needs to be cooked through — just so many delicious dishes (meals) that move the humble grain of rice from afterthought to the middle of a convivial meal — ditto the meat section, which offers exactly the kind of ‘elevated but not tricky dishes a can cook for friends’ that so many of us flick straight to and use on repeat.
I’m into it. I’m pretty certain you will be too.
Lugma hits the magical cookbook sweet spot in that it presents aspirational dishes and inventive flavour combinations that (no offence) you probably can’t or don’t already cook; and yet all the recipes are actually totally realistic for the home cook and indeed highly cookable.
The three sample recipes that follow are absolute bangers. But they barely scratch the surface. For food that’ll improve your home cooking and entertaining repertoire, take a look at Lugma and consider adding it to your bookshelf.
More from Noor نور مراد
I’m SO very pleased to present three DELICIOUS recipes from Noor:
Loomi lemon chicken
Bahraini dal; and
Kebab Nekh-y — Chickpea and Veg Fritters with Mango Pickle.
She’s also kindly sent me five of her favourite places to get Middle Eastern bites (translation: lugma …) in London. And there’s a chance to win a copy of Lugma too.
The loomi lemon chicken recipe is available for all readers for now (it’ll slide into the Archive in a couple of weeks). The rest is for paid subscribers. To ensure you always have access to the words and recipes here, and to support the newsletter, join us?!
Loomi lemon chicken
Loomi Lemon Chicken
I love this dish for two reasons: the first is that spatchcocking a chicken means super-juicy meat every time. The second is that it celebrates loomi (aka black limes) in its very dramatic-looking appearance, and I really appreciate that. Serve with some lightly dressed greens or the Pan-fried Tomatoes with Za’atar, Pine Nuts and Halloumi (page 91).
Serves 4
Marinating time: 2 hours to overnight
1 whole large chicken (1.8kg/4lb)
2 black limes (10g/¼oz)
2 tsp cumin seeds, finely crushed using a pestle and mortar
1¼ tsp paprika
1½ tsp dried oregano
2 tsp soft light brown sugar
1 head of garlic, halved widthways, plus 1 extra clove, crushed
1 lemon, cut into 8 x 1cm (½in) rounds, seeds removed
2½ tbsp olive oil
25g (1oz) unsalted butter
75g (2¾oz) natural (plain) yoghurt
11/2 tbsp parsley, roughly chopped
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Pat the chicken well dry with paper towels, then flip it over, breast side down, so the
backbone is facing you. Use a pair of poultry shears (or a very sharp knife) to cut along each side of the backbone to remove it (save it for making stock or gravy!).
Flip the chicken back over and push down firmly on the breast to flatten the bird – you want to snap the wishbone. Pat the chicken dry again and season all over with 1½ teaspoons salt, using your fingers to push some salt in between the skin and flesh. Set aside.
Use your hands to press down on the black limes to roughly crush them. Open them up and pick out and discard any pips (these are bitter). Add the black lime to a spice grinder and blitz to finely crush (you can also do this in a small food processor with a large quantity of black limes). Measure out 1½ tablespoons (store any extra in a sealed jar) and add to a small bowl with the cumin, paprika, oregano, sugar, ¼ teaspoon salt and a generous grind of black pepper and mix well. Rub this all over the chicken (try to get some underneath the skin as well), making sure it is well coated. Transfer to a plate and refrigerate, uncovered, for at least a couple of hours, or up to overnight. If the latter, remove the chicken from the refrigerator an hour before roasting.
When ready to cook, remove the chicken from the refrigerator and then preheat the oven to 190°C fan/210°C/410°F/Gas mark 6½. Place the garlic halves, the lemon slices and 100ml (3½fl oz) of water in a large cast-iron skillet. Place the chicken on top, breast-side up, and drizzle all over with the oil. Transfer to the oven and roast for 25 minutes, then carefully remove and use a spoon to baste the chicken. Return to the oven, rotating the dish, and roast for another 15 minutes.Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small pan. When ready, remove the chicken and pour the butter all over the skin. Return to the oven for about another 10 minutes or until the juices run clear and the internal temperature reads 75°C (167°F) on a digital thermometer. Set aside to rest for about 10 minutes, then carefully transfer the chicken to a large platter.
Pick out 3–4 lemon slices and the roasted garlic. Squeeze the garlic flesh into a medium bowl, discarding the papery skins, and use a fork to mash until smooth. Finely chop the lemons, peel and all, and add to the bowl along with the yoghurt, the crushed clove of garlic, the parsley and a tiny pinch of salt.
Pour the pan juices and remaining lemon slices all over the chicken and serve with the yoghurt alongside.
5 of Noor Murad’s favourite places in London for Middle Eastern ingredients and bite
You know someone has an opinion worth heeding when they reply speedily and eruditely to an annoyingly vague message like “hey noor, any chance you could send some great places to get middle eastern food in london no worries if not pls thanks bye”.