List of Palestinian dishes

A typical Palestinian breakfast with pita, olives, tomatoes, fried egg, and labaneh

The following is a list of dishes and drinks found in Palestinian culinary tradition.

Main dishes by region

Galilee

Maqluba

West Bank

Musakhan
  • Fasoulya beyda—white beans cooked in tomato sauce and served with rice
  • Fasoulya khadra—green beans cooked in tomato sauce and served with rice
  • Kafta b'thine—kafta balls cooked with tahini sauce and served with rice
  • Qidreh or Fukharat Qidreh is rice cooked with lamb meat or chicken with chickpeas, kurkuma, saffron, garlic and cardamom. Especially famous in Hebron. Served also on feasts, weddings and funerals. Traditionally made in clay pots in traditional old style stone ovens.
  • Mahshi lift—a specialty of Hebron, turnips stuffed with rice, minced lamb meat and spices, cooked in tamarind sauce
  • Mandi—in the West Bank, made by cooking meat, rice and vegetables in an underground oven, as in other Arab States
  • Mansaf—lamb cooked in a sauce of fermented dried yogurt and served with rice or bulgur
  • Zarb—same as mandi, but cooked under high pressure in an airtight oven, and usually rice is substituted by bread (influenced by Jordanians)

Jerusalem

  • Jraysha (جريشة)—a slow-cooked porridge of wheat berries, meat, and often kishk or yogurt, served for wedding ceremonies. Particularly associated with Silwan, Beit Safafa, and Lifta.

Gaza

Sumaghiyyeh
  • Fatit 'ajir—roasted watermelon with unleavened bread and chopped vegetables. The watermelon itself has been used as a Palestinian symbol
  • Fukharit 'adas—lentil flavored with red peppers, dill, garlic and cumin
  • Qidra—rice and meat pieces cooked with cloves, garlic and cardamom
  • Rummaniyeh—a mix of eggplant, pomegranate seeds, tahina, red peppers and garlic
  • Sumaghiyyeh—beef and chickpea stew flavored with sumac, tahina and red peppers
  • Zibdieh—a clay-pot dish of shrimp baked in a stew of olive oil, garlic, hot peppers, and peeled tomatoes
  • Dagga Gazawiyyah— a spicy, tangy, citrus-y tomato and dill salsa
  • Shatta—a simple fermented hot sauce

National

Mujaddara
  • Ari'ih—rice and minced meat stuffed in pumpkins
  • Bamia-okra and tomato stew: 87 
  • Bissara-made with corchorus olitorius and fava beans: 76 
  • Falafel—fried chickpeas, spice and parsley ball or patty: 72 
  • Fatta—dishes that include bread crumbs
  • Hummus—a dip, spread, or savory dish made from cooked, mashed chickpeas blended with tahini, lemon juice, and garlic
  • Kousa mahshi—rice and minced meat stuffed in zucchini cooked in a garlicky tomato broth
  • Maftoul—large couscous-like balls, garbanzo beans and chicken pieces cooked in chicken broth: 71 
  • Malfuf—rice and minced meat rolled in cabbage leaves
  • Maqluba—an "upside-down" dish, made with fried vegetables, meat (lamb), rice and eggplant
  • Mloukiyyeh—Corchorus stew
  • Mujaddara—lentil and bulgur dish
  • Musakhan—large taboon breads with chicken, red onions, pine nuts, sumac, and spices; a modern version is musakhan rolls, where the spices, chicken, sumac, toasted pine nuts, and red onion are rolled in saj bread
  • Shishbarak-dumplings cooked in yogurt
  • Shawarma—a dish consisting of meat cut into thin slices, stacked in a cone-like shape, and roasted on a slowly-turning vertical rotisserie or spit; with a spread of toum (garlic paste) wrapped in saj bread
  • Shurbat freekeh—green wheat soup, usually with chicken
  • Waraq al-'anib—rice and minced meats rolled in grape leaves

Side dishes

Salads and dips

  • Arabic salad—made of tomato, cucumber, onion, olive oil and lemon juice, Palestinian variant called Salatat al-bundura ("tomato salad")
  • Hummus—ground chickpeas with tahina and olive oil
  • Fattoush—mixed leaf-vegetable salad with deep-fried pita bread pieces and sumac
  • Malfouf salad—typically consists of shredded cabbage, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt and dried mint: 74 
  • Mfarakeh—a dish made of potato, egg, ghee, cumin powder, salt and pepper, in addition chopped coriander leaf for garnish
  • Msabbaha-chickpeas "swimming" in tahini sauce: 56 : 75 
  • Makdous-cured eggplant stuffed with nuts and garlic: 10 
  • Mutabbel—spicier version of baba ghanoush: 59 
  • Qalayet bandora—a simple dish of tomatoes, onions, hot peppers, olive oil, and salt served for breakfast, lunch, or dinner: 60 
  • Tabbouleh—parsley and bulgur salad with diced tomatoes, onions and lemon juice
  • Tahini—condiment made from toasted ground hulled sesame seeds
  • Qudsiyeh-ful medames served on top of hummus: 37 
  • Mthawamet Bandora—a dip made from roasted tomatoes, jameed, and topped with garlic toasted in olive oil.
  • Baqdunsieh (Arabic: بقدونسيىة)—a dip made from finely chopped parsley, lemon juice, tahini, and crushed garlic.

Cheeses and yogurts

  • Akkawi—a white brine cheese originating from the city of Akka/Acre
  • Halloumi—cheese with a high melting point which can easily be fried or grilled, making it a popular meat substitute
  • Jibneh Arabieh—has a mild taste similar to feta but less salty
  • Jameed—a hard dry laban made from ewe or goat's milk, kept in a fine woven cheesecloth to make a thick yogurt; typically served with Mansaf
  • Kashk—made from drained yogurt or drained sour milk by shaping it and letting it dry
  • Labaneh—tangy, smooth, creamy yogurt cheese; served with a drizzle of olive oil and sometimes zaatar
  • Nabulsi—Used in nabulsi cheese fatayirs, and can be eaten fresh as salty table cheese or fried in oil

Breads


Bread dishes

 A man in a restaurant kitchen making fritters
A Palestinian man from Ramallah using an aleb falafel while frying falafel
  • Fatayer—a meat pie that can be stuffed with spinach, or cheese such as feta or Akkawi, and za'atar
  • Manakish—taboon bread topped with za'atar and olive oil
  • Sambusak—fried dough balls stuffed with meat, pine nuts and onions
  • Sfiha—flatbread topped with beef and red peppers
  • Shawarma—pita bread roll of meat, tahini and various vegetables

Condiments

Beverages

Palestinian arak

Sweets

National

  • Awameh (عوامة)—Arabic for "swimmer", a Levantine pastry similar to doughnut holes, made of deep-fried dough, soaked in sugar syrup or honey
  • Baklava (البقلاوة)—sweet pastry made of layers of filo
  • Ghoriba (غريبة)—a shortbread biscuit, usually made with ground almonds: 147 
  • Ḥalawa (حلوى)—primary ingredients are tahini and sugar, glucose or honey
  • Harīsa (هريسة)—a traditional semolina sweet cake drenched in rose water
  • Saniyit Hulba (صينية حلبة)—a semolina and fenugreek cake soaked in qatir, similar to basbousa
  • Ma'amoul (معمول)—shortbread pastries filled with dates, pistachios or walnuts
  • Muhallebi (مهلبية)—a milk pudding, basic ingredients are rice, sugar, rice flour and milk
  • Qaṭayef (قطايف)—sweet dumpling filled with cream or nuts
  • She'reya bil sukkar (شعيرية بالسكر)—sweetened vermicelli
  • Warbat (وربات)—a sweet pastry similar to baklava, with layers of thin phyllo dough filled with custard
  • Swar el-sit (سوار الست)-a round variety of baklava

Hebron

  • Dahdah (دحدح)-a date filled semolina cake, similar to ma'amoul
  • Malban (ملبن)—a fruit leather made from grape juice, semolina, and nigella seeds, popular in Hebron
  • Khabeesa (خبيصة)—a grape juice and semolina pudding traditionally made in Hebron, nuts and seeds are also added to it

Jerusalem

  • Maarouk (معروك)-A turmeric-flavored sweet bread filled with dates
  • Meshabek (مشبك)—A deep fried sweet pastry made to celebrate Mawlid
  • Mutabbaq (مطبق)-a pan fried pastry made by enveloping a cheese or nut filling with thin phyllo dough

Nablus

  • Knafeh (كُنافة)—cheese pastry soaked in sweet sugar-based syrup made in Palestine
  • Kullaj (كلاج)—a dessert made from thin dough, shaped into layers or rolls with walnut, Nabulsi cheese, or pistachio as stuffing, which gets cooked in ghee and then topped with qatir syrup
  • Tamriyeh (تمرية)—a deep fried sweet made from unleavened, folded dough and filled with a semolina and butter filling
  • Qizha pie (كعكة قزحة)—a semolina cake like hareeseh flavored with qizha
  • Madlouqa (مدلوقة)-a variety of knafeh served with qishta and pistachios
  • Zalabiyeh (زلابية)- a fried triangular flatbread that is served with candied pumpkins.

References

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  3. ↑ Tamimi, Sami. "meet in your kitchen | Sami Tamimi's Kofta b'siniyah with Tahini Sauce". Meike Peters | eat in my kitchen. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
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