This Chanukah, treat your friends and family to an unforgettable, international culinary experience. These Israeli/Tunisian-inspired recipes from Afooda founder/blogger Huppit Bartov Miller are inventive, flavorful and delicious. They’re guaranteed to have your guests clamoring for seconds and grateful that Chanukah is eight nights long!
Sweet Potato-Kohlrabi Latke Thinnys with Homemade Labneh and Zaa'tar
Ingredients
For Latkes
- 1 cup grated kohlrabi
- 1 1/2 cups grated sweet potato
- green onions chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley chopped
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup buckwheat flour
- 2 tbs. cornstarch
- 1/4 tsp. turmeric
- 1/4 tsp. black pepper
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- olive oil for frying (about 1 tablespoon for each pan-full)
For Labneh
- 3 cups plain yogurt
- 1 tsp. salt
- cheesecloth
Instructions
For Latkes
- Grate sweet potato and kohlrabi.
- Squeeze all liquids out and place in a large bowl.
- Add finely chopped onion and fresh parsley.
- Beat two eggs and add to the mixture.
- Add cornstarch, buckwheat flour and dry spices (turmeric, black pepper and salt).
- Create thin patties and fry on both sides.
- Use a pancake griddle or a flat pan and fry on medium heat.
For Labneh
- Combine yogurt and salt and mix well.
- Transfer to a cheesecloth and let it drip overnight or for about 10 hours.
- Move to a container and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Notes
Hoot Mookli
Ingredients
- 4-6 fish fillets (tilapia, trout, flounder/sole, seabass or mullet)
- lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
- 2/3 cup semolina flour
- 1 lemon (zest only) (about 2 teaspoons)
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 2 tbs. olive oil
- 3-4 cloves garlic
- 1 cup olives (mix of your choice)
- 1 tbs. capers
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes (about 1-2 cups)
- 1 tbs. preserved lemons (finely chopped)
- 1 tbs. harissa (or chopped red hot pepper)
- 1/2 lemon (juice only) (about 2 tablespoons lemon juice)
- 1/2 tsp. cumin
- 1/4 tsp. black pepper
Instructions
- Squeeze lemon juice onto fish portions.
- Mix semolina, lemon zest and salt to a unified mixture.
- Coat the fish in semolina mixture.
- Fry fish portions in olive oil on both sides (use a nonstick wide skillet).
- Move fried fish to paper-toweled tray to drain excess oil.
- Mince garlic cloves.
- Sauté minced garlic in olive oil on low-medium heat for about a minute.
- Finely chop olives, cherry tomatoes and preserved lemons.
- Add chopped olives, capers and chopped cherry tomatoes to the pan.
- Cook on medium heat for 5-7 minutes.
- Add preserved lemon, harissa, cumin and black pepper.
- Cook together for a couple more minutes.
- Add freshly squeezed lemon juice and cook for an additional minute.
- Top fried fish portions with the tapenade and serve warm.
- Serve this dish over couscous, rice or mashed potatoes.
Notes
Yoo-Yoo
Ingredients
For Yoo-Yoos
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup orange juice (freshly squeezed)
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1 orange zest only
- 550 grams flour (about 3 cups but please weigh!)
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- Canola oil for deep-frying
For ‘Asal’ syrup
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/4 cup lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
- 1 cup water
- 2 drops rose extract
- Naturally ground unsweetened coconut (optional)
Instructions
For Yoo-Yoos
- Combine all wet ingredients, blending with a whisk.
- Fold in sifted flour and baking powder.
- Mix gently to create unified and soft dough.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
- Using a rolling pin and a cookie/doughnut cutter, create circles (2-2 ½ inches in diameter) with a hole in the middle.
- Deep-fry the cookies in medium heated canola oil on both sides until golden brown.
- Dip the golden cookies in the hot syrup (‘Asal’) and coat with ground unsweetened coconut.
For ‘Asal’ syrup
- On medium heat bring to a gentle boil, sugar and water.
- Add lemon juice when sugar is dissolved.
- Continue cooking on medium heat to reach a syrup texture.
- Add only two drops of rose extract.
Notes
Also see:
More Chanukah recipes
Top photo: Yoo-Yoo on serving tray (Photo by Huppit Bartov Miller)
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