During Ramadan, traditional regional dishes shine in Palestine

GAZA CITY: Molokhia, sumaghiyyeh, fatteh, akoub, jereesheh, musakhan and maqlouba are some of the traditional and popular Palestinian dishes.

Every city in Palestine is famous for a staple meal that is often prepared during Ramadan, both among rich families and even low-income families. It is not normally served during the year except on weekends, and only occasionally.

Gaza City is most famous for the Gazan fatteh. The fattah usually consists of saj bread dipped in meat or chicken soup, topped with white rice and covered with meat or chicken pieces. It is served alongside a special sauce made of green pepper, lemon and garlic with a little of the same meat soup.

Fatimah Samara, 49, said: “Fatteh is our favorite meal, and we cannot live without it. We cook it during Fridays throughout the year, sometimes in Ramadan and on the first day of Eid.”

In some areas in the southern Gaza Strip, such as the city of Khan Yunis, the maftoul is famous. The ingredient for maftoul differs in every region, but it is often served with chicken and sometimes meat, and vegetables such as pumpkin, onions, tomatoes, carrots and chickpeas that are cooked in meat broth.

Qidreh is a traditional Palestinian dish from Hebron. It consists of meat (usually lamb, sometimes chicken) that is cooked with chickpeas and rice in a broth that is spiced with ingredients such as cumin, allspice, cardamom, black pepper and turmeric, alongside other common ingredients such as onions and garlic. The dish is typically cooked in a heavy copper or brass pot in a communal wood-fired oven. It is recommended to serve it with a yogurt sauce and a fresh tomato salad.

“Hebron governorate is a large governorate and some areas have their own meals, but the Qidreh remains the meal on which all the people of Hebron governorate do not disagree,” said Jamila Qafisha.

Maqluba is the national dish of Palestine, but it can also be found in Iraq, Syria and Jordan. This layered one-pot dish has many versions, but the basic principle is to turn it upside down before serving, which is what the word “maqluba” means. The dish comprises rice, vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, cauliflower, onions; herbs and spices such as turmeric and sumac; and meat such as chicken or lamb. The dish can also be made with vegetables only but, primarily, it has to be layered.

Musakhan is one of the most famous meals in the northern West Bank cities, especially Jenin. It consists of roasted chicken and caramelized onions that are garnished with pine nuts and arranged on top of taboon bread that has previously been dipped in olive oil. An important element when making musakhan is sumac, a spice that is added to onions, providing the dish with a tart, lemony flavor.

With constant unrest and displacement, refugees from different Palestinian cities share their cities famous dishes with one another.   

Fida Abu Hakima, the owner of a home restaurant in Al-Jalazun camp, said: “People in the camps come from different areas, bringing their native dishes with them. So, some families might start the month of Ramadan with grape leaves and mahashi, some with maqlouba, and others with maftoul if the weather is cold.”

Abu Hakima, whose family was displaced from the village of Annaba near Ramle in the Nakba of 1948, said that her relatives brought with them maftoul while her refugee neighbors from the Lod area brought the kishka dish, which is made of dried milk with bulgur, and the romaniah, which is cooked pomegranate with lentils.