The best bowl in Cairo: Molokhia

Serves 6 · 45 min · Easy

The paprika butter at the end is what turns a plain lentil puree into the lokanta version. Squeeze the lemon at the table, never into the pot.

You need

• 2 tbsp olive oil plus 2 tbsp butter
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 small potato, peeled and diced
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp Turkish pepper paste (biber salçası), optional
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 1/2 cups (300 g) red lentils, rinsed until the water runs clear
• 2 tbsp short-grain rice or bulgur
• 7 cups (1.7 l) chicken or vegetable stock or water
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• For the paprika butter: 3 tbsp butter, 1 tsp sweet paprika or Aleppo pepper, 1 tsp dried mint
• Lemon wedges and bread, to serve

How to make it

1. Heat the oil and butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and carrot and cook 8 minutes, stirring, until soft and lightly golden.
2. Stir in the tomato paste, pepper paste and cumin and cook 1 minute, until fragrant.
3. Add the potato, lentils, rice and stock. Bring to a boil, skim any foam, then simmer partly covered 25 to 30 minutes, stirring now and then, until the lentils have collapsed completely.
4. Blend until completely smooth, using an immersion blender or in batches in a blender (vent the lid). Return to the heat, add the salt, and thin with hot water if it's thicker than heavy cream. Simmer 5 minutes.
5. Make the paprika butter: melt the butter in a small pan over medium heat until it foams, take it off the heat, and stir in the paprika and mint. It should turn brick red and smell toasty, about 30 seconds.
6. Ladle into bowls, drizzle each with the red butter and serve with lemon wedges and bread.

Pans and tools

• 4-quart pot
• immersion blender or blender

Chef's tips

• Rinse the lentils well or the soup will taste dusty.
• It thickens as it stands; loosen with hot water when you reheat.
• Ezogelin is the same soup with bulgur, more pepper paste and mint, left a little rough.

Our recipe, the same one we give for red lentil soup in Istanbul. Saved, it opens in Chef Amazing with a timeline, mise en place and what you already have.

Serves 6 · 2 hr 30 min · Medium

The Eid feast dish: lamb broth soaks the bread and rice, and the garlic-vinegar sauce sharpens it.

You need

• 3 lb (1.4 kg) lamb shoulder or shank, in large pieces
• 1 onion, 4 cardamom pods, 2 bay leaves, 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 quarts (1.9 l) water
• 1 1/2 cups (300 g) Egyptian or short-grain rice
• 3 pitas, torn and toasted in 2 tbsp ghee
• For the sauce: 3 tbsp ghee, 8 garlic cloves minced, 1/3 cup (80 ml) white vinegar, 1 cup (240 ml) tomato purée
• 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp cumin

How to make it

1. Simmer the lamb with the onion, spices and salt in the water 2 hours. Lift out the lamb and strain the broth.
2. Cook the rice in 3 cups (720 ml) of the broth until tender.
3. For the sauce, fry the garlic in the ghee 1 minute, add the vinegar and boil 1 minute, then the tomato and cumin and simmer 10 minutes.
4. Brown the lamb pieces in a hot oven or pan.
5. In a deep platter layer the toasted bread, soak with 2 cups (480 ml) hot broth, spoon over half the sauce, add the rice, then the rest of the sauce and the lamb. Serve with cups of broth.

Chef's tips

• Serve right away so the bread keeps some crunch on top.

Contains: wheat, milk (ghee)..

Chef Amazing's own recipe, written for a home kitchen. Saved, it opens in Chef Amazing with a timeline, mise en place and what you already have.

Serves 6 · 4 hr · Medium

A winter and post-Ramadan restorative. Ask the butcher to cut and clean the trotters.

You need

• 4 lb (1.8 kg) cow's or calf's feet, cut and cleaned
• 1 lemon
• 1 onion, 6 garlic cloves
• 4 cardamom pods, 2 bay leaves, 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 1 can (15 oz / 425 g) chickpeas, drained
• 2 tbsp ghee, 6 garlic cloves minced, 2 tbsp vinegar
• 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp cumin
• Bread and lemon wedges

How to make it

1. Scrub the trotters with lemon, boil 10 minutes and rinse.
2. Cover with fresh water, add the onion, whole garlic, spices and salt, and simmer 3 1/2 hours, until the meat comes off the bone.
3. Take out the bones, chop the meat, and return it with the chickpeas.
4. Fry the minced garlic in the ghee 1 minute, add the vinegar and cumin, and stir into the soup.
5. Serve with bread and lemon.

Chef's tips

• A pressure cooker cuts the time to about 1 hour.

Contains: milk (ghee)..

Chef Amazing's own recipe, written for a home kitchen. Saved, it opens in Chef Amazing with a timeline, mise en place and what you already have.

Serves 4 · 45 min · Easy

Egyptian fish restaurants serve this before the grilled fish. It's thick, red and full of seafood.

You need

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, 1 green bell pepper, 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp coriander, 1/2 tsp chile flakes
• 2 tbsp tomato paste and 1 cup (240 ml) tomato purée
• 5 cups (1.2 l) fish stock
• 1/4 cup (45 g) orzo
• 1/2 lb (225 g) shrimp, 1/4 lb (115 g) calamari rings, 1/2 lb (225 g) white fish in chunks
• 1 tsp salt
• Lemon and parsley

How to make it

1. In the oil cook the onion, pepper and garlic 8 minutes, then the spices 1 minute.
2. Add the tomato paste and cook 2 minutes, then the purée and stock, and simmer 10 minutes.
3. Add the orzo and cook 8 minutes.
4. Add the fish, shrimp and calamari and simmer 4 minutes. Season.
5. Serve with lemon and parsley.

Chef's tips

• Blend half the soup before adding the seafood for the restaurant's thick style.

Contains: fish, shellfish, wheat..

Chef Amazing's own recipe, written for a home kitchen. Saved, it opens in Chef Amazing with a timeline, mise en place and what you already have.