Get The Vegetarian Taste of Dubai at Home

Dubai may be the home of some lip-smacking non-vegetarian dishes like shawarma, oozi, shish tawook or grilled hammour but the tourist hub is witnessing a sudden rise in the demand for vegetarian food items as well.

Here are some easy to cook recipes of vegetarian delicacies provided by Chef Ibrahim Ayoub from Mazehar and Chef Heinz Beck from the Social restaurant in Dubai which will give you the flavours of the Middle East at home.

1. Hummus with dry figs and walnuts

Ingredients: Two cups drained, cooked chickpeas, three tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, three tablespoons tahini, one and half tablespoons lemon juice (from 1/2 lemon), plus more to taste, one small clove of garlic, roughly chopped, one teaspoon salt, half teaspoon finely ground black pepper, one tablespoons chopped dry figs, one tablespoons chopped walnuts and one-fourth of teaspoon bicarbonate soda.

Directions: Soak the chick peas for 12 hours, wash and add bicarbonate soda and water then boil it till it becomes very soft. Then combine all ingredients chickpeas, olive oil, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, salt in a food processor.

Blend for one to two minutes until it becomes a very smooth paste and scrape down the sides of the bowl to check for any large chunks that exist and blend. If your hummus is thicker than you'd like, add more lemon juice or olive oil to thin it out and make it creamier. Finally, scrape the hummus into a bowl and top it with chopped dry figs, chopped walnuts, olive oil and serve with pita bread.

2. Spaghetti cooked in tomato water and parsley sauce

Ingredients: Two kg cherry tomatoes, one bunch parsley, one bunch basil, one sprig thyme, half a carrot, half stalk celery, one small, boiled potato, two cloves of garlic and chervil (for garnish).

For Pasta - 240 grams spaghetti, one garlic clove, extra virgin olive oil.

Directions: For tomato water, blend tomatoes and wrap them in a cloth. Drain through a strainer and filter the liquid to obtain 200 gr tomato water.

For making the parsley sauce: Clean parsley and basil bunches and blanch leaves in salted water for four minutes, taking care to cool them immediately in ice water to keep the color alive. Mix parsley and basil with 50 ml of their cooking water, boiled potato, and some drops of extra virgin olive oil.

For preparing the spaghetti: Boil it in abundant salted water for five minutes. Take out of the water before completely cooked and pour in the boiling tomato water while stirring well. Add two spoons of garlic flavored extra virgin olive oil.

For presentation first place a strip of parsley sauce in the center of the plate. Layer this with the Spaghetti and complete the dish with using chervil as a garnish.

With delicacies like these, is is any wonder that there are some 4,500 veggie-friendly restaurants in the UAE?