Glossary of Arabic Cuisine
Arabic Bread (Khubz Arabi, pita) Flat, round bread, which can be easily split to make a sandwich, or broken apart and used as a utensil for scooping food
Arayess Deep-fried lamb sandwich
Ataif (gatayef, kataif) Small pancakes stuffed with nuts or cheese and doused with syrup
Baba Ghanoush Char-grilled eggplant, tahina, olive oil, lemon juice and garlic purée - served as a dip
Baharat (bjar) Arabic mixed spices
Bamia Baby okra and lamb in tomato stew
Baklawa (baklava) Dessert of layered pastry filled with nuts and steeped in honey-lemon syrup - usually cut into triangular or diamond shapes
Basboosa Semolina tart soaked with syrup
Bukhari Rice Lamb and rice stir-fried with onion, lemon, carrot and tomato paste
Burghul (bulghur wheat, bulgar) Parboiled and dried wheat kernels processed into grain, used in tabbouleh and mixed with lamb in kibbeh
Cardamom Aromatic spice, member of the ginger family, used to flavour Arabic coffee, yoghurt and stews
Coriander (cilantro) Lacy, green-leaf relative of the parsley family with an extremely pungent flavour akin to a combination of lemon, sage and caraway.
Ejje Arabic omelette
Falafel Small deep-fried patties made of highly-spiced ground chick-peas
Fatayer Pastry pockets filled with spinach, meat or cheese
Fattoush Salad of toasted croutons, cucumbers, tomatoes and mint
Foul (ful) Slow-cooked mash of brown beans and red lentils, dressed with lemon, olive oil and cumin
Gahwa (kahwa) Coffee
Haleeb Milk
Halwa (halva) Sesame paste sweet, usually made in a slab and studded with fruit and nuts
Hamour Red Sea fish of the grouper family
Hommus Purée of chickpeas, tahina, lemon and garlic - served as a dip with Arabic bread
Jarish Crushed wheat and yoghurt casserole
Jebne White cheese
Kabsa Classic Arabian dish of meat mixed with rice
Kebab Skewered chunks of meat or fish cooked over charcoal
Kamareddine Apricot nectar used to break fast during Ramadan
Khubz Marcook Thin, dome-shaped Arabic bread
Kunafi (kunafah) Shoelace pastry dessert stuffed with sweet white cheese, nuts and syrup
Kibbeh (kibbe) Oval-shaped nuggets of ground lamb and burghul
Kibbeh Naye Raw kibbeh, eaten like steak tartar
Koshary Cooked dish of pasta, rice and lentils to which, onions, chillis and tomato paste are added
Kouzi Whole lamb baked over rice so that rice absorbs the juice of the meat
Kufta (kofta) Fingers, balls or a flat cake of minced meat and spices that can be baked or charcoal-grilled on skewers
Laban Tangy-tasting sour milk drink widely used in cooking as a substitute for milk
Labenah Thick creamy cheese, often spiced and used as a dip
Lahma Bi Ajeen Arabic pizza
Loubia (fassulya) Green beans cooked in tomato sauce
Ma'amul Date cookies shaped in a wooden mould called a tabi
Makloubeh Meat or fish with rice, broad beans and cauliflower
Mai Water
Mantou Dumplings stuffed with minced lamb
Markok Lamb and pumpkin stew
Mehshi Means stuffed - aubergines, courgettes, vine leaves or cabbage may be stuffed with a mixture of minced meat, rice and onions
Melokhiyyah Green, spinach-like vegetable
Mezze (mezza, meze, mezzah) The Arabic word for appetiser
Mish mish Apricots
Mouhammara Mixture of ground nuts, olive oil, cumin and chillis, eaten with Arabic bread
Moutabel Eggplant dip made with tahina, olive oil and lemon juice
Mubassal Onion pancakes
Muhalabiyyah Silky textured semolina pudding served cold
Musakhan Chicken casserole with sumac
Mutabak Sweet or savoury pastry turnovers usually stuffed with cheese, banana or meat
Najil Saddle-back grouper
Rocca Aromatic salad green with a peppery mustard flavour, used in salads or mixed with hot yoghurt
Sambusek Triangular pies filled with meat, cheese or spinach
Sayyadiya Delicately-spiced fish dish served on a bed of rice
Seleek Lamb and rice dish where the rice is cooked in milk rather than the juice of the meat
Shai (chai) Tea
Shaour Red Sea fish from the emperor family
Shawerma A cone of pressed lamb, chicken or beef roasted on a vertical spit where the meat is shaved off from the outside as the spit keeps turning. Saudi Arabia's most popular sandwich is Arabic bread filled with shawerma meat, salad, hot sauce and tahina
Sheesha (hubbly bubbly) Pipe for smoking tobacco leaves or dried fruit through a water filter
Shish Taouk Skewered chicken pieces cooked over charcoal
Shourba Soup
Snober Pine nuts
Sukkar Sugar
Sumac Ground powder from the cashew family, used as a seasoning
Tabbouleh Salad of burghul, tomato, mint and parsley
Taklia Spice consisting of ground coriander and garlic
Tahina An oily paste made from ground sesame seeds, used in hommus, moutabel and baba ghanoush
Tamr Dates
Taratour A thick mayonnaise of puréed pine nuts, garlic and lemon, used as a sauce or dip
Um Ali 'Ali's mother' is a pastry pudding with raisins and coconut steeped in milk
Warak Enab (warak dawali) Stuffed vine leaves
Yansoon Hot spiced tea, used for medicinal purposes
Zatoon Olives
Zattar Blend of spices including thyme, marjoram, sumac and salt
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Source: http://www.arab.net/cuisine/