It comes as no surprise that I follow quite a few food bloggers on Instagram. Some of these are Middle Eastern food bloggers in other countries. People who or whose parents have moved away from Middle Eastern countries for one reason or another, and who want to keep their Arab traditions alive through food. A bit like me.
Two of these bloggers - Nadia and Deana of Sweet Pillar Food and Mai of Almond and Fig - have started up the Insta-wide initiative "April is for Arab Food". It's a celebration of all kinds of Arabic food and the occasions of when they would be made. Whether they are street food, breakfast food, sweet food... it's all there. People all over the world are using the tag to show their own interpretations of traditional Arabic dishes and the memories attached to them.
I am no exception. This week's "theme" is breakfast. I love Arabic breakfast spreads. I would much rather be invited to someone's house for breakfast (who are we kidding, brunch) than lunch or dinner. The spread is amazing. There is always: bread, za'ata w zeit, fresh juicy fruits and vegetables, some sort of egg dish, ful medames, labneh and if you're really lucky, some aunt or other has been up the night before prepping ftayer. I love arabic breakfasts.
When I was little and we had the family over for Friday brunch, my dad would always make ojja. For me, this is traditionally part of a breakfast spread but I know that for many people, it's a sandwich filling. Ojja is a Palestinian omelette laden with parsley and onion. It's fried and delicious and should, in my opinion, be the egg of choice in an Arabic breakfast. So this week, this recipe is my contribution to #AprilIsForArabFood
This recipe will serve two people. If you increase the number of eggs, use one tablespoon of flour for every egg.
Ojja
2 eggs
2 tbsp plain flour
30g fresh parsley, finely chopped
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
salt and pepper
Heat a frying pan with enough olive oil to cover the base of the pan. Whisk the eggs, salt and pepper together with a fork until they are light and fluffy. Add the other ingredients and whisk them all in together until everything is well combined.
When the oil is hot, spoon in some of the mixture to make pancake-sized omelettes. I used a dinner spoon. You can make your patties as large or small as you like.
Flip them over carefully when you can see the the edges have gone a nice golden brown. Cook on the other side until you see the same.
When you take them out of the oil, drain them on a paper towel and enjoy with anything you want. I had labneh, za'atar, pickles and halloumi with mine. They would equally be nice in a sandwich with fresh cucumber, tomatoes and hummus. Yum.