Surinamese Style Shabbat

I am not sure why I chose Suriname but I am glad I did. Suriname is located in South America and 70 percent of the country is rain forest. It is the smallest country in South America with a very diverse population.  
Suriname was a Dutch colony with a plantation-based economy. When the slaves were freed, workers were brought from the Dutch West Indies and India.
The food reflects the diverse population. The recipes I found included Indian and Indonesian foods. 
Two recipes, Pastei (chicken pie) and Pom (chicken casserole) are Surinamese Jewish dishes.

http://southamericanfood.about.com/od/exploresouthamericanfood/a/surinamefood.htm
https://sites.google.com/site/surinamesefoodrecipies/

Jewish Life and History

Jews have a long history in Suriname. The first to arrive were Jews from Portugal who had fled to Holland to escape the Inquisition. To escape the new difficulties in Holland, the Jews went to Suriname. There the Jews were generally very successful. 
From what I read, the Jewish community was never very large. It seemed to stay under 1000. Today there are about 200 Jews in Suriname. 
There is a replica of Suriname's Neve Shalom Synagogue in the Israel museum. It is a beautiful synagogue and the floor is from sand.

ttp://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Suriname.html
http://www.suriname-jewish-community.com/
http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/29647/once-thriving-jewish-community-in-suriname-is-struggling/
http://forward.com/articles/105939/shake-a-family-tree-and-a-jew-falls-out/
http://www.suriname-jewish-community.com/our-history.html

Food

Friday Night Dinner

Dahl Lentil Stew with Roti bread
Pastei (Chicken Pie)

Prepared for 8.

Dahl Lentil Stew 

Although we usually have soup as a first course on Friday night, I decided to serve this stew. The mango and orange added a nice sweetness to it. 

Original Recipes
http://southamericanfood.about.com/od/beansgrainspotatoes/r/dhal.htm
https://sites.google.com/site/surinamesefoodrecipies/dhal-lentil-stew

My  Dahl Lentil Stew Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 large onions
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed or grated small
• margarine
• 2 tsp cumin seed
• 4 cups red lentils
• 12 cups  vegetable broth
• 2 tbsp turmeric
• 2 tbsp curry powder
• salt and pepper
• juice of one orange
• 1 mango diced

Preparation 

1. Saute onion and garlic in margarine for about 15 minutes.
2. Add broth, lentils, curry powder, and turmeric and salt and pepper.
3. Cook about 25 minutes.
4. Add mango and orange juice and cook about 15 more minutes until all the liquid is absorbed.
5. Season with salt and pepper.

Roti Bread (Grilled Flat bread)

This bread is used to scoop the stew from the bowl. It is lightly fried in oil and fairly thin.

Original recipes
http://southamericanfood.about.com/od/breads/r/roti.htm
http://mydutchcookingblog.blogspot.co.il/2010/12/colonial-cuisine-roti.html

My  Roti Bread Recipe

Ingredients

•  3 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/2 cup warm water
• pinch of salt and pepper

Preparation

1. Mix flour, baking soda, salt, and pepper together.
2. Slowly mix in oil and water.
3. Knead dough, add flour if needed.
4. Let dough reset about 5 minutes.
5. Cut dough into egg-size balls.
6. Heat a small amount of oil (about 1 tsp). I used a wok.
7. Roll the dough into a large flat pancake and place in pan.
8. When dough starts to puff, turn it over until the other side is done.
9. To store, cover tightly with foil and leave in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Warm before serving.

Pastei  (Chicken Pie)

This was originally a Jewish recipe. It is a chicken pie recipe with a variety of ingredients. It includes dill pickles, which surprised me. This pie was very good.

Original recipes:
http://www.food.com/recipe/pastei-455128
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cookbook:Pastei

My  Pastei Recipe

Ingredients

• 6 - 8 chicken pieces (I used legs and thighs)
• 3 dill pickles
• 3 eggs hard boiled
• 200 gram frozen peas, cooked
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 4 carrots
• 2 large tomatoes
• 2 stalks celery
• 2 small hot peppers
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• margarine
• bay leaf
• salt and pepper

Preparation

1. Saute 1/2 onion in margarine.
2. Add chicken and brown slightly.
3. Add bay leaf, allspice, salt and pepper, and cover with water.
4. Cook 30 minutes.
5. When done, remove chicken, and let cool.
6. When cool, remove chicken from bone, discarding bones.
7. Cut chicken into small pieces.
8. Put about 50 grams of margarine into the remaining broth.
9. Saute remaining onion in another pan in oil.
10. Add chicken to the onions. Then add carrot, tomato, peas, celery, hot pepper, and nutmeg. Add broth and tomato paste. Salt and pepper.
11. Cook until the carrots are tender.
12. Add chopped pickles.
13. Roll pastry  thin and line the bottom of pan prepared with non-stick spray.
14. Pour chicken mixture onto pastry.
15. Slice eggs and layer on chicken.
16. Cover the chicken and eggs with pasty dough.
17. Brush top of dough with eggs white or oil.
18. Cook in oven at 165 c for about an hour. 

Shabbat Lunch Dinner

Food

Fish Marsala
Vegetables with Peanut Sauce
Pom Chicken (Chicken Casserole)
Suriname Chicken Curry
Javenese Bami Noodles

Prepared for 12.

Fish Marsella

This is one of the Indian or Indonesian dishes eaten in Suriname. I am sure we had this when we ate Indonesian food.

Original recipe:
https://sites.google.com/site/surinamesefoodrecipies/fish-masala-dishes




My  Fish Marsella Recipe

Ingredients

• 8 pieces sole fillet
• Oil for frying
• 3 cloves garlic, grated small
• 1 onion
• 3 tbsp curry powder
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 small hot peppers
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• salt

Preparation

1. Fry fish in oil.
2. Remove fish and set aside.
3. Saute oil and garlic until glazed.
4. Add curry powder, stirring.
5. Add fish, tomato paste,  hot peppers, water, sugar, broth,and salt.
6. Let simmer 10 minutes.

Peanut Sauce

I served this warm with a variety of lightly steamed vegetables. I think the quality of the peanut butter makes a big difference in the final sauce. I made a peanut sauce when we ate Indonesian food and it was great. This time it was good but not as good.

Original recipe:


http://80mealsrecipes.blogspot.co.il/2006/09/surinamese-spicy-peanut-sauce.html

My  Peanut Sauce Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cloves garlic, grated small
• 1 tbsp ginger, grated small
• 200 grams peanut butter, use a good quality peanut butter
• t tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 2 tbsp coriander
• coconut milk or water to taste
• salt and pepper

Preparation

1. Heat oil in pan.
2. Add garlic, chili powder, ginger. Saute.
3. Add peanut butter.
4. When the peanut butter is melted, add tomato paste.
5. Mix well.
6. Add water or coconut milk to adjust the thickness of the sauce.

Pom Dish (Chicken Casserole)

This was also originally a Jewish recipe. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pom_(dish)
 The recipe calls for a root cassava. Cassava is a tuber, similar to yucca. (http://www.cassavachips.com/cassava.html). I substituted sweet potato. At lunch Harry told me we grow cassava. I would have never thought to put together the ingredients in this casserole but it was very good. I may try to make it again with the cassava.

Original recipes


http://apickyeatersquest.blogspot.co.il/2010/04/pom-surinamese-chicken-casserole.html
http://gosouthamerica.about.com/library/blsur2.htm

My  Pom Dish Recipe

Ingredients

• 6 chicken breast, in strips
• 4 sweet potato, grated
• oil for frying
• 4 stalks celery, chopped
• 4 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 tomato, chopped
• 2 onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed or grated small
• juice of 1 orange
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• salt and pepper
• 2 tsp sugar
• 12 small dill pickles, chopped

Preparation

1. Fry chicken strips in oil.
2. Add onion and garlic, and saute.
3. Add juice, broth, nutmeg, tomato puree, celery, and tomato.
4. Let simmer about 20 minutes.
5. Mix together  grated sweet potato, pickles, and sugar.
6. Spread half of the potato mixture in  baking pan. Place chicken mixture on this, then add another layer of the potato mixture.
7. Cover with foil and bake at least one hour.
8. Remove cover and bake another half hour until top is brown and set.

Suriname Curry Chicken

Another Indian/Indonesian recipe. Easy to make.

Original recipe:
http://80mealsrecipes.blogspot.co.il/2006/09/surinamese-spicy-peanut-sauce.html

My  Suriname Curry Chicken Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 chicken breasts, cut into pieces
• 2 cloves garlic, grated small
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 tbsp curry powder
• 4 tbsp oil
• 1/2 tsp sugar
•  hot peppers to taste,
• salt
• water

Preparation

1. Saute onion and garlic.
2. Add curry and stir well.
3. Add chicken with peppers, sugar, and salt.
4. Stir so chicken is well coated.
5. Add water to cover and cook until tender.

Javanese Bami Noodles

One more Indian/Indonesian recipe and also easy to make.

Original recipe:
http://www.multiculticooking.com/2009/01/18/javanese-bami-surinamese/

My  Javanese Bami Noodle  Recipe

Ingredients

• 500 grams spaghetti
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, grated small
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 2 curry leaves, chopped
• 2 tbsp oil
• 2 tbsp soy sauce

Preparation

1. Cook spaghetti in salted water.
2. Drain and toss in oil so spaghetti does not stick.
3. Saute onion, garlic, curry leaves, celery in oil and soy sauce.
4. Toss over spaghetti.

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