Jilantin Al-Lahem

July 31st, 2010

Dimah - http://www.orangeblossomwater.net - Jilantin Al-Lahem 90

My mom learned this recipe from a book, unfortunately the book didn’t mention the origin of this dish. Jilantin Al-Lahem is prepared from ground meat, onion, chopped parsley, bread crumbs, nutmeg, and egg, mixed together then formed into a log then wrapped and cooked in water. I served it with sautéed potatoes, and I’ll share the recipe of the potatoes in this post.

Let’s make Jilantin Al-Lahem:

Dimah - http://www.orangeblossomwater.net - Jilantin Al-Lahem 1

1. Put ground meat in a bowl.

2,3. Using coarse grater, grate onion.

4. Hold a sieve above the ground meat and put grated onion and squeeze so you get the juice only, then discard the shredded onion.

Dimah - http://www.orangeblossomwater.net - Jilantin Al-Lahem 2

5. Finely chop parsley leaves.

6. Transfer chopped parsley to the bowl that contains ground meat.

7. Add bread crumbs.

8. Add ground nutmeg.

Dimah - http://www.orangeblossomwater.net - Jilantin Al-Lahem 3

9. Add salt and black pepper.

10. Make a well in the center, and add egg.

11, 12. Mix all the ingredients until well combined.

Dimah - http://www.orangeblossomwater.net - Jilantin Al-Lahem 4

13. Prepare a white clean cotton cloth.

14. Dust the cloth with flour.

15, 16. Roll the mixture into log, I got three logs.

Dimah - http://www.orangeblossomwater.net - Jilantin Al-Lahem 5

17. Wrap the log in the cloth, and tie with strings and twist the ends together and tie with the strings.

18. Fill a pot with water, and add onion quarters, whole nutmeg, salt and black peppercorn, bring this water to boil.

19. Once water is boiling vigorously, add the wrapped logs, the water should cover the logs.

20. Cover the pot, and cook on medium-low heat for one and a half hours to two hours, but make sure during this time to check every once in a while and if you noticed that the water level is decreased, you have to boil extra water and add it to the pot, you have to keep the logs covered with water all the time.

Dimah - http://www.orangeblossomwater.net - Jilantin Al-Lahem 6

21. After one and a half hours to two hours, it should be cooked so turn off heat and drain.

22, 23. Unwrap the logs.

24. Let them cool then slice and serve cold.

Dimah - http://www.orangeblossomwater.net - Jilantin Al-Lahem 7

Sauteéd Potatoes

25. Choose small potatoes, and peel the potatoes.

26. Fill a pot with water and salt, add potatoes, and boil for 7 – 10 minutes, what we did is called parboil (to cook partially by boiling for a brief period).

27. Drain the potatoes, and allow to sit for a moment to dry out.

28. In a pan, heat butter and corn oil.

Dimah - http://www.orangeblossomwater.net - Jilantin Al-Lahem 8

29. Add potatoes and sprinkle with a dash of salt and black pepper, remember to stir/toss throughout to prevent the potatoes from sticking to the pan. Half way through the cooking, turn them over. You know when to turn them over when they are light golden.

30. When both sides are light golden remove from pan and transfer to a baking dish.

31. To the potatoes, add the butter corn oil mixture that remained in the pan.

32. Cover the potatoes with aluminum foil, and cook in the oven at 302 °F (150 °C )  for 10 minutes, then remove the foil and cook for 5 minutes more, just until potatoes become golden from all sides.

Dimah - http://www.orangeblossomwater.net - Jilantin Al-Lahem 9

33. Garnish with chopped parsley leaves, and serve Jilantin Al-Lahem cold with sautéed potatoes, Arabic flat bread and lemon wedges.

Dimah - http://www.orangeblossomwater.net - Jilantin Al-Lahem 91

Dimah - http://www.orangeblossomwater.net - Jilantin Al-Lahem 92

Dimah - http://www.orangeblossomwater.net - Jilantin Al-Lahem 93

Dimah - http://www.orangeblossomwater.net - Jilantin Al-Lahem 94

Dimah - http://www.orangeblossomwater.net - Jilantin Al-Lahem 95

Jilantin Al-Lahem

From: Family Recipe / Servings: 4 People
PDF Text Only / Print With Images

640 g fat free ground lamb meat

1 medium red onion, grated then squeezed to get the juice

3/4 cup finely chopped flat parsley
leaves

1/2 cup + 1 tbsp bread crumbs

2 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1 1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 egg

Flour, for dusting

For Cooking

Water

2 medium onions, cut in quarters

1 whole nutmeg

Salt

Black peppercorn

Sauteéd Potatoes

17 small potatoes

Water, for boiling potatoes

Salt, for boiling potatoes

20 g salted butter

1 tbsp corn oil

Dash of salt

Dash of black pepper

Garnish

Finely chopped parsley leaves

To Serve

Arabic flat bread

Lemon wedges




Put ground meat in a bowl.

Using coarse grated, grate onion.

Hold a sieve above the ground meat and put grated onion and squeeze so you get the juice only, then discard the grated onion.

Finely chop parsley leaves.

Transfer chopped parsley to the bowl that contains ground meat.

Add bread crumbs.

Add ground nutmeg.

Add salt and black pepper.

Make a well in the center, and add egg.

Mix all the ingredients until well combined. Prepare a white clean cotton cloth.

Dust the cloth with flour.

Roll the mixture into log, I got three logs.

Wrap the log in the cloth, and tie with strings and twist the ends together and tie with the strings.

Fill a pot with water, and add onion quarters, whole nutmeg, salt, and black peppercorn, bring this water to boil.

Once water is boiling vigorously, add the wrapped logs, the water should cover the logs.

Cover the pot, and cook on medium-low heat for one and a half hours to two hours, but make sure during this time to check every once in a while and if you noticed that the water level is decreased, you have to boil extra water and add it to the pot, you have to keep the logs covered with water all the time.

After one and a half hours to two hours, it should be cooked so turn off heat and drain.

Unwrap the logs.

Let them cool then slice and serve cold.

Sauteéd Potatoes

Choose small potatoes, and peel the potatoes.

Fill a pot with water and salt, add potatoes, and boil for 7 – 10 minutes, what we did is called parboil (to cook partially by boiling for a brief period).

Drain the potatoes, and allow to sit for a moment to dry out.

In a pan, heat butter and corn oil.

Add potatoes and sprinkle with a dash of salt and black pepper, remember to stir/toss throughout to prevent the potatoes from sticking to the pan. Half way through the cooking, turn them over. You know when to turn them over when they are light golden.

When both sides are light golden remove from pan and transfer to a baking dish.

To the potatoes, add the butter corn oil mixture that remained in the pan.

Cover the potatoes with aluminum foil, and cook in the oven at 302 °F (150 °C ) for 10 minutes, then remove the foil and cook for 5 minutes more, just until potatoes become golden from all sides.

Garnish with chopped parsley leaves, and serve Jilantin Al-Lahem cold with sautéed potatoes, Arabic flat bread and lemon wedges.

Notes and Tips

I do not recommend using aluminum foil or plastic wrap instead of the cotton cloth, I did a test and found that the best method for cooking this is to wrap it using the cloth, the foil and the plastic wrap changed the taste and wasn’t tasty.

I learned the recipe of sautéed potatoes from a Lebanese chef on TV.

I like to sprinkle the sautéed potatoes with cumin.

Dimah - http://www.orangeblossomwater.net - PDF Text Only

print this page

Protected by Copyscape Online Plagiarism Test

6 Responses to “Jilantin Al-Lahem”

  1. grazi says:

    great dish!!!

  2. Dimah says:

    grazi: Thank you so much for visiting and for the lovely comments!

  3. My aunt used to make a similar dish and I haven’t had it in years! Looks so good with these potatoes!

  4. Dimah says:

    tasteofbeirut: Thank you for stopping by! I hope you try it :)

  5. Michaël says:

    The origin of this dish is the French ”galantine”.

    I just discovered your blog but the way. Good job! I love all your Syrian recipes I had never heard of before. I’m learning so many things about the cuisine of your region of the world I love so much!

    • Dimah says:

      Thank you so much Michaël for stopping by and for your valuable comment.
      My mom learnt this recipe at school in Syria when she was 13 years old, I wrote the name according to her pronunciation.
      Thanks for letting me know that you enjoy the blog and learning more about Syrian Cuisine, appreciate it.