FEBRUARY 2021

Amira’s Kitchen
BY SARAH KITTLE
Clockwise from top: Cookbook author Amira and husband Immad baking with the grandchildren; Kahi, the best dessert ever; Everyone’s
favorite, Tikka Pusra; On eof the author’s favorites and so easy to make – Chive Cheese.
Awafi! from Amira’s Kitchen
is a beautiful cookbook of
approximately 250 pages
featuring about as many recipes with
‘the flavor of Tel Keppe,’ as it says
in the introduction. From Apricot
Jam to Zerda, the book spans many
generations of time-worn and much
loved meals, recipes handed down
throughout the years.
The act of preparing a meal is an
overt act of love and these recipes
are treasures. The effort required to
make a meal at a time when you had
no refrigeration or access to ingredients
from anywhere other than down
the road or in your own backyard is
immense, and all that happens before
you get into the kitchen!
Sitting in Amira’s kitchen on Cass
Lake, this author can’t help but notice
how warm and cozy it is and how good
it smells, like all the lovely recipes that
have ever been made there are welcoming
you in. Amira herself, pretty
and petite, puts a plate of homemade
Bata’s Takhratha Da-Khalola (peanut
butter bread - page 49) in front of me
and says with a smile, “I thought you
were Chaldean.”
The cookbook itself is a work of
art, with beautiful photos of each
dish and additional photos of ingredients
and preparation. The recipes
call for fresh, local ingredients with
in-season fruits and vegetables.
Amira’s mother, her grandmother,
her mother-in-law and her sisters
are all co-conspirators in the kitchen
and they helped her perfect these
recipes which often have no specific
measurements. In her forward to the
cookbook Amira wrote:
When I asked my grandmother how
much salt to put in the bowl, she
cupped her hand and said, “This
much.” So began the painstaking
task of putting into words the directions
to prepare our beloved family
dishes. I had a few recipes that would
feed 50 people! Needless to say, I
had to adjust for fewer servings. I
had no written instructions, so I had
to create the correct measurements
through trial and error. Sometimes it
worked; sometimes it didn’t. Hence,
this cookbook is a true labor of love.
Working together in the kitchen
to create a meal to feed those you
love is a bonding experience that
Amira wants to share with her readers.
Her four children, Kristin, Lavonne,
Natalie and Alvin all know
their way around a kitchen but it was
Kristin’s engagement that made her
ask her mother to write down her
recipes. She wanted to carry that tradition
into her own home.
It took more than two years to compile
her collection. Every recipe had to
be tried and some took a while to sort
out the details of ingredient amounts.
Then came the task of writing the
cooking directions. “There are so many
people that helped with this book,” says
Amira. She’s not exaggerating.
From the children that asked to the
husband that shopped and the mothers
that cooked and the friend who wrote
down each step of the cooking process
and everyone else who was involved
– including the guy that unknowingly
gave her the title – Amira is grateful for
the help. Her book includes a “thank
you” page and a lovely forward that explains
the traditions and that some of
the recipes take more time than people
have grown used to. “You must chop
and slice and dice and stir and boil and
bake and roast.” The results, she promises,
are “worth the effort.”
Scientists tell us that our sense of
smell is directly related to memory.
For Amira, the smell of a good meal
takes her back to Tel Keppe where
during the holidays, the entire village
would celebrate as family. “The
aroma still tickles my nose.”
The cookbook is a labor of love
not only for her children, her grandchildren
and her husband, cooking
and preparing meals to nourish their
bodies and souls, but it is also a way
of keeping her mother and grandmother
with her and introducing
them to each new generation. “It’s a
legacy,” she says. “A legacy of love.”
The cookbook is only available at
select locations: Kashat Mediterranean
Market in Farmington Hills; Babylon
Ethnic Foods in West Bloomfield;
Ishtar Ethnic Food in West Bloomfield;
Salon Edge in West Bloomfield
(Amira’s place of employment); North
Oaks Dental in Royal Oak (her son’s
practice), CK Fruit Market in Madison
Heights; the Chaldean Cultural Center
in West Bloomfield; and the website
amiraskitchen.com.
“Homemade, delicious dessert is a
symbol of love when you can’t find
the right words.” So reads the introduction
to the dessert section of the
book. The Chaldean News is pleased
to share “Magda’s recipe” for apricot
preserve coffee cake, Amira’s husband
“Immad’s favorite cake.”
Cake ‘d Murraba
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 30-35 minutes
Prep: preheat oven to 350°.
Ingredients and Materials:
3 eggs
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 cup sugar
3 ½ -4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon ground cardamom (hale)
zest of one orange
2 cups apricot preserves
2 round 9” pans, greased with solid
Crisco shortening
thick plastic food wrap
large bowl
medium bowl
whisk
Directions:
In a large bowl, whisk eggs. Then
add butter, vanilla, orange juice
and sugar, stirring together for one
minute.
In a medium bowl, mix 3 cups
of flour with baking powder, cardamom
and orange zest. Slowly add
dry ingredients to the large bowl
of wet ingredients. Do not use an
electric mixer; combine ingredients
by hand. Dough should be dry, not
sticky, and able to roll out smoothly.
If dough is too sticky, slowly add a
little flour.
Divide the dough evenly into 4
small balls. Place 1 dough ball between
2 pieces of thick plastic wrap.
Roll out this bottom layer into a 10”
circle. Remove upper plastic wrap
and flip the dough into a baking
pan, carefully removing the second
piece of plastic wrap afterward. Fill
the bottom of the baking pan with
the dough, gently pressing to get the
air out. Next, press the dough halfway
of the sides of the baking pan.
Top this with 1 cup of apricot preserve
and spread evenly. Next, roll
out top dough into a 9” circle. Place
this top layer of rolled dough over
the preserves, gently pressing the
dough. Repeat for the second 9” pan.
Egg wash: In a small bowl, beat
1 egg with 1 teaspoon of water. Using
a pastry brush, gently brush the
egg wash over the top of each cake
before placing in the oven.
Bake both cakes on middle rack
for 30-35 minutes.
Serve with fresh coffee or tea.
Awafi!
22 CHALDEAN NEWS FEBRUARY 2021