Arayes are a traditional Middle Eastern street food: pitta bread stuffed with seasoned meat. They are originally from Lebanon and Palestine. Egypt has an opened-up version called hawashi that has the same ingredients and sometimes includes chilli pepper. They’re quick and easy to make and so tasty. They can be cooked in an oven or an airfryer, or pan fried, as well as being suitable for cooking on a barbecue.
Minced chicken or beef can be used, but I love lamb with these spices. For a chicken version, I like to add lemon zest and coriander. I use large oval pitta bread for this, or Middle Eastern flatbread is even better. Once the arayes are cooked, you can cut them in half or quarters to serve.
I love to make a large stack of these an hour or so ahead of time, filling each bread and flattening it, then storing in the fridge until I’m ready to cook them. It is real fast food that can be then cooked in minutes, perfect for feeding a crowd. My kids love these, as they do any hand-held foods.
Feel free to adjust the filling to your own taste. A little harissa, extra spice or lemon zest are all great. I use a Middle Eastern seven-spice blend to make these. It’s readily available in supermarkets. The lamb can take plenty of seasoning. You can also add a handful of grated cheese or a drizzle of sticky sour pomegranate molasses to these. Although not traditional, these are great served with tzatziki, the cooling dill-flecked cucumber dip from Greece.
The Young Offenders Christmas Special review: Where’s Jock? Without him, Conor’s firearm foxer isn’t quite a cracker
Restaurant of the year, best value and Michelin predictions: Our reviewer’s top picks of 2024
When Claire Byrne confronts Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary on RTÉ, the atmosphere is seriously tetchy
Our restaurant reviewer’s top takeaway picks of 2024
The crusts are delicious for dipping into sauces. If you’re a fan of the garlic sauce toum, then whip up a batch of it for these stuffed breads, or make the tahini sauce in my tips below. Arayes really are the perfect dish to make last minute on a summer evening for a relaxed dinner. Serve them with slices of tomato and cucumber.
Lilly’s Kitchen Tips
1. Invest in a small chopper to make light work of chopping onion and herbs for dishes such as this. They cost less than €50 and will encourage cooking from scratch.
2. Mix one tablespoon of light tahini with two tablespoons of yoghurt, the juice of a lemon and one small clove of garlic, crushed, for a delicious dipping sauce.
3. If you can’t source a Middle Eastern spice blend then mix cardamom, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, black pepper and paprika to suit your taste.
