Lugma by Noor Murad Cookbook review by Antonia Lloyd : Dried limes at the ready

LUGMA, meaning ‘a bite’ in Arabic, is an utterly inviting new cookbook from Bahraini-British chef and author Noor Murad.  Our Ambassador of Women In the Food Industry and Writer, Antonia Lloyd, reviews a book filled with evocative recipes that transport you to a haven of dried limes, spice, chilli heat, steaming rice, and the aromatic scent of incense.

The collection is inspired by the exquisite food of Noor Murad’s upbringing in Bahrain (with influences from the surrounding countries in the Gulf and Levant) where she was raised by her Arab dad and English mum. It’s highly likely that you may have already unwittingly encountered Noor’s talent for recipe development, as she is the co-author of two Ottolenghi Test Kitchen cookbooks, has developed recipes for Ottolenghi Flavour and Falastin, and has been based in London since 2016.

Noor opens our eyes to traditional Bahraini dishes and a varied cuisine rich in Arabic, Persian and Indian flavours. A whole chapter is dedicated to rice which in Bahrain is called ‘aish’ literally meaning living and is the base of elaborate and everyday dishes. Rice has literally never been this alluring! There’s a spectacular ‘herby meatball rice with kohlrabi and pistachio slaw’ which is inverted out to reveal a crispy, delicious rice bottom, and a ‘muhammar’, a date molasses rice, rich in cardamom, served with fish and a date pickle.

I discover machboos, a national dish of spiced rice often served with chicken that is flavoured with a heady mix of cinnamon, dried lime, cumin, coriander, clove, cardamom, and chilli, then topped with split peas, jammy soft yoked boiled eggs, and golden raisins.

And there’s the fascinating mathrooba, a nostalgic dish for Noor that means ‘beaten’ and brings together tomato, rice, and chicken, that is whisked until it resembles a thick porridge. Its heavy spicing is refreshed with lemon juice, and finished with caramelized onions for a delectable bowl on a cold night.

Talking of warming bowls, being a sucker for a dahl, I decided to test Noor’s Bahraini version which leans on Persian and Indian flavours. Having never used dried black lime before, I sourced it from the local Mediterranean supermarket, and was entranced by the scent and sight of the pierced black lime bobbing around infusing my red lentils with an earthy citrus and hint of smokiness.

Noor’s dahl recipe was not just delicious, it was rounded and balanced with lemon, chilli heat, and a lovely texture of curry leaves and fried red chillies.

With the floodgates wide open on to a new world of dried black lime, for a Sunday feast, I recreated the ‘Loomi Lemon Chicken’ which involved crushing the dried limes, removing the bitter seeds, and blitzing to create a spice rub with paprika, oregano and cumin for a spatchcocked chicken.

After a good number of hours marinading, the chicken was roasted with slices of lemon and a whole head of garlic that were then chopped up and transformed into a divine accompanying yoghurt. The chicken was moist, flavourful, and each bite or ‘lugma’ really did make me fall more in love with this familiar yet new cuisine.

The meal was rounded off with pistachio filled dates drizzled with tahini, and a sprinkle of sesame, chilli and salt – an easy and very delicious last mouthful. This mini triumph of a meal will be repeated for some lucky guests soon.

Contrasting with Bahraini and Gulf traditions, there’s also the influence of Noor’s English mum that shines through. There’s a Middle Eastern Bolognese that is infused with cinnamon sticks, more dried lime, cardamom, chillis and coriander and is served atop a baked potato, rice, or in a pasta bake. Pancake day tradition is honoured in thin lacy crêpes that are an ode to her mum but with a little twist of cardamom and honey lime syrup that sound divine. There’s an ‘Arab Mess’ where pistachios and rosewater flavour the meringue, a hint of cardamom zhuzhs up the cream, and the berries are macerated in sumac, molasses, and lime juice. How incredibly delicious.

There’s also the legacy of her mum’s baking in a pistachio cake layered with labneh cream and crispy kataifi pastry – this feels very Ottolenghi in its flavour profile and I start to wonder how many more of my favourites from other books were Noor’s brainchild.

For me, this is a collection that is due to join the top ranks with my favourite Ottolenghi cookbooks – it is beautifully written, effortlessly accessible, and debunks new ingredients with ease.

This is a warm invitation into a world of fragrant, spiced dishes – vegetarian and plenty with meat and fish too– as well as some incredible desserts. If your home has never been graced with a dried lime before, I urge you to buy some fast. They will inspire you to keep diving back in for more deliciousness from this exceptional talent.

Lugma by Noor Murad is published by  Quadrille.  

You may also like to read Antonia’s cookbook reviews of Elly Wentworth at The Angel of Dartmouth, Cooking with Anna by Anna Haugh,  Easy Wins by Anna Jones, and her review of Plant Feasts by Frankie Paz, You may also enjoy our review of the new Great British Menu cookbook: Home Banquets, our review of Dip In Brilliant by Dipna Anand & interview with Dipna, our review of Recipes for a Better Menopause by Jane Baxter & Dr Federica Amati and our book review of Modern South Asian Kitchen by Sabrina Gidda.