Why Every Home Cook Needs a Middle Eastern Cookbook

Middle Eastern cooking is built on a few honest ingredients used really well. Garlic, lemon, olive oil, warm spices, and fresh herbs are the building blocks. With those in your pantry, you’re already halfway there.

Take shorabet adas, a bright yellow lentil soup flavored with cumin and finished with a squeeze of lemon. It’s ready in under 30 minutes and made with things you probably already have. Or kafta bil sanieh, a one-pan baked dish of ground meat, sliced potatoes, and spiced tomato sauce. Weeknight cooking doesn’t get easier—or more satisfying—than that.

In the Thuraya cookbook, many of these recipes come with helpful swaps and variations, so you can use what you have and adjust to your tastes.

The magic of Middle Eastern food lies in how it transforms everyday ingredients into something exciting.

Chickpeas become hummus or falafel. Eggplant is fire-roasted into baba ghanoush. A bowl of rice becomes ruz ma’ sha’arieh, lightly toasted with vermicelli and topped with almonds. You don’t need rare ingredients—you just need to see familiar foods in new ways.

A good Middle Eastern cookbook gives you that lens. It turns the basic into the memorable, and your go-to groceries into meals that feel special.

Many Middle Eastern dishes happen to be plant-forward, balanced, and nourishing—without trying to be trendy. You’ll find protein-rich legumes, vibrant salads, slow-simmered stews, and olive oil in place of heavy butter or cream.

If you’re vegan or vegetarian, you’re not missing out. Mezze classics like moutabbal, tabbouleh, falafel, and stuffed grape leaves are naturally meatless and full of flavor. They’re hearty enough for a meal but light enough to leave you feeling good.

In Thuraya, you’ll find dozens of plant-based recipes rooted in tradition, but easy to adapt to your lifestyle—whether you’re cutting back on meat or just love a good lentil dish.

Middle Eastern meals are social by design. Mezze spreads with warm pita, dishes passed around the table, laughter over slow-simmered stews—it’s cooking that brings people together.

Recipes in Thuraya aren’t just about what’s on the plate; they’re about recreating that sense of connection. Even something as simple as fatet hummus—layers of toasted bread, chickpeas, and garlicky yogurt—becomes a shared experience when served family-style.

Whether it’s a quiet dinner for two or a table full of friends, Middle Eastern cooking helps set the tone for connection.

Don’t let the names fool you—magloubeh, mujaddara, and labneh sound exotic, but they’re easier than you think. With a little guidance, you’ll discover they’re made with simple techniques you may already know—boiling, baking, blending, sautéing.

Thuraya is designed to walk you through the steps clearly, offering tips, substitutions, and cultural context that make the process feel intuitive. It’s a great cookbook for beginners, and still inspiring for confident cooks looking to explore new flavors.

Middle Eastern cooking is all about depth, not heat. You’ll get to know spices like cumin, cinnamon, sumac, and za’atar—not just as ingredients, but as tools for layering flavor.

A good cookbook doesn’t just tell you what to use—it shows you how and why. In Thuraya, spice blends are broken down in a way that makes them feel approachable. Over time, you’ll learn to trust your palate and tweak flavors to your liking, even without measuring.

Cooking becomes less about following rules, and more about following your nose.

Sometimes you just want dinner on the table fast. Other nights, you’re in the mood to cook something special. Middle Eastern food gives you both.

A bowl of lentil soup on Monday. A mezze board for Friday night guests. Or magloubeh—a stunning upside-down rice and chicken dish—for when you want to impress. The recipes in Thuraya range from 20-minute snacks to slow-cooked centerpieces, giving you options for every kind of evening.

Middle Eastern food isn’t a trend. It’s timeless. It’s the kind of food that nourishes and comforts, that brings people together, and that doesn’t require perfection.

Thuraya isn’t just a cookbook—it’s a story between mother and son, written in diaspora, rooted in Jordan and the Levant, and reimagined for today’s kitchen. With over 120 recipes, it’s filled with dishes that are familiar yet new, easy yet exciting. It’s designed to help you feel at home with Middle Eastern cooking, no matter your background or skill level.