Egyptian Liver, Alexandria Style

Egyptians get their “liver fix” either from street food carts or fast food shops. Gathered around food carts at different street corners, they enjoy their stir fried liver served in small plates with fresh chili peppers, lime wedges and warm pitas.  For a quick bite or an order to go, they pick up their liver sandwiches made with Egyptian mini baguettes or bread rolls with sides of French fries and mixed pickles.

The recipe for Alexandria style liver is famous throughout Egypt.  It’s a quick and easy recipe that takes less than 30 minutes to prepare. The hardest step in preparing it is cutting the liver into small pieces since this offal is quiet slippery. The trick to save you time is to cut it up while it’s frozen then leave it to thaw.  Let’s get started!

Serving Ideas: The sauce from this dish is so yummy! So you want to serve it with a thick bread that will absorb this sauce.  It could also be served with rice or pasta.

Condiments: Tahini sauce and mixed pickles.

Servings: 4-6 servings

Ingredients:
1/3 cup cooking oil
1 lb (400 gm) calf’s liver, chopped
6 garlic cloves, crushed and minced
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
1 chili pepper, seeded and chopped (add as many as you want to make it really spicy)
1 1/2 Tbs cumin powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
1/4 tsp ginger powder
1/4 tsp cloves powder
1/4 tsp cardamon powder
Juice of one lime or lemon
1 tsp salt

Directions:

~ Start by choosing a large pan with a cover.
~ Over high heat, Heat the oil in the pan.
~ When the oil is very hot, add the liver.

~ Liver is delicate. Quickly and carefully stir fry it until it changes color.

~ Add all remaining ingredients and mix well.

~ Cover the pan. And over medium low heat, cook the liver for 15 minutes.
~ That’s it. The liver is ready!

Variations:
Instead of just bell pepper, add chopped tomatoes and chopped yellow onions.  All three vegetables should come together as about one cup. With less peppers in the dish, the flavor will be different, yet still delicious and healthier as you add more veggies.

~ Bel Hana ~

Best Places to Try this Dish in Egypt:
~ ElSayed in Alexandria
~ ElAsly in Maadi
~ ElBerens in Cairo
~ My mom’s kitchen 🙂