Fresh Tanoor Bread with humous and fattoush salad. Lovely soft flatbreads - perfect for scooping the exemplary humous up. And the fattoush salad comes with fried pitta strips as a topping.
What do we need to know about Juma?
Phil Juma, the man behind Juma and also Kubba - which opened at Borough Market in January - has been on Hot Dinners' radar for quite some time. We first tried his food when he held an Iraqi popup at Season in Stroud Green. Then we popped down to check out his permanent stall at Borough, which is when we first encountered his amazing knafa. But when that closed he, like many others, diversified into a collection/delivery business (along with cooking for NHS workers).
What are they delivering?
In addition to being able to buy packs of frozen kubba haleb or chaps (Iraqi patties) you choose from a meat, vegetarian or vegan box. Each box feeds between two or three people (easily, in our opinion) and consists of a range of ready to eat mezze along with dishes to heat up and a DIY knafa kit.
Here's what we had:
A choice of three Mushroom chaps and three kubba haleb which take about 10 minutes in the oven to heat up. They're served along with a choice of date and tamarind sauces.
Saffron chicken served with a rice and vermicelli noodle mix. So good - our one reservation would be that we'd have loved more of the intense sauce to spoon over the rice.
Bake-your-own knafa - using soft cheese sourced from Neals Yard Dairy this Middle Eastern staple dessert has to be baked in the oven for about 15 minutes before you add in the sugar syrup and then top with the pistachio and rose petal garnish. Whether you call it knafa or kunefe, this is one of our favourite desserts and JUMA's version is one of London's best.
What's the choice like for vegetarians?
The two other boxes are either vegetarian or vegan and recent ones have included an okra stew and a coconut milk dessert with Basra date syrup.
Overall thoughts:
Honestly, we've never had a duff meal from this Iraqi chef and JUMA's delivery service was no different. Comes highly recommended.
More about JUMA Kitchen
Where is it? 626a Holloway Road, London N19 3PA
When does it deliver? Saturday & Sunday or you can do collection from their Holloway Road site.
Delivery area: West London on Saturdays, South London on Sundays and North London (Holloway, Hampstead, Islington and Finsbury Park area) on both days.
Find out more: Visit their website or follow them on Instagram @jumakitchen
Hot Dinners were sent this meal by the restaurant. All prices correct at time of publication.
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