Blog
To Celebrate World Arabic Day, on December 18, 2025
My Tent /Khaimati/ خيمتي |
Classroom without Walls
Invites you/Arabic lovers/any level speakers to
the First Interdisciplinary Arabic Summit 2025
Featuring Hiwar-Read-A-Ton - Functional Arabic Dialogues
+ bonus introductory Arabic calligraphy & Arabic Spelling Bee
With Oustatha Dr. Samia Touati
Mondays to Fridays | Zoom asynchronous | 15 minutes sessions
Saturdays | synchronous Zoom meeting | 11-12PM Eastern Time
From November 24 to December 18, 2025
Introductory Arabic calligraphy Techniques
With Oustatha Dr. Samia Touati
December 13th - 14th
Zoom | 2:30-3:30 pm ET
The First Students Arab Calligraphy Exhibition
December 18th | Virtually
December 19th temporary show at the Montessori School of Raleigh
@ ArabHeritageLearning.org
For the registration link contact:
samia@arabheritagelearning.org
!هذا نهار كبير
/Hatha n-har kbeer!? Arabic for "This is a great day!"
I replied to one of my daughters when she asked me:
"Allah yesser Leek... I want you to teach me Fosha so I can talk to people in it - it's very versatile in my opinion!"
During our twelve years in Qatar, our daughters received a multilingual education in English, Arabic and French and were immersed in Arabian intercultural upbringing.
However, upon relocating to the US in 2016, and struggling with the lack of interdisciplinary immersive Arabic language and culture instruction, I became more passionate about preserving my cultural roots.
I founded the Arab Heritage Learning Program in 2017, with its initiative Samia's Cuisine for a Cause, offering courses and workshops on my cultural heritage to my daughters in their schools as well as schools and communities in our Triangle area.
With my daughter's will and calling to learn Arabic ignited the educator in me, and I continued my journey as a student, a researcher in innovative methodologies of Arabic Language and culture instruction.
I invite all Arabic lovers and speakers of any Arabic variety and level to join me in the First Interdisciplinary Arabic Summit, 2025 edition.
From November 24 to December 18, 2025
To receive the registration link contact: samia@arabheritagelearning.org
Are you in the process of learning website development or improvement?
As part of our internship and learning, you will work with Dr. Samia Touati on a small project on presenting effectively and attractively educational contents.
Contact: samiabenttouati@gmail.com
Special thanks to all who contributed to this:
Urgent Help for Earthquake in Morocco https://gofund.me/876bcc93
Enjoy making some recipes from scratch!
Falafel
Ingredients
- 1 pound/about 500g dried chickpeas - soaked in water overnight in room temperature water. Avoid using canned chickpeas.
- Fresh parsley, cilantro, dill
- 1 small fresh onion, yellow, white or red are fine too
- Fresh garlic cloves.
- Kosher salt, pepper, cumin, coriander, little cayenne pepper and cardamom.
- 2 tablespoons of chickpea flour, not too much so the falafel become dense after cooking
- 1 teaspoon of Baking powder gives the falafel a fluffy texture, optional.
- Optional+ 2 tablespoons full size sesame seeds.
Instructions:
1. Soak the chickpeas overnight. They will double in size. Drain them very well before use.
2. In a food processor, grind little by little the chickpeas, fresh herbs and spices. The mixture becomes very green and coarse.
3. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. The falafel mixture will be easy to shape into falafel patties.
4. Heat the pan, using olive oil and vegetable oil, and deep fry the falafel, 375 degrees F.
Reminding tips:
Avoid canned falafel, use fresh ones instead.
Avoid using too much chickpea flour, the falafel will become dry and dense.
Baking powder keeps the falafel airy.
Overheating the oil can cause the falafel to fall apart in the frying pan.
I tried baking the falafel but the most authentic and delicious falafel should be deep fried.
Avoid filling the pan with falafel during frying so all the falafel have enough space to get fried evenly.
Petit Pain au Chocolat
500 g White Flour
10 g Sea salt
25 g Active rising yeast or fresh yeast
50 g sugar or 40 g sugar + 1 tablespoon of raw pure honey
125 ml milk
125 ml water
———————-
350 g butter, use it cooled, not room temperature
30 dark chocolate sticks or dark chocolate chips
1 egg, beaten or milk for golden the petit pain
Instructions
1. In a bowl, mix the dry ingredients, then add the yeast, lukewarm water and milk.
Mix well or use an electric mixer until dough clumps up. Cover with a plastic cellophane, and let it rest for one hour.
2. On a waxed paper, flatten the butter in the square shape. Take the dough, flatten it to a rectangular shape of a 1 cm height. Place the butter in the middle of the rectangle dough sheet, then both sides of the dough toward the center covering all the butter sheet. Wrap again in plastic cellophane and put it in the fridge for two hours.
3. Flatten the dough again to a rectangular shape, fold again onto three and place it in the fridge for 1 hour.
4. Divide the dough sheet into four, flatten in a rectangular shape of 15 cm. Place the chocolate stick 1 cm after the edge of the dough, fold again, place another chocolate stick, and fold again.
5. Let the petit pain rise for 1 hour and thirty minutes.
6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Brush the petit pain with the beaten egg or milk.
7. Bake at the lower lever of the oven for 20 minutes, then at the middle level for 20/25 minutes.
Enjoy with some tea or café cassé!
To celebrate our Moroccan team’s unprecedented achievement at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, and on the occasion of the World Arabic Language Day, your school is invited to book Spring 2023 Arabic Immersion and Moroccan Cultural experience with Educator Dr. Samia Touati. Discounted booking between December 18th, 2022 - January 1st, 2023.