Y for Yemen ~ Malikia / Masoob

 
Event: BM #44, Around the world (A - Z Series)        
Choice of Country: The Republic of Yemen
Capital City: Sana'a
Official Language: Arabic

We are into the final days of  'Around the World in 30 Days' themed blogging marathon and today I am going with 'Yemen', the only choice for alphabet Y. This Arab nation in the southeast Asia includes more than 200 islands in it's territory. It's cuisine is widely distinct from the more widely known Middle Eastern cuisines and is extremely popular one among the Gulf nations. The cooking varies region wise and goat, lamb and chicken are the popular meats. Cheese, butter and other dairy products are not commonly used in Cuisine. A meat stew known as Saltah is the national dish and is usually served with Yemeni flatbread. Tawa, tameez, laxoox, kader, fateer, kudam, rashoosh, oshara, amd malawah are the popular breads eaten in Yemen while malooga, khuba and khamira are the popular home made breads. Store bought pita and rotis are also commonly used. (Source:Wiki)
I settled with this simple and quick dessert for Yemen and was quite happy with the results. It may not be visually stunning but is quite a delight to devour this concoction of fruit, cream, nuts and honey. This recipe is a great way to use the left over flat breads / rotis and over ripe bananas. It is supposedly a sweet - savory dish that is quite popular in Gulf countries but I omitted the cheese as it was optional and I felt like that flavor is not needed here. (I even doubt whether this cheese is traditionally used). This banana and bread based sweet dish is called Malikia in Yemen while it goes by the name masoob in Saudi Arabia. The ratio of the bread crumbs and the fruit puree should be roughly equal for this recipe. I substituted the rotis with brown bread in one of my trials and I think rotis taste better. This malikia is close to rasayana in the taste department, a favorite of mine and so I had no problems in falling in love with this dish. My husband didn't care for it but I made it for myself already thrice this month.

Ingredients: (2 -3 servings)
2 flatbread (I used left over rotis)
1 big banana (Use about 1 & 1/2 if using small sized bananas.)
1/2 cup whipped cream
1/4 cup dry fruits / nuts to garnish (I used raisins, sliced pistachios and almonds.)
Honey to taste
Shredded mild cheddar cheese (Optional and I didn't use it.)

Method:
* Tear rotis into tiny pieces and process into fine crumbs in a food processor / blender.
* Finely mash the banana in a bowl.
* Combine the roti crumbs and mashed banana in a serving dish. (I would recommend dividing the mixture into three portions and arrange on three serving platters. The final dish is very rich and I felt it is heavy for one person.)
* Spoon whipped cream (or you can use a piping bag for fancy presentation.) and garnish with nuts. Sprinkle cheese if using.
* Drizzle generous amount of honey all over and serve immediately. You can also heat it in microwave for 30 seconds before serving.

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