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It's time for the 'Q' post in this A - Z marathon, based on Andhra vegetarian recipes. Picking a dish for this particular alphabet was easy-peasy, as my daughter would say. Though there is not a single ingredient in an Andhra kitchen which starts with 'Q', there are however a couple of popular 'Q' dishes if one travels to the capital city of Hyderabad. And I picked the sweet one among those, a popular delicacy from the region called 'Qubani ka Meetha'. It is a dish that is almost synonymous with the Nizam city and a cherished one among the Muslim community there. This was on my 'to do' list for about two decades now and thanks to this marathon, I could prepare it recently.
'Qubani'
means apricots in Urdu and 'Meetha' means sweet and so the name 'Qubaani
ka Meetha' literally translates to a sweet dish prepared using
apricots. Apricots are not local to the region and hence there is no Telugu name for either the fruit or the dish. While Hyderabadi 'Fine biscuits' I posted earlier in the marathon has a English name, this 'Q' dish has a Urdu name. Those are the only names by which these dishes go by and both names have no regional translations / substitutes and so, they helped me in maneuvering around the 'regional names clause' for these particularly difficult alphabets. I am reserving to use that clause exemption for more difficult alphabets which are coming my way next week.
Qubani ka meetha was conceived in the Nizam kitchens, on his behest. I heard an anecdote about the origins of this dish recently on a cook show, which coincidentally was showcasing some Hyderabadi delicacies. It was mentioned that the Nizam of Hyderabad who went to Kashmir to meet the Mughal emperor, fell in love with the apricots he was served there. It is said that the emperor later parceled him dried apricots so that the Nizam can enjoy them to his fill, through out the year. The Nizam sent those apricots to his palatial kitchen and asked the chefs to come up with something interesting. Obviously it had to be something delicious and thus the qubani ka meetha was born. I don't know how authentic the story is, but qubani ka meetha was indeed a creation of Nizam chefs. The dish probably reached the common masses later and is now an integral part of the celebrations, especially weddings among the local Muslim community.
Qubani ka meetha is a very straight forward and simple preparation that involves only two ingredients, dried apricots and sugar. Even a novice cook can master the dish in the first trial itself and can boast about. It takes
about 15 to 20 minutes to cook the meetha, on low simmer and one need not hover around, especially if using a non-stick pan. I probably stirred the meetha only twice or thrice during the entire cooking.
Dried apricots are soaked in water overnight to re-hydrate them. The stones are removed and the pulp is cooked along with sugar in the soaked water until it reaches the consistency of a compote and then pureed. Inside each stone there is an edible seed which tastes and looks like an almond albeit smaller in size. Those are collected and are used to garnish the meetha. Qubani ka meetha was served with malai / cream traditionally but now it can be served with custard or even vanilla ice cream. Qubani ka meetha is always prepared subtly sweet because of the custard / cream garnish which adds additional sweetness to the meetha. I prepared some thick custard to serve the meetha with.
Ingredients: (yield over 2 cups / 4 servings)
400 gm. dried apricots (72 apricots)
5 tbsp. sugar (Taste and adjust. The meetha should be subtly sweet.)
Custard / Cream / Ice cream to serve
Method:
* Wash the dried apricots thoroughly and soak them overnight in water, covered. The apricots should be completely immersed in water.
* By morning, the dried apricots would have swelled and the fruits would have become softer. The re-hydrated apricots are going to look like those in the above image. Do not throw away the water used to soak the apricots, which would have changed color by now. Collect the water in another bowl and reserve it. It is needed later to cook the apricots.
* Collect the fruits in another bowl and remove the stones from each fruit. If you have any eager hands to help, let them chip in. (The dried apricots may be lighter or darker in color and don't discard the darker ones thinking that they are rotten.)
* Do not throw away the stones yet. There are edible seeds in them which are going to be used later in the recipe.
* Add the stone-less fruits and the soaked water reserved in the earlier step to a pan, preferably a non stick one. Cook stirring intermittently until the mixture turns mushy.
* The soaked water would be enough to cook. However in case, if the mixture needs some more liquid and if you have run out of soaked liquid, add plain water as needed. The fruit pulp attains a darker shade while cooking.
* With the
back of the spoon, just mash the fruit pulp into a single mass. Add
sugar, stir and cook until it melts. At this point, the mixture is
cooled a bit and pureed. I chose not to puree it. Or the apricots can be pureed
at the beginning itself before cooking them
* While the apricots are cooking, collect the apricot seeds for garnishing. Gently break open the apricot stones using a mortar and pestle (or what ever gadget works for you). The stone will break open easily revealing a tiny almond sized apricot seed/kernel inside. Throw away the hard shells and collect the seeds.
* Garnish the cooked meetha with apricot seeds.
* Serve qubani ka meetha with custard / cream or ice cream.
So far on my 'A - Z' Andhra Cuisine,
A for Alasanda Vada
B for Bellam Garelu
C for Chiyali
D for Dondakaaya Kaarapu Kaaya
E for Endu Kobbari Podi
F for Fine Biscuits
G for Gongura - Mamidikaya Pappu
H for Halwa Holigalu
I for Idli Karam Podi
J for Janthikalu
K for Kobbari Koora
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 63.
An InLinkz Link-up
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Event: BM #44
, Around the world (A - Z series)
Choice of country: The Republic of Iraq
Capital City: Baghdad
Official Language: Arabic and Kurdish
As a young child, I was fascinated by the Arabian night stories and had assumed the places mentioned in there were time frozen. I don't know what I was thinking as an elementary school kid but looking at the illustrations, I used to assume that the modern era people also lived in a Sultanate and led the same life style as the people in the stories did. The words Cairo and Baghdad were etched in my mind because of the mention of those two cities quite often in the stories that I have gone through. I even thought of visiting them once in my lifetime when I grew up but looking at the present chaotic conditions Iraq is in, I know that I can never set foot in that country. I may not go there physically but who would stop me from paying a virtual visit, right? And so I am going to Iraq for my "I" country, in search of a quick and yummy treat.
Historical tidbits for the day:
* Iraq is situated on western Asia and is often referred to as the "cradle of civilization". It is thought to be home for one of the earliest civilizations known to mankind - the Sumerian civilization which arose in the fertile region between Iraq's two major rivers, Euphrates and Tigris during Chalcolithic period or the copper age. This fertile region is also called "Mesopotamia". Sumerian civilization flourished for over 3000 years and was highly advanced and sophisticated in all fields of knowledge .
* During 4th millennium BC, the world's first writing system and recorded history were born in the same region.
* Baghdad was built in the 8th century as the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate and became the leading metropolis of the Arab and Muslim world for five centuries. It was the largest multicultural city of the Middle ages, with a population over than a million and was the center of learning during the Islamic golden age.
Culinary tidbits from Iraq:
* Did you know that the world's first recorded cookbooks come from Iraq? Tablets
found in ancient ruins in Iraq show recipes prepared in the temples
during religious festivals and these are the first cookbooks of the world.
* Pistachios were a common food in the region as as early as 6750 B.C
* Among the ancient texts discovered in Iraq, there was one Sumerian - Akkadian bilingual dictionary belonging to somewhere around 1900 BC and it lists over 800 different items of food and beverages. Among them mentioned are 20 different varieties of cheese, 100 varieties of soups and 300 types of bread - each with different ingredients, filling, shape or size.
* Stew has remained a mainstay in the cuisine. A clay tablet written in 1700 BC was discovered near Baghdad and it contained 24 recipes for stews cooked with meat and vegetables using herbs and spices.
* Iraq is the largest producer of dates.
Iraqi Cuisine:
Iraqi cuisine or the Mesopotamian cuisine dates back to ten thousand years ago - to Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians and the Ancient Persians. Even though they had advanced culinary skills during the Mesopotamian era, Iraqi cooking reached it's zenith during the Abbasid Caliphate era (750 - 1258). The modern cuisine reflects this rich inheritance along with the culinary traditions of neighboring Iran, Turkey and Syrian regions. Meals begin with appetizers and salads – known as Mezza.
(Source:wiki)
And here is an interesting read about the way the Iraqis consume their tea, a firsthand account.
Mishmish means dried apricots in Arabic and the recipe name 'kurat al-mishmish' roughly translates to apricot balls. Apricots have been cultivated in Persia since ancient times and dried ones were an important commodity on Persian trade routes. And so naturally there are apricot based dishes in the Arab world and this delightful dessert comes from the Iraq region. These colorful, yummy balls with sweet undertones of orange flavor take hardly around 10 minutes of preparation and the easiest one among the dishes so far I have tried for this marathon. I had prepared this dish sometime last month and couldn't get to the original recipe link now. I have seen recipes using even orange juice but I guess an authentic version uses orange blossom water.
Ingredients: (Makes 10 balls)
1 cup dried apricots
3/4 cup sweetened coconut flakes
1 tsp orange blossom water / grated orange rind (I used orange rind.)
2 - 3 tbsp sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes / crushed almonds or pistachios / sesame seeds for rolling the balls
Method:
* Run apricots and coconut flakes through a food processor until well blended.
* Now add the orange blossom water / orange rind and condensed milk to the ground apricot mixture and pulse.
* Transfer the mixture from the processor on to a plate. Make small balls out of the mixture and roll them in coconut flakes or what ever you have chosen to cover them in.
* Enjoy them immediately or keep them refrigerated.
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