Stuffed Dates

Stuffed dates are bite sized appetizers that are quick and easy to prepare and look quite attractive. They can be easily customized according to one's tastes and make a great snack that is not on the sweeter side. The filling can be made sweeter by whipping the cream cheese with a small amount of sugar or honey. I have used salted pistachios though almonds, walnuts, pecan or any other nuts can be substituted. Similarly any variety of cream cheese or mascarpone can be used.

Ingredients:
Pitted dates (I used deglet noor variety.)
Cream cheese
Chopped, salted pistachios or any other nut

Directions:
* Open up the pitted dates without slicing them into two, to create pockets. 
* Fill them with cream cheese.
* Sprinkle chopped nuts over the cheese.

This post is an entry for Blogging Marathon #100 under 'Stuffed Dishes' theme.

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Amaranth Flour - Pistachio Balls / Rajgira Ke Atta - Pista laddu

Here are some nutritious and healthy laddu for adults and kids alike. These are gluten free and are easy to make. I thought of using a millet flour for this week's theme and zeroed on amaranth flour. I added pistachios but any or a mixture of nuts can be substituted here. We felt that they tasted similar to the classic sunnundalu of Andhra which are made using husked black gram / sabut urad dal and jaggery and had a hint of milk powder texture.

Ingredients: (Yield 8 laddus)
3 tbsp. Ghee
1/2 cup Rajgira ke atta / Amaranth flour
1/4 cup shelled pistachios
6 to 8 tbsp. powdered jaggery
1/8 tsp. ground cardamom

Method:
* Heat a pan and add ghee. When ghee melts, add amaranth flour and toast it on low flame until you start to smell the aroma, about five minutes.
* Lightly toast the pistachios and keep them aside to cool.
* Add the pistachios to a food processor or a blender and grind them coarsely. Next add the remaining ingredients and pulse a few times to combine.
* Transfer the ingredients onto a plate or bowl. When the mixture is cool enough to handle, shape them into balls. Shape the laddus when the mixture is still warm.
* Let them cool and store them in an airtight container.

This goes to Blogging marathon #86, under the theme 'All that come round are laddus?'. Check out the page to read what other marathoners are cooking.

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Umm Ali

Umm Ali is one of the cherished desserts in the Middle East, that was supposedly originated in Egypt. This delicious bread pudding uses puff pastry or phyllo pastry or some stale bread, milk, nuts and coconut. One can use / omit whatever nuts they prefer in this recipe. The creamy bread pudding, crunchy nuts and sweetened cream - milk base, make this an irresistible treat. I came across this lighter version using croissants at Nestle website and had prepared it some time back, scaling down the ingredients to serve two. 

Umm Ali literally means mother of Ali and I came across a couple of legendary stories behind the origin of this delicious dessert. One refers to a woman named, Umm Ali who happened to be the first wife of a Sultan named Aybek. His second wife Shajar al-Durr prevented him from seeing his first wife and son and the king happily obliged. However when he got ready to marry another woman, the second wife got so jealous and raving mad that she killed him and proved that he died in his sleep. The first wife who already had a dispute with Umm Ali, got her brutally killed by Shajar's own servants. And then, she celebrated her victory by preparing this pudding and distributing it among the people of the land.

The second one, a less violent version is that it was invented during the reign of Ottoman Turks. A sultan who was on a hunting trip got hungry and stopped by a small village. Umm Ali, the best cook of the village, filled a pan with the ingredients she had - dried wheat flakes (probably leftovers from some stale bread), nuts, sultanas and coconut. She covered it with milk and sugar, put in the community oven and cooked something akin to this pudding.
 
Ingredients for 2 servings:
3 croissants (I used small size ones.)
1 cup water
1/4 cup condensed milk
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup whipped cream
1 tbsp. each - coconut, pistachios, almonds and raisins

Method:
* Preheat the oven to 200 deg C / 400 deg F.

* Combine croissant pieces, coconut, pistachio, almonds and raisins in a ovenproof dish. Or divide the mixture among 2 oven proof bowls if you are planning to serve two, individually. 

* Bring condensed milk, water and vanilla to a boil in a sauce pan. Pour it over the croissant mixture and set it aside for five minutes or until the croissant mixture absorbs the maximum of the liquid.

* Place whipping cream in a piping bag and pipe the cream over the mixture. (I didn't use a piping bag and just spooned the cream into the bowls.)

* Place the baking dish in the preheated oven using the grilling part of the oven and grill for 5 minutes or until the cream topping is golden in color. (I turned off the oven and forgot to remove the bowls immediately and hence the darker hue of the cream.)
* Serve it immediately.

This goes to BM #48 for under "1 Cuisine - 3 Dishes" - Arabian Cuisine theme. Check here to see what my fellow marathoners are cooking during Blogging Marath on #48.

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Cheese Stuffed Dates

 
While planning for last month's 'global food' based blogging marathon, I realized that stuffed dates are a popular treat in the Arab world. They can range from a simple stuffing like coconut or sesame seeds to these party worthy cheese filled ones. The sweetened cheese filling here is flavored with cardamom / rose water / orange blossom water, strongly reflecting the Arabic influences. The stuffed dates are then garnished with nuts. These stuffed dates would be an yummy treat for kids and adults alike.

Ingredients:
Soft, pitted Dates
Cream Cheese / Ricotta Cheese / Freshly made Chena
Powdered sugar to taste
Cardamom powder for flavor
Pistachios to decorate

Method:
* Make a small lengthwise incision on one side of each date using a small knife and keep them aside. (If using pitted dates, remove the pits.)
* Combine cheese, sugar and cardamom in a small bowl.
* Fill each date with about 1 tsp (or sufficient) cheese mixture.
* Garnish with sliced pistachios or press a pistachio on each date.

Notes:
1. One tbsp. cheese would fill 3 - 4 dates. Skim cheese can be used.
2. I garnished with some orange zest too and I think that flavor is too overpowering and only a little cardamom would suffice for the flavor. Even rose water / orange blossom water can be substituted for cardamom. 

This is going to be my contribution to 
1. Blogging Marathon #45
2. Kids' Delight - Potluck Party.

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E for Egypt ~ Ghorayebah / Ghreybeh

 
Event: BM #44  
Choice of country: Egypt  
Capital City: Cairo  
Official Language: Egyptian Arabic

We are on the fifth day of  "global cooking" themed month here and I am going with Egypt for the alphabet "E". Egypt lies between 2 continents, Africa and Asia and has one of the longest histories of any modern country. It is considered a cradle of civilization and ancient Egypt experienced some of the earliest developments of writing, agriculture, urbanization, organized religion and central government in history. It's civilization is renowned for it's colossal pyramids, temples and monumental tombs. 
Majority of the people live near the Nile river banks since that is the only arable land available. Nile valley and delta produce large quantities of legumes and vegetables in high quality and Egyptian cuisine heavily relies on it. In fact, it's cuisine is based on foods that grow out of the ground and is conducive to vegetarian diets. Meat has been very expensive for most Egyptians throughout it's history and so a variety of vegetarian dishes have been developed. The excavations have revealed that workers on the "Great Pyramids of Giza" were paid in bread made with emmer wheat flour, beer, and onions. Fava beans have been and still is the primary source of protein. Bread forms the backbone of Egyptian cuisine and is used as a utensil to scoop up the side dishes. (Info from wiki.)
 
I am going with some addictive cookies from that country. Ghorayebah / ghreybeh pronounced "go-ray-bah" are shortbread / butter cookies from the Arab world. After looking through online recipes, my initial understanding was that they originated either in Egypt or Lebanon. It turns out that they are very popular through out the middle East region and every person thinks that ghorayebah comes from his/her own country. In fact, I saw them In African food blogs too. :) And so like Egyptians, I am going to claim them Egyptian and posting them for my "E" alphabet.

I read somewhere that these cookies are named after the Arabic word for swoon. No wonder considering that the texture and taste of these cookies are worth swooning over. Traditionally they are shaped like rings, adorned with pistachio / almonds. The baked cookie looks like a bracelet with a "nut" gem and are sometimes known as "Queen's bracelets". The queen referred here comes from the biblical book of Esther. Esther is a Jewish-Persian queen who prevents a massacre of the Jewish people. Ghorayebah are served during purim and are thought to represent her bracelets.

The recipe is deceptively simple though cookies taste divine. It seems that the traditional version ghorayebah are made with only three ingredients - flour, sugar and butter. No leavening agents or flavorings are added but of course are garnished with nuts. Perfectly done ghorayebah are ivory colored, fragile and melt in mouth kind. They have a sweet, buttery taste and shortbread cookie texture. Their taste and texture reminded me of those yummy butter biscuits sold in Indian bakeries. I am sure every Indian have eaten their share of those delicious biscuits.

Ingredients for a dozen cookies:
1/4 cup melted ghee (clarified butter)
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
Pistachios / almonds to garnish

Method:
* Beat ghee and sugar together until creamy, about 3 to 4 minutes.

* Add flour and combine to make a soft, pliable dough.
1. I got a perfect dough with the above measurements and didn't need any extra flour to form the dough. In case, if the dough is very loose, add flour in tbsp. increments and try to form the dough.   
2. I saw some recipes mentioning to chill the dough but it is not required. Besides the dough becomes too stiff and you have to leave it again at room temperature to shape the cookies and so basically the chilling step is useless.

* Preheat the oven to 350 deg F / 180 deg C.
* Grease  a baking sheet or line with foil / parchment paper.
* Divide the dough into 12 portions. Shape each portion into a log of about 5 inches long and 1/4 inch thick. Form a ring, by joining both the ends by pressing in a pistachio (or a blanched almond). You can directly shape the cookies on the baking sheet since they may break while transferring from work surface to the baking sheet.
* The ring shaped ghorayebah are traditional but if you don't want to bother, go the easy way. Roll the dough into 12 balls, gently flatten them and stick a pistachio / almond at the center. I have seen versions using whole cloves too.

* Arrange the dough rings on the prepared baking sheet, leaving some space between them. They don't spread while baking but puff up slightly.
* Bake until they start to turn slightly light golden, about 18 - 20 minutes. They should remain ivory colored and do not brown them. Even slight browning spoils their characteristic taste. (Mine were done in about 16 minutes)

* Remove them from oven and let cool. Store them in an airtight container. 

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Dates and Nut Laddu

Now these dates and nut laddus are my kind of dish. Simple, quick and easy to put together on a festival day like Diwali or Raksha bandhan. They can be prepared in less than 15 minutes. Dates add a sweet base and there is no need for other sweeteners in this dish. Use soft, pitted variety dates and add any variety of nuts you have on hand. All nuts are delicious anyway and healthy when eaten in moderation. Feel free to add or omit any of the nuts from the below given list to customize. If you are feeling lazier, omit the dates frying step as well and directly grind the dates.

Ingredients: (Makes around 10 laddus)

1 cup mixed nuts  (I used a handful of each - walnuts, almonds, pistachios and cashews.)
1 cup pitted, soft dates (about 2 dozen)
1 tsp ghee

Method:
* Toast each variety of the nuts individually in a pan until they turn crisp. Let them cool and grind coarsely.
* Finely chop the dates.
* Heat ghee in a pan and add the chopped dates. Saute them for 2 - 3 minutes, pressing down the date pieces with the back of the spoon so that the dates turn into a pulp. Add the ground nuts to the pan, mix well and turn off the stove.
* Transfer the mixture onto a plate and when it is warm, make laddus of desired size. If the mixture is sticky and hard to shape the laddus, grease your palms and try.
* For a variation, the laddus can be rolled in dessicated coconut or sesame seeds as well.

These go to BM #43 under "Festival Special Theme". Check here to learn what other dishes are being cooked during this marathon.

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Dum Ke Rote

I have signed up for Srivalli's month long marathon this April, with the theme of "Indian states". It is giving me an opportunity to explore the regional, culinary heritage of India and the first one in the series is going to be my home state "Andhra Pradesh". The state can be classified geographically into three regions - Andhra, Rayalaseema and Telangana. I am very well acquainted with the first two regions, being connected to them through my parents and husband. Telangana is the region that I am not familiar with and I wanted to try something from this region. 

Hyderabad is a part of Telangana and is the home for another culinary heritage, the Hyderabadi cuisine that was greatly influenced by the muslim reign there. I have noticed that the hindus are less familiar with several of the recipes that are popular among the muslim community there. Dum ke rote is one such Hyderabadi recipe that I wanted to try ever since I saw them on Mona's blog. She has a wonderful collection of recipes from the region. for people who are interested. Dum ke rote are semolina based cookies, baked / cooked in dum. These cardamom flavored cookies are soft from inside and crunchy outside. They are deceptively plain looking but are very addictive.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup almonds
1/2 cup pistachios 
3 & 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3 cups fine semolina (not semolina flour)
3 cups sugar
1 & 1/2 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp cardamom powder
3/4 cup unsweetened khoya
1 cup warm milk
1 cup warm ghee
Almond and pistachio flakes to garnish

Note:
I used 1/3 of the ingredients and got 4 rotes. Actually could have made 5. The rotes spread while baking and the 6 inched unbaked ones yielded 8 inched rotes. And I think making small sized ones is a smart option both for storage and consumption purposes.

Method:
* Soak almonds and pistachios in water overnight. Drain and peel off the skins in the morning.
* Grind almonds, pistachios and khoya to a fine paste adding warm milk.
* Combine all purpose flour, semolina, sugar, baking powder and cardamom powder in a mixing bowl.
* Add the nut-khoya paste to the flour mixture and mix well to form a firm dough. Add extra milk if needed to form the dough. The dough was a little on the sticky side. Knead the dough and allow to rest it for about an hour. Remove, knead the dough again and put it back to rest once again for another hour.

* Preheat the oven to 350 deg F.
* Divide the dough into 13 - 15 portions.
* Cover baking sheets with aluminium foil and grease them. Gently pat each portion into a thin circle of about 6 inches in diameter.

* Bake for about 10 - 15 minutes or until the edges and the bottom side starts to brown. Broil on low for 2 to 5 minutes until they turn golden brown uniformly. Keep an eye through the broiling part and don't let them burn. Remove, cool and store them in an airtight container.



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Doodh Paak ~ Gujarati Kheer

I was looking for a Gujarati dessert that had no loads of ghee in it and came across this yummy kheer. Kheer undoubtedly happens to be one of the basic sweet dishes cooked through out India on festivities and auspicious occasions. Regardless of the name it goes by regionally or the local variations in the preparation, this is a yummy, rice and milk based dessert. I have noticed that it is also one of the most popular choice of desserts in the Indian restaurants' buffet menus here in US. It may be because it is rich and delicious and simpler to prepare.
The dish is called kheer and payasam respectively in northern and southern parts of India while Gujaratis call it as doodh pak. The basic recipe everywhere remains the same. A small quantity of rice is allowed to cook leisurely in simmering milk and then sweetened with sugar / jaggery. It is finished with a cardamom flavoring and generous garnishing of nuts for the delicious and crunchy bite they offer to the dish. It can be served warm or chilled.
Check the north Indian version kheer recipe here.

Ingredients: (2 servings)
2 cups / 1/2 litre full fat milk
1 tbsp rice (I used extra long grain rice.)
1 tbsp ghee
6 - 8 tbsp white colored rock sugar (Or adjust the quantity as needed. In absence of rock sugar, substitute with regular sugar.)
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
1/4 tsp crushed saffron (or soak a pinch of saffron strands in warm milk and use.)
1/2 cup slivered almonds / pistachios

Method:
* Mix the rice and ghee in a small bowl and keep aside.
* Heat milk preferably in a non stick sauce pan. When the milk is hot, lower the heat and simmer the milk for about 10 - 12 minutes.
Don't forget to stir the milk now and then, through out the process to avoid scorching.
* Add the rice to the milk and continue to simmer until rice is softly cooked.
* Then add the sugar, cardamom, crushed saffron and the nuts. Continue to cook for about 5 - 7  minutes.
* By the time, the saffron will add a beautiful yellowish hue to the dish and the nuts turn a little bit softer, giving a bite to it while consuming the kheer.
* Serve warm / chilled.

This is going to be a part of BM #35 under the theme of "Regional Cooking - Specific Course". Check what other marathoners are cooking here.

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Tea Infused Pistachio Ice Cubes

When I saw that "Tea and Pistachio" are this month's magic mingle ingredients, I thought Kalyani has outdone herself again with her theme choice. The only thought kept coming was baking something with pistachio, infusing tea. However the idea soon fizzled since neither my kids nor I consume tea / coffee and we are the ones who had to finish the baked stuff. Honestly, I even thought of letting it go this month as no interesting ideas were coming to my mind.

My husband likes to drink a non alcoholic, cold beverage at nights even during winter and at the last moment, I thought of concentrating on that area. The result is these colorful, flavored ice cubes. I had prepared plain tea ice cubes as well for iced tea and I am planning to use the pistachio ones for a nut based milkshake. My husband is away on work and so will update later after the trials. :)

Ingredients: (Yield 12 ice cubes)

3-4 tea bags

1.5 cup water

1/4 cup pistachio powder

Method:

* Bring water to a rolling boil and add the tea bags. Turn off the stove. Allow to infuse until the recommended time and remove the tea bags.

* Allow the tea to come to room temperature and add the pistachio powder. Pour it into ice tray and freeze them until solid.

This goes to Magic Mingle#15 - Pistachio and Tea.

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Basundi

I was not well when Valli announced this edition of blogging marathon's themes and I guess I was delirious when I made the choices. I did not realise until later that baking and festive sweet themes would result in loads of sweet stuff. Half of my family don't touch sweets and so I froze whatever I could last week. And this week I prepared sweets in small portions and completely avoided frying stuff. With lots of sweets already posted at my blog, not repeating the same set of sweets as per the marathon condition (Example - we couldn't post more than one halwa / laddu / burfi), eliminating frying stuff and some ingredients missing in my pantry - I was left with racking my brain this week for ideas. I didn't know what I was going to cook until the moment came. However I could whip up some easy and quick stuff even without planning. :)

Here is a recap of what I cooked this week -
Vermicelli Halwa
Kalakand (Microwave) 
Sago - Carrot Kheer
Dates - Almond Laddu
Kobbari Paala Thalikalu
Nuvvula Kudumulu

And here is yummy basundi for the final post. I should say that it is an opt one for sultry summer days. It is a little time consuming dessert but the process is a simple one even for novice cooks. The only skill needed is stirring milk with out scorching. The milk is simmered slowly until thickened, sweetened, then flavored with cardamom and garnished with nuts & saffron to make it more flavorful and colorful.

Ingredients for 2 servings:
3 cups whole milk
2 - 3 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
1/4 tsp saffron strands soaked in about a tsp of warm milk
Nuts to garnish (Pistachios, almonds and/or charoli can be used.)

Method:
* Heat the milk preferably in a non stick saucepan on low flame to avoid milk from scorching. Keep stirring in between and simmer the milk until it reduces to half of the original quantity.

* Then add the sugar and let it dissolve. Next add the cardamom powder, saffron strands and the slivered nuts. Turn of the stove.

* Refrigerate the basundi and serve chilled. Garnish with extra nuts while serving, if desired.



Check out the blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#

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Sindhi Cuisine ~ Majoon for ICC

Majoon - a Sindhi delicacy from Mrs. Sabnani's blog has been this month's Indian Cooking Challenge theme. I kept contemplating until the end to go with it or not since it is a calorie laden sweet dish and only two of us at home like sweet stuff. I so enquired my son actually showed the recipe to my son and asked him whether he would like to have it. I started making it only after he assured me that he would try it. :)
Vaishaliji mentions that majoon is a winter special dish. Sindhis usually prepare it in bulk quantities and store it to last thru the winter months. It can be stored for up to six months if it doesn't come in contact with any trace of moisture. It is served as breakfast in small quantities, each day during winter. :) And newly wed daughters and married daughters receive it from their mothers during this season. 
This dish is simple in terms of preparation but takes longer since the milk and other ingredients have to reduce to a solid mass. And majoon is like embellished paalkova. It tastes fabulous as it's SouthIndian counterpart but is full of other yummy additions like poppy seeds and nuts.
I usually pick a time to cook dishes of this nature when I need to take care of things in the kitchen so that I can keep an eye on the dish instead of constantly hovering over it. This time I was cleaning in the kitchen and helping my daughter with her homework while the dish almost took care of itself. It was a lot easier since I cooked the whole time on simmer mode and didn't have to check quite often.

Ingredients: (Make about 1 & 1/4 cups)
2 cups milk (I used a cup of each - full fat milk and skim milk.)
6 Tbsp sugar (I like my sweet dishes not overtly sweet. Sugar quantity can be increased if more sweetness preferred.)
1/2 cup khoya (Another half cup can be added if preferred.)
2 Tbsp poppy seeds / khus khus
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
10 dried dates - coarsely chopped (I added pitted dates.)
3/4 cup coarsely chopped nuts - almonds, pistachios and cashews (I just pulsed them in food processor. Vaishaliji has mentioned to avoid walnuts if preparing the majoon in larger quantities.)
3 Tbsp ghee (I omitted it and still found the dish to be rich.)

Method:
When I have to deal with milk dishes and the recipe involves simmering and stirring for longer times, I usually go with a non stick saucepan. It makes the cooking job a hell lot easier and after cleanup is a cinch.
Heat milk in a nonstick pan and when it starts to boil, add everything except nuts. Cook on slow flame until it reduces to half the original quantity. Leave a spoon or a ladle in the pan so that the milk would not boil over (and so automatically your time to babysit that dish is considerably reduced. :)) Then add the nuts and ghee into the mixture and stir well. Continue to cook until the mixture turns into a thick mass and ghee starts floating over the surface.

How to serve:
Heat about  2 - 4 Tbsp of majoon with 2 tsp of milk in a microwave and serve piping hot.

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