Pistachio Stuff Dates — Ramadan..An Event to Share Chapter 7

~ Huma ~ 22 Comments
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Hello Foodies, we are entering the second phase of this journey of event. Today we have a blogger from India guest posting for us. Darshna from Cooking with Darshu.  
Welcome aboard Darshana. Thanks for being a part of this celebration. 

Thank you Humi for giving me the opportunity to be a guest writer on your blog. I am not sure from where I stumbled on your blog. I love the way you write your blog along with photos of each and every step. The first recipe that I tried was of  “Yolk Fudge / Zardi Ki Katliya” and really loved it. After that I tried a lot of recipes and all were excellent. From that time I started following your blog and was happy when I got your mail to be a guest writer. After lot of thinking I decided to make “Pistachio-Stuffed Dates” which has  dates as the main ingredient and a very important part of Ramadan.  


Dates is a Ramadan tradition, as most of its benefits are unique to this particular fast. Breaking one’s fast with dates, as well as praying before Iftar, are both mentioned in the Hadith. There are a lot physical benefits of breaking the fast with dates is that our body benefits from the date’s high level of natural sugars. Dates also have a special place in Islam. In fact, they were one of the Prophet’s (SAW) most frequently consumed foods.


Dates are super rich in Vitamin C and together with milk dates make an excellent diet for Ramadan. Dates are added to salads, couscous dishes and curries, but they are also added in baked desserts and confections. Dates are great on their own, but for an extra-special treat, try stuffing them with whole almonds or chopped pieces of walnuts or pecans. Dates are nuggets of nutrition that satisfy a sweet tooth, making them ideal snacks to stave off hunger.

Duration: 20 min
Serves:  15 stuffed dates
Ingredients:
100 shelled unsalted pistachios
15 Medjool or Deglet Nour dates
2 tsp ghee
½ or 1 tbsp of unsweetened shredded coconut
1 tbsp honey
2-3 tsp rose water
Pinch of Safforn

Direction:
1. Carefully slit the dates and remove the stones.
2. In a food processor, blend pistachios to a coarse powder
3. Put ghee, pistachios, rose water, unsweetened shredded coconut, saffron in a saucepan and cook briefly, until the pistachios have absorbed most of the moisture.
4. Remove the mixture from a saucepan and place it on a bowl. Now add honey into it and mix well.
5. Stuff the dates with the pistachio mixture.
6. Top with toasted unsweetened shredded coconut and serve.
Variations
You could swap out the pistachios for almonds, and use orange flower water instead of rose water. 


To know more about Dharshana  visit her @  Cooking with Darshu.

Vietnamese Noodle Soup – Ramadan.. An Event to Share Chapter 6

~ Huma ~ 15 Comments
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Today we have with us Navaneethan Krishnan from Malaysia. Her blog is full of malay delicacies & her travelogue for Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) is worth a read. She is very descriptive in her writing & her recipes are simple & easy to follow. 

Not going further into details , I will let Nava speak for herself. Welcome Nava. Thanks for becoming a part of this celebration.

I agreed and couldn’t say no to Humi’s request for a guest post because of our friendship in the virtual world of blogging. It’s such a pleasure to share my recipe with the rest of the foodies and I think we certainly have something binding us together – the pride and joy of sharing our recipes in our blogs.

 I shall put aside about the details of my personal life and anything connected to it. Basically my blog carries the hints and speaks for itself on what I share and write. Everyone who is a foodie owns a camera and capturing pictures of our recipes is usual, therefore I shall not dwell on the same topic. Let me be practical and elaborate a little bit on my experiences of being a woman, a wife and a mother who cooks for her family.
 I try to keep my recipes simple and easy because these days it’s about time and how we balance our lives with the rest we do. Some days I am worn out and cooking a meal can be nerve wrecking yet I try my best to prepare a simple meal for my family. There are other women like me and they certainly appreciated my recipes. The many comments and feed backs from my followers give me the confidence that my recipes can be easily replicated without any kitchen disasters.
 We are typical Asians. It’s either rice with side dishes or one bowl or plate of noodles.

I chose a Vietnamese lamb noodle dish because the ingredients are pretty much the same across the board in Asian countries. I am assuming that you will not have any issues looking for ingredients but if you do, use your discretion and substitute them.

 This noodle dish is infused with a variety of herbs for the uplifting fragrances and is served with a garlic chili dipping sauce.

Ingredients
For the lamb
300g minced lamb
½ tbsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste
A pinch of salt
Other ingredients
1 liter vegetable stock
Spices – 1 stick cinnamon, 1 star anise and 3 cloves
3-4 sprigs Thai basil leaves – pluck the leaves from the stems
2-3 sprigs of spring onions – sliced
2-3 sprigs of coriander leaves – sliced
½ cup bean sprouts – cleaned and blanched
Rice Noodles (as needed) – blanched to soften
Black pepper and salt for taste
Drops of sesame oil
3 tbsp oil
For the dipping Sauce
3-4 red chilies
3 garlic – chopped
2 tbsp sweet soya sauce
1 lime – extract juice
** Mix all together
Method:
Mix lamb with the ingredients as stated above.
Heat oil and fry till crispy and crunchy while breaking the lamb into pieces.
Remove and keep aside.
In the same oil, sauté spices.
Pour in stock, season with salt and pepper and let it simmer.
Meanwhile, put the needed amount of noodles in a bowl.
Add crispy lamb, bean sprouts and herbs on top.
When soup is heated through, pour on to the bowl of noodles.
Drizzle sesame oil and serve with chili garlic dipping sauce.

To know more about Nava visit her @ Nava-k.com

Kari – Ramadan … An event to share Chapter 5

~ Huma ~ 24 Comments
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Today we have with us Rafeeda from Sweettoothraf. Does she need introduction??

 Na I don’t think so at all.

 We all know her as a very warm & charming person. Though I have not met her personally but I have a feeling , she must at be the  the center of any group.  laughing , enjoying & creating a stir. I don’t know  why but whenever I think of Rafee (as we all lovingly call her), this situation comes to my mind.

Over to you dear friend.
Blogging has opened up doors and windows to many mutually respecting and nourishing friendships. I must say that even though I have not met Humi personally, – InShaAllah, hope to meet her very soon after sorting out our schedules- I have always felt good about chatting to her about general issues and food, of course. She has been one sister who has been so kind to acknowledge my existence each and every time. Every comment of hers brightens up my day and I look forward to the classic traditional recipes that she shares on her page. Please do not think I am flattering you, Humi… it’s just the way I feel for you… J
When she requested me to do a guest post for her blog, I was very much keen to take onto it and another thing I wanted to do was to give her a very specific recipe that belongs to my background. I guess I should be introducing myself! I am Rafeeda, who blogs at The Big Sweet Toot, a working mother of two lovely daughters, a Keralite based in Dubai, UAE. I guess that’s a real synopsis of who I am! J Cooking started for me as a chore, and slowly developed to become a passion. I actually enjoying baking much more than cooking, however thanks to the evergrowing weight concerns, I am forced to keep my baking dreams in the backburner!
The recipe I am sharing today is a very traditional payasam/ kheer which normally my umma makes on Eid, which marks the end of Ramadan. Actually speaking, I never liked this payasam because of its strong cinnamon taste. I don’t mean I still like it, but then since she makes it very rarely, I do make it a point to gulp down a little sip so that I do not forget how it tastes like! We keep having guests for the whole day of Eid and everybody comes in to have a glass of this, as bachelors normally don’t make such kind of traditional recipes!
Without much ado, I guess I will move onto the recipe!
Kari – Cinnamon Flavored Rice and Coconut Payasam
Serves 6
Recipe courtesy: My umma!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup rice, soaked overnight
1/4 coconut, grated
500 ml water
200 gm jaggery, or as per sweetness
2 peices of cinnamon, 1 inch each, slightly pound
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
1 tsp salt
1 large ripe plantain (nenthrapazham), chopped
Sufficient water
Method:
Coarsely grind the rice and coconut in your blender. Mix the water, jaggery, cinnamon and cardamom and bring to boil, till the jaggery is melted. Add the coarsely ground rice mixture and give it a nice stir. Add in the salt and the plantain. Cook till the mixture starts to thicken, around 5 minutes. Check for the sweetness and adjust the salt levels. Add water to slightly loosen the mixture. Serve warm.
The payasam thickens when kept and therefore, just before serving, add some warm water and give it a nice mix. 
The taste of this payasam is primarily the cinnamon, and also gives the sourness of the cooked plantain. You may replace the plaintain with some cooked chana dal as well, which is another variation.
Hope you all enjoyed reading the post as much I have liked preparing this post for Humi. Here’s wishing all of you a blessed Ramadan, which brings in joy, peace and contentment!

To know more about Rafeeda visit her @  The Big Sweet Toot

Oats Chicken Soup – Ramadan …An event to share Chapter 4

~ Huma ~ 10 Comments
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As this event is going further I am meeting new bloggers & making new friends who have  the same passion of cooking .  Aish is one them. She is a also a very warm & sweet person  whom I wish to meet in my lifetime.
 Juggling between job and  home, food & photography are her passion, that can be seen at her blog.  Her space is filled with mouthwatering dishes from Kerala to Saudi Arabia. Chicken Kabsa is one dish which I would like to try from her blog.. So dear friends, today we are going to  the house of Spices in a Cookie Jar. 
Thanks Aish for becoming a part of this celebration and giving us this special dish. 
Hello foodies, 
I am Aisha Waseem, author of Spices in the Cookie Jar, a blog recently set up to document recipes tried and tested in my kitchen. Basically from Kerala, I currently live in the beautiful city of Melbourne with my love W. I work full time, love all things beautiful and creative and am extremely passionate about cooking. Cooking to me is soothing and creating my own signature with each dish I prepare, gives me immense joy and pleasure. 
When Humi asked me to be a part of her Ramadan celebrations by doing a guest post on her blog, I was extremely thrilled not just because of the fantastic opportunity to blog on Humi’s wonderful space and be a part of her celebrations but also because this is my very first guest post. Thank you Humi for presenting me with this chance to do a guest post. Since the post was related to Ramadan, I decided to blog about something healthy, nutritious and filling. 
During the holy month of Ramadan, Muslims all over the world fast from morning till evening and what better way to break the fast than with a healthy, warm and delicious Chicken and Oats Soup. My mom always made this soup for Iftar and I used to fill up on it, so I called her up to get the recipe and recreate it in my kitchen. It’s a very simple recipe and takes very less effort, which is very important when you are working full time, fasting and trying to get food on the table, in time to break the fast. This hearty soup is like a blanket of warmth, it’s warm, comforting and helps you cope with the dreaded cold days we have been experiencing here.  


Ingredients:
  • Butter – 2 tablespoon
  • Onion – 1 medium, chopped fine
  • Ginger garlic paste – 1 tsp
  • Beans – 1/4 cup, cut thin
  • Carrot – 1/4 cup, minced
  • Chicken – 250g
  • Oats – 1/2 cup
  • Chicken stock or water – 2 cups
  • Milk – 2 cups
  • Coriander leaves – 2 tbsp, chopped
  • Salt as required
  • Pepper as required
Method:
  • Pressure cook the chicken with a bit of seasoning(your choice), strain the stock and keep aside. When cool, shred the chicken into small pieces.
  • Heat butter in the pressure cooker and sauté the onion till nicely browned.
  • Add the ginger garlic paste and toss for 2 minutes till raw smell disappears.
  • Tip in the beans, mix for 2 minutes, followed by the carrots and stir for 2 minutes.
  • Mix the shredded chicken, sauté for 3 minutes. Add the oats and fry for 3 minutes.
  • Pour the 2 cups of water or stock, cover and cook on medium heat till 1 whistle.
  • Reduce heat to low and slow cook for 20 minutes. Open the lid once all the steam has escaped, add the milk and bring to boil.
  • Remove from heat, season with salt and pepper. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot.
 

Notes:

You can use any vegetables of your choice, like celery, mushrooms, peppers.
For seasoning the chicken you can use pepper, salt, a pinch of cardamom, cinnamon and cloves.
You can use the stock reserved from cooking the chicken or use store bought stock.

If you want to use stock from cooking chicken, then add 2 cups of water when pressure cooking chicken.

To know more about Aish visit her @   Spices in a Cookie Jar.