arabic desserts: September 2010

Nigella Biscuits With Chocolate Hazelnut Spread

When I first made this biscuit I was expecting some strong flavour of nigella in the biscuit, but the chocolate flavour almost subtle the flavour of nigella. If you want to have a strong flavour increase the amount of Nigella or just go along with this recipe. It's perfect with tea and even with kids, just to put up a smile on daughter's face I have put some sugar beads for decoration on top, which is just optional.
Makes about 20 small biscuits
Ingredients:
Plain Flour- 110 g
Butter- 75 g( cold)
Nigella seeds- 2 tsp( powdered)
Sugar- 75 g
For the filling:
Chocolate hazelnut spread- 3 tbsp( it might vary)
Method:
Preheat the oven to 160 degree Celsius.
Sift the flour in a large bowl. Add the cold butter cut into cubes. Gently work with your hands to form a fine bread crumb like texture.

Don't knead it or mix it with a beater, it will spoil the texture of the cookie. Add the powdered nigella seeds to the flour mixture and mix well, it doesn't have to be a fine powder, coarse powder is fine.
Finally add the sugar, and start working with your hands until it forms together to form a dough. If the dough looks too crumbly add a splash of milk to bring it together.

Roll out the dough between two sheets of baking paper, cut the cookies with a cookie cutter. Place them in a baking sheet lined with baking parchment paper. Bake it in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes.
Take it out from the oven and leave it in the wire rack to cool down.
Sandwich the biscuits chocolate hazelnut spread using a butter knife or a piping bag.

Along with this recipe I'm also sending my Nigella Chutney to CWS- Nigella Seeds event.

This recipe goes to CWS- Nigella seeds hosted by me started by Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes and To The Virtual Party: Chocolaty Dreams by Shabitha of From My Home Kitchen.
It also goes to Champa's Bake Off event.

Maqloobeh With Chicken: Non Traditional Method

Maqloobeh is a traditional Palestinian dish. This was introduced to us by one of my husband's close friend. Maqloobeh is nothing but a rice dish made with rice, meat and layers of vegetables like eggplant, potato and cauliflower . The choice of vegetables varies, but eggplant is a must for a traditional Maqloobeh. This is also called as upside down rice, since it's made in one pot and inverted in a large serving plate just before serving. The look of the dish itself makes you feel festive. A single pot dish packed with flavours and nutrients. With very mild spices, just the juices released from the meat and vegetables makes it so delicious.
The recipe which I have given here is a bit of nontraditional method. The procedure is almost the same, but I couldn't get eggplant so it comes under the category of nontraditional method. This is a very good meal to sit and enjoy with your family.
Ingredients:
Chicken- 500 g
Rice- 500 g
Onion- 1
Tomato- 1 big one or 2 small one
Broccoli- 1 whole broccoli
Garam masala- 1/2 tsp
Paprika powder- 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
Ginger garlic paste- 2 tsp
Parsley- 2 stalk
Olive oil- 3 tbsp
Salt as required
Method:
Wash the chicken well, cut it into big size pieces. Rub the chicken with spices, ginger garlic paste and salt. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan, add the chicken pieces and fry them on each sides in medium heat. Then add the sliced onions and stir well. Add some water to the chicken and cook until the chicken is cooked.

Wash the broccoli, separate the florets and put them in boiling water for 5 minutes. Slice the tomatoes and set aside. Wash the rice in cold water and set aside.

Take a large heavy bottomed vessel. Keep it in slow heat, add the olive oil, arrange the slices of tomato at the bottom of the vessel. Then arrange the chicken slices. Then add a layer of rice on top of the chicken. Then add the broccoli florets. Then add the remaining rice, salt and enough water to cover the top of the rice. Keep the heat in slow, cover the vessel tightly and do not open the vessel until the rice looks fluffier. Better to use a transparent cover so that you can keep checking for the rice without opening the vessel. Once the rice looks cooked and all the water is absorbed, switch it off and allow it to rest for at least 20 minutes.
Then place a large serving plate on top of the vessel and carefully invert it.
Serve the rice by itself or with salad and stew.
A great dish to enjoy as a family.
This recipe goes to Festive Rice event hosted by Akheela of Torview.

Instant Idli and Beet Dosai With Nigella Seeds

Idli and Dosai are staple food for people in South India. If I give explanation about Idli and Dosai to a South Indian, it would be silly, but for others they definitely need an explanation. A small conversation which I had with one of my Pakistani friend about Idli.
Friend: What did you have for breakfast today morning?
Me: Idli
Friend: Is it something with cheese?
Me: What? It's Idli, it's like a steamed cake made with a batter of lentil and rice
Friend: Oh! alright, I thought it's Italy

When I first heard her saying this it was really fun for me, then I realized I'm not familiar with different cuisines either. So I thought it would be good to have a few words about Idli and Dosai before going to the recipe.
Idli's or Dosai's are generally made with rice and lentils, they soak the rice and lentils, and then grind them to make a batter. This batter is then allowed to ferment naturally. And the batter is then steamed in special types of plates particularly designed for Idli's. This is a traditional way to make Idli's. There are also other different types of Idli's like semolina idli with vegetables. And now in the wonders of blogging there are so many different types of idlis you can find it from our talented Food Bloggers. There are also few interesting information and history about idli's in wikipedia, click here to read that.

Instant Nigella Idli

Ingredients:
Semolina- 1 cup
Yogurt- 11/2cups
Nigella seeds- 2 tsp powdered
Curry leaves- 1 stalk
Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
Urad dhal- 1 tsp
Salt- 1 tsp
Bicarbonate of soda- 1 tsp
Oil- 2 tsp
Method:
Powder the Nigella seeds in a blender, you can also use the whole nigella seeds. Heat the oil in a pan, add mustard, urad dhal and curry leaves, fry it for 2 minutes. Then add the semolina and roast till a nice aroma release from the semolina. At this you can allow it cool down, and store it in an air tight container for later or use it immediately.
Take a large bowl, add the semolina mixture, add salt and bicarbonate of soda. Then add 1/2 cup of yogurt and mix well, then add 1 cup of yogurt and mix well. After mixing the yogurt, use it immediately, don't let it rest for too long.
Grease the idli moulds, pour spoon full of batter in the mould. Steam the idlis in normal cooker or rice cooker, until it's done. To check the idli's are done, just prick it with a fork, if there is no batter in the fork, then the idli's are done.
Serve the idli's with chutney and sambhar.
To see step by step instructions for the idli's check my Celery Idli here.

Beet Nigella Dosai

Ingredients:
Rice- 2 cups
Urad dhal- 1/2 cup
Beetroot- 2
Sago- 1/4 cup
Nigella seeds- 2 tsp
Salt- 1 tsp
Oil- to grease the pan
Method:
Soak the Urad dhal, sago and rice for 3 to 4 hours. Grind them in a grinder or blender. When it's completely ground, add the peeled and chopped beetroot and grind it together. Finally add the nigella seeds, salt and water to make it to a batter consistency and mix well. Let it sit for 3 to 4 hours.
Grease a non stick pan, pour laddle full of batter and swirl it around. Cook it on one side, after 2 minutes, turn it to the other side and cook it for another 2 minutes.
Serve the dosai hot with chutney and sambhar.

These both recipes goes to CWS- Nigella seeds hosted by me, started by Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes.

Beet Nigella Dosai goes to Healing Foods- Beetroot hosted by Priya started by Siri.

Instant Idli goes to my own event Any One Can Cook.

Garlic and Coriander Naan

Naan bread is very popular among all the Indian Restaurants in the west . It's a classic North Indian or Pakistani Flat bread traditionally made in a Tandoori oven. This particular flavour of naan is also very popular, as garlic and coriander goes well with each other, this bread is a fantastic combination for a spicy curry. Since this is a very popular bread, I just want to have a few words about ghee, yes ghee also plays a small role in this soft flat bread.

Ghee

My husband just bought some ghee, recently when he travelled to India. When I just opened the bottle of the ghee, it was so good, I just felt like having some nice Indian sweet but unfortunately he dint get any sweets this time.
Ghee is very popular in Indian cooking, not only in making sweets but also in other day to day dish. Ghee is also known as clarified butter. Ghee is not just made by melting the butter, but simmering the melted butter in a pan for a long time until the milk solids settle at the bottom and a clear layer forms at the top. Ghee doesn't have any hydrogenated fat so it's good for health too when take it in a moderate level.
The taste of a good Indian sweet depends upon the good quality of the ghee. Oh! I still could smell the aroma of home made ghee which my mom used to make.

Right now to the recipe, this recipe is from my favourite recipe book The Bread by Christine Ingram.
Ingredients:
Plain flour- 280 g
Warm water- 100 ml
Yogurt- 4 tbsp
Ghee- 1 tbsp
Garlic- 2 cloves
Coriander leaves- 2 stalk chopped
Nigella seeds or black onion seeds- 1 tsp
Dried yeast- 1 tsp
Salt- 1 tsp
Honey- 2 tsp
Method:
Sift the flour in a large bowl, add the yeast, nigella seeds, grated garlic, salt and mix well. Make a well in the center, add the yogurt, ghee, honey and warm water mix together to make a smooth dough.
Place the dough in a clean and oiled bowl, cover with a cling film. Allow it to rise for 1 to 2 hours or until doubled in size.
Once doubled in size, knock the air back, add the chopped coriander leaves, knead it again. Divide the dough into 4 or 6 equal size balls. Cover the balls and allow it to rest for 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to high, place a baking sheet inside the oven. Roll out the balls by sprinkling some flour. Roll out into a oval shape, and stretch it in one side to make the naan shape.

Place the naan 2 at a time in the baking sheet and place it in the oven for 3 to 4 minutes until it puffs up. Then place it under the grill for 1 minute until it browns on top. Apply some melted butter on top before serving.
Serve the bread warm with some curries.
This recipe goes to CWS- Nigella seeds hosted by me started by Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes, Champa's Bake Off event, Yeastspotting, Bookmarked Recipes Tuesdays by Priya, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday and to Heart n Soul.

Sugar Cookies With Royal Icing, Daring Bakers Challenge September 2010

This is my second challenge with Daring Bakers, as always last minute preparation. I prepared the cookie only yesterday, and pictured today and posting now. Everything was in a rush.
The challenge for this month is from Mandy, What the fruit cake , we have to prepare a basic sugar cookie and make royal icing and use our creativity and imagination to make different shapes. We were also asked to choose a theme for the month of September and prepare the cookie accordingly. If I have to think something special for the month of September, it has to be Eid, nothing can be more special than that.
Actually we visited our friend's place for Eid, so I thought I'll make these cookies and take it for them, since I couldn't make during that time now I made it.
Anyway I'm not an expert in these decorating things, so I just made a very simple one with few colours of icing.
So here I'm with a very belated Eid wishes to Muslims all over the world.

Recipe For Sugar Cookies and Royal Icing:

Ingredients:
For the Cookies:
Plain flour- 400 g
Butter- 200 g
Sugar- 200 g
Vanilla extract- 2 tsp
Egg- 1
For the Royal Icing:
Egg whites- 2
Lemon juice-2 tsp
Icing Sugar- 315 - 375 g
Vanilla extract- 2 tsp
Method:
For the cookies:

Cream the butter and sugar, do not over mix, just mix them to combine. Over mixing will result in spreading the cookies while baking.
Add the egg and beat together, then add the extract , mix it up. Finally add the sifted flour and mix it well to form like a dough. Divide the dough into two balls.
Roll out the dough between two sheets of parchment paper, cover with a cling film and chill in the refrigerator for minimum of 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius, fan oven 160 degree Celsius.
Take out the rolled dough from the refrigerator and cut it into desired shapes, I used a cookie cutter to get few shapes. Bake it in the preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes, depending upon the size of the cookie.
If you are using a big cookie shape, it might take longer time.
Take it out from the oven and leave it cool down completely before doing the icing.
For the royal icing:

Mix the egg white and lemon juice in a large bowl. Add the extract and mix again. Add the sifted icing sugar little by little and mix it together smoothly. It becomes like a thick white paste.
Now add the colours according to your wish and start decorating.
You can use a piping bag, or even a freezer bag by cutting it's tip.
When you are using a freezer bag, make sure there is no air inside, so that the flow will be smooth when you are making the icing.
Also have a wet cloth or wipes on your side to wipe the tips of icing bag.
Use the icing immediately after you make, since it'll set quickly if you are making in a quite thick consistency.
Remember to cover the bowl of your icing, to stop forming layers on top.
There are two different types of icing flooding and thick icing.
Flooding method use less icing, which is used to cover big areas, and thick consistency for outlining.
Actually I used very less icing sugar, which resulted in a too flooding consistency and it came outside the shapes. So I din't get any proper shapes, but it tasted really good. My kids just loved these cookies, how will they say no to these colourful and sugary cookies.
Have fun making your own sugar cookies with different decoration.

If you would like to join the Daring Bakers and have fun in making all these delicacies click here.

Any One Can Cook : Series 1

This is the first series of our event Any One Can Cook, I'm very excited to see the entries from all our creative and talented food bloggers. Just link your recipe to this event if you think it's suitable for this event. The link will be open from Monday- Friday, so don't worry if you couldn't link it today, you have four more days.

To see the details about the event, please click here.

As I have already mentioned about the event that this is for beginners, with less ingredients, with minimum amount of time, when you are linking your recipe here, along with the recipe name please give a short form of which category does your recipe falls. The short form is as follows

1. For beginners- FB

2. With less ingredients- WLI

3. With minimum amount of time- WMT

I think this will help the readers to choose according to the category easily. So let's get started from today...

Any One Can Cook : New Weekly Event

I'm happy to announce this new weekly event Any One Can Cook, actually the whole idea of this event is borrowed from my friends. When I visited my friend's place for this Eid, we had some very good food, good chat and the idea of this event. When we were chatting, one of my friend suggested why don't you start a event with very simple cooking and easy to make, and the other friend immediately said I know what to name it Any One Can Cook, since we were talking about ratatouille, the last night. Thanks to both of them who gave me this excellent idea, one of them is a blogger, I'm not going to reveal her name now. Sice I already planned for my monthly event, I made this as a weekly event.
Right let me explain what is about the event, what do you think cooking is a skill, art, is it only for particular talented people or any one can just cook?
I have heard so many people saying I never entered kitchen before getting married, including me :-)
Whatever we do clear instructions and passion for what we do, will definitely make ourselves excel in that thing. I think cooking is no exception to that.
So we are having this event

For beginners
With less ingredients
With minimum amount of time spent

Your recipe doesn't have to fall under all these categories, if it falls under any one of the categories that's enough. I'll also explain about each category separately.
For beginners:
For beginners in the sense, it should easy for a person to follow, who is completely new to cooking or just learning cooking. For example you can send cakes, cookies or bread etc... but you have to give clear step by step instructions, so that a beginner can follow. You can also send some recipes which is very easy to prepare with less steps involved without any technical skills.
With less ingredients:
With less ingredients in the sense with minimum amount of ingredients available, nowadays people keep travelling and sifting. Some people they work in one place during weekdays and they meet their family only during weekends. So when we are travelling or staying some where for a short visit, we may not have all the ingredients available in home like all spices, different types of flour etc..
So you can send recipes using some basic ingredients like rice, oil, pasta, flour, few vegetables etc....
With minimum amount of time:
In this fast moving world we are always in a rush and almost everybody will say, OMG! no time, where did the time go? We rush in the morning to prepare breakfast, lunch etc.. again we rush.... for each and every meal sometimes. So you can send your recipes which involves less amount of time, not more than 1 hour, 1/2 an hour would be excellent. You can also give some tips for early preparation so that it will make your work easier on the day of cooking.
Alright, so I hope I have made it clear about the event. Remember if your recipe doesn't have to fall under all the three categories, if it meets at least one category that's fine. If your recipe falls under all the categories that's also fine.
So this going to be a weekly event, from Monday to Friday. Monday in my home page I'll have the Mr. Linky tool, where you can link your recipe, on the other days, you can see it on side bar, from where you can link your recipe.
Anyway I'll give a few rules below to make it more clear
Rules for the event:
1. Your recipe has to fall under any one of the above mentioned category i.e. for beginners, with less ingredients, with minimum amount of time.
2. You can link your recipe from Monday- Friday anytime.
3.No limit to the number of entries.
4.Both vegetarian and non-vegetarian are allowed.
5.Recipes using pork and alcohol are not allowed.
6.Give a link to this event and place the logo in your post.

Event starts coming Monday September 27th, be ready to get post your recipes, you can link anytime from Monday- Friday every week.
So common everybody lets help our family, friends, sister or even our daughters and sons to get cooking. I hope I'll get all your support as always.
Your comments and suggestions are more than welcome, if you have any doubt regarding this, feel free to contact me.

Coconut Tart

Say it Caribbean, Indian or British, this light Coconut Tart is a nice way to finish of your meal leaving your sweet tooth feel satisfied.

Serves 8
Ingredients:
For the pastry:
Plain Flour- 150 g
Cream Cheese- 60 g
Butter- 60 g
Icing Sugar- 1 tbsp
Ice cold water- 1 tbsp( if necessary)
For the filling:
Eggs- 2
Grated rind and juice of 2 lemons- 2
Agave syrup- 4 tbsp ( If you couldn't find agave syrup replace it with 150 g of sugar)
Double cream- 150 ml
Dessicated coconut- 250 g
Cardamom powder- 1 tsp
Method:
For the pastry:
Sift the flour in a large bowl, add the softened butter and cheese, work with with your hand to combine the flour, butter and cheese evenly. Then add the icing sugar and mix well, the dough should come together at this stage, if it still looks crumbly add about a tabelspoon of cold water and combine the dough. Wrap the dough in a cling film and chill in the refrigerator for minimum of 2 hours.
After 2 hours take out the pastry and roll it out between 2 sheets of baking paper.
Preheat the oven to 200 degree celsius. Grease a 8 inch tart tin. Carefully slide the rolled pastry into the tart tin leaving in the sides hanging, press down the edges.Prick the pastry with a fork , carefully so that you don't make big holes. Bake it in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. Take it out and then let it cool down.
For the filling:
To make the filling, place the eggs, ring, syrup or sugar, cardamom powder in a bowl and beat together for 1 minute. Gently stir in the cream, then lemon juice and finally the coconut.
Spoon the filling into the pastry. Reduce the oven temperature to 160 degree celsius. Bake the tart for 40 minutes or until set and golden brown in colour. Cool for 1 hour to firm up and serve at room temperature.

This recipe goes to Champa's Bake- Off event, Healthnut Challenge 7 : Tropical Temptations.

Arabic Desserts: Ataif bil ashta and Muhallebi

Ataif bil ashta and Muhallebi are Arabic desserts popular in Gulf countries. First we'll see the recipe for Ataif bil ashta and then to Muhallebi. I got these both desserts from Arabic Bites. Ataif bil ashta is something which I want to try for a long time, when I first saw in Arabic bites it was presented in a very attractive way, after that I came across this recipe in few other sites and also in You Tube.

Ataif bil ashta is nothing but yeasted pancakes filled ashta and topped with nuts. Ashta is creamy filling made with milk, cornstarch and qaimar( Iraqi cream). I couldn't find this qaimar, the actual recipe suggested thick cream as the replacement for qaimar but I replaced it with ricotta cheese which indeed tasted very good.
Makes about 20
Ingredients:
For the pancake:
Flour- 2 cups
Warm Water- 1 1/2 cups
Milk- 1 cup
Dried yeast- 3/ 4 tsp
Salt -1 tsp
Sugar- 2 tsp
For the ashta:
Milk- 1 cup
Sugar- 1 tbsp
Cornflour- 2 tsp mixed in 1 tbsp of milk
Ricotta cheese- 1 tbsp
Rosewater-1 tsp
For the topping
2 tbsp of finely chopped pistachios
To serve:
Sugar syrup, honey or maple syrup.
Method:
First prepare the ashta, mix all the ingredients in a pan, heat it in a medium to low heat. Keep stirring without burning at the bottom of the pan. The mixture will turn thick after sometime, now add the rosewater and take it off from heat and allow it to cool completely.
Now for the pancake, mix all the pancake ingredients together in a bowl without any lumps. Cover the bowl with a cling film and let it rest for 1 hour or doubled in size.
Once the mixture is raised, heat a non stick pan, pour laddle full of batter in the pan and cook it in medium to low heat. Do not turn the pancakes. When you can see all holes on the top, and looks dry in the top, take it of from the pan, repeat with the remaining mixture.
Now fold the pancakes into half, then press the sides and seal the edges till halfway. Now it looks like a pocket in the middle.
Fill the ashta in a piping bag and pipe it into the pancake pockets. Finally dip it in the crushed pistachios and drizzle with syrup or honey.
Serve this with some Arabic tea.

Muhallebi
Muhallebi is again a Arabic dessert inspired from Arabic Bites. Muhallebi is a milk pudding made with qaimar( Iraqi cream), milk and eggs. I skipped the egg and qaimar, instead I used ricotta cheese.
I made it almost same like ashta but adding a bit more sugar.

Serves 3 to 4
Ingredients:
Milk- 1 cup
Cornflour- 2 tsp mixed in 1 tbsp of milk
Ricotta cheese- 2 tbsp
Sugar- 1/2 cup
Rosewater- 1 tsp
Mixed crushed nuts to sprinkle on top
Method:
Combine all the ingredients in a pan leaving nuts and rosewater. Heat it in a medium heat and stir constantly, when the mixture turns thick, add the rosewater and take it of from heat. Pour it in individual serving dish, sprinkle with nuts. Leave it to cool down completely and allow it sit in the refrigerator for minimum 2 hours before serving.
This would be quite creamy in texture, to get a pudding texture, add 1 egg yolk when you are mixing all the ingredients and follow the same procedure.

These two desserts goes to AWED- Saudi Arabia hosted by Niloufer originally started by DK of Chef in you, Bookmarked Recipes-Every Tuesday by Priya Mitharwal and to the event Heart n Soul.
Also sending it to Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.

Beet Falafel Lollies

Falafel is a Middleastern fritters made with chickpeas is well known among foodies. Middleastern foods like pitta breads, kebabs, hummus... are becoming very popular around the world and there is no exception for these falafels.

Once we invited a Arab friend to our home and I made lentil fritters( parpu vadai) made with Chana dhal, he had that and immediately said, huh this is something similar to our falafel. Off course falafels are most more soft texture compared to vadai, still they are spicy and really good.
In this falafel I have made a tiny little change to the traditional one , I added beetroot, after all we bloggers always like to give a twist to the traditional one, don't we :-)
Ingredients:
Chickpeas- 1 cup( canned), If using dried, soak them overnight and cook them until it's soft
Beetroot- 1 grated
Garlic pods- 4 finely minced
Coriander leaves- 2 stalk
Paprika powder- 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds- 1/2 tsp
Onion- 1/2 finely chopped
Flour- 1 tbsp
Salt as required
Oil for frying
Method:
If using a canned chickpeas, boil them for 5 to 10 minutes, if it's dried and soaked overnight, then cook up to 4 whistles in a pressure cooker. Drain the water completely, add all the ingredients other than oil and beetroot. Blend it in a blender like a smooth paste. Then add the grated beetroot and mix well.
Heat the oil in a pan enough for shallow frying, when the oil gets heated, add small size balls in the oil and fry until golden all around.
Serve the falafels warm with mint yogurt or ketchup.
This recipe goes to Colour your Palate' A Visual Treat@ by Creative Sanyukta, CWF-lb, Chickpeas event hosted by Nithu bala originally started by Kiran, Kids delight- Finger Foods hosted by Srivalli and to Healing Foods- Beetroot hosted by Priya originally started by Siri.

Saudi Kabsa

As I always say Middleastern and Arab foods are one of my favourite, this rice is also my favourite. This one pot dish is very easy to make with less cutting and chopping. Kabsa is a type of Arab food made with rice and meat cooked in very mild spices.

Serves 4
Ingredients:
Basmathi Rice- 2 cups
Chicken- 1 whole baby chicken cut into bite size pieces
Pepper powder- 1 tsp
Saudi Kabsa spice mix- 2 tsp
Onion- 1 sliced (optional)
Mixed fruit and nuts like cashew, almonds, sultanas or raisins, rub the chicken in peppe
Salt as required
Olive oil or ghee- 2 tbsp
For Kabsa Spice Mix:
Turmeic
Red chilli
Whole Black Peppercorns
Ginger( use powder or fresh)
Whole cloves
Black cardamom pods
Coriander seeds
Take equal amount of spices and blend it together. You can also use ground spices and mix it together.
Method:
Wash the chicken well and cut into pieces, rub the chicken pieces in salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a pan, fry the nuts and fruits and set aside, then fry the sliced onions and set it aside.
Now fry the chicken pieces in same oil, one they slightly brown on each side, add the kabsa spice mix and mix well. Add some water and cover the pan, keep the heat in medium and cook till the chicken gets cooked.
Once the chicken is completely cooked, add the washed rice and 4 cups of water and salt to taste. Cover the pan, cook in medium heat until the rice is cooked.
When serving the rice, sprinkle the nuts and fried onions on top.
Serve the rice warm with yogurt and salad.
This recipe goes to Festive Rice Event by Akheela of Torview .

Brioche

Brioche is one of favourite French Breakfast made with white flour, enriched with butter, eggs and very little sugar. This buttery light buns can served with both sweet or savoury foods.

First when I made this bread I had no idea of posting this since the dough dint look so good, so I dint make any proper Brioche shape, but when I had a piece of this bread, OMG! no matter how bad it looks I definitely have to post this recipe, since it tasted so buttery and light. I doubt I'll go to shop bought brioche now...

Recipe adapted from the book ' The Bread' by Christine Ingram and Jennie Shapter
Makes 1 loaf or 12 mini brioche
Ingredients:
White bread flour or Plain Flour- 300 g
Dried Yeast - 1 tsp
Eggs-2
Warm Milk-50 ml
Butter- 150 g( softened)
Salt- 1 tsp
Sugar- 1/2 tbsp
For the glaze:
Egg yolk- 1
Milk- 1 tbsp
Note:
I dint give the glaze so my breads are not in the lovely golden colour , to get the colour please give the glaze.
Method:
Sift the flour in a large bowl. Add dried yeast, salt and sugar mix it well. Make a well in the center , add the eggs and warm milk, knead it to make a dough, now add the softened butter and mix well into the dough. Form the dough like a neat ball, cover with a cling film and leave it to rise for 1 to 2 hours or until doubled in bulk. Knock the air back, knead it again. Keep it in the refrigerator for overnight. The next day , take it outside one hour before baking.
Either shape it into 1 big loaf or divide it between 12 mini brioche forms. I used muffin tray with paper cups.
After shaping , cover with a cling film and leave it to rise for another 1 to 2 hours until it reaches the top of the mould, brush the brioche with half of the glaze.
Preheat the oven to 230 degree Celsius, brush the brioche with remaining half of the glaze. Bake it in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. Then reduce the oven temperature to 190 degree Celsius and bake it for another 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown on top.
Leave it in the wire rack to cool, serve the bread warm with your favourite jam and cream.
This recipe goes to Yeast spotting and Champa's Bake-Off event.

Malai Ladoo

Just like a peda preparations but mould in the shape of ladoos and rolled in dessicated coconut or crushed nuts, easy to make in bulk for parties or for celebration.

Makes about 20 small ladoos.
Ingredients:
Paneer- 1 cup
Sweetened Condensed Milk- 1 cup
Cardamom Powder- 1/2 tsp
Crushed nuts or dessicated coconut-just enough to roll the sweets
Method:
Mix the paneer and condensed milk in heavy bottomed pan. Heat the pan in a medium heat and stir continuously without burning at the bottom. At first it will become runny and liquid, as you keep stirring, it will thicken and leave the sides of the pan. At this stage add the cardamom powder and mix well. Take it of from heat, let it cool down, then take a small lime size balls , roll between your palms, then roll it in crushed nuts or dessicated coconut. Repeat with remaining mixture and serve.
This recipe goes to Nithu's Celebrate Sweets- Ladoo originally started by Nivedita.

Watermelon Slush Puppies Without Sugar

This is something which I made for Iftar, actually I have got lots of recipes to post which I made for Iftar. Anyway I can say this is almost like a slush puppies which you can have in Mcdonald's or any other restaurants. The actual slush puppies are with loads of sugar and ice. This one I just made with watermelon and a couple of spoons of agave syrup.

I used the rind i.e. the inner white part, not the outer green part. The inner white part gives a good texture so don't skip that part, it's also good for health.
Serves 2
Ingredients:
Watermelon- 1 cup ( sliced into cubes along with the white rind part)
Agave syrup- 1/2 tbsp ( If you think your watermelon is very sweet, you can avoid this too)
2 or 3 fresh mint leaves
Few crushed ice cubes
Method:
Blend the watermelon, agave syrup, mint leaves and few ice cubes like 3 to 4 until it's smooth. Pour it in a freezer container, cover and freeze for 1 hour. After 1 hour take it out, mix well and freeze for another 1 hour. When the mixture is like half frozen and half liquid, take it out, just give 1 whizz in a blender to break the ice crystals. Pour it in a serving glass and serve immediately.
Tip:
Don't let it freeze for more than 4 hours, it'll freeze completely and will become like a normal ice.
Instead of agave syrup you can also use normal white sugar according to your taste.
This recipe goes to Only Low Calorie event hosted by Priya Mitharwal originally started by Pari.

Pineapple Rice

This is a very simple rice which can be made in minutes.i.e. preparation time not the cooking time. When you accompany this rice with a nice spicy curry it'll be perfect for your dinner or lunch.
Serves 2
Ingredients:
Basmathi Rice- 1 1/2 cup
Pineapple- 1/2 cup( diced into small cubes)
Crushed red chilli flakes- 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon stick- 1/2 inch
Coconut milk- 1 cup
Ghee- 1/2 tbsp
Toasted cashewnuts- 6 to 7
Water- 2 cups
Salt as required
Method:
Heat the ghee in a pan, add cinnamon stick, pineapple, fry for 2 minutes. Wash the rice well, add the ghee and pineapple mixture, red chillies, coconut milk, water and salt, cover the pan and cook until the rice is cooked and fluffy. Finally add the tosted cashewnuts for garnish, you can also add some fried onions.
Serve the rice warm with some curries.
This recipe goes to the event Healthnut Challenge: 7 , Tropical Temptations by Yasmeen Healthnut, it also goes to the event A Visual Treat, Colour your palate by Creative Sanyukta.