Konafah-Arabian Nights special!!

This is my contribution to the Monthly Mingle-Arabian Nights event by meetha



Konafah

Kataifa or Konafah is an Egyptian dessert dish for feasts and everyday during the fasting holy month of Ramadan. Konafah is usually found in greek or middle eastern stores with the name Kanaifah on the box. "Shredded Fillo Dough" (Kataifi).
For the first time, I did a lot of research on google for Arabian recipes, especially vegetarian. At last I landed on a dessert (desert). It is called with different names in different places. In Syria it is called Martha Haddad. Konafah is uncooked shredded "phyllo Dough". I made them with sheets, in some places it is done with sheets and is called as Batlawa.


Batlawa or konafah

Phyllo sheets
½ cup chopped almonds
melted butter for coating
½ cup slices of banana
Sweetened coconut
Honey


Spread butter in the bottom of a baking pan. Place 2 sheet of phyllo, on the pan. Coat it with a layer of butter. Place 2 more phyllo sheets. Evenly spread layer of almonds on them and place thin cut banana slices. Top them with honey and sweetned coconut. Now repeat the process again with layer of phyllo, butter, almonds, layer of banana, honey and coconut. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown.Let it cool and then its ready to eat.


Usually in the original recipe the sugar syrup is made with the following ingredients. It is made a day ahead. I am giving you this recipe in case any body is interested in the original version.
1 1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
juice of a half of lemon
1 cinnamon stick (optional)
1 teaspoonful of vanilla.
1 teaspoonful of rose or orange flower blossom water

Let all ingredients come to a boil. Lower heat to let boil, but do not over boil. Let cook for 15 minutes or until softball stage. Let it cool completely. If desired you can Pour sugar syrup over Batlawa. After this it is usually let to stand for a few hours to overnight to absorb syrup. This is original version.
As I dont like it very sweet, it is a little different form the original one.

Initially when I took the dessert out of the oven, I was a little shocked by the look of it. The phyllo dough was all stuck to the bananas and honey.. Oh Gosh I thought it was a big flop but then patiently waited for it to cool. (both dessert and my head);))

After it cooled, I could not believe the taste. It was a real party in my mouth!! The crunchy almonds, the sweet coconut, the caramelized honey and banana combination all were a real great Arabian treat. Thanks to Meeta for making it all happen.

Tomato Uttappam and Meeni-Mini Stuffed Tomatoes !!

This is my contribution to the JFI Tomato event by RP of myworkshop. I thought of contributing two different recipes.

Tomato Uttappam

Ingredients

2 cups semolina (suji)
2 ½ cups sour yogurt
½ cup finely chopped onions
2tbsp finely chopped ginger
Finely chopped green chillis
Tomato slices cut in to circles
Salt
Cilantro for garnish

Preparation

Mix the suji to the yogurt, add salt and let it ferment for about 4-5 hours.
Add chopped onions, ginger, green chillis and if desired any other chopped vegetables.
Pour the batter on the tava and do not spread it much. Just spread it very little and top it with tomatoes and cover it with lid. It should cook in medium heat. Then slowly and carefully toss the uttappam and let it cook for few more seconds.
Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with chutney or sambar.


Meeni- Mini stuffed tomatoes (Stuffed cherry tomatoes)

This can be served as finger food or appetizer.
After looking at Sia’s stuffed tomatoes in yogurt gravy I didnt feel like publishing this recipe of mine. She has done a wonderful job with those tomatoes.

Ingredients

1 cup Medium sized cherry tomatoes

For Stuffing

½ cup grated paneer
½ cup boiled and mashed potato
1tsp ginger paste
½ cup finely chopped onions
1tspgaram masala
½ tsp cumin powder
½ tsp chilli powder
Chopped cilantro
Salt
3tbsp oil

Preparation

In a pan add oil. Fry the onions, ginger, potato and paneer. To this add salt, chilli powder, garam masala and cumin powder. Let it cook till the raw smell leaves.
Then add cilantro and let it cool a little.

Very carefully cut the edge of the tomato and remove the seeds with the help of a small knife and your little finger (Pinky). See the picture.
Now stuff them carefully and close it with the cut out tomato top. Now you can either keep it in oven for 3-4 minutes at 250 degrees or cook in the microwave for about 1-2 minutes. You can even grill or slightly sauté it in a pan with some oil for few minutes.
If you don’t want it that way forget it. You can just pop it in your mouth raw. It is a nice finger food but should be served hot to get the real taste.
Hope you all will like it.

Sri Rama Navami Neivedyam to Lord Rama!

Sri Rama Navami falls on the ninth day of Hindu lunar year (or Chaitra Masa ). Navami means the ninth day in the hindu calender. This day is celebrated as the birthday of Lord Rama. People normally perform Kalyanotsavam (marriage celebration) for small idols of Lord Rama and Sita(Wife of Lord Rama) in their houses, and at the end of the day the deities are taken to a procession on the streets. This day also marks the end of the nine-day utsavam (festival) called Vasanthothsavam (festival of Spring), that starts with Ugadi(telugu and kannada new year). According to astologers by placing the stars and the epics together it has been said that Sri Rama was born on Feb 10, 5010 BC.
Temples are decorated and the image of Lord Rama is richly adorned. The holy Ramayana is read in the temples. At Ayodhya, the birthplace of Sri Rama, a big fair is held on this day. In South India the Sri Rama navami Utsavam (Festival) is celebrated for nine days with great fervor and devotion. For the occasion, Hindus are supposed to fast (or restrict themselves to a specific diet).

Some highlights of this day are:

Kalyanam (Ceremonial wedding performed by temple priests) at Bhadrachalam (A famous temple of Lord Rama) on the banks of the river Godavari in Khammam district in Andhra, India.
Panakam, a sweet drink prepared on this day as Neivedyam for Lord Rama.
Procession of idols in the evening that is accompanied with play of water and colours.
(Contents edited from Wiki)

The following are the traditional recipes prepared during Sri Rama Navami.





Panakam in Sanskrit means sweet drink. It is a main neivedyam at all the temples and houses on this day in India.

Ingredients

2-3 cups of water (depends on the no. Of serving)
½ tsp ginger powder or 1tbsp grated fresh ginger
2-3 tbsp grated jaggery (depends on how sweet you want it to be)
½ tsp crushed peppercorns
1 crushed cardamom

Preparation

Dissolve the grated jaggery in water and add fresh chopped ginger or dry ginger powder to it. I prefer fresh ginger to the dry powder as it gives more fresh taste and zing to the drink. The dry ginger loses some properties of fresh ones. Boil the mixture and filter it. Add crushed cardamom and peppercorns to it. Now its ready for Neivedyam.

Food facts

Jaggery or Gur, is pure, Unrefined whole sugar, containing the natural goodness of minerals and vitamins inherently present in sugarcane juice.
Ginger and its extracts aid digestion, help relieve stomachaches, flatulence, and promote circulation.
Powdered ginger is very effective in treating motion sickness. It’s especially given to kids for proper digestion. Fresh mashed ginger root, when applied to burns, eases the pain.
The combination of Pepper, ginger along with honey or cane sugar relieves sore throat, cough and cold.

Vada pappu (Soaked Split yellow moong dal)

Ingredients

1 cup moong dal
2-3 tbsp grated coconut
chushed green chillies(optional)
1tbsp lemon juice (optional)
Salt to taste.
Fresh chopped cilantro to garnish.

Preparation

The moong dal should be soaked in warm water for about half an hour and drained.
To this, add all the other ingredients and mix well.
This dal is eaten raw and uncooked.


Chalimidi



There are many ways to make this traditional recipe.

Ingredients

1cup raw rice
2-3 tbsp chopped coconuts
1tbsp ghee
½ cup sugar or jaggery.
Water for syrup
½ tsp crushed cardamom.

Preparation

There are 2 methods for making this chalimidi. One is called the Pachi chalimidi (Raw or uncooked chalimidi). For this the raw rice is soaked for 2-3 hours in warm water.
The rice is then drained and dried in a dry cloth untill completely dry and powdered coarsely.
This rice powder is then mixed with sugar or jaggery adding 1-2tsp water. Add grated coconut and crushed cardamom.
Mix well to make a dough. See the picture. This is the basic recipe. I used ready-made rice powder and it came out very well. There are lot of variations from this one.

The second method is the cooked chalimidi where the rice powder is added to the warm sugar or jaggery syrup and cooked in low heat to form the dough.
It is very carefully stirred so that no lumps are formed. Then the rest of the ingredients are added.
But the traditional way to make it is the very first method.





This picture is of the Murthis in Bridgewater Temple, New Jersey.