Zaiqa

Wishing an advance EID MUBARAK to all my muslim readers and friends!

This week insha’Allah muslims all over the world will be celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr. Can you believe Ramadan is coming to an end, how quickly does Ramadan pass by every year. May Allah accept our siyam, qiyam and all other ‘ibadah that we do for His sake, ameen! Taqabbalallâhu minnâ wa minkum. May Allah accept from you and us, our fasts and deeds. Ameen ♥

There is also an another reason to celebrate. My blog turned 6 this last month Alhamdulillah. I can’t believe its been 6 years since I started this little blog of mine. Masha’Allah!! Thank you everyone for being a part of my journey. With the arrival of my baby in my life Alhamdulillah, I haven’t been able to blog as regularly as I used to. But Insha’Allah I will continue to blog and share my recipe with you all for a long time. Your support and encouragement means lot to me ♥

With two special reasons to celebrate, today I am sharing with you all a very simple, sugar free and oh so yummy sweet that you can make for your loved ones on festivals and special occasions. They are healthy, tasty and look gorgeous. Also, this is a delicious way to use up leftover dates from Ramadan.

These date rolls are dense little discs that give you a bit of energy and also cure a sweet tooth. Nice, soft, dense and chewy. These date rolls would make a delicious Eid gift that’s also loaded with nutrients. A gift that’s playful enough for a child and sophisticated enough for an adult.

Khajoor Rolls – Date Rolls (Sugar Free)

Ingredients:

Pitted Dates – 1 1/2 cup, tightly packed
Dried Figs – 3/4 cup
Raisins – 1/8 cup
Cashew nuts – 1/8 cup
Pistachios – 1/4 cup
Almonds – 1/4 cup
Dessicated Coconut – 2-3 tbsp

Method:

1. In a food processor, add the pitted dates and dried figs. Process until it is a sticky pasty ball. Transfer it to a mixing bowl.
2. Add the dry fruits and nuts to a chopping board and chop them all up roughly. Add these chopped dry fruits and nuts to the dates and fig mixture and mix well.
3. On a chopping board, shape the mixture into a log about 3 inch in diameter. Sprinkle dessicated coconut and roll the log in it to cover the entire thing with coconut.
4. Refrigerate the prepared log for 1-2 hours. Then just before serving, slice them into discs using a sharp knife. Serve. These can also be stored in the refrigerator for a long time in an air tight container with lid.

Note:
1. Instead of using dessicated coconut, you can use icing sugar or warq.
2. You can add a variety of other dry fruits and nuts that you love instead of using them ones I have listed above.
3. You can also use dark chocolate chips, oats, ground flax, chia seeds, a little bit of orange juice or lemon juice, vanilla powder or cinnamon powder etc whatever you fancy to mix with the dates.
4. Instead of shaping them into logs and then cutting into slices, you can roll them into small balls and serve in gorgeous cupcake liners as date truffles to impress the guests. Or you can even shape in the form of Barfi.

Luv,
Mona

Seviyan Ka Meetha is an another lip-smacking dessert with fine vermicelli as the main ingredient. A drier version of Sheer Qurma, the delectable traditional sweet dish without which no Eid is complete for Hyderabadis. Infact I can easily say that Seviyan ka Meetha is much more enjoyed than Sheer Qurma in my house.

In Hyderabad, there are shops that even sell special hand made vermicelli or semia or seviyan or sewayya. These can be found in shops much more easily during the month of Ramadan. I have to make do with whatever brand of vermicelli I can get from shops here. Usually my MIL gets many packets of vermicelli during her visits to our place from Saudi Arabia as she is well aware of the fact of our love for this dessert. So as the supply for vermicelli has recently been restocked in my pantry, these days I have been preparing it very often.

This dessert is good for those moments when you have unexpected guests, as it is super quick to whip up and is a dessert most loved and enjoyed, one of my favorites. I am sure your guests will be impressed too inshallah.

Seviyan Ka Meetha – Vermicelli Dessert
Serves: 6

Ingredients:

Ghee – 1/2 tsp
Canola oil – 3 tbsp
Dry fruits and Nuts – any, your choice; I added: almonds, pistachios, raisins – about 1/3 cup
Fine Vermicelli/Seviyan – 200 gms
Milk – 2 cups
Cardamom powder – 1/2 tsp
Granulated Sugar – 1 cup (add more 1/4 cup if you have a sweet tooth)

Method:

1. Gently crush the seviyan into pieces about 2 inch long (that is not too fine) with your hands while still in the packaging.
2. In a wide saucepan at medium heat add ghee+oil and and as soon as it warm, add the dry fruits and nuts. Fry them all together for a minute and remove into a cup. Keep aside.
3. In the remaining oil+ghee, add the crushed seviyan and roast in the oil while stirring continously until the seviyan are a chestnut color. Now add the milk and cardamom powder and let it cook for 2-4 minutes. As the seviyan absorb the milk, add the sugar. Once sugar melts, add the fried dry fruits and nuts and mix the seviyan gently. Cook for 2-4 minutes and remove from heat. Let cool to room temperature. Once cool, chill in the refrigerator. Serve.

Sending this dessert to the #IndianFoodPalooza event going on at Indian Simmer.

Welcome to my Etsy Shop:

As you all might have noticed, I have very recently embarked on a new venture to quench my thirst for sewing crafts. Please click on the logo below to visit my online shop:

I have named my online Etsy shop “Omee’s Boutique”. It is still very new and inshallah I plan to make more items as my little baby will allow me to. Please visit my online etsy shop and and I hope you will support my endeavor.

JazakAllah Khair.

Luv,
Mona

Life has ever so been wonderful and oh so busy since babyjaan happened. Days seem to be flowing without me even noticing them. But my little chickadee has given me a reason to look forward to each new day and my life has a now a meaning alhamdulillah. Motherhood has indeed been a blessing alhamdulillah. I am happy to resume blogging, I missed you all.

I havent been cooking much lately, other than quick one dish meals or semi home made dinners. A baby changes your routines in ways you might not have even imagined. MIL was handling most of the cooking during my postpatrum days. Now that both my MIL and FIL have left, I am back to cooking meals daily. My mom had been after me to prepare and eat Panjeri as soon as she was born. Panjeri is made of rich and beneficial food products such as dry fruits and nuts and is meant for post partum and lactating women, traditionally prepared in our family and eaten by new mothers. Panjeri is also given to young girls.

The quantities of the amount of nuts and dry fruits used in the recipe can be altered according to your desires. I love almonds, so I have used more of them here. I am not sure what Kangi ke beenj are referred to in english language.

Panjeri

Ingredients:

Edible Gum – 100 gms
Cashewnuts – 150 gms
Pinenuts – 100 gms
Walnuts – 100 gms
Pistachios – 100 gms
Almonds – 350 gms
Raisins – 100 gms
Kangi ke beenj – 30 gms
Chironji – 20
Phool Makhana/Lotus Seeds – 40 gms
Granulated Sugar – 100 gms (or) Misri [both according to taste, add more if you want it sweeter]
Ghee – to fry

Method:

Shallow each ingredient one by one except misri in 1 -2 tbsp ghee in a frying pan or a cast iron skillet for 2-5 minutes and then transfer to a platter. Edible gum once fried changes from a translucent color to white color like popcorn. After all have been shallow fried, let them cool to room temperature. Later transfer them all to a food processor. Add misri and process until the whole thing is granular, need not be too fine. Transfer to a storage container or a canister and store in the refrigerator. Post partum and lactating women should eat about 1-2 tablespoon of this everyday.

Sending this recipe to Ayeesha’s Healthy Morsels Pregnancy

Luv,
Mona

Come winter, and my taste buds keep craving for a meetha/Indian dessert. Though not a big meetha loving person, I tend to enjoy subtly sweetened home made Indian desserts. The last fall, I had tried my hands on pumpkin meetha which had turned out fabulous, this year the classic gajar ka meetha was foreordained. I happened to spot some beautiful carrots at the regular food mart at a very reasobale rate, and who could resist this nutrient laden root vegetable.

Farm Fresh Carrots

This winter dessert of reduced carrots and milk never ceases to appeal both me and my hubby. He even enjoys this meetha warmed along with hot parathas in the breakfasts. I restrict to eating it a little only after dinner.

Gajar ka Meetha can be enjoyed hot or cold, and can even be reheated. This meetha is generally prepared from the red carrots that are available in India throughout winters. For this preparation, use a food processor thats effortlessly grates the carrots in a jiffy.

I do not like my meetha saturated with either sugar or ghee, and I also hate a mushy disintegrated gajar ka halwa. So feel free to alter the amounts of sugar and cook the meetha mushy if you desire.

Gajar Ka Meetha – Carrot Sweetmeat

Ingredients:

Red Carrots (preferably) or any Sweet Carrots/Gajar – 1 kg, washed, scraped and finely grated (grate them as fine as possible, as long), cores discarded (I often use baby carrots which are quite sweet)
Ghee – 2 or 3 tbsp
Khoa – 1/2 cup, finely grated (or) Milk powder – 1/2 cup
Milk – 1/2 cup
Sugar – around 1 cup or less (according to taste)
Mixed Dry Fruits and Nuts – chopped walnuts, chironji, pinenuts, cashewnuts, raisins, slivered almonds and pistachios, etc – 1/4 cup, lightly toasted or shallow fried in oil or ghee
Cardamom powder – 1/4 tsp (optional)

Gajar Ka Meetha – Carrot Sweetmeat

Method:

1. In a large non-stick heavy bottomed saucepan (or a large iron kadai is best) at medium high heat add the grated carrots and dry roast them while stirring every 2-3 minutes for the first 8-10 minutes, then every minute for the next 15-20 minutes. Add ghee and continue roasting it for a few more minutes. This is the most important step to develop a deep roasted flavor in the carrots. Do not burn them and stir very gently, do not mash up the carrots while stirring. During this time a wonderful fragrance of roasting carrots will fill your kitchen.
2. Once the carrots are nicely roasted, lower the heat to medium and pour in the milk and khoa and let cook until the milk is absorbed by the carrots. Add the dry fruits and nuts and cardamom powder. Add the sugar little by little and keep tasting until you get the desired sweetness and the meetha thickens a bit. Mix well. And cook for a little longer while stirring very gently every once in a while until the meetha is almost dry. Remove from heat. Serve it warm or chilled or along with vanilla ice cream. Store the meetha once completely cooled in an air tight container in the refrigerator.

Suggested Serving: To impress your guests, serve the chilled meetha in mini pastry cases that are easily available in stores. You can name it as ‘Gajar Ka Meetha Tarts’.

Luv,
Mona

Time flew away very fast and here I am, back in Toronto. Its good to be back home. My trip to India was filled with laughter, fun and frolic. I got to spend some very memorable moments along with my loved ones alhamdulillah whom I have been missing and yearning to meet since long. It took me a little while to get back to my routine, unpack and settle down, hence the reason for my disappearance from the blogosphere.

Crisp cool air and vibrant fall colors welcomed me as I landed here in Toronto. Since then, I had been craving something warm, comforting and that which will make me feel close to my Ammi yet again. Just a few days before I was leaving Hyderabad, Ammi had served a delicious Chawal ka Meetha. Ghee, saffron strands, reduced milk and dry fruits and nuts are the key ingredients that impart a unique flavor to this rice dessert. Oh, I had thoroughly enjoyed it, and I hope you all will also like this dainty rice dessert.

Chawal Ka Meetha – Sweet Rice

Ingredients:

Fragrant long grain Basmati rice – 1 1/2 cups
Ghee – 1 or 2 tbsp
Milk – 3 cups
Sugar – 1 cup
Saffron strands – 1 tsp
Mixed Dry fruits and Nuts: Coconut – cut into small pieces, or desiccated coconut; Almonds – slivered or roughly chopped; Cashew nuts; Raisins; Pine nuts; Chironji nuts; Pistachios- slivered or roughly chopped : 1/4 cup

Method:

1. Wash the rice in 2-3 changes of water. Drain thoroughly. In a saucepan, add surplus water and cook rice until it is 3/4th done. Drain and spread on a tray to cool.
2. Boil milk in a saucepan for 15 minutes until it has reduced slightly. Remove from heat and keep aside.
3. In an another saucepan, add sugar and saffron and pour in 1/2 cup water. Let it cook until the sugar has dissolved completely. Remove from heat and keep aside.
4. In a wide saucepan, add ghee and fry the dry fruits and nuts until they are golden brown. Pour in the sugar syrup and reduced milk. Add the partially cooked rice and mix gently. Let it cook on high heat for a few minutes. Once the water has been reduced, simmer, cover with a lid and let it cook until the rice is done.

Enjoy the meetha warm or chilled, depends on your fancy. I love it when served at room temperature or just slightly warm.

Luv,
Mona