Semolina Cookies with Dates

♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪
Come they told me, pa rum pum pum pum
A new born King to see, pa rum pum pum pum
Our finest gifts we bring, pa rum pum pum pum
To lay before the King, pa rum pum pum pum,
Rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,
So to honor Him. Pa rum pum pum pum
When we come
Little Baby, pa rum pum pum pum
I am a poor boy too, pa rum pum pum pum
I have no gift to bring, pa rum pum pum pum
That’s fit to give the King, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,
Shall I play for you, pa rum pum pum pum,
On my drum?
♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪

These Semolina Cookies bound together with butter, orange blossom water and rose water,  hold a delicious date stuffing,  which is ahhhh…so good.   Get hold of some good quality dates;  we in the Middle East get a variety.  I had purchased a 5 Kg. pack to gift to our friend in Malaysia;  but as our trip was cancelled,  the box was still with me, lying sadly in a corner.   I decided to make good use of the Dates and thats how these Semolina Date Cookies saw the light of day.

If you are a ‘Date Lover’ like me…..you are going to fall for these yummies.

Ingredients needed :
450 grams coarse semolina
100 grams  fine semolina
225  grams good quality butter at room temperature
75 ml rosewater
15-20 ml orange blossom water
1/4 cup milk
(You need a Mould for the cookies – or else you can just shape into a round and flatten it slightly)

Filling :  2 cups of pitted dates and ½ cup of room temperature butter + ½ teaspoon of cinnamon powder.  Pulse together in a blender..then knead together and form  marble  (big) sized balls. Keep aside to use as stuffing for the cookies.

Knead the coarse and fine semolina with the butter until incorporated.  Add orange blossom water and rosewater and knead till a mass is formed..say about 5-10 minutes.  Rest the dough for one hour in the fridge and then remove and add ½ cup of milk a tablespoon at a time and knead the dough till all the milk is used up.  Your dough will be not sticky now and is somewhat like clay now.  Make a small ball  and press it to make a cup like shape. Add the date ball and then cover it up with the dough and make it a nice and even ball.

Put it in a mould and then lay it on a wax lined cookie tray.  Preheat the oven to 180 deg C and bake for 15-20 minutes till you see the cookies just turning a slight brown.

When cool – store in an air-tight container.   These Date Cookies are loaded with lots of butter, thus will be very buttery and melt-in-the mouth type.  These can be stored for 10-15 days.

Almond Butter Cake

This moist and Buttery Almond Cake is a favourite with kids who hate whole nuts or raisins in their cake.  Easy and quick.  To get the cake right, use right measurements and oven temperature.

 -145grams Flour
- 50 grams almond powder/meal
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 170 grams butter at room temperature (I use Lurpak)
- 170 grams powdered sugar (powder normal granulated sugar)
- 2 small eggs  (this is important –if using large-use 2 egg yolks + 1 white of egg)

- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla powder
- 12 tablespoons fresh milk

Preheat oven to 180ºC.  Butter and line a 8” square pan or a loaf pan with wax paper.

Sift flour, almond powder, baking powder and salt and keep aside.

Take a bowl and cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy – say about two minutes on medium speed.

Add egg and vanilla powder and beat.  Switch beater to low speed and add half the flour first and half the milk and beat until just incorporated.   Add the remaining milk and flour in two batches.  Do not overmix or the cake will be tough.

Pour batter into the lined cake pan and bake in the pre-heated oven for 40-50 minutes, till the cake tester inserted comes out clean.

You can add sifted icing sugar or vanilla cream on top when cool.  My son prefers it plain.

Street Food – Pav Bhaji

Mumbai – my home-town,  a city that never sleeps;  and a city that loves eating, come rain or shine.  At any point of time,  thousands of people crowd at little restaurants and roadside stalls to tuck into spicy Chaat+ Paani Puri,  Crispy Dosas,  creamy fruit-flavored Kulfis and above all,  Pav Bhaji.

Pav Bhaji  is a spicy vegetable stew that you sop up with pillowy bread.  In Mumbai, you usually see the  Pav Bhaji Vendor at the door of the restaurant with a huge cast-iron pan in front of him. He is surrounded by bowls of chopped veggies and several packets of butter.  He will then start sauteeing the veggies together with boiled potatoes, spices and enormous dollops of butter and mash the whole mixture into a sizzling vegetable dish. He will then serve this Bhaji with rolls of bread called Pav that have been likewise drowned in butter. The final touch: the dish is topped with raw onion slices and lemon wedges.

I made Pav Bhaji at home recently with “Pav Bhaji Masala”,  which is available from any Asian Grocery Store.   You don’t have to go to “Mumbai” to have this now,  try it at home,  courtesy  “Bring On The Chef In You”.

6 Pavs (bread), 4 medium potatoes boiled and grated, 4 medium tomatoes finely chopped, 1 medium green capsicum, chopped, ¼ cup green peas boiled, ¼ small cauliflower cut into very tiny florets, 3 tablespoons oil, 3 medium onions chopped, 3-4 green chillies finely chopped, 2 teaspoons ginger paste, 2 teaspoons garlic paste, 1.5 tablespoons Pav Bhaji Masala, salt to taste, 3-4 tablespoons butter, 3 tablespoons finely chopped coriander leaves, 1 big lemon.

Heat oil in a pan, add 3/4^th of the onions and sauté till light brown.  Add the green chillies, ginger paste and garlic paste.  Stir fry for sometime.  And half the tomato and cook over medium heat, stirring continuously till the oil separates.  Add the capsicums, peas, cauliflower, potatoes and one and half cups of water. Bring to  a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, mashing the vegetables with the back of the ladle.  Add the Pav Bhaji Masala, salt and the remaining tomatoes.  Cook over medium heat for two minutes.  Heat half the butter in a thick bottomed pan or tawa .  Split the Pav horizontally into two and fry in butter, till the pav is crisp and brown.   Brush a little butter on the top side of the bread..not needed to fry both sides of the bread.  Garnish the Bhaji with coriander leaves and remaining butter, and the remaining onions and sprinkle lemon juice all over the Bhaji.   Serve piping hot.

Prawns in Garlic Butter

If you love Prawns you will love this recipe for its simplicity and great taste.  Serve either as a starter or side-dish.  One thing is sure though,  you will never have enough of this and will end up saying “Gosh, I wish had made more”.   This recipe has been slightly adapted from a book by Sanjeev Kapoor of Khana Khazana fame.

Recipe :  Half Kg. prawns, peeled, washed and deveined,   1 pod of garlic,  4 tablespoons of butter, 1 tablespoon mustard paste,  juice of 1 lemon, 8-10 peppercorns coarsely crushed, salt to taste and a few sprigs of parsley or coriander leaves, chopped fine.

Peel, wash and grind garlic to a paste.  Heat butter in a non-stock pan and fry the garlic paste for about a minute.  Add the prawns, mustard paste, lemon juice, crushed peppercorns and salt.  Simmer uncovered on low heat till prawns are cooked.  Do not overcook as then the prawns will turn chewy.  Sprinkle with chopped parsley/coriander and serve hot.    Squeeze extra lemon just before serving and prick each prawn with a toothpick and serve hot .