Dates-coconut-dry fruit samosa.

This is one of those Ramadan posts that never made it in time because... Life happened. Lame even to my ears.

I don't know how often I can post from now on, but seeing the viewer stats makes me extremely grateful (and I check them each day!). It eggs me on to post more than I possibly can.

This does not mean I don't cook or eat out. I do loads of both, trust me. Uploading photos on the blog and typing out semi-sensible words are time-hoggers. How many alternative adjectives exist for delicious, anyway? Don't answer. Many, I know.

There's nothing in life worth starving over or compromising on your food habits for. Not skinny jeans (Apple bottoms, any one?), not gorgeous blazers (wear them even if you have man-shoulders). Not long duties (granola and fruit to the rescue!). Not heartbreaks, not jiggly love handles. None of it.

At one point, Kate Moss's famous comment ("Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels") was practically the guiding point of my life, but I like to think I'm finally beyond crack-inspired ideologies.

Incidentally, I've got to get around to doing a review. So many places I want to physically push you into going; so many I don't want you to waste your money and Sundays over.

For now though, I'll post a recipe that most people would consider a bastardization of the samosa, but is indigenous to my village-of-origin and would be fiercely defended by the natives (it's politically correct for me to insult them, I checked). I might have played around with the recipe, adding dates to the filling, somewhat inspired by the sticky date rolls you get in Chinese restaurants.

 It takes five minutes to throw together (a wee bite more than that, maybe), has practically zero cooking (unless you're willing to deep fry) and tastes beyond excellent (to my tastebuds, at least. And yours', if you like cardamamom and coconut). Oh, and is healthy. If you're willing to not deep-fry it.

Try making these when older, distinguished guests visit. I meant it when I said no excuses were allowed.

Dates-and-coconut samosas/samose:

Ingredients:

Readymade wonton/samosa wrappers: 5
Dates (juicy medjool-type dates): 10*
Coconut, freshly grated: 1/2 cup
Sugar (white granulated): 2 tbsp (or to taste)
Cardamom (ground) 1 tsp
Cashews: 10 or so, halved
Split channa dal (roasted): 2 tbsp
Honey and sesame seeds: to serve

*This recipe is traditionally made without the dates, as the photos indicate. A handful of raisins are added in its place.

Method:

In a medium saucepan, saute the deseeded and chopped dates in a little butter or ghee until it turns gloriously gooey. Not for more than a couple of minutes, though, it'll turn chewy and caramelized. You can also make this healthier by steaming the dates. Keep aside.

In a small bowl, combine the coconut (you can use sweetened desiccated coconut, but skimp on the sugar in that case!), powdered cardamom, the roasted dal and mix. Add the dates if using. Or add raisins and cashews instead.

Take a sheet of samosa wrapper. Make a cone out of it.

First you fold one end of the rectangular wrapper into a triangle. Fold into another triangle. Repeat until you have a cone.

Stuff in the mixture, close and seal.

For sealing, we generally use a mix of flour and water to form a runny liquid that usually works as an adhesive.

Brush with ghee/butter and bake in a preheated oven (greased baking sheet, please!) at 180 C or 350 F until golden brown and crispy. And yes, you can deep fry it like a regular samosa.


The golden brown one has obviously been deep-fried.


Drizzle the honey over the piping hot samosa and sprinkle on the sesame seeds.

Or set these out on the table while you search for the organic white sesame seeds that you picked up at Spice Route and come back to see that the family has polished them off. And since it was Ramadan and every one was famished, I didn't even get to deliver my oft-repeated speech on etiquette/manners/uncouth behaviour et cetera.

Mock Caramel Corn/Sticky Date Popcorn!

I've got so much flak over posting exclusively fattening, buttery, unhealthy recipes on the blog, that I've decided to do something about it. As much as I want to post about W's birthday cake (Devil's food cake, layered with strawberry filling and a rich chocolate ganache, frosted with strawberry Swiss meringue buttercream, and has a chocolate-y glaze on top), I've decided to go down the healthier route. For a change.

Caramel Popcorn is something I adore. I've used the L-word too many times to describe food, but I truly, really am head-over-heels in Love with Caramel Popcorn. I eat it by the tub. I make unholy amounts of it and eat handfuls of sugary, buttery caramel corn straight out of the pressure cooker. Still don't believe me? I buy the burnt, overpriced, undercaramelized popcorn that is sold at Sathyam/Escape and eat every last morsel and fight the urge to buy another tub.

However, it is an indulgence, even for me. Instead of quitting caramel corn cold turkey, I browsed for healthier alternatives. And quite accidentally, I landed up finding a fantastic recipe for sticky "caramel" corn.

It's vegan (except for the honey?), mostly healthy, and delicious. Nope, it isn't caramel corn, but it isn't your birthday or the day you found out that the guy you were crushing on has a girlfriend, is it? So if caramel corn is uncalled for, make this sticky date popcorn. You can have it on any given day and not feel so terribly guilty, it keeps you up at night.

Sticky Date Popcorn

Ingredients:

1/4 cup popping corn
8 Medjool dates
3 tbsp vegetable/canola oil
5 tbsp honey (I used Kashmiri Saffron honey)
1 tsp vanilla essence
a pinch of salt

Method:

Pop the corn via the method of choice.

I popped it in the pressure cooker with a pinch of salt and a couple of teaspoons of oil. I got around 8 cups of usable popcorn and that should be just about right.

Soak the dates with 2 tbsp of water for an hour or two.

Use very good quality dates, please!

Remove the pits and grind it to a fine paste in the food processor/mixie.

In a small bowl, heat the oil, honey and vanilla. Add in the dates and bring to a boil. Simmer it down for a minute more, and pour the sticky sauce over the popcorn. Mix well.

If you play around with the proportions, you can make this even healthier. Total post-gym snack food. Or something you pick away at, in front of the TV. Or eat an entire batch, in lieu of dinner.

Or make batches of caramel popcorn and kettle corn as well, and have a popcorn buffet party. Things to live for.

Buttering up with Banana Bread.

I abhor wastage. I don't know if it's because I've seen malnutrition/impoverishment on a day to day basis, or because my mum would make me eat the leftovers from the lunch box when I got back home. (Ma, if it didn't taste good at noon, it won't at 4. Really.)

Oh, I also have a really annoying, holier-than-thou friend who keeps saying things like "Rabia, don't say ugh for food/eat up my lunch or I'll tell my mum that you hate her cooking". Manipulative Jiminy Cricket.

 It's one of the things that get ingrained, like it or not.

Rewind to a few years back. There were a bunch of bananas (organic), going all overripe and spotty. A literal bunch. Eureka. I discovered banana bread! (Not discovered-discovered. Just discovered of its prior existence).

Wrap up bananas in newspaper and stow them away for a bit.
This helps ripen them faster, especially if there's one already overripe
banana in the bunch!

Now, I pick up bananas that are more black than yellow. I've developed techniques for ripening them fast, because I can't wait for bananas to almost-spoil each time I want this bread. It's that good. Throw in some dates (which we have kilos of, in the refrigerator, given to us by relatives who undertook the Hajj pilgrimage this year), and you have beyond-good banana bread.

The name is a misnomer; this isn't bread. This is dessert. If you want a low-cal, whole-wheat and applesauce version of this recipe, nag me for it. This is the bread you bake when you want someone to like you. Or at least to show off, generally.

I made this twice in the same week. Doubled the recipe each time. The first was for a very special couple's birthdays (their birthdays are two days apart). And the second was for my parents' anniversary. Just so you know the demographic you can bake this for, and that you did need dedication, because it gets a bit tedious.

Midnight baking is fun, there aren't too many people stressing you out. But it's also tiresome and you end up doing everything yourself. Luckily, late-night television is semi-decent on weekdays.

This is-this is-this is-THIS IS. E News!
 I need a life. Agreed.



The awesome base recipe. I've doubled it and made modifications because I like to go all out and bake a proper batch!

The prep work is tough! Yell for help.


Banana-Date Loaf:

Ingredients:

(You could halve this and still have one loaf or 12 muffins)

2 cups mashed, ripe bananas
2 tsps lemon juice
3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (maida)
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsps baking powder
2 tsp ground cardamom or cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup pitted dates, diced
1 cup toasted almonds, chopped
1 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature.
1 cup demerera sugar (or light brown sugar)
1 cup yogurt (Nestle Dahi would be fantastic)
4 eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla essence

Method:

1)Prep the bananas. Start with 4 medium-ish bananas. Chop them and mash them with a fork or a hand-mixer. See if you have two cups. If not, add on!

2)Grind the white and brown sugar SEPARATELY in the mixie, until they resemble coarse sand.

3)In a large bowl, mix thoroughly the flour, baking powder, baking soda, white sugar, cardamom and salt.
Toss the dates and nuts into the flour mix, separating with your fingers if they are clumped together so that each individual pieces gets coated with the flour.

Toast the almonds either on a pan or in the oven for a couple of minutes.
Chop them coarsely.

Chop the dates into 2 cm dice. If they're very dry, soak in a few tbsps
of boiling water for 5 minutes, and drain.

4)In a medium bowl, beat together the semi-cooled butter and the brown sugar until well-combined. Beat in the eggs, mashed bananas, yoghurt and vanilla.

5)Make a well in the flour mix. Fold in the wet batter gently into the flour (do NOT beat it in vigorously), until it is just combined.

6)Preheat the oven  to 220 degrees celsius or 375 degrees Farenheit. Grease a loaf tin or muffin cups.

7) Fill up to half of a greased loaf tin. Decorate with bits of almonds and dates.

Give the slices-of-banana "decoration" I've attempted a miss. Not a great idea. A sprinkling of brown sugar over them should brulee them a wee bit, though.

Or try this crumble topping: 2 tbsp of brown sugar+1 tbsp flour+1 tbsp oats+1 tbsp butter+cinnomon/cardamom. Sprinkle it on 15 minutes after the baking starts.

Con no. 5 of midnight baking: You have to do the dishes all by yourself.

8)Bake for 35-40 minutes. Dent the top, it should spring back a little. Toothpick test isn't of much use here, because it has to be a little moist. Remove from the oven and let it cool for ten minutes.

Turn it upside down, and there you have it!

 

Slice and serve when hot. Or wait until it's completely cool. Wrap it in foil, tie a ribbon and attach a note saying it should be sliced and heated in the oven/toaster/griddle until it's warm. 

Incidentally, this is healthy! Relatively, at least. It's got bananas (tryptophan, fibre, potassium), dates (iron!), almonds (omega 3 fatty acids)!

Psst. Forget the butter. It'll be our little secret. I won't tell if you won't.