Basbousa -the Mediterranean delish!!
Born and brought up in Abudhabi ..I have always had my flair for the Mediterranean cuisine .I still remember how I craved for my Dads parcel of special packed food during the month of Ramadan during his night shifts.This time round when I went to a shopping mall in Cochin I pointed out to my husband the “Basbousa” telling him all stories of what it was.Back home and how could resist myself from baking it..these are some hardcore facts of being a foodie..
Basbousa is a very popular and tasty Mediterranean sweet cake. Cooked with semolina and soaked in simple sugar syrup this cake has different regional names ..in Arabic its Basbousa/Harisa , Turkey its Revani/Ravani, Lebanon its Nammoura , Armenian its Shemali … the roots or the origin of this cake is told to be Turkey .
- For the Syrup
- 1 ½ cup of sugar
- 1 ½ cup of water
- 1 tsp of rosewater
- Juice of ½ lemon
- For the cake batter
- 1 cup of semolina
- 1 cup of flour
- 1 cup of sugar
- 2 tsp of baking powder
- 2 tsp of vanilla essence
- 1 cup of yoghurt
- 3 eggs
- ½ cup of scraped coconut
- ½ cup of oil
- Almonds for garnish
- In a saucepan boil the water to make the syrup, add in the sugar and stir till it
- dissolves completely.
- Mix in the lemon juice and rosewater and let it cool.
- Preheat oven at 180 degree Celsius.
- In a bowl, beat egg and sugar.
- Add in the yoghurt, oil and sieve in the flour.
- Mix in baking powder, vanilla essence and coconut.
- Transfer to a greased baking dish and bake till the cake is done or for about 30
- minutes.
- Garnish with almonds.
- Pour the sugar syrup over the cake when the cake is still hot.
- Serve when cold.
A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
Hummus – the Meditteranean delight!
Being born and brought up in the Middle East has really influenced my taste buds. Being born there the most common question my friends would ask are, “Do u speak Arabic?” and I start grinning trying to answer them ..as I know how to read and write but have totally forgotten all the meanings..so literally don’t know to speak..as I have lost touch with it 😛
My younger son had his Graduation day at school…he’s been graduated to his first grade and so has been bye bye to the kindergarten years. Dressed up in their pink academic dress and mortar board it was a pleasant sight to see all the kiddies singing with lighted candles and scrolls in hand..wish to be their age ….
The recipe that I will be posting today is of hummus. This dip is great with carrot sticks as well as pita breads.
- 1 cup of dried chickpeas (soaked overnight & pressure cooked)
- 3 cloves of garlic
- ½ cup of tahini paste
- 2-3 tbsp of olive oil
- 1/8 cup of lime juice (add 1tbsp more if u feel flavour is less)
- Salt to taste
- Peel the skin of the cooked chickpeas.
- Grind the chickpeas, garlic, limejuice and salt to a smooth paste.
- Add water if it becomes too thick.
- Mix in the tahini paste.
- Serve it on to a plate and garnish with paprika powder and olive oil.
A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
Hi! I am Nimi Sunilkumar…an award winning cookbook author /culinary demonstrator/freelance writer / food photographer/food blogger …spiced with the flavors of food..
