Majida Rashid
People usually say they cook to relax. But I have to relax before cooking. I don’t even go near the stove when I’m tired because mixing and matching new ingredients or spices and herbs is the fun process for me. Many a time I have created new dishes because I was having fun.
The other day, I couldn’t resist buying a packet of pitted date paste. One of my jobs in Bahrain was to look after the marketing of BANZ, Bahrain New Zealand joint venture. In addition to being the biggest importers and having the biggest temperature-controlled warehouse, BANZ also had several divisions, including one where they processed locally grown dates. Two of their products were Ma’ajoun al-tamr, a paste made with pitted dates and Dibs, the date syrup that can be dribbled over porridge, mixed in teas and used for making desserts or to even flavor savory dishes.
In Bahrain and the surrounding Gulf countries, the paste is used to fill Ma’amoul, which are round dome-shaped cookies with delicate flavor.
Fast forward to when I bought a bag of the date paste. I pondered for days about what to do with it. Then I thought of mixing it with a Pakistani ingredient known as besan. Now, besan is made with dried skinless Kaley Channeh, black grams, which are round lentils covered with black or brown skin. They are smaller than chickpeas.
The roasted Channeh are commercially available and my mother occasionally snacked on them. I also keep a bag of these rich powerhouses at home. They are sold either with skin or without. I buy the former ones. They come in handy when I crave something but don’t know what I want. Picking these golden nuggets from brownish peels diverts my attention away from my craving.
Chickpea flour is lighter in color and texture, and Iranians make dainty cookies with it. Besan doesn’t have that delicacy. No Pakistani and Indian grocery store is complete without besan.
It is mostly used to make Pakorreh (fritters) at home and various commercially available savory snacks. The most popular snack is Daal Sewian, which are thin small vermicelli-like short pieces that are mixed with rice flakes and peanuts. Though besan is also used to make Laddu, which is a round-shaped sweet made by joining tiny round spheres.
Eventually I made Besan Delights with the date paste and besan, which are popular with adults and children alike. It’s worth making these delights because of the ingredients and nutrition.
Besan Delight
(Serves 4-6)
Line a baking sheet with wax paper which has been scrunched.
Preheat oven at 350ºF.
Ingredients
2 eggs at room temperature
A pinch of salt
1/4 cup date paste
1/4 cup almond flour
1/2 cup besan
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts, optional
1 teaspoon freshly ground green cardamom
A little oil
12 walnut halves, soaked overnight
Beat together the eggs with a pinch of salt until they become frothy and pale. Leave aside.
With the lowest speed on a hand-held electric beater, beat the date paste. This tests a person’s patience. The paste has its own mind and slips away from the beater like an early teenager. But patience pays off and compliance is eventually achieved! It’s ready when its color changes and the consistency becomes lighter.
Gently add beaten eggs, a little at a time, and beat after each addition until everything is well incorporated.
Using a strong spatula, mix in the besan, a little at a time. Chopped walnuts can be added after that.
Mix in the cardamom.
Oil your hands and pick up a small dough and shape into a sphere and place over the parchment paper.
Or take about a teaspoon of dough and put it on the paper.
Coat the back of a spoon with oil and pat each sphere into a round shape.
Place a half walnut on each one.
Bake for 15-20 minutes.
Cool and enjoy them with coffee.
—————
Foodie Majida Rashid lives in Texas. Food and cooking are her passion. Her presentation about her love of food can be viewed on USA Today’s network: https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=l0xi566VSPo – We Spread Love Through Food
@Frontiers_Of_Flavor
Her philosophical writing can be read at apakistaniwomansjourney.wordpress.com.
The other day, I couldn’t resist buying a packet of pitted date paste. One of my jobs in Bahrain was to look after the marketing of BANZ, Bahrain New Zealand joint venture. In addition to being the biggest importers and having the biggest temperature-controlled warehouse, BANZ also had several divisions, including one where they processed locally grown dates. Two of their products were Ma’ajoun al-tamr, a paste made with pitted dates and Dibs, the date syrup that can be dribbled over porridge, mixed in teas and used for making desserts or to even flavor savory dishes.
In Bahrain and the surrounding Gulf countries, the paste is used to fill Ma’amoul, which are round dome-shaped cookies with delicate flavor.
Fast forward to when I bought a bag of the date paste. I pondered for days about what to do with it. Then I thought of mixing it with a Pakistani ingredient known as besan. Now, besan is made with dried skinless Kaley Channeh, black grams, which are round lentils covered with black or brown skin. They are smaller than chickpeas.
The roasted Channeh are commercially available and my mother occasionally snacked on them. I also keep a bag of these rich powerhouses at home. They are sold either with skin or without. I buy the former ones. They come in handy when I crave something but don’t know what I want. Picking these golden nuggets from brownish peels diverts my attention away from my craving.
Chickpea flour is lighter in color and texture, and Iranians make dainty cookies with it. Besan doesn’t have that delicacy. No Pakistani and Indian grocery store is complete without besan.
It is mostly used to make Pakorreh (fritters) at home and various commercially available savory snacks. The most popular snack is Daal Sewian, which are thin small vermicelli-like short pieces that are mixed with rice flakes and peanuts. Though besan is also used to make Laddu, which is a round-shaped sweet made by joining tiny round spheres.
Eventually I made Besan Delights with the date paste and besan, which are popular with adults and children alike. It’s worth making these delights because of the ingredients and nutrition.
Besan Delight
(Serves 4-6)
Line a baking sheet with wax paper which has been scrunched.
Preheat oven at 350ºF.
Ingredients
2 eggs at room temperature
A pinch of salt
1/4 cup date paste
1/4 cup almond flour
1/2 cup besan
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts, optional
1 teaspoon freshly ground green cardamom
A little oil
12 walnut halves, soaked overnight
Beat together the eggs with a pinch of salt until they become frothy and pale. Leave aside.
With the lowest speed on a hand-held electric beater, beat the date paste. This tests a person’s patience. The paste has its own mind and slips away from the beater like an early teenager. But patience pays off and compliance is eventually achieved! It’s ready when its color changes and the consistency becomes lighter.
Gently add beaten eggs, a little at a time, and beat after each addition until everything is well incorporated.
Using a strong spatula, mix in the besan, a little at a time. Chopped walnuts can be added after that.
Mix in the cardamom.
Oil your hands and pick up a small dough and shape into a sphere and place over the parchment paper.
Or take about a teaspoon of dough and put it on the paper.
Coat the back of a spoon with oil and pat each sphere into a round shape.
Place a half walnut on each one.
Bake for 15-20 minutes.
Cool and enjoy them with coffee.
—————
Foodie Majida Rashid lives in Texas. Food and cooking are her passion. Her presentation about her love of food can be viewed on USA Today’s network: https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=l0xi566VSPo – We Spread Love Through Food
@Frontiers_Of_Flavor
Her philosophical writing can be read at apakistaniwomansjourney.wordpress.com.
