Khabeesa | Emirati Caradmom Semolina Pudding

بِسْــــــــــــــــــــــمِ اﷲِارَّحْمَنِ ارَّحِيم

السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته

One of my favourte spices is caradmom. Caradamom  has a wonderful one-of-a-kind flavor and you don't need to use much.Cardamom is a seed with a lovely sweet, warm aroma and flavor with a lemony layer and a eucalyptus-like kick. Used extensively in both Scandinavian and Indian cuisine, cardamom plays a starring role in both sweet and savory dishes. Indian cooking features cardamom in curries, garam masala, kulfi (Indian ice cream) and milk puddings. In Scandinavian cuisine, you'll find cardamom in everything from pickles and herring to sweet cakes and Aquavit. Cardamom is thought to have aphrodisiac effects, and, like caraway and aniseed, it's a wonderful breath sweetener and helps eradicate garlic or onion breath.

I was watching last week, which is rare I know, a show the other on the Fatafeat channel Samar bel Khaleeji where she presented a traditional breakfast sweet dish from the Emirates. I'm not that familiar with the cuisine from that region, but the dessert reminded me of tamina in a way. Intrigued, I continued to watch her prepare this aromatic and sweet delight. 

The first step in preparing this dish is much like the first step in preparing the Algerian tamina, which is served at special occasions like a birth of a child or the Mouled. But the process of cooking semolina in milk is the same process as in Assida, a semolina porridge. Both dishes, ones that the family loves ... so I figured glead the lily by adding in some saffron and cardamom. After the show, I decided to head to the kitchen and make this dish for the family for the afternoon tea. I had all the ingredients so it was easy.

As the semolina was browning, Ialready knew this dish was somthing that all the family would be in love ... in fact as the scent of caradmom and cashews hit the noses of my family they came to investigate what the lovely smell was! This dish is easy ... unique ... delightfully magically light yet rich in taste and very filling. A real taste of Arabia that is now apart of my Ramadan suhour.

active prep time: 5 mins | inactive prep time: 0min | cook time: 10 mins 

serves 4-6

FOR THE KHABEESA:

• 1 liter - 4 cups whole milk
• ½ cup fine semolina
• pinch of salt
• 3 TBS date sugar or honey (to taste)
• 5 green cardamom pods, seeds crushed
• knob of butter
• 1/8 c desiccated coconut 
• 1/8 c crushed cashew nuts
• generous pinch of saffron threads

DECORATION:

Toasted coconut
Toasted cashews
Pearl sugars (optional)
Caramelized cashews

 

GENTLY toast the semolina in dry pan until nutty and lightly browned. DO NOT BURN!
POUR in the milk slowly, stirring constantly so there is no lumping.
ADD in the rest of the ingredients.
COOK on low heat for about 8m until the semoulina is swollen and cooked. Stir constantly.
TURN out into a serving plate, then decorated as you like.

Along with the Khabeesa I thought a traditional coffee would be go nicely...

Semolina is also called farina or wheat of wheat. 

Subsitute

For gluten-free version use cornmeal or ground rice.

Variation

You could optionally use almond instead of cashews and/or add raisins when cooking.

Optionally you could add an additional 1/8 cup of semolina and have the pudding be thick enough to pour into molds as I have done (see pictures)

Emirati, Middle Eastern, pudding, breakfast, suhour, Ramadan

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