Two good to relish
Awama is a traditional and common sweet in Lebanon. This is a fermented deep fried pastry balls sweetened with sugar syrup. An authentic dish, awama is served in mostly all Lebanese restaurants.
Ingredients
Flour 400g
Semolina 200g
Yeast 1tsp
Corn flour 2tbsp
Water 450ml
Vanilla essence (few drops)
For sugar syrup
Water 500ml
Sugar 500g
Garnish
Pistachio powder as required
Dry cherry to garnish
Method
Combine flour, semolina, corn flour and yeast and mix well.
Add vanilla essence to water and knead to a soft batter adding water gradually.
Keep the batter covered with a lid and leave aside for two hours.
Prepare a sugar syrup by boiling together water and sugar.
Stir the batter again gently to remove excess bubbles.
Deep fry in heated corn oil in a heavy bottom pan till golden brown.
Strain and dip for 10 minutes in sugar syrup till the awama balls soak sugar syrup.
Serve garnished with pistachio and dry cherry.
Lebanese macaroons
Lebanese macaroons are a deep fried crunchy dessert that satisfies the need for something fried, sweet and crunchy all in one bite. Also known as macaroon khishsh. It’s great to make ahead of time and needs nothing else to accompany it to complete the flavour satisfaction. The Lebanese macaroon is very different from the French one. For one thing, the French macaroons are made from almond powder, egg whites and sugar whereas the Lebanese ones are made out of semolina, oil and some spices. Also, the French macaroon is baked in the oven while the Lebanese variation is fried in oil. It’s a very indulgent dessert. It has a very unique flavour which comes from the special ingredient — mahlab powder.
Mahlab is an aromatic spice made from the seeds of a species of cherry, Prunus mahlab. The cherry stones are cracked to extract the seed kernel, which is about 5mm diametre, soft and chewy on extraction. The seed kernel is ground to a powder before use. Its flavour is similar to a combination of bitter almond and cherry. It is used in small quantities to sharpen sweet foods.
It has been used for centuries in the Middle East and the surrounding areas as a flavouring for baked goods. In Greek American cooking, it is the characteristic flavouring of Christmas cake and pastry recipes. Thanks to renewed interest in Mediterranean cooking, it has been recently mentioned in several cookbooks.
Ingredients
Flour 200g
Semolina 300g
Sugar 50g
Olive oil 50ml
Mahlab powder 1tsp
Ground aniseed 1tsp
Yeast 1tsp
Water 400ml
Salt (a pinch)
Oil (to fry)
For sugar syrup
Water 500ml
Sugar 500g
Method
Combine flour, semolina, sugar, mahlab powder and ground aniseed, yeast and salt.
Add olive oil and water to make a soft dough and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
Roll the dough to a cylindrical shape and cut equal portions using spatula.
Take a cheese grater and place the divided dough on it and using finger roll towards self to give the grater impression on the dough.
Repeat for each dough ball and deep fry over medium heat to golden brown colour.
Dip in prepared sugar syrup till macaroons absorb the sugar syrup.
Remove from sugar syrup and serve garnished with pistachio powder.
* Tarun Kapoor is executive chef at Doha’s Horizon Manor Hotel. Send your feedback to:
[email protected]
