Aish El Saraya...

Eid Mubarak to all...

May you be blessed with joy, peace and happiness.

Aish El Saraya...

It means bread of the royal palace. It's a Lebanese dish. Aish El-Saraya is made on special occasions.

Sweet sugar syrup is drizzled over the toasted bread and covered with thick cream on top. It is garnished with chopped pistachios and rose petals. It is served chilled. 

With love from my kitchen....

For the Syrup

Ingredients

1/2 cup Sugar

1 tsp Lime juice

2 tsp Rosewater

Method

Add sugar, lime juice and 1/2 cup water in a saucepan. Stir and let it cook on low heat until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat and bring it to a boil and switch of the flame. Stir in rosewater. Cool for 10 minutes.

To make Aish El Saraya

Ingredients

8 slices White Bread,sides cut and toasted

1 1/2 cups of Milk

1/3 cup  Sugar

1 cup Fresh Cream

3 tbsp Cornflour

1 tsp Rosewater

Sugar Syrup

1/4 cup chopped Pistachios

Few dried Rose petals

Method

Take a baking dish. Place 4 slices of toasted bread slices into the dish in a way that no gap should remain. Pour 1/2 of the syrup on the bread. Top with remaining bread. Drizzle with remaining syrup. Keep it aside. Add milk, cream, sugar and cornflour in a  sauce pan. Stir it till the cornflour has mixed well. Cook, stirring it constantly, until mixture boils and thickens. Switch of the flame. Stir in rosewater.Pour over the bread in the dish. Sprinkle with pistachio. Set aside to cool. Refrigerate until it sets. Serve.

Gadbad Thandai Kulfi....

As Holi is round the corner and the sun is scorching bright. Here is something traditional, but unique cool.... cool.... recipe for you. This Kulfi is a medley of flavours and colours.... with love from my kitchen...

Thandai Milk (Base for the Kulfi)

Ingredients 

1 liter Full cream Milk 

1/2 cup Banana pulp 

3 tbsp Sugar

1 Green Cardomon 

4 Pepper corn 

8 Almonds soaked and peeled 

6 Pistachios 

1/2 tsp Water Melon seeds

1/4 tsp Fennel seed 

1/4 tsp Poppy seeds 

A pinch of Saffron 

Method

Take a deep bottom pot. Add milk and simmer on a low flame till it reduces to half the quality. Meanwhile take a grinder, add cardomon, pepper corn, almonds soaked, pistachios, water melon seeds, fennel seed, poppy seeds, saffron and 4 tbsp water. Grind the ingredients in to a paste. As the milk is simmering, add the wet paste and the banana pulp. I have added banana to give a rich and creamy texture to the kulfi. Stir and cook till the milk thickens. Switch off the flame and let it cool. Take a blender and blend it until smooth. 

For the Gadbad Thandai Kulfi 

Ingredients 

Thandai Milk 

6 Betel leaves 

1 tbsp Gulkand 

1 drop of Green colour 

4 tbsp Rose Syrup 

1 drop of Red colour 

2 tbsp Sweetened Coloured Fennel seeds 

Method 

Divide the Thandai Milk into 3 parts. Take a blender, add one part of the milk, betel leaves, gulkand and green colour. Blend it till all the ingredients have incorporated well. Pour it in a bowl and keep it in the refrigerator. Wash the blender. Now add the second portion of the milk, rose syrup and red colour. Blend it well till all the ingredients have incorporated well. Pour it in the bowl and keep it in the refrigerator. Now take the mould in which the Kulfi will set. Pour 2 to 3  tbsp of the remaining milk into each moulds and keep it in the freezer to set. After an hour, remove the moulds from the freezer. Take out the rose thandai milk from the refrigerator. Add 2 to 3 tbsp of rose thandai milk in to each moulds. Keep the moulds back in to the freezer. Again after an hour remove the moulds from the freezer. Remove the betel leave thandai milk from the refrigerator. Add 2 to 3 tbsp of milk into each moulds. Sprinkle the sweetened coloured fennel seeds on top. Keep it back in the refrigerator for 2 hours. Insert a ice cream stick.  Refrigerate it back till it sets.

Rose Drink

Rose Drink

Ingredients 

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 tsp of salt 

1/2 tsp rose essence 

2 lime juice 

1/2 cup red Rose petals

2 cups water

Method

Take a pot and add 2 cups water, sugar, salt. Boil it till the sugar dissolves. Add rose essence, lime juice and rose petals keeping few petals for garnishing. Boil the water till it changes the water colour and reduce to 1/2 the quality. Strain the syrup out and pour in a bottle. Take a glass. Fill 1/4 glass with Rose syrup and the top it up with more water  or soda and fill the glass. Serve it chilled adding rose petals and lime for garnishing.