Saturday, September 13, 2008

Um Ali

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Um Ali is a traditional Arabic dessert dish and is very very rich made almost on every special occasion. Its basically a sort of bread pudding and is one of my all time favourite desserts (and being such a huge food lover categorizing something as my favourite is a big deal!!).

Um Ali translates to Ali's mother (which Ali - that's yet to be discovered..). Despite this dish being extremely..extremely.. unbelievably delicious and easy to make, restaurants over here rarely get it right - something always seems to be off, only at times have I tasted one that was just perfect!

So finely I decided how unclever of me .. here I am baking all sorts of fancy stuff and the one thing that I absolutely am in love with I have NEVER made or even considered making!

For the recipe I went to the one person that can totally kick Martha Stewart a$$ (comment not meant to be mean spirited) - My aunt! I got the recipe made some amendments and voila - Um Ali as it should be! :D

Um Ali

  • Ingredients:

1) 250g Puff Pastry

2) 1/2 cup raisins and dates (chopped and seeded)

3) 1/2 cup coarsely chopped of your favorite nuts (I used pistachios and almonds)

4) ½ cup sugar

5) 1 Tablespoon rose water

6) 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

7) 3  cups whole milk

8) 1/2 cup heavy cream

§ Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly butter a 1-qt (2L) baking dish.

2) place the puff pastry sheets in the oven for around 15 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool so you can handle them with your hands. Break the puff pastry into small squares and arrange half the pastry in the buttered baking dish sprinkle with chopped dates and raisons and nuts. Do the same for the remaining half and set aside.

3) Bring the milk and sugar to a boil, whisking occasionally. Whisk in the rose water and vanilla extract. Pour the mixture over the puff pastry. making sure everything is covered.

4) Top with heavy cream and bake for 20 - 25 minutes until the top is golden brown.

5) Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes,garnish with chopped nuts. Serve warm.

17 comments:

lubnakarim06 said...

Assalamvalekum. Ramadan Mubarak. Thank u for showing interest in joining the Ramadan Event. Just right click on the logo Ramadan Mubarak, which is on the right side bar of my blog and save in your computer and then add it to u r page. It's that's simple. Thank u again.

lubnakarim06 said...

Um Ali this recipe sounds new and looks gr8.

lubnakarim06 said...

Thank u for adding the logo.

lubnakarim06 said...

I too added u in the blog list. Check out.

Clumbsy Cookie said...

I've discovered Um Ali last week in another blog and it really got my attencion. It must be delicious and looks like you did a great job!

Yasmeen said...

Um Ali desserts looks rich and delectable.
Hope you have a blessed and Healthy Ramadan (Inshallah).

Unknown said...

Hmm..funny name 'Um Ali'.It may b delicious but looking bad.

Nazarina A said...

Okay Sister,
Now you have my attention! I would love to try this! It amazes me how parallels are drawn where Martha is concerned LOL! I mean this very respectfully! I am sure your Aunt can kick her rear where the culinary realm is concerned! My friend even went as far as sending in a picture of one of my cakes and Martha and her team actually chose it as the winner.

I will try this recipe from your Aunt any day because it looks wayyyyy delicious!!!!

Anjum said...

Asalam-wa-lekum first time at ur blog.,finally i found a blog where i can for sure learn baking..thanks

lubnakarim06 said...

I dropped a mail to u check and reply

Anamika:The Sugarcrafter said...

Hi Abeer
the recipe of Um Ali looks nice and worth trying..thanks for posting it.

Yasmeen said...

Eid-ul-Fitr Mubarak to you dear Abeer!
Thanks for sharing your Ramadan favorites with us:)

maimoona said...

Eid Mubarak Abeer!
Ur recipe looks delicious!

Shabs.. said...

This recipe sounds perfect. I would try to sneak in a bit of condensed milkthough:)..love the write up...visit me when tim epermits, you would find something interesting as u too love baking..

Unknown said...

This mid-eastern dessert is really, really GREAT!!!! I've tried this in one of our smaller hotels in the Philippines and from that time on i kept coming back to that hotel to satisfy my craving. It is really lovely. Once you've tried it, you'll keep coming back for more... i tried making it after extensive research on the net but has not been really successful. It does not taste as good as the one I had in that hotel. I will be trying your recipe and will be posting the results in a few days.

Susan said...

I have been looking for the proper receipe foe this ever since I returned from the Middle East. This is perfect. Thanks Susan

Abbas said...

Nice Middle Eastern Food.
Interesting gotta try out.