Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Arabic Desserts: Ataif bil ashta and Muhallebi

Ataif bil ashta and Muhallebi are Arabic desserts popular in Gulf countries. First we'll see the recipe for Ataif bil ashta and then to Muhallebi. I got these both desserts from Arabic Bites. Ataif bil ashta is something which I want to try for a long time, when I first saw in Arabic bites it was presented in a very attractive way, after that I came across this recipe in few other sites and also in You Tube.

  Ataif bil ashta is nothing but yeasted pancakes filled ashta and topped with nuts. Ashta is creamy filling made with milk, cornstarch and qaimar( Iraqi cream). I couldn't find this qaimar, the actual recipe suggested thick cream as the replacement for qaimar but I replaced it with ricotta  cheese which indeed tasted very good.
Makes about 20
Ingredients:
For the pancake:
Flour- 2 cups
Warm Water- 1 1/2 cups
Milk- 1 cup
Dried yeast- 3/ 4 tsp
Salt -1 tsp
Sugar- 2 tsp
For the ashta:
Milk- 1 cup
Sugar- 1 tbsp
Cornflour- 2 tsp mixed in 1 tbsp of milk
Ricotta cheese- 1 tbsp
Rosewater-1 tsp
For the topping
2 tbsp of finely chopped pistachios
To serve:
Sugar syrup, honey or maple syrup.
Method:
First prepare the ashta, mix all the ingredients in a pan, heat it in a medium to low heat. Keep stirring without burning at the bottom of the pan. The mixture will turn thick after sometime, now add the rosewater and  take it off from heat and allow it to cool completely.
Now for the pancake, mix all the pancake ingredients together in a bowl without any lumps. Cover the bowl with a cling film and let it rest for 1 hour or doubled in size.
Once the mixture is raised, heat a non stick pan, pour laddle full of batter in the pan and cook it in medium to low heat. Do not turn the pancakes. When you can see all holes on the top, and looks dry in the top, take it of from the pan, repeat with the remaining mixture.
Now fold the pancakes into half, then press the sides and seal the edges till halfway. Now it looks like a pocket in the middle.
Fill the ashta in a piping bag and pipe it into the pancake pockets. Finally dip it in the crushed pistachios and drizzle with syrup or honey.
Serve this with some Arabic tea.

Muhallebi
Muhallebi is again a Arabic dessert inspired from Arabic Bites. Muhallebi is a milk pudding made with qaimar( Iraqi cream), milk and eggs. I skipped the egg and qaimar, instead I used ricotta cheese.
 I made it almost same like ashta but adding a bit more sugar.

Serves 3 to 4
Ingredients:
Milk- 1 cup
Cornflour- 2 tsp mixed in 1 tbsp of milk
Ricotta cheese- 2 tbsp
Sugar- 1/2 cup
Rosewater- 1 tsp
Mixed crushed nuts to sprinkle on top
Method:
Combine all the ingredients in a pan leaving nuts and rosewater. Heat it in  a medium heat and stir constantly, when the mixture turns thick, add the rosewater and take it of from heat. Pour it in individual serving dish, sprinkle with nuts. Leave it to cool down completely  and allow it sit in the refrigerator for minimum 2 hours before serving.
This would be quite creamy in texture, to get a pudding texture, add 1 egg yolk when you are mixing all the ingredients and follow the same procedure.

These two desserts goes to AWED- Saudi Arabia hosted by Niloufer originally started by DK of Chef in you, Bookmarked Recipes-Every Tuesday by Priya Mitharwal and to the event Heart n Soul.
Also sending it to Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.




42 comments:

Priya Suresh said...

Wowww both desserts looks super cute and delicious, feel like grabbing that muhallebi..yumm!

Reshmi Ahmed said...

wow that looks gorgeous !!i have qaimar at home and will try it out this weekend inshallah ! looks simple and tasty :)

Unknown said...

வாவ்..படங்களை பார்க்கும் பொழுதே சாப்பிடனும் போல் இருக்கு..

Unknown said...

Thats tptally a new kind of dish to me...looks very very tempting and welcoming....

Fajeeda said...

hi ayeesha....salaam......was busy for many days i missed ur many wonderful dishes...........all looks so tempting..........yummy.....

Asiya Omar said...

here ataif bil ashta(cooked) is readily available in the super markets.muhallebi is new to me.great work.well done.

My Kitchen Antics said...

absolutely new names and dishes but they look gorgeous

Sulagna said...

Wow so delicious..I'm loving all your arabic recipes..Thanks a lot for sharing.

Best Regards
Sulagna
http://e-senseofspicenfragrance-sulagna.blogspot.com/

Angie's Recipes said...

These are completely new to me...they look awesome!

Shabitha Karthikeyan said...

Both the desserts looks gorgeous and yummy. They are new to me thanks for sharing !!

Torviewtoronto said...

delicious sweets

nandini said...

Wow... TOtally new to me and looks so lovely. I love using rosewater in my desserts , sure my kinda of dessert . Will try it.

Vrinda said...

Nice dessert but the names r too tough to read...Really tempting...

aipi said...

Never heard of this before..exotic n spectacular!!

US Masala

SavithaRaj's Spice Land said...

Never heard of this dessert..first time to your blog..you have a very lovely space..

Nirmala said...

Yummy! Thanks for sharing, and stopping by my blog.

NIDHYA said...

Pudding looks very tempting and pancakes look delicious. wow!

http://aaha-oho.blogspot.com/

Anuka said...

wow..bever heard or tasted it ever before but your presentation and explanation is quite encouraging to do try it once.

Sreelekha Sumesh said...

That looks so yummy and irresistable!

Jaisy James said...

wow looks so yummy

Shama Nagarajan said...

different one...thanks for sharing

Pavani said...

both the recipes are awesome n looks delicious dear...

Lav said...

OMG wonderful Umm....they look so tempting....

Lavanya

www.lavsblog.com

Hamaree Rasoi said...

The Desserts look amazing. Very lavishly prepared. Looks amazing.

Deepa
Hamaree Rasoi

Krishnaveni said...

new recipe, looks so rich and yummy

Hanaâ said...

First time here. Nice blog you have :o) Those Ataif look very similar to these pancakes from Morocco we call Baghrir. I like your filling and how you folded them. Makes them look festive!

Hanaâ said...

And your baby looks adorable, masha Allah :o)

Nithu said...

They look wonderful and tempting. I am sure gonna try it.

Satya said...

wow this arabic dessert looks simply awesome

Satya
http://www.superyummyrecipes.com

Tanvi said...

both the desserts look exoctic ans ravishing:) too good!

A SPICY PERSPECTIVE said...

This is unique and completely new to me. It sounds fantastic!

Nandinis food said...

Very appetizing sweet meal! Must come again and gobble them!

Nandini's Food Page

Reshmi said...

droolworthy mymoonah...superb..i like the muhallebi most..

Niloufer Riyaz said...

both the desserts looks lovely n superb!! lovely presentation. thanks for sending to the event

Heather S-G said...

It looks so light and fluffy!! I totally want to try some...delicious ,as alway!! =) Thanks for sharing it w/ hearth and soul this week, too!

Unknown said...

Wow!! both sounds yum...never tried cooking arabic food..I shd try it some times as this looks great!

Christy said...

I would love to eat both of these delicious looking desserts! Yum! Thanks for linking to the Hearth and soul hop!

Hunger and Thirst said...

These would be real stunners for a party, wouldn't they. Thank you so much for submitting such beautiful recipe to Hearth and Soul hop this week.

Rumana Rawat said...

Wow both looks really delicious:)

zaza@mamaHanin said...

salam..
owh sis.. it looks so delicia.. love to try it one day.. insyaallah..

a moderate life said...

Umm, thanks so much for sharing these lovely recipes with the hearth and soul hop this week. I adore anything with sweet cream in them, and these look so delicate and light. Thanks! Alex@amoderatelife

Unknown said...

very new gorgeous recipe...yum!

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