Eggless Coconut Basbousa (Arabic Traditional Sweet)

This month's  baking event,  Home Baker's Challenge  Started by Priya Suresh’s , hosted by Nupur, suggested Arabic desserts(  Kanafeh, Basbousa,Knafeh  ( version 2 ),Date and Walnut filled cookies)for this month's challenge.

 Already ,I have planned to prepare  basbousa sweet this Ramadan, by the way I have selected basbausa for this month Home baker's challenge.  

Here in Dubai,  KFC, Al Taza , Al Farooj, Baith Al Mandi etc,.(all near my home) and many other Arabic Restaurants have this kind of famous sweet called basbousa

Basbousa is an Arabic Traditional Sweet, its like our kesari and this Basbousa is similar to our Traditional Sweet Recipe "Dhammadai"  தம்மடை.(Will post later)

Recipe Source: The Cookie Shop

Semolina Cake /Soji Cake/Eggless Coconut Basbausa/Arabic Traditional Sweet

For Syrup:

1.  sugar - 200 gram
2.  water - 100 ml
3. Drops of lemon
4.  orange blossom water - 1 teaspoon
5.  rosewater - 1 teaspoon

For the cake:

1.  semolina - 225 gram
2.  caster sugar - 100 gram 
3. unsweetened desiccated coconut - 1/2 cup
4.  teaspoon baking powder - 1/2 tspn
5. 2 tablespoons of the syrup ready and cold
6. 1 cup milk (this is the minimum you will need, but you may need more, according to your semolina)
7.  vanilla extract - 1 teaspoon
8.  melted butter - 20 g
9. tahini (sesame paste) or Butter
10. blanched almonds

Make the syrup:

In a small saucepan, combine sugar and water. Bring to heat and cook, stirring until it boils. Add drops of lemon and boil for 3 minutes. Let cool and mix the rose and orange blossom water.

 Make the batter:

Grease a baking dish with tahini and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix semolina, sugar, coconut and baking powder. Make a hole in the middle of the dry ingredients and add the butter, vanilla, syrup and milk gradually. Mix with your hands. The semolina will absorb the milk  – add more little by little, until the batter looks and feels like a thick porridge. Pour the mixture into the greased baking dish, cover and let rest for about 12 hours.( I kept only 3 hours)

Preheat oven to 400F (or 200°C). With a knife, mark 3cm squares in the dough, and place an almond in each square. Bake until dough rise a little and pass the toothpick test, about 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven, cut squares where once you’ve checked the lines and return to oven for a few minutes to brown.

Heat the syrup. Soak the hot cake with the syrup while hot and let cool very well to remove from the pan. Serve with the remaining syrup.

 It must be prepared one day in advance because the batter has to rest overnight before baking. 

Ramdan Day 23
Iftar Menu

1.  Mutton Veg Kanji /Mutton Rice Porridge/Soup
2. Basbausa Arabic Sweet
3. Nannaari Sharbath
4. Urad Dhal Pepper Vadai
5. Mutton Cutlet
6. Ketti Chutney
7. Colourful Milk Agar Agar
8. Boiled Peanut
9. Fruits ( Orange, Apple, Grapes, Watermelon)
10. Dates

Linking these to Ramadan and Eid Recipes hosted by the doctor cooking and Ahlan Ramadan hosted by the big sweet tooth rafa & gayathri's  walk through memory lane