Ma'amoul | معمول‎

I know I'm 4 days late but:

EID MUBARAK!

The holy month of Ramadan has (sadly) come to an end and Eid ul-Fitr is here. This Eid is celebrated for 3 days; Muslims all over the world prepare wonderful feasts for family and friends, adults give Eidiya to children (which is mostly money that's gifted to the kids) and everyone wears new clothes that they've bought especially for Eid. It's a joyous 3 days where everyone sends each other messages, makes phone calls and pays visits to congratulate one another on a wonderful month of fasting. 

Just wanted to note that the crochet table cloth was made by my super talented grandmother!

I personally wish I had relatives that lived in the same country as me so that I could visit them one by one and be able to celebrate with them. I would love to bake treats with my grandmother and distribute them to family and friends with my grandfather. Unfortunately, sometimes as an expat you don't get that kind of luxury. I'm thankful that I have my parents and brother to spend it with otherwise it wouldn't be Eid at all. Oh and let's not forget a wonderful network of friends!

Needless to say, Eid ul-Fitr is my favorite Eid. And on this Eid, every year, we make a special treat called Ma'amoul. We use my grandma's recipe which she's perfected over the years (Oh God, please make me a super baker like her one day!)

Ma'amoul is a shortbread cookie filled with either dates, pistachios or walnuts. They are known not to be overly sweet, so you can pop a whole lot of 'em at once! Some people decorate them by hand while others use special wooden molds to create wonderful designs on the cookie. Ma'amoul is very popular in Syria, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Turkey. You'll usually find it in abundance during any religious festivals (such as during Easter celebrated by Arab Christians).

Mom preparing the dough

Filling the pastry with walnuts and sugar

What I love about making Ma'amoul is that it brings people together; you rarely find one person in the household making it all by themselves. Well, at least that's like blasphemy in my house! This year, my parents and I made a huge batch together to give out to friends. 

Once the pastry is filled, you roll it up into a ball and push it into the wooden mold

To get the pastry out of the mold, the most effective way is to flip it over and THWACK it on any solid platform 

Date filling with an unintentional heart-looking design, anyone?

Date filling is by far my favorite. I can eat 10 of these in one go. I did not just say that out loud.

Freshly baked and ready to roll around in some powdered sugar

I hope that whomever celebrated Eid ul-Fitr had a wonderful one filled with family, friends, and lots of delicious treats!

Ma'amoul - معمول‎ 

my grandmother's recipe

What you'll need:

4 cups semolina

2 cups flour 

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup cooking/vegetable oil

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract/essence

Water at room temperature, enough to add till the dough is formed.

• Mix the dry ingredients until well incorporated
• Add butter and oil and work in with your hands
• While kneading the dough, add water at intervals until the dough forms. Once you're able to handle the dough and form a flat pancake-like shape, it's ready. (Refer to first series photo to know what I mean about this)

Happy Baking!

Vanilla Tart with Kiwi Topping

Kiwi has always been on the top of my list of favorite fruits. There's something about kiwis that scream happiness to me. Maybe it's the softness of the green flesh that I love to bite into when it's cold. Or maybe it's the tartness of the kiwi seeds that tingles on my tongue as I begin chewing on the fruit. Yes, that's probably it. Which is why one of my favorite toppings for tarts are kiwis. I feel that the sourness of the fruit complements the creamy and smooth texture of the tart, along with the crumbliness of the tart base.

The aroma of all these ingredients put together simply reminds me of summers in Syria when I used to visit my grandparents as a little girl. We would order mini tarts from a nearby bakery and I would patiently wait for my grandfather to come back with a box full of goodies. I watched the door handle like a hawk. The minute it would turn, I'd be up on my feet, jumping around with all the excitement in the world.

My mother and grandmother would set up the chairs and tables in our balcony and we would have tea with the tarts. My grandfather would tell us childhood stories of my mother, aunts and uncle, and grandma would smile. Those summers defined a huge chunk of my childhood; memories that I will cherish for years to come.