21 Dishes

Dessert, Sweet

Asida

Asida (arabic: عصيدة, romanized: ‘aṣīdah) is a dish with origins from the maghreb. it is a lump of dough, obtained by stirring wheat flour into boiling water, sometimes with added butter or honey. similar in texture to fufu, it is eaten in mainly in north african countries. it is considered one of the most popular desserts and traditional dishes in many arab countries. asida is particularly popular in libya, algeria, tunisia, ethiopia, eritrea, and the rest of the middle east. as most traditional foods of these countries, it is usually eaten by hand, without the use of utensils. often served during religious holidays such as mawlid and eid, it is also served during other traditional ceremonies, for example accompanying the birth of child, such as the ‘aqīqah, the cutting of the hair of a newborn seven days after birth.a simple, yet rich dish, often eaten without other complementary dishes, it is traditionally served at breakfast and is also given to women in labor.

Dessert, Sweet

Basbousa

Basbousa (arabic: بسبوسة basbūsah) is a sweet, syrup-soaked semolina cake that originated in egypt, and is also common in other countries. the semolina batter is baked in a sheet pan, then sweetened with orange flower water, rose water or simple syrup, and typically cut into diamond (lozenge) shapes or squares. it is also found in most areas of the former ottoman empire, and is featured in middle eastern cuisines, greek cuisine, azerbaijani cuisine, turkish cuisine, ethiopian cuisine, yemeni cuisine and others.

Dessert, Sweet

Bassima

Coconut cake

Dessert, Sweet

Basta

Pastry sheets with a peanut and cinnamon filling, orange syrup and pistachios, similar to baklava

Dessert, Sweet

Blancmange

Blancmange (, from french: blanc-manger [blɑ̃mɑ̃ʒe]) is a sweet dessert popular throughout europe commonly made with milk or cream and sugar thickened with rice flour, gelatin, corn starch, or irish moss (a source of carrageenan), and often flavoured with almonds. it is usually set in a mould and served cold. although traditionally white (hence the name, in english literally "white eating"), blancmanges are frequently given alternative colours. some similar desserts are french chef marie-antoine carême's bavarian cream, italian panna cotta, the middle eastern muhallebi, chinese annin tofu, hawai'ian haupia and puerto rican tembleque. the historical blancmange originated at some time during the middle ages and usually consisted of capon or chicken, milk or almond milk, rice, and sugar and was considered to be ideal for the sick. tavuk göğsü is a sweet contemporary turkish pudding made with shredded chicken, similar to the medieval european dish.

Dessert, Sweet

Ghazal al banat

Cotton candy, also known as fairy floss and candy floss, is a spun sugar confection that resembles cotton. it usually contains small amounts of flavoring or food coloring.it is made by heating and liquefying sugar, and spinning it centrifugally through minute holes, causing it to rapidly cool and re-solidify into fine strands. it is often sold at fairs, circuses, carnivals, and festivals, served in a plastic bag, on a stick, or on a paper cone.it is made and sold globally, as candy floss in the uk, ireland, egypt, india (also known as grandma's hair), new zealand, sri lanka, and south africa; as "girls hair" in united arab emirates, and saudi arabia; and as fairy floss in australia. similar confections include korean kkul-tarae and persian pashmak.

Dessert, Sweet

Goraasa be semna

Crepes with sultanas or dates, top with melted butter and sugar

Dessert, Sweet

Hininy

Hininy is a traditional food in saudi arabia, especially in najd. it is a mixture of date paste, wheat flour, milk, ghee, sugar and cardamom, and is common during ramadan

Dessert, Sweet

Jalebi

Jalebi (hindi: जलेबी,bengali: জিলাপি,odia: ଜିଲାପି, urdu: جلیبی‎, nepali: जेरी sinhala: පැණි වළලු), is a popular sweet snack in south and west asia, africa, and mauritius. it goes by many names, including jilapi, jilebi, jilipi, zulbia, jerry, mushabak, z’labia, or zalabia. the south asian variety is made by deep-frying maida flour (plain flour or all-purpose flour) batter in pretzel or circular shapes, which are then soaked in sugar syrup. jalebi is eaten with curd or rabri (in north india) along with optional other flavors such as kewra (scented water). in some west asian cuisines, jalebi may consist of a yeast dough fried and then dipped in a syrup of honey and rose water. the north african dish of zalabia uses a different batter and a syrup of honey (arabic: ʻasal) and rose water.jalebi can be served warm or cold. they have a somewhat chewy texture with a crystallized sugary exterior coating. citric acid, lime juice and rose water is sometimes added to the syrup. similar but distinct dishes include imarti, chhena jalebi, lokma, zalabiyeh, and bamiyeh. to keep it crisp and to prevent it from getting soggy, commercially made jalebi has rangkat (which is sodium dithionite and also called hydro) added to the jalebi batter recipe

Dessert, Sweet

Kahk

Kahk, or ka'ak al-eid (arabic: كعك or كعك العيد or كحك), is a small circular biscuit that originated in egypt and is eaten across the arab world to celebrate eid al-fitr and easter. it is covered with powdered sugar and can be stuffed with ‘agameya (عجمية, a mixture of honey, nuts, and ghee), lokum, walnuts, pistachios, or dates, or simply served plain. date-filled kahk are believed to be the origin of ma'amoul, a similar eid biscuit eaten in the levant. this dish also popular in indonesia and called as kue kaak as result of acculturation between arabs and indonesian. usually served during mawlid or eid ul-fitr.kahk is an important part of egyptian and sudanese culture. in addition to its role in eid and easter, when it is often served to guests, it is also eaten as part of a wedding feast and is occasionally served at other holiday feasts, namely christmas and mawlid. baking kahk is a traditional and social activity in the region: women of a village or neighborhood, christian and muslim alike, gather together to bake kahk, chat, and swap stories and recipes. sometimes, egyptians will prepare their kahk at home before taking it to a communal or commercial bakery to be baked and cooled. families typically exchange kahk as gifts, and friendly informal competitions over whose kahk is best are common. the designs stamped on kahk can be elaborate and are sources of pride for egyptian families. kahk molds, typically made from wood or ceramic, are often passed down from generation to generation. while bakeries have always sold premade kahk, buying kahk from a bakery has increased in popularity in urban egypt in recent years. however, store-bought kahk is relatively expensive—reaching £e70 (us$12.69) per kilo in 2009—so many egyptians, particularly those in rural areas, still bake their own.

Dessert, Sweet

Kanafeh

Knafeh (arabic: كنافة) is a traditional middle eastern dessert made with spun pastry called kataifi, soaked in a sweet, sugar-based syrup called attar, and typically layered with cheese, or with other ingredients such as clotted cream, pistachio or nuts, depending on the region. it is popular in the middle east. variants are also found in turkey, greece, and the balkans.in arabic, the name may refer to the string pastry itself, or to the entire dessert dish. in turkish, the string pastry is known as tel kadayıf, and the cheese-based dessert that uses it as künefe. in the balkans, the shredded dough is similarly known as kadaif/cataif, and in greece as kataifi, and is the basis of various dishes rolled or layered with it, including dessert pastries with nuts and sweet syrups. one of the most well-known preparations of the dessert is "knafeh nabulsiyeh", which originated in the city of nablus, and is the most representative palestinian dessert. knafeh nabulsiyeh uses a white-brine cheese called nabulsi. it is prepared in a large round shallow dish, the pastry is colored with orange food coloring, and sometimes topped with crushed pistachio nuts.

Dessert, Sweet

Lokma

Lokma are pastries made of leavened and deep fried dough balls, soaked in syrup or honey, sometimes coated with cinnamon or other ingredients. the dish was described as early as the 13th century by al-baghdadi as luqmat al-qādi (لقمة القاضي), "judge's morsels.

Dessert, Sweet

Malban

Turkish delight or lokum (ottoman turkish: لوقوم) is a family of confections based on a gel of starch and sugar. premium varieties consist largely of chopped dates, pistachios, hazelnuts or walnuts bound by the gel; traditional varieties are often flavored with rosewater, mastic gum, bergamot orange, or lemon. the confection is often packaged and eaten in small cubes dusted with icing sugar, copra, or powdered cream of tartar to prevent clinging. other common flavors include cinnamon and mint. in the production process, soapwort may be used as an emulsifying additive. the origin of turkish delight is not precisely known, but the confection is known to have been produced in turkey and iran (persia) as early as the late 18th century.

Dessert, Sweet

Meghli

Meghli, moghli, meghleh, (arabic: مغلي), or karawiyah, is a levantine dessert based on a floured rice pudding and spiced with anise, caraway, and cinnamon. the dish is often garnished with dried coconut flakes and various nuts including almonds, walnuts, pine nuts, and pistachios. meghli is commonly served to celebrate the birth of a child.

Dessert, Sweet

Mushabak

Zalabiyeh (arabic: زلابية) is a fritter or doughnut found in several cuisines across the middle east and west asia. the fritter version is made from a semi-thin batter of wheat flour which is poured into hot oil and deep-fried. the earliest known recipe for the dish comes from a 10th-century arabic cookbook and was originally made by pouring the batter through a coconut shell. zalabiyeh is also the arabic language term used by mizrahi jews for a deep-fried yeast dough, often topped with either honey or syrup, and known as burmuelos in ladino.

Dessert, Sweet

Om ali

Om ali, omali, umm ali, or oumm ali (egyptian arabic: أم على), meaning "mother of ali", is a traditional egyptian dessert, and is a national dessert of egypt. there are numerous variations with different composition. the dish, which is traced back to the early years of egypt's mamluk era, is named after the wife of the sultan of egypt who asked her cooks to come up with the most delicious dessert that they could create. the chosen recipe was distributed throughout the country, and became a national dish of egypt.

Dessert, Sweet

Qatayef

Qatayef or katayef or qata'if (arabic: قطايف, [qɑ'tˤɑ:jɪf]), [qɑ'tˤɑ:jɪf]) is an arab dessert commonly served during the month of ramadan, a sort of sweet dumpling filled with cream or nuts. it can be described as a folded pancake, similar to a scottish crumpet.

Dessert, Sweet

Qurabiya

Qurabiya (also ghraybe, ghorayeba, ghoriba (arabic: غريبة), ghribia, ghraïba, or ghriyyaba and numerous other spellings and pronunciations) is a shortbread-type biscuit, usually made with ground almonds. versions are found in most countries of the arab world, with various different forms and recipes.in the maghreb and egypt, it is often served with libyan tea, arabic coffee or maghrebi mint tea. ghoriba has been around in the greater syria area, iraq and other arab countries since ancient times. they are similar to polvorones from andalusia.

Dessert, Sweet

Qurabiya

Qurabiya (also ghraybe, ghorayeba, ghoriba (arabic: غريبة), ghribia, ghraïba, or ghriyyaba and numerous other spellings and pronunciations) is a shortbread-type biscuit, usually made with ground almonds. versions are found in most countries of the arab world, with various different forms and recipes.in the maghreb and egypt, it is often served with libyan tea, arabic coffee or maghrebi mint tea. ghoriba has been around in the greater syria area, iraq and other arab countries since ancient times. they are similar to polvorones from andalusia.

Dessert, Sweet

Shaaria

Vermicelli noodles with sugar, butter, also may add coconut or sultanas

Dessert, Sweet

Tulumba

Tulumba or bamiyeh (persian: بامیه) is a deep-fried dessert found in turkey and the regional cuisines of the former ottoman empire. it is a fried batter soaked in syrup, similar to jalebis and churros. it is made from unleavened dough lump (about 3 cm long) given a small ovoid shape with ridges along it using a pastry bag or cookie press with a suitable end piece. it is first deep-fried to golden colour and then sugar-sweet syrup is poured over it when still hot. it is eaten cold.