Dates are an interesting fruit from how it grows to how it can be consumed. It can be eaten raw as well as cooked. In the past, the people from the countries covered in deserts used to live on dates, picking them from the trees. Today, the same tradition continues but there are so many more easier, packed and sealed options. It contains all kinds of nutrients and vitamins for the body. As beautiful as it looks, it is also delicious to eat. Us Muslims like to eat dates at the beginning and end of our fasts.
Nowadays many kinds of sweets are being made with this date fruit. Such as suok, date borfi, date pudding, almond dates, date bars, Sweets, Cakes, Date Juice, Shakes, etc.
Then again, dates can be stored dry and consumed through the entire year without ever going bad. Children can be fed its powder mixed with milk.
When people in Arabia travelled far and wide, they carried food made of dates. There was no other food opportunity in the hilly areas. When they were hungry, people ate food made of dates. And now how many different items are being made from the date fruit! How many fun recipes can be found by simply searching on YouTube.
Date paste is available in the market. It can also be easily made at home. There are also many types of nuts available in the market. Using dates and nuts, today I will be preparing a recipe for making date borfi.
Clean the ripe dates and dry them. Then they should be soaked in milk for 5/6 hours. After soaking the dates in milk, you need to mash them together until you have a paste. The consistency should be thick and not too runny.
Heat ghee in a pan and fry the nuts in it. The stove fire should be kept at medium heat all the time. We do not want to burn the nuts, we only want to toast them.
Then fry the cardamom, cinnamon and flour in the ghee. When the flour changes colour a little towards brownish, add the date paste and stir constantly. When the ghee seems to be coming out of the mixture, take it down.
Pour it on an flat plate and run a knife over the mixture in a diamond shape to give them the iconic borfi look. Spread the fried nuts on the top.
Voila! You now have cooked a delicious batch of date borfi! You can store it in a box and leave it in the fridge to consume over months!
