Revani ( Greek Semolina Yogurt Cake with Lime Syrup)

Lime and sugar soaked semolina cake is moist & mouth melting dessert. This recipe for Revani (also spelled Ravani) is sure to please your sweet carving soul. Its an easy recipe to make and a delightful end of any meal. This cake has multiple identities scattered throughout the Middle East, Turkey and Greece. Coconut, pistachio, almonds are some popular addition. The syrup may also optionally contain orange flower water or rose water.

Ingredient:

Semolina:                       3/4 cup
All purpose flour:           1/4 cup
Sugar:                            1/2 cup
Oil:                                1/2 Cup
Yogurt:                          1/2 Cup
Egg:                               2eggs
Baking powder:             1-2table spoon
Salt:                               1/2 tea spoon
Vanilla essence:              1tea spoon
Lime juice:                     1/4 cup
Lemon Zest:                   1tea spoon

Method:
1) Boil 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water for 5 minutes. Add lime juice and heat for another 3 minutes at low flame. Keep aside and let it cool.
2) Preheat your oven to 180 deg C.
3) Mix egg and remaining sugar together until creamy with the help of whisk. Add oil and yogurt. Mix well.
4) Add together all the dry ingredients like flour, semolina, salt, baking powder and lemon zest in a different container. Mix well.
5) Gradually add this flour mixture to the batter mixing continuously.
6) Finally add vanilla essence and pour the batter into a well greased baking dish.
7) Bake it for 45-50 minutes or until the surface is golden and knife poked in the centre comes out clean.
8) Pour the cold lime-sugar syrup all over the cake slowly when the cake is warm. Let it sit for 5 minutes and then cut it in your favourite shape
9) Top it up with cream, powdered sugar, pistachio or almond and get ready to indulge yourself.

BON APPETIT...

Iskender Kebab

Another famous Turkish delicacy in the menu today. İskender kebab is one of the most famous meat foods of northwestern Turkey and takes its name from its inventor, İskender Efendi who lived in Bursa in the late 19th century. It is prepared from thinly cut grilled lamb basted with hot tomato sauce over pieces of pita bread and generously slathered with melted sheep butter and yogurt. Tomato sauce and boiling butter are sometimes poured over the dish, at the table. İskender meaning 'Alexander' some stories tells that it was  a favorite food of Alexander the great. I am making this recipe with chicken which is a more softer meat then lamb. A new kind of kebab with totally different marinate.

Ingredients:

Chicken breast:               2 pieces ( cut in thin long strips)
Onion:                             1 medium
Garlic:                             2 cloves
Yogurt:                            4table spoon
Tomato puree:                 2table spoon
Pita bread:                       2 large ( substitute- Indian naan bread)
Olive oil
Black pepper
Paprika powder
Salt to taste
Butter

Method:
1) Process the onion in a food blender and take out the juice. Discard the pulp.
2) Marinate the chicken strips with onion juice, 2 spoon olive oil, salt and pepper. Refrigerate it for 4-5 hours.
3) Cook the chicken with all  its marinate until all the juices run dry and chicken is cooked well.
4) Add crushed garlic and salt to the yogurt and keep aside.
5) Mix tomato puree with 2 spoon olive oil, pepper and paprika. Heat it in a small sauce pan. season it with salt.
6) Warm the pita bread from both side. Cut it in a bite size pieces.  Spread the yogurt sauce on pita bread. Stack the hot kebab over it. Drizzle it with tomato sauce and hot melted butter.
7) Serve hot and enjoy it as "Alexander the Great".


BON APPETIT...

Royal Turkish Rice Pudding ( Fırın Sütlaç )

Went to Turkey last month and found this dish in almost all the restaurant. Amazing dessert from ancient ottoman empire. Rice puddings are found in nearly every area of the world. Recipes can greatly vary even within a single country. The dessert can be boiled or baked. In this recipe rice is cooked with milk, sugar,  spices and flavors and then its broiled in an oven to get a perfect crust over the pudding. Royal family use to flavor it with rose and sprinkle it with cinnamon powder. This Authentic flavor is really hard to find now in any restaurant. After reading and hearing lot about these stories I am trying to replicate the  original version.

Ingredient:

Rice:                        1/4 cup

Full cream Milk:       1liter

Sugar:                      4-5 Spoon ( to taste)

Rose petals:             4-5 petals

Cinnamon Stick:       2 cm long

Corn flour:                1/4 cup

Cinnamon powder

Vanilla essence:         5-6 drops

Method:

1) Wash the rice and put it to boil in a pan with some water ( as much rice can soak). Add rose petals and cinnamon stick as soon as it start boiling.

2) Once the rice soaked all the water take out the cinnamon and rose petal carefully. Add milk and sugar.

3) Add corn flour mixed in cold milk to the boiling pudding.Keep stirring as long the the milk is thick and its of pudding consistency.

4) Add vanilla essence and cook for another minute.

5) You can serve it cold with some cinnamon sprinkle over it.

6) Or can put the pudding in a oven proof bowl and grill it for 10-15 minutes with the top grill and fan option. See if the surface is brown. Cool it and serve "The Royal Style".

BON APPETIT...

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