Every year during Ramdan, I research and try to showcase recipes made during Ramadan from around the world. I feel food is a great way to learn about other cultures, traditions. It helps me expand my horizon and in the process often end up realizing that we all are so alike and connected with each other. Check out the list below, so many countries and so many recipes !!

Other Ramadan recipes around the world

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This year on my journey through the world looking for delicious Ramadan dishes, I found these beauties, Qatayef. I love Reem Assil’s work on foods from the Arab world, and this recipe is based on her recipe published in Saveur. Qatayef or Atayef is a must have dessert for Ramadan in the Arabic world. These are little pancakes, or more like crumpets as they are cooked only on one side, these are either stuffed with Cream filling or but filling. The ones with the nuts filling are fried, both versions get a generous drizzle of fragrant syrup and sprinkle of chopped pistachio.

Ashta or the cream is the thick cream you get when you boil the milk, just like Malai. Here we are making something with cream and paneer or milk curds and cream

The syrup is beautifully scented with orange blossom and rose water, I absolutely love orange blossom in anything and everything.

I love that all the components of this recipe can be made 24 hours ahead and the dessert comes together quickly on the day off. I will be certainly making the fried version with walnuts pretty soon as well, but until then sharing the recipe for Qatayef with Ashta filling

I have captured the process in a video, check it out here

Qatayef with Ashta filling

Qatayef is a middle eastern dessert, small pancakes filled with delicious cream, drizzled with beautifully scented syrup. Its a myst have for Ramadan celebration through out the Arab world

Ingredients

Ashta filling

4 cups whole milk
2 tbsp. sugar divided
2 tbsp. distilled white vinegar
1½ tsp. orange blossom water
1½ tsp. rosewater
2 cups heavy cream
2 tbsp. cornstarch

For the Blossom Syrup

2 cups sugar
1 tbsp. orange blossom water
1 tbsp. rosewater

For the Pancakes

For the yeast mixture

1½ tsp. active-dry yeast
1 1/2 Cup Warm Water
1 Tsp Sugar

Dry ingredients

4 cups all-purpose flour
⅔ cups semolina flour
1 tbsp. Sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. kosher salt

Wet ingredients

2 cups whole milk
2 large eggs

Instructions

For Ashta cream
Boil the milk with 1 tbsp of sugar, orange blossom water and rose water. When Milk comes to a boil, take it off the heat, add vinegar and stir until the milk curds form
Strain it in a strainer with a cheese cloth
Take cream in a pot, add 1 tbsp sugar, corn start and whisk well, cook till its custard like. Add the strained milk curd to this warm mixture and whisk till you have lump free mixture. Let it thicken in the fridge for a couple of hours
For Syrup
Mix all the ingredients and bring it to a boil, cook until the syrup coats back of the spoon, let it cool to room temp
Pancake batter
Mix sugar with water, add yeast and let it activate for a few mins
Mix rest of the dry ingredients, add eggs and milk and whisk, add the yeast mixture and combine to get lump free batter, let it rest in the fridge for a couple of hours
Making Qatayef
Heat a non-stick pan, add a ladle full of batter, cover and cook till the top dries out, Don’t flip the pancakes. Take it out on a plate and cover with a kitchen towel to keep them moist
Fold and pinch to seal, seal only 1/2 way leaving some opening to fill the cream
Assembly
Fill the pancake with the cream and let it rest for at least 30 mins in the fridge
When ready to serve, garnish with pistachios and dry rose petals
Drizzle with orange blossom syrup and serve