Hijazi Almond coffee

I have been part of a small like minded,food loving bloggers group on FB.Starting this month we would be doing a monthly theme challenge.As a part of the challenge for December we were assigned the blog Chef in disguise by the famous and talented blogger Sawsan .Sawsan is a doctor by profession and a blogger by passion .Her blog is a treasure house of some authentic middle eastern recipes.Her effort to preserve family recipes is phenomenal.I was introduced to her blog during the initial years of blogging through the daring bakers challenge which I unfortunately could not continue.The recipe which I selected for this months challenge is Hijazi almond coffee .Contrary to its name it is a zero caffeine drink with no traces of coffee.

Fig-almond-rose cake|How to make fig-almond-rose cake from scratch

Its been a long time since the last cake post on the blog .So today its time for a cake.Today on the  blog is rustic fig and almond cake. Figs provide the fruity element to this awesome,moist,buttery  nutty cake. Figs are one of my favourite foods and I can have them in any form at any time.More over its a fruit of great health benefits and sunnah of our prophet. Rose water is a typical middle eastern  speciality that lifts this cake to a higher notch .I have just blitzed the almonds with skin in a grinder and used for this recipe but you can go with ready made almond flour too.

Hyderabadi roat|How to make hyderabadi roat from scratch |Muharram special

Do you think cookies are from the western world ?No,cookies are very much Indian. Dum ka roat is one such example that cookies existed in India from ages .Roat/roote/roate what ever you call it.The big giant sized cookie measuring the size of your palm made with almond flour,semolina,all purpose flour and Desi ghee (clarified butter) is a labour of love . Hyderabadi dum ka roat is a speciality of Muharam -the first month of Islamic calendar .

Dum ka roat has become an iconic bake of Hyderabad and is available as seasonal bake at all the famous bakeries like Pistahouse and Subhan bakery.Its available for 3 months only from October to December.Every year some generous friends who are back from vacations deliver our pack of dum ka roat .