Get Delicious on a date Whether you are looking for a sweet treat with natural goodness or a naturally packed snack to fight fatigue, dates easily qualify as the perfect choice for most health enthusiasts. High in carbohydrates and fibre, and rich in exotic taste and essential minerals dates can be a healthy addition to any diet.

Originally dates came from the Middle East and South Asia. It was prominently so around the Persian Gulf and river Nile. Today they are grown extensively in the warm climate zones across Africa, Europe and Asia. The date fruit belongs to the ‘drupe’ category having a fleshy outer layer and an inner hardened pit with a seed.

Date variants are available either as the sift ‘Medjool’ and ‘Khadrawy’, the semi dry ‘Deglet Noor’ or the dry form ‘Thoory’. The Popular and revered cultivars include ‘Medjool’, Khadrawy’, ‘Amer Haji’, ‘Khalasah’, ‘Kenta’ and Khajoor’.

A Weighty Affair!!!

Dates are cholesterol free and loaded with dietary fibre, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. These energy-dense delicious fruits are rich in potassium (which helps to check hypertension), calcium (which is useful for skeletal and dental health), selenium (the immunity booster), magnesium and copper.

If the antioxidants in dates are chiefly the powerful carotenoids, the vitamins comprise the entire range of the B complex – B6, niacin, and folic acid. It is also rich in amino acids. About 100g of fresh dates provide 400 k cal approximately. So, the flip side is you must be careful about nibbling on too many dates!! It is especially so if you are trying to watch your weight.

Soak On Beauty

• Being fairly dense in calories, simple sugars (glucose and fructose) and iron, dates are recommended for pregnant women, nursing mothers and growing children. The energy released instantly and the body feels revitalized; they are precisely the reasons why dates are preferred to break day-long fasts during Ramzan.

• The tannins present in dates exhibit anti-inflammatory and disease fighting properties. Dates contain considerable amount of Vitamin A (approximately 150 IU per 100 g) and is thus good for vision and healthy skin.
• Consuming soaked dates with warm milk acts as a natural laxative and cuts down on ‘bad’ cholesterol absorption in the body. They also help in improving digestion and reducing intestinal and liver problems. Dates are considered beneficial for weight gain, regularizing menstrual woes, building stamina and reducing alcohol intoxication.
• Upon consumption, dates leave an alkaline residue in the gut and aid in countering acidity.
• Go for a face mask made of dates, cream and wheat germ oil to keep age spots and skin dryness at bay. Blend together dates, honey, cucumber juice and oat flakes for a face pack to enjoy blemish-free and nourished skin.
• Soft dates can be eaten as snack as it is or by stuffing it with nuts, cheese, cream or spices. Fresh and died dates are enjoyed sprinkled over cereals, porridges, salads and milk shakes. Chopped dates find a place in many regional sweet and savory delicacies, ranging from date cakes, cookies, puddings and breads to date juice, date sugar, chutneys and traditional Jallab teas.

Date Pancakes

 Ingredients

• Dates ½ cup
• Flour ½ cup
• Buttermilk 1 cup
• Salt ½ teaspoon
• Melted Butter 1 tbsp

Method

• Microwave chopped dates with some water for 30 sec.
• Stir in flour, buttermilk and salt and bring to pouring consistently.
• Pour over and spread spoonfuls of batter on a heated skilled, cook on medium heat till both sides are done
• Relish with honey, syrup or fresh fruits.

 

Chicken Caesar Salad Wraps
 Ingredients:

12 ounces boneless skinless chicken breast halves
Cooking Oil Spray
2 cloves minced garlic
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1/4 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup Kalamata olives, chopped (optional)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 cups lettuce, thinly sliced
3/4 cup fat-free small Caesar croutons
1/2 cup fat-free Caesar salad dressing
6 each fat-free flour tortilla
 
Procedure:

Spray cooking oil on non-stick pan.
Add chicken breasts and sauté with garlic over medium heat 15 to 20 minutes or until no longer pink in center, turning once.
Remove from heat and cool enough to slice in 1/4 inch strips.
Place chicken in bowl with onion, bell pepper, olives, parmesan cheese lettuce, croutons and toss with fat-free Caesar salad dressing.

Place 3/4 cup of mixture on each flour tortilla and roll tightly.
Repeat with remaining tortillas and filling.
To serve, cut each roll in half diagonally. Serve with your favorite fresh fruits.

Ingredients:

2 Cups rava
100 gms Sev
1/2 Cup curd
1 Cup boiled potatoes
1/2 Cup chopped onion
1 tsp Chat masala
1 tsp Chilli powder
1 tsp Cumin powder
4 tbsp Tamarind chutney
2 tbsp Green chutney
1 Cup water
Salt to taste

Procedure:

Cut boiled potaoes into cubes
Mix rava, salt and water.
Knead it to make dough.
Keep it in a wet cloth for 20 minutes.
Make medium sized balls from this dough.
Cut small puris from the balls with it a cutter.
Heat the oil.
Fry the pooris till they turn light brown and crisp.
Place them on a plate.
Put sev, cubed potatoes, and curd.
Add tamarind and green chutney.
Sprinkle chilli, cumin and chat powder.
Sev Puri is ready to be served!

If you consider our curries already quite hot, wait till you've tried the Ethiopian lentil stew, or the red chicken curry 'Dorowat', you'll have smoke bellowing out of your ears. We haven't heard too much about African cuisine here, except for a passing mention of them being loaded with nuts and spices. And mostly because we have no reference point barring the few typical Middle-Eastern and Lebanese recipes we have tried and perfected over the years. But if spicy food is your thing, be assured you'll simply fall for the big flavours from the kitchens of Africa.

At the heart of Ethiopian cooking is the 'Injera', a flat bread made of teff flour savoured with the Dorowat, a red Ethiopian chicken stew, or the Segawat, a lamb stew. Typically the flat bread is of the texture and consistency of a dosa, only it is at least four times its size, and finer, as it is meant to be shared with the whole family from the same platter.

Says Sudha Kukreja, owner of Blanco, a multi-cuisine restaurant and bar in Khan Market, New Delhi, which recently set up an African cuisine festival, "If an Indian dish uses three spices the African one would have nine or ten. And the same goes with fish too."

Comparing the two different styles of cooking, she says, the difference lies in the way the two cuisines are cooked, and not in the ingredients. Unlike Indian, African food is never cooked, it is in fact simmered for a very long time. Their grills are more simply marinated than ours, and their staple ingredients are corn, white millet and rice, while ours are wheat and rice. Their cooking, except Ethiopian, is not curry oriented as ours, and the use of lentils too is quite restricted.

Sudha picked up the flavours during her travels to Africa particularly Tanzania and Ethiopia. She ate out at the local eateries, at posh hotels, everywhere she could to get a sense of the aesthetics of African cooking, and on returning trained her chefs to adapt the same for her restaurant. She points out another subtle difference between the two cuisines, "African food is not as evolved for royalty as some Indian dishes. It is more of a common man's food that is simple and easy to put together."

An ideal main course spread would be an Injera served with perhaps the world's most refreshing and unique salad, the Sheba salad inspired by the legendary queen of Sheba that has a large green chilli pepper dissected to reveal a filling of tomatoes, sweet onions and a dash of pepperoni. The size of the green chilli pepper can be intimidating to even a chilli-addict, still you are expected to cast aside your apprehensions and take a large bite of what they call a salad to know for yourself. Only meant to tantalise your taste buds, the juicy chilli gives you a buzz but not a chilli burn, and together with the sweet and tangy flavour of the Salsa-like filling it absolutely refreshes your senses. A classic, that!

Another way would be to combine a bowl of steamed rice with the vegetarian stew that is actually a flavourful blend of leafy greens, corn, carrot, cauliflower in a sweet and creamy coconut peanut stew. Or you could even go for the Kuku Paka which is a chicken, vegetable and peanut stew served with spiced rice.

Similarities to Indian cooking notwithstanding, will we shuffle out of our comfort zone to even experiment with a lesser-known cuisine such as Tanzanian or Ethiopian? Sudha has no doubts, for she feels at least Delhi is ready for it owing to an influx of new cuisines that come in bold, new flavours such as Spanish, Mexican, Brazilian, Japanese, and Malaysian to name a few. She adds, "Besides, African cooking offers a lot of options to vegetarians, and is loaded with elements from our own cuisine such as spice levels, simple cooking methods and common ingredients."

On that note, here are some recipes from the Ethiopian and Tanzanian kitchens shared by executive chef Raj Kumar of Blanco. The recipes are easy to make, and give you a sense of authentic African cooking.

Lentil stew
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup red lentils
2 white onions chopped
1/4 tea spoon black pepper minced
4 tomatoes blanched deseeded
4 cups vegetable broth
1 inch ginger grated
1 tea spoon turmeric powder
1/2 tea spoon Berbere (Ethiopian spice mix) or 1 tea spoon Garam masala
1/2 tea spoon cayenne peppers
Salt to taste
Niter kibbeh (spice butter) 5 drops
1 tablespoon olive oil

Method:
- Wash and rinse the lentils
- Saute onions and in olive oil until translucent
- Add broth or water
- Add tomato puree
- Add cayenne pepper
- Add Garam masala
- When gently boiling, add lentils
- Turn down heat and simmer until lentils are tender and it's a thick dryish stew
- Add berbere
- Add niter kibbeh and serve on injera or with bread

Green chilli salad
Ingredients:
8 green huge plump chillies (1/2 inches long) slit and deseeded
1/2 Cucumber chopped
1 onion white sweet
2 tomatoes chopped and deseeded
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 /4 tea spoon cayenne peppers
Salt to taste
1 teaspoon wine vinegar
1 /8 teaspoon garam masala

Method:
- Mix vinegar olive oil, salt, garam masala, and cayenne pepper well
- Add cucumber, tomatoes and onions to it
- Mix well
- Fill it in the green chillies and serve

Spice rice
Ingredients:
2 cups boiled rice
2 tablespoons fresh chopped dill
1 teaspoon Berbere or garam masala mixed with cayenne peppers
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt to taste
6 corn kernel cooked

Method:
- Heat up the oil
- Add Berbere to it
- Add corn
- Add salt
- Add dill
- Add rice and mix well
- Serve immediately

Kuku Paka (chicken curry)
Ingredients:
Chicken 500 gms
2 tablespoons grated ginger root.
1/4 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoons oil (divided)
Salt (divided)
2 small white onion chopped
1 green chilli
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon sugar
4 tomatoes
200ml coconut milk
1/8 table spoon lime juice
4 hardboiled and peeled eggs
2 potatoes diced
6 cloves
1/2 tea spoon white pepper powder

Method:
- Marinate the chicken with lime juice half ginger paste and garlic powder
- Heat up the oil and saute the onions in it for two minutes, and add cumin and clove
- Add the chicken pieces cook for about 2 minutes
- Add potatoes and balance ginger with turmeric
- Add tomatoes and chilli pepper and cook for six minutes
- Add coconut milk, sugar and white pepper
- Serve it with rice