Monday 30 September 2013

Khoshaf


I'll end this month of delicious spicy and Egyptian food with a simple but beautiful dish. This is Khushaf  or Khoshaf, a traditional Egyptian dish which is often made during Ramadan to break the fast. It's good for Ramadan because of the high amount of sugars to give you energy during the day and the protein from the nuts.

It's like a compote, but not cooked. Or perhaps like a fruit salad, but made with dried fruits and nuts. It's very quick and easy to make and makes a delicious dessert, breakfast or snack at any time of the day. It's a lot healthier than a lot of other things you could have for dessert and conveniently you make it the day before, so it is a stress free dessert to serve up to guests.

You can soak the fruit in apple juice instead of water if you want to make it sweeter - but in my opinion it is sweet enough! You can also substitute other types of nuts, if you like.


Khoshaf

Ingredients
1/2 cup raisins (I used golden)
1/2 cup whole prunes
1/2 cup halved dates
1/2 cup sliced dried apricots
1/2 cup halved dried figs
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup dry roasted almonds (you can just used blanched if you prefer)
Water, to cover

To Make
1. Place all the dried fruit and the nuts in a bowl.
2. Cover with about 6 cups water, the fruit should be covered by at least 2 inches.
3. Leave in the fridge over night to soak. Check to make sure that there is enough water - if the fruit has absorbed all of the water then you'll need to add more. There should be plenty of syrupy juice left in the bowl after the fruit have absorbed as much as they can.
4. Eat! We just ate it as it is, but you could also serve over ice cream or with yoghourt.

Serves 6.

This month I'm featuring lots of delicious food from Egypt.
Check out my other Egyptian recipe posts:

4 comments:

  1. i want to eat that! it looks really good! i will make it & sub out the apricots since i am allergic, hmm maybe cranberries?

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    Replies
    1. I think it would be delicious with cranberries! You could also maybe use dried pears?

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  2. This looks deicious. I have made Khoshaf all my life, but experimented with other ingredients. For example, I add pistachios and pine nuts in addition to the walnuts and almonds. I also add orange blossom water, as well as other dried fruits. I thought you might want to experiment with all kinds of dried fruits, such as dry slices of oranges, apples, cherries. But remember, the fruit gives the Khoshaf its color.
    It is one of the most refreshig and nourishing desserts; especially in Ramadan, for its high protein and carbohydrate content.

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  3. How long can i preserve it and how?

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