As Ramadan comes to an end, Muslims are celebrating Eid al-Fitr, a day of feasting following a month of fasts. As with any global holiday, the treats vary from place to place. The Somalis have buskud (shortbread); Pakistanis make sheer khurma (vermicelli cooked in sweet milk); and the Turkish and Bosnians bake baklava. Here’s a glimpse into some other Eid treats that GTA residents are digging into this week.
Trinidadian Sawine
The Muslim population in Trinidad and Tobago makes up just about 10 per cent of the population, but Eid is a public holiday and families take the day off to clean the house, don new clothes, visit the mosque (Trinidad has 85 and Tobago has two) and cook up a storm, says Lazina Aziz, 77, who was born in Trinidad before coming to Canada 20 years ago.
“It’s like Christmas,” says Aziz. The Eid feast consists of curries, rotis, baked chicken and a sweet puddinglike dessert called sawine (pronounced “sa-wine”). Thin vermicelli noodles are toasted to a golden brown in butter, then cooked in sweetened milk flavoured with spices, nuts, dried fruit and other toppings (a similar dish called sheer khurma is eaten in central and South Asia during Eid). Back in Trinidad, Aziz would make a big pot of it in the morning, give it to anyone who visited, and send big jugs of it to neighbours and friends.
Now living in Brampton, Aziz has bittersweet feelings when Ramadan ends.
“It’s sad when it ends because you make so many new friends when you go to the mosque and you see them crying because we don’t know if we’ll live next year,” Aziz says.
Sawine
2 tbsp(30 mL) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups(375 mL) cut vermicelli
1 cinnamon stick or 1 tsp (5 mL) ground cinnamon
6 whole green cardamon pods
2 cups(500 mL) each: boiling water, evaporated milk
1/2 cup(125 mL) sweetened condensed milk
Raisins, for garnish
Chopped toasted almonds, for garnish
In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add vermicelli, cinnamon and cardamon. Stir constantly, covering noodles in butter and toasting until fragrant, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove cinnamon stick and cardamon pods.
Add boiling water; continue to cook on medium until noodles are tender and most of the water has evaporated, about 10 to 15 minutes.
Reduce heat to low. Stir in evaporated and condensed milks until warm.
Divide into bowls. Top with raisins and chopped almonds. Serve immediately.
Makes 8 to 10 servings.
Egyptian Kahk
In Egypt, the essential dessert for Eid is kahk (pronounced “ka-hk” with a strong emphasis on the H), a crumbly cookie stuffed with a sweet paste and covered in powdered sugar.
“My grandma would spend hours kneading the dough, but this was before the days of the KitchenAid,” says Nora Hindy, 33, a teacher with the Peel District School Board. “It’s a community thing. At the end of the month the women would come together to make the cookies and laugh and talk … some would sell the cookies but it’s kind of a dying art.”
All kahk recipes call for something called “kahk essence,” a mixture of ground aniseed, fennel seed and most importantly, mahaleb — sour cherry seeds. The latter tastes like a fruity, bitter almond and is often used in Middle Eastern desserts. To find them, head to Middle Eastern grocers like Adonis and Arz (pro tip: the bulk nut counter at Adonis sells mahaleb in any amount you want).
This recipe is adapted from Hindy. Variations for the filling can include chopped dates, or pistachios can replace the walnuts. You can also opt to add rosewater or use orange blossom water or ground cinnamon, cardamom and cloves to add fragrance.
“The big thing for Egyptians is the sweets. I think it’s from not eating so all we think about is that,” Hindy says, laughing.
Egyptian Kahk
For the walnut filling
1/2 cup (125 mL) each: water, all-purpose flour, honey, toasted sesame seeds
3/4 cup (180 mL) crushed and toasted walnuts
1 tbsp (15 mL) rosewater, optional
In a small pan over very low heat, whisk water, flour and honey together until well incorporated and smooth. Fold in sesame seeds and walnuts; stir in rosewater if using. Remove from heat.
Let mixture cool to room temperature to form a paste.
For the dough
4 cups (1 L) all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups (310 mL) ghee or clarified butter
2 tsp (10 mL) powdered sugar, plus more for dusting cookies
1 tbsp (15 mL) ground mahaleb
1/2 tsp (2 mL) each: ground aniseed, ground fennel seed
1 1/2 tbsp (2 packets) instant dry active yeast
1/2 cup (125 mL) lukewarm water
Walnut filling
Preheat oven to 375F (190C).
In a stand mixer with hook attachment, mix flour and ghee on low speed until dough is evenly mixed but still crumbly.
In the meantime, in a mixing bowl stir together sugar, mahaleb, aniseed, fennel seed and yeast. Add water and mix until yeast starts to bubble. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 10 minutes, or until mixture doubles in size.
Add yeast mixture to flour mixture. Mix dough on low speed until just combined into a solid ball. Add more water if dough is too dry.
Divide dough into tablespoon-sized balls. Take dough ball and flatten into a disc shape with hand. Scoop 1 teaspoon of walnut filling into centre of flattened dough ball. Roll dough back into a ball. Repeat with remaining dough.
Place dough on lined baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, or until cookies are slightly golden brown.
Let cool on a rack; dust generously with powdered sugar.
Makes 36 cookies.
Guyanese pineapple tarts
Toronto’s multiculti cuisine can be boiled down to the cooking of children’s book author Rukhsana Khan during Eid (or “Eat” as her daughter likes to call it). She’ll make a dessert from her native Pakistan called seviyan that’s made of roasted vermicelli cooked in sweetened milk spiced with cardamom. There are also pecan bars, lemon squares and chocolate cake. But Khan’s most requested treat is something her Guyanese mother-in-law taught her to make: flaky and buttery mini tarts filled with spiced pineapple jam.
“I always have to make about 100 because people just can’t make enough of them,” says Kahn, 54. “On the Eid before my sister passed away from breast cancer, she sat down and ate 20 of them.”
These tarts are also eaten during Chinese New Year in southeast Asian nations like Malaysia and Indonesia and come in different shapes like rounds or are even baked in little pineapple molds. When giving me the recipe, Khan says she prefers folding her rolled-out dough into little sealed triangles but after a few failed attempts, I conceded and opted for an easier method of simply pinching the edges of the dough and leaving a bit of the jam exposed (I have failed you Rukhsana, but the tarts are delicious).
Pineapple tarts
2 cups (500 mL) canned crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup (250 mL) granulated sugar
10 whole cloves
1 stick cinnamon or 1 tsp (5 ml) ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
3 cups (750 mL) all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
2 large eggs, beaten
1 large egg, beaten, for egg wash
Preheat oven at 400F (200F).
In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring pineapple, sugar, cloves and cinnamon to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce to medium and continue to simmer until most of liquid has evaporated, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat, discard cloves and cinnamon stick, and let cool to room temperature.
In the meantime, in a large bowl use a pastry cutter or fork to cut butter into flour. Mix 2 beaten eggs and knead flour using hands until a dough forms.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to half-centimetre thickness. Cut out circles using a 3-inch cookie cutter or the rim of a glass.
Spoon one heaping teaspoon of pineapple jam into centre of each dough circle. Fold circle into a pyramid shape by pinching three points of the circle together at the centre. Pinch folds together.
Lightly brush each tart with egg wash. Bake on a lined baking sheet for 20 to 25 minutes, or until dough is golden brown and flaky.
Transfer to wire rack and let cool completely before serving.
Makes approximately 36 tarts.
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