Just like last year, I have invited few of my blogger friends to guest post during Ramadan. I am very happy to present you Fatemah from Saffron Pudding this week. I absolutely love her mesmerizing story telling writing and off course the traditional Middle Eastern and Khaleeji/Kuwaiti recipes. Raised in Kuwait with a Persian background, her recipes are full of flavor. It is my immense pleasure to have her today as my guest. Let’s give her a warm welcome here at With A Spin and see what Kuwait delicacy and cultural tidbits she is presenting us today.
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Like a special guest he arrives. He slowly knocks on the doors, letting everybody know he is here. He is no ordinary guest for he makes everyone around him more blessed, happy and sincere. But like all polite guest, he leaves before he is too much to handle.
Funny how we get angry and frustrated when our dinner is an hour or even half an hour late, but we happily stay hungry for hours for a whole month without complaints. It’s definitely God’s mercy.
I can go on and on about my fascination with Ramadan and how special it is for me and for the whole Muslim world. But I won’t because I know you are all aware of that. Instead I will just share a bit of tradition that we have in Kuwait in Ramadan and a dish that is often prepared specially for this holy month.
In Kuwait the time between Futoor and Suhoor is called Ghab’ga (غبقة). Around 10-12 p.m tea is prepared, everyone come to the living room from their naps/prayers for a rest, little chats and little TV Snacks and desserts are served.
One of the most popular Kuwaiti sweets is Sab El-gaf’sha (صب القفشة) which literally means (pour the spoon). It is fried dumplings that are prepared with gram flour, eggs, cardamom, saffron and sweetened with simply syrup.
It is often prepared just before Futoor so it can be served hot and fresh but it is also served for Ghab’ga when the simple syrup has penetrated the dumplings well and they now resemble more the texture of cake, perfect for pairing with a nice hot cup of tea.
- 1 tablespoon instant yeast
- 1 satblespoon sugar
- 1 cup gram flour
- 2 cups all purpose flour, plus 1 tablespoon
- ¼ cup vegetable oil, plus more for frying
- 1¼ cup luke warm water - divided
- 4 eggs
- a pinch of salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground saffron
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cardamom
- Ground pistachios for garnish ( optional)
- Simple syrup
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup water
- Few drop of fresh lemon juice
- A pinch of ground cardamom
- A pinch of ground saffron
- In a large bowl, combine yeast, sugar, 1tablespoon flour, and ¼ cup water. Let stand at room temperature for 5-10 minutes.
- Add the remaining ingredients all at once. Whisk until all ingredients are well incorporated. Cover and let the batter rest for at least one hour.
- In a large, high edge skillet, heat oil for frying over high-medium heat. Take some batter with a tablespoon and slowly drop the batter in the oil with a help of another spoon.
- Turn the dumplings a few times until they’re cooked and golden brown on each side. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels to absorb excess oil.
- Transfer to the serving dish. Drizzle with simple syrup and garnish with pistachios before serving.
- STEPS TO MAKE SYRUP
- In a small pot, dissolve sugar and water over medium-high heat.
- Add lemon juice, cardamom and saffron. Bring to boil. Let mixture boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.
What I do is that I make the whole recipe at the beginning of the week. I drizzle some dumplings to eat the same day with simple syrup but I leave the rest without syrup and I freeze them in plastic bags. Then everyday for the rest of the week I take some out, microwave and serve them. They’ll be nice and delicious just like fresh ones.
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Thank you, my dear, Fatemah for sharing this fabulous sweet dumpling and a little about Kuwaiti culture.
My dear With A Spin readers, please head over to Saffron Pudding and take a peek at Fatemah’s wonderful blog.
Thank you Lail for inviting me and giving me this opportunity to share my culture and traditions with your viewers. I should’ve said that in the post but this is my first time guest posting for anyone and I am not familiar with the etiquette 🙂
Fatemah, as I mentioned before, you have done a great job considering this is your first guest post. I love your writing and the recipe is outstanding. Thank you so much my dear friend for gracing my humble space.
This recipe must taste like heaven! Thanks for introducing us to Fatemah, I just had a look at her blog, she is a terrific blogger 🙂
She is Daniela. Thank you for stopping by both our blogs.
Thank you Daniela for checking out my blog. I hope you like try this recipe and like it and then come back for more 🙂
Thanks Lail for introducing us to Fatemah from Saffron Pudding. Great recipe and amazing photos that makes you want to grab a sweet fried dumpling right off the plate.
I know, right. The flavor combination of these fried dumplings are irresistible. Fatemah did a fabulous job. Thank you Bam.
Fatemah, you are so close talented! What an incredible guest post 😀
I love this wonderful dumpling recipe, so delicious!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Thanks Choc ( not sure how I should address you, I hope this is fine :). Glad you like it.
Sounds like chats + social eating are a thing around the world 🙂 These look wonderful! Wondering if you eat them hot or cold? (both?)
That’s right Francesca. We all love to chat and nipple, right! That also explains all the extra pounds that we can’t lose :D. We actually eat it both ways. We eat it hot and freshly fried, and also at room temperature later on the night. Both delicious 🙂
Wow… what an awesome guest post, Lail… this looks so close to the Lqeimat we get here… loved Fatemah’s description about their traditions! Lovely…
Agree, the Sab El-gaf’sha is very similar to lokma or luquemat, Rafeeda. Fatemah is a fabulous story teller, isn’t she? Thank you for stopping by, my friend.