Time again to introduce another guest blogger. Rafeeda of The Big Sweet Tooth is a beautiful friend accompanying me today as a guest. She is beautiful inside out, with her words as well as in her presence. She is as sweet as the sweet dishes she presents her readers. Even though my acquaintance with her is only through the virtual world, her warm and welcoming words draws me to her blog over and over. Despite being a working mom, she is a very regular blogger. I am always at awe at how she manages the time and energy to post her delicious creations multiple times a week. Her posts will make you laugh, think and make you fall in love with food all over again. Here’s to wishing her all the best and turning over to her for her post today.

Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakathuhu…

It is with trepidation that I am here on Lail’s beautiful space. How wouldn’t I? Lail’s With a Spin is a space that I look up to with a lot of awe. I love her pictures, her recipes, the way she blogs and everything about it. So when she pinged me with an invitation for a guest post to coincide with the holy month of Ramadan, I was really excited. I would have never said no to her request, at the same time I really didn’t know whether I would be able to do justice to her request. I found in Lail, a very warm person who assured me that anything from my side would do. This is one thing I have witnessed about blogging – I have always found people to be very warm, friendly and approachable. How much ever successful their blog may be, it is so good to see people being humble about their growth. MaShaAllah Lail… may Allah keep you the same way every time and give your blog the leap that it deserves!

Before going ahead, let me introduce myself. I am Rafeeda, who blogs at The Big Sweet Tooth. My little blog was born in January 2013 as a diary of my recipes, my inspirations and my lessons learned in life – yes, a medley of my whole gamut of emotions! An Indian, Keralite to be specific, I have spent my entire life in the UAE. A working mother, blessed with two beautiful daughters, I cook as a stress buster and yes, mad about my sweets, just like my blog name suggests!

Ramadan is a month of worship – the month that the Holy Quran was released as a guidance to the human kind, the month that Allah has promised the highest reward to those who make full use of it, the month when Muslims all across the world give up food, water and everything of wordly importance from dawn to dusk, abiding by the commandments of the Almighty Lord. May Allah give us the Aafiyah to make the most of this Ramadan, InShaAllah… I have observed all Ramadans of my life in the UAE and I have always loved the vibe that this place gives. During Ramadan, the whole UAE irrespective of religion respect and adhere by abstinence of food and drink during the day. The Taraweehs and the Qiyamul Lails are so widespread in every nook and corner, in every Masjid in the town that the spirit of Ramadan automatically seeps in to everybody. There was a time when umma would dedicate quite a bit of time in the kitchen deciding on what to make for Iftar, however as we grew up and became less inclined to eating during Iftars, our concentration moved towards having more fruits and juices during Iftar and just a normal meal for dinner. Making extra snacks became a once-a-week affair. Even if we do crave for snacks, we look for easy-to-make options that can be done in less than half an hour.

On Lail’s space today, I am sharing with you a simple snack that can be made really quickly. I come from the north side of Kerala, which is called as Malabar. This area is very well known for its wide variety of snacks. Not the side I come from, but the side my HD comes from is very well known for it. It is after marriage that I have learned quite a bit of snacks, unfortunately I have not been making them quite often considering the amount of ghee and the calories that are guaranteed to accompany each of the snacks!

Kaipola is basically a sweet thick egg cake which is filled with plantains. Plantains are large bananas, which is a major part of our diet back home in Kerala. To read more about plantains, you can go here. As the post comes by, I am also attaching a picture so that you can see how it looks. Raw plantains are used to make stir fries as side for rice or are deep fried after cutting into thin slices to have some crispy delicious chips – if you have a Keralite working with you at office, I bet you would have definitely tasted the Kerala banana chips! Ripe plantains are eaten as it is, steamed, filled with coconut, etc., in fact cooked in so many varieties of snacks. Kaipola is just one of them – “kai” means plantain and “pola” means cake. Why I like this snack is that the ingredients are all in moderation with nothing to be really worried about and so can easily fall into the category of “healthy” snacks. Hoping onto see how this easy dish is made.

Kaipola, Plantain Egg Cake

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

45 mins

 

Kaipola recipe, a sweet thick egg cake which is filled with plantains. A popular Malabar recipe and served during teatime.

Author: Rafeeda

Recipe type: Dessert

Cuisine: Indian

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 3 medium plantains, chopped into small pieces
• 4 eggs
• A pinch of cardamom
• A pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon ghee
• 4 tablespoon sugar (more for sweetness!)
• 8-10 cashew nuts
• 10-15 raisins

Instructions

1. Beat the eggs with cardamom and salt till doubled in volume and pale in color.
2. Heat a saucepan and melt the ghee. Fry the cashew nuts, drain. Fry the raisins till puffed, drain into the cashew nuts. Now add the plantains and sauté on low flame for five minutes. Add the sugar and cook till melted. Now pour in the beaten egg and give a gentle mix. Sprinkle the cashew nuts and raisins on top.
3. Keep the flame on bare minimum and cook on tightly closed lid till the top is firm, ie. non-sticky when touched. Switch off and leave in the pan for a couple of minutes. Flip onto a plate. Cut and serve with a hot cup of chai!

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Once again, JazakAllah Khair, Lail for this opportunity to be featured on your lovely space. I sincerely hope I have done justice to your request. Here’s wishing all the beautiful readers a blessed Ramadan and an auspicious Eid ul Fitr in advance. May Allah bless us with the best that He can give all of us, Aameen….

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The pleasure is all mine, my dear Rafeeda.  Thank you so much for the wonderful words, your heartfelt wishes and your delicious sweet creation.  You creation is as such as you are.  My dear With A Spin readers, please stop by Rafeeda’s blog at The Big Sweet Tooth and say hi to her.