Syrian Dried Apricot Paste Question

For several years I have been shopping at Marketplace on Oakton and making forays into unfamiliar culinary territory. This Syrian dried apricot paste has caught my eye again and again. Does anyone know how it is traditionally used? Do you cook with it or just eat it as is?

I bought some of this myself because of the cool packaging. It is called qamar el-deen. It is most often made into a drink by adding it to boiling water, or it is used to make apricot pudding. It is popular during Ramadan. I like the taste of qamar el-deen raw, but unlike the thinner and chewier fruit "leather" (called bastegh in Armenian), it is too gummy and sticky to eat that way. It seems to last a long time without going bad.

It does indeed last a very long time without deteriorating. I was seduced by the packaging a few years ago and only a month or so ago decided that I really ought to do something with it. I found a recipe for a pudding that turned out to be easy and quite delicious. If you're interested, let me know. My recollection is that I found the recipe in an Egyptian cookbook, though it may have been Lebanese.

HI,

Is the recipe something you could share here? YOu can repeat the ingredient list precisely, a little rewriting of the instructions and from where the recipe was adapter from.

(I have a container of guava paste I keep meaning to research what to do with.)

Regards,

Just checked and it is, indeed, an Egyptian recipe for mihallabiyit 'amar al-din, translated as pressed apricot pudding. (The name for the paste itself is 'amar al-din.)The recipe is scalable, by which I mean that you make quantities based upon the number of cups of liquidized apricot paste you have/make. For every cup of diluted paste, use 1 tsp. cornstarch, 1 Tbs sugar, 1 tsp mixed nuts (I used pistachios alone), and 1 tsp. raisins (I omitted them).

You are instructed to shred the sheets coarsely, although I couldn't figure out how to do that and leave my hand intact so I just cut them up very roughly into smaller pieces. That worked just fine, too. Cover the shreds/pieces with water for a few hours. As I remember, it didn't take a lot of water...perhaps two or three cups for the entire sheet. The paste does not dissolve, as promised, but will certainly soften a bit. Then, add the sugar and slowly bring to a boil; the slow process ensures that the paste won't burn and that the paste will continue to soften. If you play with it (stir, poke, prod) a bit, the paste will slowly dissolve. Once at a boil, add the cornstarch (it helps to dissolve it in a small amount of cold water first).

Continue to cook (I reduced the heat now to a simmer) until it thickens a bit. Then, remove from the heat and stir in the raisins and half of the nuts. (The recipe recommends lightly frying the raisins to puff them--your choice.) Pour into a serving bowl or individual serving bowls and top with the remaining nuts.

The book, by the way, is Samia Abdennour's Egyptian Cooking published by the American University in Cairo Press (though also available from Amazon as I recall).

Questions?

I love LTH Forum! Where else could I post a question like this at midnight and get such rich and detailed answers complete with references by the start of business the next morning?

Thanks, Gypsy Boy, Cathy2, and d4v3 for responding. And just to show my gratitude, I promise to post my pics of the pudding for all to enjoy vicariously.

I wonder how many LTHers have bought this stuff just because of the packaging without actually knowing how to use it. At least 3 so far. I guess it could be another entry in "You know you're an LTHer when..."

It definitely was the packaging in my case. In fact, I usually have a whole pantry of stuff like that. Some of it I never eat, simply because I am afraid I won't be able to find it again. Or I eat it and keep the empty package. (Right now, I have an empty package of October Fifth Bakery Abalone Pastries from Macau that I bought in California for C2, and that she kindly shared with me. I can't part with the box.

I love this strange habit-- especially when it freaks people out to look in my pantry. My dream is to have that old food channel show, "Doorknock Dinners" show up at my door unannounced with Morimoto ready to cook from what I have on hand. It would be a helluva meal.