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Bathith
Bathith (بثيث): Emirati toasted flour and date bites with ghee
Bathith is an old Bedouin travel sweet from the United Arab Emirates, made from things that keep in the desert: flour toasted dark, dates and ghee, kneaded together into crumbly bites. Today it is served in Emirati homes with gahwa in the afternoon or put out at Ramadan, and it tastes of caramel, toasted nuts and warm cardamom, with a texture somewhere between shortbread crumble and fudge. It keeps well for a week in a tin. Under-toasting the flour is the mistake most often made: it must go a deep golden brown, or the bites taste pasty. Chef's tip: use the softest dates you can find and warm them with the ghee; they melt into a paste and bind the flour without extra fat.
- Total time
- 25 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 8
Ingredients
- 7 oz wholemeal flour
- 10 ½ oz soft datespitted
- 2 ⅞ oz ghee
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds (optional)toasted, to finish
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Method
0/4 doneStep 1: Toast 7 oz wholemeal flour in a dry, heavy frying pan over a medium-low heat, stirring constantly, for 10–12 minutes, until it is the colour of milky coffee and smells like toasted nuts. Tip into a bowl.
12 minStep 2: In the same pan, warm 2 ⅞ oz ghee with 10 ½ oz soft dates over a low heat for 3 minutes, mashing with a fork, until the dates soften into a rough paste.
3 minStep 3: Add the date paste and 1 tsp ground cardamom to the flour and rub together with your fingertips (careful, it's warm) until it looks like damp sand and holds together when squeezed.
Step 4: Press tablespoonfuls in your fist to make small ridged pieces, or press the whole mix into a lined tin and cut into squares. Sprinkle with 1 tbsp sesame seeds if using. Leave to firm for 15 minutes before serving with coffee.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 300 kcal
- Protein
- 4 g
- Carbs
- 49 g
- Fat
- 11 g
- Fibre
- 5 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does bathith take?
- About 25 minutes in total: 10 minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 8 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of ghee?
- Butter, same amount (keep the heat a little lower, butter burns sooner).
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