I joined the MENA Cooking Club.
Ever since I read about this club in a couple of food blogs, I was intrigued by the whole concept of cooking for fun and that too cuisines that are solely Middle Eastern North African. What other best way can I challenge myself? Even though I can never be done with cooking Indian Cuisines, I always have the chance to eat them out, isn't it?. In this case, I get to learn about MENA cuisines that usually do not come across my bookmarks.
This last picture is of Salalah a small hill station town.
Pictures by Fawaz, my cousin living in Muscat.
Omani Chaklama, I decided to make this because I love anything with coconut and there is nothing like "too much coconut". During school days, my mom used to bribe me by giving 50 paisa extra when she wanted to get some stuff from a nearby grocery store. At the store, I used to open that big jar of coconut barfi and eat it while walking back home, of course with the said items that she wanted. Now I know why I am on the heavier side... :-( Chaklama is very similar to the barfi in taste.
This is a very simple recipe with very little ingredients and so versatile that you can make so many different versions from the base. However, there isn't much online about this dish.
Ingredients:
3 cups of freshly grated coconut
Half a tin of condensed milk (200gms)
1 teaspoon of Baking Powder
1 tablespoon of Butter
1 teaspoon of vanilla powder or cardamom powder
Direction:
Do check out what the other fellow foodies tried from the list!
You don't have to be a blogger. This is open to all and anyone across the world who is a foodie and enjoys cooking. To know more about this club and to join, please visit their site and follow the instructions.
This month's host is Rafeeda who blogs at The Big Sweet Tooth. I have already talked so much about her in this post. The chosen country is Oman and the three choices of food are Savory: Lamb Kabouli, Soup: Blended Vegetable and Sweets: Chaklama. I am going to choose sweets this time.
Oman is a country where I have most of my family and friends so it was so easy to just drop a message to my cousin who was quick to load my Whatsapp with plenty of images taken across Muscat, the capital of Oman.
Oman’s unique story contains elements of great moral strength, courage, heroism, maritime skills, scholarship and hard work that have together molded the sultanate into its present form. - Indiatravelite
Must visit sites in Oman: Jabal Akdhar, Grand Mosque, The Royal Opera House, Sink Hole, Al Hooti Cave, Jabal Shams, Khasab Islands, The Souq Mutrah, The Palace, Corniche, The Wonderful Hairpin road of Amerat ...
Bin Ateeq, one of the famous restaurant where you get served with authentic Omani food called the Shuwa which is meat cooked under ground for days infused with spices. Now that is something I want to taste.
This last picture is of Salalah a small hill station town.
Pictures by Fawaz, my cousin living in Muscat.
Omani Chaklama, I decided to make this because I love anything with coconut and there is nothing like "too much coconut". During school days, my mom used to bribe me by giving 50 paisa extra when she wanted to get some stuff from a nearby grocery store. At the store, I used to open that big jar of coconut barfi and eat it while walking back home, of course with the said items that she wanted. Now I know why I am on the heavier side... :-( Chaklama is very similar to the barfi in taste.
This is a very simple recipe with very little ingredients and so versatile that you can make so many different versions from the base. However, there isn't much online about this dish.
Omani Chaklama - Omani Coconut Sweet
Recipe adapted from here.
Serves 3 to 4
Ingredients:
3 cups of freshly grated coconut
Half a tin of condensed milk (200gms)
1 teaspoon of Baking Powder
1 tablespoon of Butter
1 teaspoon of vanilla powder or cardamom powder
Direction:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C
- Combine all ingredients in a large bowl until a soft dough forms.
- Make small balls and place the coconut balls in a large baking dish leaving spaces between each ball.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
- Allow cooling
- Transfer carefully to a serving plate and serve warm or cold.
Notes:
- I used freshly grated coconut because I did not have the desiccated coconut. You can use desiccated coconut and ensure to add enough condensed milk so that you can form balls easily.
- I divided the dough into two parts and used vanilla in one of them and cardamom in another. I prefer cardamom flavoured batch.
Do check out what the other fellow foodies tried from the list!
