Middle Eastern Pancakes with Dates

These pancakes are a bit different than usual as I decided to give them a Middle Eastern/Arabic touch by adding ingredients such as rose water, orange blossom water and also sweet spices such as aniseed and cardamom. I made these for breakfast, they were very filling and very very tasty and as an accompaniment I stewed some dates which added a lot of sweetness. Give them a go, they are a different delicious take on the classic pancakes. For 4-6 pancakes you will need...

• 1 cup (about 125 g) plain flour
• 1 cup (about 235 ml) whole milk
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 ripe banana, mashed
• Pinch of salt
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 tsp orange blossom water
• ½ tsp rose water
• ¼ tsp ground aniseed
• ¼ tsp ground cardamom
• 100g chopped dates
• 2 tbsp water
• Small knob of butter

How to...

1. In a large bowl put all ingredients apart from the dates & 2 tbsp water and mix well until you get a smooth batter.
2. Grease a non stick pan with a knob of butter and spread across the pan with a piece of kitchen towel.
3. Heat up the pan on a medium heat until well hot, drain any excess butter.
4. Always on a medium heat, ladle the batter into the pan and leave to cook until the pancake starts producing bubbles on top. When the surface is bubbly and pancake looks set, flip the pancake and cook for a couple of seconds. Repeat until all batter is used.
5. Keep pancakes warm and in the meantime, prepare the dates by adding the dates and 2 tablespoons of water to the same pancake pan and warm enough until dates are soft and mushy.
6. Spoon the date mixture on the piled pancakes and serve warm!!

Enjoy!!

R&A

Chicken in a Sweet & Spicy Peanut Sauce

Satay chicken is a common favourite amongst oriental food lovers. This recipe is very similar to Satay. In our opinion it tastes better :) So if you are a fan of Satay, you would love this!! There may be lots of ingredients but this sauce is very easy and quick to prepare. We roast the chicken in the oven and then throw it in the pan with the sauce so the meat can suck up the sauce...yum yum...finger licking good!!! We serve this with Peshwari Naan [Indian Naan bread with coconut and sultanas], but you can serve it with boiled Basmati rice, mashed potatoes or even noodles. So here is what you will need...

• 4 large chicken legs
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• 2 tbsp groundnut oil or vegetable oil
• 3 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
• 5 tbsp runny honey
• 2 level tsp Dijon  or wholegrain mustard 
• 2 cardamom pods, crushed with a knife
• A dash of chilli sauce
• 1 tsp medium curry powder
• 200ml chicken stock
• Olive oil
• Salt & pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven at 190°C.
2. Cut the chicken legs in half so as you have 4 drumsticks and 4 thigh pieces. Put in an oven dish, baste them with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Put in the preheated oven and cook for about 45 minutes.
3. When the chicken is nearly ready, about 15 minutes from the end of cooking time, start preparing the sauce by melting the butter and frying the onion and garlic until soft and transparent. Add the honey, crushed cardamom pods, curry powder, mustard, chilli sauce and chicken stock. Stir well and cook until the mixture starts bubbling.
4. Now turn down the heat and add the peanut butter and stir well to incorporate the peanut butter into the mixture. 
5. The chicken pieces should be done by now. Take them out of the oven and carefully put them into the pan with the sauce. Cover and simmer on low heat for a couple of minutes, turning once. 
6. Turn off the heat and serve.

Enjoy!!

R&A