Bedouin Fresh Date Sweet (Rangina) (Gluten Free)

UmmBinat's Note:

African countries influenced by Arabs/Islam may enjoy this simple delicious Gulf Arabian sweet as well, perfect with coffee or tea. Dates have always been of prime importance to survival in the desert. They are an ideal food, relatively cheap, easy to transport, and provide excellent nutrition. Recipe modified from The Complete Middle East Cookbook by Tess Mallos. Edit: This has been revised March 15, 2010 I don't use measuring spoons & cups so my guess of butter was off and has being corrected.

• Total Time: 17 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 7 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 1

Yield: 1.0 serving

• 7 fresh dates (depending on size, I have used sweetened al-noor dates of Tunisia which are normally soaked in corn )
• 4 ½ tablespoons butter (a guess, please add as needed to a consistency of a thick sauce)
• 3 ½ tablespoons finely groundrice flour or 3 ½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 dashes freshly ground cardamom

Directions:

1. Remove pits from the dates and arrange on small plate.
2. Melt the butter in a saucepan and stir in the flour.
3. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly, until the flour turns a light- medium golden brown.
4. Remove from heat and stir in the cardamom.
5. Allow to cool slightly, stirring occasionally.
6. While still pretty warm pour over the dates and allow to cool to room temperature before serving.
7. Serve with coffee, or tea if preferred.
8. Enjoy!

Reviews

[Cookgirl]

For this recipe I used soft dried dates. Made as indicated using unbleached flour. The texture of the date topping is unusual-I loved the flavor but the flour mixed with butter had a grainy texture. I added a very small amount of rose water to the butter mixture; roughly 1/3 teaspoon. I would make this again but maybe reduce the amount of flour. If it weren't for the graininess of the flour this would definitely be a 5 star but I will give it a high 4.75 star rating! Most unusual! My mother in law loved the dates prepared in this manner by the way ("anything with butter is good") ;) Reviewed for NA*ME tag/September.

[Mia in Germany]

This was a nice treat! I used ghee instead of butter - 3 tablespoons, I guess, and approx. 1 1/2 tablespoons fine rice flour. That was so good - the buttery flavor with the sweetness of the dates. Will definitely make it again. Thanks for posting!

[Vicki in CT]

I think there is a problem with this recipe. When I made this it was just a very THICK paste and I could not pour as instructed on step 6. I'm not sure if it's a typo with ingredient amounts 2:3 1/2 T butter:flour or if a liquid ingredient is missing. Hopefully the chef can let me know because it sounded very interesting and I would like to give it another shot.