Around the World in Foodventures (Bahrain: KHANFAROOSH and SHARBAT ZAFRAN)

The national dish of Bahrain seems to be Machboos, but I already made that for Qatar. So I perused some lists of other popular Bahraini foods, and settled on diving into some dessert and drink for this round of foodventuring.

Khanfaroosh are little donut-like cakes with saffron, cardamom, and rose; and Sharbat Zafran is a sweet, lemony drink with a similar flavor profile.  It proved fairly difficult, though, to find hard and fast methods for for either, so after studying a bunch of videos and written recipes (most not in my native language), I concluded that Khanfaroosh dough can be made with varying amounts of milk, eggs, and spices -- all to personal taste or family tradition, I suppose; and Sharbat Zafran is basically akin to an Arnold Palmer (in other words, it's kind of like a mix of sweet tea -- in this case, saffron tea -- and lemonade) with various ways to get to that final product.  Here's the amalgamation of what I learned and tried --

KHANFAROOSH INGREDIENTS:

Things that are grouped by color in my ingredient lists can be measured out into bowls together while getting your Mise en Place, to streamline your process as well as minimize the number of things you'll have to clean later. Anything left white should be kept separate by itself.

¼ cup of Rose water 2 pinches (~1/2 Tbsp.) of Saffron 1.5 teaspoons of Cardamom Powder

2 eggs 4 ounces of Milk ½ cup of Sugar

1 cup of All Purpose Flour 1 cup of Rice Flour 1 teaspoon of Baking Powder

Oil for frying Sesame Seeds

KHANFAROOSH INSTRUCTIONS:

(Makes a dozen donuts)

1. Steep the Saffron and Cardamom Powder in the Rose Water for about 15 - 20 minutes.
2. Preheat about 1" of oil in a frying pan, to 350°F.
3. Meanwhile -- whisk the Eggs, Milk, and Sugar together in a large bowl.
4. Strain the Rose Water into the bowl with the Eggs, Milk, and Sugar -- being careful to leave behind as much of the Cardamom Powder as possible (you've already extracted its flavor, but don't necessarily want its color in here).
5. Now add the All Purpose Flour, Rice Flour, and Baking Powder -- and mix it all together.  (Your final dough will be pourable, a little runnier than pancake batter.)
6. Use a 1/4-cup measure to pour dollops of the dough into the hot oil, and fry.  Spoon some hot oil over the top of each donut, and turn over once or twice -- sprinkling on sesame seeds as you go along.  The dough will puff up.
7. Remove each donut from the oil when golden-brown, and set on a cooling rack to drain.

SHARBAT ZAFRAN INGREDIENTS:

1 cup of Sugar 4 cups of Water

1/4 teaspoon of Saffron Threads 3 Cardamom Pods (this would be 24 - 30 seeds, if you can't find whole pods) 2 Tablespoons of Lemon Juice Basil Seeds (optional) Rose Water (optional)

SHARBAT ZAFRAN INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Break the Saffron Threads up in a mortar and pestle.
2. Combine the Sugar and the Water in a pot, and boil (stirring occasionally) until the Sugar is all dissolved.
3. Take it off the heat, add the Saffron to it, and set it aside to steep and cool. *
4. Meanwhile -- break open the Cardamom Pods, scrape the seeds into the mortar and pestle, and grind them up.  Add them to the pot after it's about halfway cooled.
5. When it's all totally cooled, add the Lemon Juice and stir to combine.
6. Serve in glasses with ice....either as-is, or rimmed with some lemon juice, sugar, and/or lemon zest.
7. If you want to use Rose Water, add it to each served glass just a couple drops at a time, to your liking (it's a strong flavor!).

* Optional at this point (or even after it cools at least halfway) is to add some Basil Seeds.  I didn't have any nor felt like hunting them down this time, so I chose to skip this.

This post is part of my project: "Around the World in Foodventures" (I decided I want to expand my culinary horizons even further by making the national dish or a popular recipe, or some signature food or traditional meal from every country in the world. Maybe it'll happen alphabetically, or by region, in random order, or something else. I figure if we can't (yet?) travel everywhere, we at least have the luxury of being able to taste it. It’ll be fun and interesting, but obviously, will take a long time to get through -- as I'll only be doing it once a week or so at most. I am chronicling the journey here.)

“If I’m an advocate of anything, it’s to move…Walk in someone else’s shoes or at least eat their food.” --Tony Bourdain