Karawia

Friday, April 29, 2005

When a baby is born in Syria, the ceremonial Karawia pudding is served to all the family's friends and relatives. The pudding is made of crushed caraway seeds boiled with water, sugar and powdered rice. It is then served hot, topped with shredded cocoanut and sprinkled with pine nuts, walnuts, pistachios, and almonds. This delicious pudding is especially good during the cold winter days. It is said that the pudding is especially good for the new mother to eat as it is nourishing. But weight watchers beware! This pudding can be quite high on calories.

The interesting thing is that in Lebanon, the very same pudding is also served in celebration of a baby’s birth, except it is called Moghli. It is made the same way with some differences and it is served cold.

Note: Unfortunately, the above image (taken from the Chef Ramzy cookbook) is a picture of the Lebanese version of Karawia as I couldn’t find one of the Syrian version.

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Hey, that's so cool :) Then you'll also find this interesting--> in Jordan and Palestine, we also have the same tradition. We call it Karawya too and we serve it when a baby is born or when a mother announces pregnancy. It looks quite similar to this picture. How does Syrian Karawyah look?

Posted by Roba | Friday, April 29, 2005 5:39:00 PM

Well Roba, the syrian Karawya looks very similar to this but the nut arrangement is different, it usually has a layer of cocoanut, then comes a layer of walnuts, pistachios,alomonds and a few pine nuts in the centre...I didn't know that Palestinians served Karawya, I thought they served something called Enar.

Posted by Dina | Friday, April 29, 2005 6:25:00 PM

mmm Karawia. My mom makes it even when there's no new babies.

Posted by x | Saturday, April 30, 2005 1:52:00 AM

Yeah, we make enar too, but enar is a drink :)

Posted by Roba | Saturday, April 30, 2005 2:26:00 AM

I've never tasted it, not my thing really.

Posted by Baher | Saturday, April 30, 2005 10:46:00 AM

Well you really should try it first :)

Posted by Dina | Saturday, April 30, 2005 11:24:00 AM

Yeeeeeeey it remind me of my sister when she was a baby :) I cant imagine my life without her :)

Posted by M!R@CHK@ | Sunday, May 01, 2005 1:39:00 PM

Mira Allah yikhalikon laba3d :)

Posted by Dina | Sunday, May 01, 2005 5:08:00 PM

Is there a recipie? Like the way this looks and I love to try new things

Posted by Odge | Monday, May 02, 2005 12:53:00 AM

Absolutly! It would be my pleasure to give you the reciep:) I will get it for you tomorrow…

Posted by Dina | Monday, May 02, 2005 2:28:00 AM

Hey Dina ;)

Today I was thinking of having a cup of Karawya :P

Nice Blog you have there.

Nice too meet you ;)
Hasan.

Posted by Hasan Bazerbashi | Wednesday, May 04, 2005 4:51:00 PM

Interesting..

In Singapore as in Malaysia we offer yellow glutinous rice..heh:)

Posted by I Feel Good | Wednesday, May 04, 2005 6:06:00 PM

Thanks Hasan, nice to meet you too, and sa7ten on that Karawia ;)

Lightspeech-that's interesting to know, I wonder what it tastes like :)

Posted by Dina | Wednesday, May 04, 2005 6:51:00 PM

I added a full inch to my waist mesures just reading your description of the cake,this is a dangerous blog for middle aged and old people:Warning !!

Posted by GPV | Thursday, May 05, 2005 11:56:00 AM

GPV-I'll take that as a compliment :)

ODD-Sorry I took so long,
here is the recipe of Karawia
You'll need:

7 cups of water
2 ladles of crushed caraway seeds
1 ladle of powdered rice
1 ladle of sugar

For the topping you’ll need:
Shredded cocoanut
Chopped walnuts
Chopped pistachios
Chopped hazelnuts
Some pine nuts (they must be soaked in water for about half an hour before serving)

Put the water in a small pot and put on medium heat.
Add the Caraway and the powdered rice.
Stir so that no lumps form
Add the sugar. (You can add more, or put less depending how sweet you like it)
Bring the mixture to boil while stirring every now and then so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot, and then let it cook for around an hour.
Serve hot in a big teacup and sprinkle a thick layer of cocoanut. Then add a layer of pistachios, walnuts, hazelnuts, and place a few pine nuts on the top
Enjoy!
If there’s left over Karawia, you can warm it up again and add some water if the mixture get thick.