With the Ramadan going on there is abundance of beautiful dry fruits available around here these days. I think I’ve mentioned earlier that in Ghana we have a good population of the Lebanese community, and thankfully they have 2 supermarkets here in Accra/Tema without which i don’t think i would’ve survived this country. So being the holy month of Ramadan, they have filled up the supermarkets with exotic Lebanese sweets, tasty traditional treats and wonderful imports of dried figs and dates . When i saw these of course like any food junkie had to buy some right away. And after eating more than half of them just the way they came, and bursting into a face full of zits (oh yes…this stuff is pretty heaty !) i thought now what else can i do with these ? Before i could give it 2 mins of thought, once again it was my hubby to come up with something. He said i used to make these date ” mithai ” (sweet) with all the dry fruits in it … why dont we make that. Its pretty easy, requires nuthing really … just a little bit of effort. I was game, so on a Sunday afternoon with nothing better to do we started making these beautiful discs of goodness. Of course with both of us tucking our hands into the jars and mixing everything up , the measurements flew out of the window. So I’m really sorry i wouldn’t be able to give u some. But then again in u don’t really need them anyways. Just follow your heart .

water to prevent your hands from getting sticky.Ok now i think i covered everything :p . Take the wooden board and place a big piece of cling film on it. Start by spreading out the date paste onto it in a rectangular shape. Make sure its even and we’re going to have to roll it up later. If your hands get sticky dip them in water , and continue. Once we’ve achieved that place the mixed almonds, walnuts, pinenuts in the center and sprinkle the saffron over it. Carefully bring up the sides of the cling film and form a roll/log, enclosing all the nuts in the center. Smooth out the surface and put it in the fridge for about 1/2 an hour just to firm it up a bit. Then get it out of the cling film , sprinkle all the pistachios on a wooden board surface and roll the log in it , covering every bit of it in the beautiful green pistachios. Put in back into the cling film and into the fridge for another 1/2 hr , so that it is firm again. When youStart with a few dried dates- remove the seed and a few dried figs. Roll up your sleeves and on a wooden chopping board start squishing them with your fingers. Yes its a messy affair but its absolutely worth it. Keep going on and on till they have both amalgamated into one fine paste. Keep aside . Now comes the chopping bit. Take 2 handfuls of pistachios and chop them finely as we need these for the finishing touch. Set aside. And now take some almonds, walnuts, and pinenuts, roughly chop them up , this we will use as the center filling. So now with everything ready … oops i forgot, we need some Saffron strands as well , some cling film and also a bowl of are ready bring it out and cut them into even slices. Thats it ! All natural, all healthy and stays in the fridge almost forever , thats if you’ve devoured them by night fall .