India — The scrumptious dates (or khajur in Urdu, tamr in Arabic, hurmah in Turkish or buah kurma in Indonesian) are integral to the Muslim world as in the Holy Quran mentions the date palm plant 22 times. The ninth month of Islamic calendar is called Ramadan and is marked with 29 or 30 days of fasting depending on the sighting of the crescent moon.
A religious tradition of Ramadan includes serving dates or khajur at the iftar table as Muslims break their fast with them. With only 2-3 days more to go for ramzaan, here’s a super easy recipe of date squares that you can prepare beforehand and store for sehri as khajur provide natural sugars for energy that keep you going throughout the day despite your fasting state:
Ingredients:
1st layer (base)
2 cups digestive biscuit powder
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
100g butter melted
2 tbsp thick cream
2nd layer
1 cup soft pitted dates soaked in 3tbsp hot water
3/4 tin sweetened condensed milk
4 tbsp cream cheese
1/2 cup thick cream
2 tsp instant coffee
Method:
Line a baking tin with parchment paper. Mix the base ingredients well until you get a coarse mixture. Press into the baking tin evenly. Add all the 2nd layer ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. Pour over biscuit base.
Bake at 160 for around 20 minutes until set. Refrigerate for at least 2-3 hours then cut into squares. Enjoy!
(Recipe: Ayesha, Instagram/ayeshascooks)
Benefits:
This super easy and healthy recipe is packed with health benefits and serves as an energy-rich snack that can be consumed daily. Apart from having an excellent nutrition profile, dates are high in fiber which is important for our overall health, benefits digestive health by promoting regular bowel movements, provide various antioxidants that help reduce the risk of several diseases and also help in improving the brain function.
Since they promote weight loss, treat constipation, works wonders for bone health, strengthen immunity, improve brain and heart health and even prevent diseases like Alzheimer or different types of cancer or other chronic diseases, experts advise on eating dates daily as a snack to help one feel energized without crashing soon afterward.
They even benefit those with diabetes and prediabetes as dates contain potent antioxidants which can reduce inflammation in the body as they are high in polyphenols along with several other nutrients and compounds which aid insulin resistance. However, it is advisable to confirm with your doctor before consuming them if you are diabetic.