Basboosa

This recipe is one that I usually turn to during Ramadan. After a day of fasting who wouldn't want to sink their teeth into something sweet and cocoNUTY. The recipe can be found in an earlier post right here on my blog, this batch is for a bigger quantity of basboosa, perfect for sharing with friends and family during Ramadan. The coconut in the actual basboosa is unsweetened and a bit dry, very different from sweetened flaked coconut so make sure to use unsweetened dried coconut for best results. I do however top the basboosa with sweetened flaked coconut, not only does it look nice but it turns perfectly golden brown after baking.


Ingredients
3 cups Semolina
2 1/4 cups coconut (unsweetened)
3/4 cup of oil (I use sunflower oil)
2 cups of plain yogurt
1/4 cup milk
3/4 cup Sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon rose water
1 teaspoon vanilla powder

Topping
1 cup sweetened coconut

Syrup
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
Lemon peel (3 strips)
1 table spoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons spoon honey
1 tablespoon rosewater

Directions
Preheat oven to 360*. Butter a your baking dish and set aside.
Sift the semolina, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda into a large bowl. With your hands mix in the dried coconut into the semolina mix. In a medium bowl whisk the yogurt with the milk until smooth, slowly stream in the oil and whisk to combine. With your hands mix the dry and wet ingrediets together until well combined. Spread the semolina batter into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking pan and slice into diamond or squares. Bake the basboosa for 20 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. The basboosa must be golden brown all around if the top appears to be lighter in color, place it under the broiler for 2 to 3 minutes.

While the basboosa is baking, in a med sauce pan combine sugar, water, lemon juice and lemon peel bring to a boil and cook for at least 5 min or until sugar grains have been dissolved. Remove from heat, add your honey flavored water and mix, set aside. Once the basboosa is out of the oven, pour your syrup *Evenly* over your baked basboosa. Let rest for a couple of hours or until the syrup has been fully absorbed.