Date Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream

Its Ramadan, the month of fasting that tests patience, discipline, and most of all appetite!  Once my body's adjusted to the routine I've never found it too tough to get through the month.  The hardest part, when I lived at home,  was waking up to family sehris at 4 or 5am.  I would never have much of an appetite (but was forced to swallow paratas and keema).  My goal was to get through the meal with half closed eyes, as little conversation as possible, and remain semi concious so that I could snooze before the morning alarm sounded for work.  Everyone else would be in the same sleepy state except for my father who would be wide awake and cheerful every morning and ready to tackle "light" issues such as economics, politics, and current world events.  Needless to say family participation was at an all time low!

In contrast, ifthar (when Muslims break their fast), is one of my favorite parts of Ramadan.  I love devouring samosas, pakoras, lukmis (hyderabadi large samosa), fruit chaat, dahi baree, the list goes on...I also love the fact that in Pakistan things tend to slow down, the mad shaadi hopping schedule is put on hold, and hanging out with family and close friends over numerous ifthars and dinners takes priority.

I've realized that Ramadan is not quite the same in the US and you'll never get to replicate the atmosphere in Pakistan but this year it has actually felt a bit like Ramadan.  People are getting together for ifthars and dinners and some of the traditional ifthari dishes are among the spreads.  One of my favorite fruits are dates and I tend to eat 4 or 5 at every ifthar.  I can't get enough of them!

A few weeks ago, Nadir and I spotted a post by my friend Aisha which featured a fabulous looking date pie.  I guess Nadir was craving it even more than I was and decided to make it for dessert a few days ago.

It was delicious.  The crust was crisp, the date filling inside gooey and sweet, and the scoop of vanilla ice cream dripping over the sides complemented it perfectly.  It encompassed Ramadan in San Francisco - a bit of datey Ramadan mixed into a western dessert.

Modified from this recipe (http://theyumblog.wordpress.com/2008/11/09/date-and-walnut-mini-pies)

Ingredients

For Pastry Crust

• Buy readymade standard pie crust and bake in the oven until light brown before adding the filling.

For the Filling

• Dates -  300 gms
• Water –1/2 cup
• Walnuts – 1/2 cup (chopped)
• Lemon Juice – 2 tsp
• Butter – 2 tsp
• Cinnamon – 1 tsp

1. After buttering and sprinkling flour over the pie dish, transfer pie crust into dish, brush with beaten egg, and prick all over with fork.  Bake in the oven  at 425 F for 10-15 minutes until light brown and let cool.  Turn oven down to 400 F.
2. Melt butter in a heavy bottomed pan, add the dates and water and simmer until the dates are plump. Add cinnamon, walnuts and lemon juice and mix well.  Add more dates and water if you need more filling.
3. Spoon in the date walnut filling into the crust.  Bake the pie at 400 F for 20-25 minutes until crust turns golden brown.
4. Serve with vanilla ice cream