Here I am with the next week of recipes for the Blogging Marathon #109. I chose a theme that I totally love. There are no points for guessing – it has to be chocolate! The theme is aptly called “Anything and everything with chocolate” and I had no qualms about choosing this. After all, chocolate is something that we all love and would love to incorporate it into our daily eating, if life permitted. Thankfully, scientists have declared that dark chocolate takes care of your happy hormones, so that gives us permission to include at least one square into our daily eating. What say? 😉 The first post is a recipe I have been wanting to try since ages. I always enjoy my home made hot chocolate, either made this way with chocolate chips or simply with cocoa powder. When I am haunted by outdoor cravings, there is…
Haleeb Mal Zafran ~ Emirati Saffron Milk
After the Qahwa and the Laban – which are relatively no-brainer recipes – I was planning for something else as this post for the Blogging Marathon #105 for the theme of “One country, one category, three dishes”. But fate had it that I wasn’t to make the elaborate drink that I planned. I fell ill last week and I still had to prepare for this post. The lack of energy and mood reigned in and I gave up on myself. When you feel ill, there are certain drinks that play such a soothing role on your overall wellness. If we are back home, it has to be this turmeric milk aka masala paal. But when it is here in the UAE, I would vouch for this saffron milk, called colloquially as “Haleeb Mal Zafran”. Saffron is an expensive spice. It is definitely not something that we would use…
Qahwa | Gahwa ~ Emirati Black Coffee
Each time I take part in the Blogging Marathon, I try to make sure I select easy themes so that I don’t struggle to finish up the cooking. But still, thanks to my lazy bones, I still ended up skittering through at the end! 😕 This week, for its edition #105, I chose “One country, one category, three dishes”. While I chose this theme, I had no other intention than to cover the country which is my second home – the UAE. After moving in between the category to choose, I ended up choosing “drinks” since that wouldn’t take much time to make nor shoot as well. 😉 The first drink I chose to make was the Qahwa or Gahwa. Qahwa is very well known all throughout the Arab countries. In fact, it is the sign of their hospitality. Every local home would have ready-made Qahwa in a…
Chocolate Tea
Today is Ramadan 17 – the day when the Battle of Badr happened. This war had a lot of significance as being the first major battle with the Quraysh and despite being a small group, they emerged victorious. “Remember when you [O Muhammad, peace be upon him] were saying to the Believers, ‘Is it not enough for you that your Lord will reinforce you with 3000 angels sent down?’ Of course [it is enough for you]! [In fact,] if you all are steadfast and God-fearing, and they rush in attack towards you, then your Lord will reinforce you with 5000 angels bearing distinguished markings.” [Surah Aal Imraan:124-125] The main stress is on being “steadfast” and “God fearing”. The victory was a testimonial that if you have both the characteristics, the help of Allah will surely come in some way of the other. I don’t think I need to dwell…
Talbina ~ Hot Barley Drink
I came across Talbina when I saw jars of a flour being sold in the Saudi pavillion at the Global Village. One store was giving samples of the prepared drink along with a leaflet, about how it is said to be Prophetic medicine and the history behind it. The drink was an off-white thick liquid, topped with toasted coconut and cinnamon and tasted amazing. But I was taken aback by the price of the mix and decided to dig in to find how I could make it. A little search landed me on a few links, including this one and this. The Prophet (PBUH) has recommended Talbina for physical as well as emotional pain. When I found that it is made of freshly ground barley flour, I decided to make some myself and stock it in my pantry. I lightly roasted the whole barley that you can buy…
Pomegranate Tea
I actually feel excited about doing today’s post. It is something that pushed me off my comfort zone. It may be a super simple recipe but the expectation and trepidation of how it would end up being was immense. 🙂 It is the tenth of the month, so it is time for the Muslim Food Blogger (MFB) Challenge. You can check out all the previous posts here. This month, we chose to cook with an ingredient and it was “Pomegranate”. “Rumaan” as it is called in Arabic is one of the fruits mentioned in the Quran. It is a fruit that awaits us in Jannah, InShaAllah… Have you looked at it and marveled at its beauty? At the way each pearl is placed inside, the sweet tartness that is unmatched with any other fruits… “In both of them are fruit and palm trees and pomegranates. So which of the…
Chai Karak ~ Emirati Milk Tea
With the season chilled, the amount of tea that is drunk during the hours is humongous. I was hearing the number of thousands of cups of chai karak sold on a daily basis during the winter months in the UAE on radio and was literally shell shocked! You will see people who park a few feet away from the cafeteria, roll down their window, and gesture their index finger upwards to the staff watching out. You will then see him quickly running in and coming out with one cup of chai in a covered plastic tray and walking towards the car, so that the driver can enjoy his hot cup. We are pampered with instant services here, you see? 🙂 There are people who will buy in flasks, buy bigger cups (read me and D!) and ask for “without” (no sugar!). The atmosphere around a good tea selling…
Chukku Kaapi | Dry Ginger Coffee
When you end up scheduling posts, the latest happenings just wouldn’t get recorded. 🙂 After almost three years, we had a school friends meetup over the weekend. We actually couldn’t believe that we hadn’t met for so long! Days, months and years seem to pass so fast and then the distance is limited by the use of social media, that you really don’t realize the gap of personal interaction! It would be a cliche to say we had an amazing time, just talking, giggling and discussing various issues. Since we had met up at a friend’s house rather than the mall, we were able to laugh our lungs out. We parted, promising to keep the meetups as frequent as possible. But usually the tide of life just sweeps through and things don’t get done as promises made. 🙂 We also had some amazing rains, that saw the roads…
Besan Doodh ~ Chickpea Flour Milk Drink
When the season is cold and cozy, the only thing that crosses in the mind is, “Can I have something hot?” Mostly it will be chai or coffee, but sometimes you do want something different. One thing I love about blogging is how it has made me discover other options of keeping yourself warm and cozy apart from the normal two. Do have a look at the hot drinks already on the blog, though I personally love the Masala Paal and the Aatta Ka Doodh. This is now the third drink going into that category – Besan Doodh… Besan or chickpea flour was always for pakodas, as far as I am concerned. 😀 Blogging changed that thought process for sure. After having tried the Jaisalmer Chana, and then this drink, I can’t but be awed by its usefulness. This type of making a drink comes from our northern…
Restaurant Style Tea ~ Tea using Evaporated Milk
As the climate gets better here, the sales of tea in cafeterias surges. If you thought that Arabs love their black tea or coffee, then you will change your opinion once you see the queue of the Land Cruisers and Patrols in front of all the dainty cafeteria for that foam cup of “karak chai”. 🙂 Even though I love my own “haath ka chai”, at times, when stuck in traffic, I do opt for a tall cup that will give me company till I reach home and keep me cozy. Very rare restaurants here use fresh or even UHT milk to make their tea, and most of them who do so specify it at the entrance, in the form of a little notice stuck on the glass door. Majority of them use evaporated milk and you find them in bulk in all supermarkets. For one, I am…
Gothambu Kaachiyathu/ Ooral Kaachiyathu ~ Malabar Wheat Drink | “Joy from Fasting to Feasting X”
Some posts come with a tinge of sadness. I remember when I was just months into my blogging journey. A message popped up on my FB messenger from Lubna, asking me to do a guest post for her Ramadan series, which she so lovingly calls “Joy from Fasting to Feasting”. Being a newbie, that message from a seasoned blogger gave me goosebumps. I really didn’t know how to react but finally I got back to my senses, and I said a “yes”. Luck was not in my favor and I was not able to give her a proper post, but she assured me that the post had done really well. After that, I have been a regular fixture at her space during all the Ramadans. I have excitedly worked on each post, and Alhamdulillah, she has always loved it. So this time, I was really waiting for her…
Ustad Hotel Sulaimaani ~ Spiced Black Tea
Seriously speaking, I was in no plans to do any post today. I had already scheduled the post for tomorrow, InShaAllah and was planning to go ahead with it. But the climate today… A change from what it was over the last few days! We have had hot days but cozy nights and the fluctuation is wrecking havoc on everybody’s health, it looks. It has been on and off cloudy with hardly any rains. So yesterday evening, when I saw the thick clouds and the drizzle, I wasn’t expecting it to shower heavily. But He had other plans. It rained heavily late night messing up all around the building. My car is stuck in between a little pond. If I have to take it out, I have to push through it. On top, I woke up with a sprained neck, which isn’t really helpful. I had to take…
Adeni Chai ~ Yemeni Milk Tea
Tea is my favorite beverage, if made properly. An improper tea peeves me off. I guess it runs in the family. It’s with my parents, it’s with HD as well. We prefer having tea from street side restaurants rather than homes most of the time, since many just can’t make a proper cup of tea. 🙁 I feel really bad to say this, but it is from experience. There are very rare times when I have really liked the tea from somebody’s house. I feel people make coffee better, since it is more easier to do so I always ask for it. Hehe… Like tea? Then here are some that are already on the blog – not the sulamani types! 😉 My way of making chai Burma Chai – for people who love tea with just milk! Kashmiri Chai Teh Terik – Malaysian Milk Tea Yuan Yang – Coffee…
Naaranga Sulaimaani ~ Lime Black Tea
A sulaimaani is just that – a dreamy concoction. At any point of time, I prefer my paal chaaya, but at times I do get a bit fed up of it and get myself a small glass of sulaimaani. Normally, I make it this way with a dash of cardamom, but at times when I need a little kick, or when the meal has been too heavy, then a black tea with a nice squeeze of lime does the trick. While doing this post, I remembered this one that Sona (I wish she revives her blog for which I did a guest post sometime back…) had shared on her timeline… I like this quote, though I have no clue how much I will stick to this. Improving ourselves is an ongoing process but I have never felt like giving it time and concentrating on it. I don’t know if it…
Vegan Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate
After the Mint Hot Chocolate and the Biscoff White Hot Chocolate, here comes the third one! Since I have gone through the difficulties of having some of my favorite food during the vegan days, I had found ways to go about it. I still like to look back and take around the lessons and still crave for good vegetarian food rather than non-veg after that little phase in my life! 😀 Something I used to crave so much for was hot chocolate and somehow I was really not liking too much dark chocolate. On top, I am really not a fan of hot chocolate with cocoa powder, but then you need to adjust as per your circumstances, right? 🙂 That is when this hot chocolate was born. Since I used to keep making almond milk, in order to finish them soon, I used to end up making…