Sometimes a vacation doesn’t exactly do what you wish for it to do. Yes, for sure, I relaxed as much as I could, so much that we didn’t even go for any long tours, nor did I stay at HD’s place as much as I would have liked to. I visited only those relatives who I had to, and avoided moving around as much as I could. Sometimes, it was boring but that was all I wanted to do. Still, after coming back, it feels like I have been pulled back into a bigger rut than what I had left and gone. But then life is about fighting it out. We just say “Hasbunallahu Wa Ni’mal Wakeel” – “Allah (Alone) is Sufficient for us, and He is the Best Disposer of affairs (for us).” (Surah Aal Imran:173) and leave everything to Him. Is there any other option? I…
Arseeyah Rubyan ~ Emirati Prawn Rice Gruel
It’s been long since I have posted an Emirati recipe on the blog, so when the theme of “One Bowl Dishes” was declared for the Blogging Marathon #102, I couldn’t think of any other dish as one-pot as Arseeyah. The cooking is done in one large pot, so what more for this theme! 🙂 Arseeyah is considered to be comfort food for the Emiratis. It is usually made with chicken, and has rice cooked along with it, with some mild spices and then ground to make it like a gruel. Just like Harees, it is eaten warm with a generous drizzling of ghee. When I landed up with some fresh huge prawns during Ramadan, I decided to make this as dinner for the folks. The inspiration to make this dish came from an article that I had printed out and kept in my archives, but can’t trace the…
Memoni Mutton Biriyani with Chutney
It’s been so long since I have done a book review. In fact, I was planning to put up this post during the last week of January. Somehow, it fizzled down in between and I couldn’t schedule it. Happens, isn’t it? 🙂 Somehow, I restarted my guest post series last month, so hoping that I will be able to keep the book reviews and guest posts every alternate month, InShaAllah… I thought of treading the path carefully and slowly and concentrate on one at a time. Let’s see how it goes… 🙂 I chose this book truly by chance, not knowing what to expect from it. The name “Spice Sorcery” did do some sort of sorcery on me, that I ended up picking it through Amazon.in a couple of years ago. 😀 The book written by Husna Rahaman and published by Harper Collins, concentrates on sharing recipes of…
Biryani Dejaaj ~ Emirati Chicken Biriyani
If you see, starting from the Khabeesa, I have made it a point to post close to or on the UAE National Day, something that I don’t even do for the Indian Independence Day. 😀 That doesn’t make me any less patriotic, it is just that I belong to a generation of Indians who own an Indian passport, who love every vacation trip planned to India, but since they have been born and/or brought up in some part of the UAE, a part of them is in them. I am sure many of them who are in the same boat of mine can get how I feel. 🙂 This year has been celebrated by the entire country as the “Year of Zayed” as it is his 100th birth anniversary, commemorating the great father of the nation’s visionary outlook for this country. His vision for the country is very…
Biryani Samak ~ Emirati Fish Biriyani
Life is back to normal. My parents went back home on Thursday night, so the weekend was very drab without them. Just to cheer up, I attended a small potluck tea party of a very vibrant FB group of homemakers. I thanked myself for doing that. I had a good time and the kids enjoyed themselves in the company of the other kids as well. The night was cold though, so once back home, I started getting jitters and yesterday I was totally low. I had everything except fever. I just managed the day with all leftovers from the fridge and simply stretched myself on the couch most of the day. Today, school has started and the mornings are getting colder and darker. Slowly, traffic will also start picking up once all schools open by early next week. So I am trying to brace myself up for it after…
Baked Rice Casserole
For the Bake-a-thon, I wanted to make sure that I don’t have only sweet bakes being posted. So my eyes fell on this delicious baked rice casserole I had made and clicked sometime back. Usually baked casseroles always involve pasta, like this tuna one and sausage one. As this involves rice instead of pasta but cooked in almost the same style, I had to make it. This recipe was part of a cook-along hosted in a lovely FB group that I am a part of, not only that the recipe was shared by someone who is a good friend too, Nuzha. The other recipe I had posted on the blog after learning from this lovely segment was this jiffy pasta. Anyway, coming back to this dish, it involves a little bit of work, since there is some cooking involved of the layers involved. But the recipe was too…
Bedouin Meat Rice
You will never see me posting on a Friday unless it is for a challenge. And how could I miss a challenge that is so close to my heart? The Muslim Food Bloggers Challenge happened by a whim. A group that is beautifully moderated by Lubna and Huma to bring in Muslimah bloggers from around the world is where this idea was born, and was beautifully accepted by the enthusiastic ladies in the group. It is heartwarming to see that every challenge is met with a lot of interest. We are now in our challenge #12, which means that it is one year old! How fast! From starting with the Mamoul I cooked from Sawsan’s blog till the last one, each recipe has been an interesting journey. I am hoping that we will be able to keep moving along with the challenge as long as possible, InShaAllah… This…
Green Beef Pulao
We don’t make beef frequently at home. Only once in a while, when I get good ones, I get some and stock it. Most of the time, I go ahead and make the beef roast (looks like this post needs an uplift!) because that’s the easiest for me to make and also it is loved by the folks at home. This Green Beef Pulao was born out of the need to use an additional bunch of greens that I had picked up by mistake. Having loved the Green Mutton Masala and the Hara Murg Pulao, I was sure that this one would be well accepted too. After all, a combination of coriander, mint and curry leaves can’t go wrong, unless you screw up the proportions as such! Hehe… The flavors of this dish and aroma is spot on. Moreover, unlike biriyani, you don’t even need multiple pots. You…
Arseeyah ~ Emirati Rice Chicken Gruel
I was ready with the Samak Koufta and Shorbat Adas well before in time, however this dish had to wait till the start of Ramadan to be made. Arseeyah is considered to be one of the Emirate’s comfort food. What is not comfort in it? Rice, chicken and some simple spices amalgamate into a wonderful dish, so very close to Harees. During my casual browsing, I landed up on this blog and it was love at first sight. It was one of the few blogs on the world wide web which had some Emirati recipes. I wish she would have continued blogging since the blog hasn’t been updated since Ramadan 2013. 🙁 Anyway, it is a treasure trove of a lot of simple recipes and I have almost bookmarked the entire blog to try! 😀 The one recipe that did pique my interest instantly was this dish. I did go…
Majboos Dejaaj | Machboos ~ Emirati Chicken Rice
Did you miss the book review last month? Or you haven’t? If it’s the second case, then you haven’t been reading the blog properly. 😛 Jokes apart, last month, I gave this segment a miss since the Blogging Marathon post collided with the last Saturday. Since I had to choose BM over the book review, I let it go for the month. Here I am this month, making sure that I don’t miss it. 🙂 I am pretty much excited about the post I am doing today. As you know, I am on a mission to collect as much as local cuisine as possible. Having resided in the UAE my whole life, I feel ashamed that I haven’t been accustomed to local cuisine as much as I would have wanted to. But those who have come here would agree to me that local food is not readily available,…
Hyderabadi Kheema Biriyani
I normally don’t post on Fridays unless they are challenge posts. But this time, thought of giving that rule of mine a little miss. 🙂 Today is our anniversary #13. This is the fourth anniversary we are celebrating on the blog. 😀 At times I really wonder how much effort it takes to make a marriage work. One or the other spouse does a lot of adjustments, forgiving and forgetting the small and large mistakes. Why do we do it? There is something more than love that keeps a marriage going. I have realised that every day of my life. I am quite a moody person and one small thing can push me off a corner. HD is just the opposite. Maybe that’s why we are still together in it despite every odds. He is not a romantic that gives me surprises off the hook, or makes me feel…
Thalassery Chemmeen Biriyani ~ Thalassery Style Prawn Biriyani
The feeling of achievement is immense, isn’t it? I am glad that my little attempt to bring together a small group of bloggers is faring fairly well. We are in the third month of our challenge and I am sincerely hoping that we continue moving forward well, InShaAllah… 🙂 For this month’s Muslim Food Blogger Challenge, the challenge was to make “Biriyani”. Alhamdulillah, after trying so many versions, I can confidently handle a biriyani, though there are times when I conveniently screw it up too. 😀 Those are called “bad biriyani days (BBD)”. 😉 A biriyani is usually a very intimidating dish for many, but let me tell you, once you get a hang of it, it is quite easy to make. One major thing you need to learn is to how much to cook the rice. The rice is never cooked fully in the first stage, it…
Hara Murg Pulao ~ Green Chicken Pilaf
This happens to be HD’s favorite rice recipe. He is normally not someone who showers a lot of praises. I have keep my eyes open to see how much he loves what I serve, with the amount that he eats! 😀 There are so many instances where he has eaten very limited and then tells, “It is good”, giving me all sorts of doubts on whether it is actually good enough. But I have cooked this puloa a few times and each time, I have seen him hog and then literally unable to breath. 😀 Maybe, he really loves it… hehe… The best part about the pulao is the green marinade. It gives a totally lovely flavor to the chicken and the rice as a whole. Try to marinate the chicken for the longest time for maximum flavors. The challenge while making this rice is the water added….
Ambur Chicken Biriyani
As Ramadan draws to the end and Eid gets closer, many households slowly start the preparation for the festivities. InShaAllah, we are looking forward to a wonderful Eid, with the whole family in place and I guess we are having it this way after many years, so you can imagine the excitement. 🙂 Once we are done with our Eid prayers, we all gather at my aunt’s place to gorge on ela adas, cutlets, continuous cups of tea and unlimited chatter. This is followed by quick trips to my cousin’s place and then we come back to biriyani (mostly this one) and some paal pizhinjathu. We also catch up on some sleep since the previous night is always hectic and we wake up really early to get going to the Eidgah, the big ground where the special Eid prayers happen. The first day of Eid is always within the…
Meen Choru ~ Malabar Style Fish Rice
Including more fish into my family’s diet is something that I am struggling with, just like how I struggle to include vegetables! Even though I have a carnivorous bunch, they are more bend towards chicken, and then comes mutton and beef. But fish is not something they like. 🙁 I prefer fish more than the other non-veg but I don’t like to make it alone for me, so find ways to incorporate them somehow and make them eat. Today’s recipe is the Malabar style fish pilaf – I have already shared two versions of this rice: one with meat and the other with chicken. So this is the last version available, till I hopefully discover more such similar rice recipes. 😀 I have tried this rice with fresh fish and frozen fish fillets for ease, and I must say that fresh fish wins the battle hands down. It…