Ramzan Daze: 2

I am looking at the folder called 'food' on my computer and thinking 'thank the Lord!' How much good food was there in Ramzan? LOTS! 

Arvi Gosht

I never quite figured out what 'Arvi' really is. When I was younger, my mother explained it was 'aloo ki behan (potato's sisters).' Which instantly legitimizes all kinds of food. Arvi, however, seems to be a form of yam. My mum usually cooks it with mutton in a very basic, 'curry' base - tomatoes, ginger, garlic, salt, red chillies, onions. Goes well with rice and fresh lemon juice.

Ramzan platter at Damascus

The good old fashioned furrouge

The entire spread

One particular Ramzan day,  my girl friends and I were feeling particularly disappointed with our lives (read men and money). And everyone knows that the cure for a broken heart is always Arab. So we headed to the Karachi classic Damascus and ordered a ginormous platter which included: a whole furrouge, a chicken pita sandwich and those fried Arabic wanton (type) things, fries or falafel, a 1.5 liter drink and the usual sides with pita bread. With all our sadness combined, we could not finish this meal - it was rich, delicious and large - like a real Arab should be. All this cost just Rs 1200 by the way.

Roast Beef

Ah, what do I say about this hunk of meat? Soft, succulent, well seasoned and in the good company of  roast onions, garlic and potatoes. Home cooked by my sister from another mother - Tammy Haq! She really knows how to look after her sisters!

Home made Vol-au-Vent

Chicken and mushroom white sauce oozing out of a flaky pastry 'basket' - could there be a better comfort food?

Pizza Milano from Ginoginelles

Beef Pepperoni Pizza from Ginoginelles

Gino's has the best pizza in Karachi - hands down, no competition! I don't care what the foodies say, I dont care what the Italians. This pizza is damn good! I don't want to fish for toppings on my pizza, I just want it to find it's way into my mouth when I bite - in other words - generous toppings please!

Thai Green Curry from Chairman Mao

Dumplings with flat noodles 

Tried Chairman Mao after a while, following my horrible experience at Chairman Mao Port Grand. Thai is my least favorite kind of Asian cuisine (and Pakistan's favorite I guess) - I prefer Malaysian, Vietnamese and Chinese.  However, this is by far the best Thai food I've had so far in Pakistan.

Luckily, all this food is still out there and now we can order it for lunch too!

Ramzan Daze: 1

  As a rule, as a family, we never break fast outside the home on the 1st day of Ramzan. But this Ramzan, my 'sister from another mother' suggested we leave the city behind and head to Hub for Iftar. And what a wonderful idea it was! We just followed the sun and the sky and broke our fast accordingly.

Iftar in my house is inconceivable without shorba and hummus. So that's what we packed for our little Hub Ladies Only Iftar Picnic. Check out the spread below:

Tick tock tick tock - laying the table

Hummus and some really big peaches

Each time I ask my mother to give me her hummus recipe, she gives me different ingredients! Looks like I won't be putting up this recipe anytime soon.

Best iftar idea so far! Bread, butter and cheese!

Hyperstar Karachi makes great bread! Couple with butter and cheese and it makes a most satisfying, carb-rich, comfort food experience.

Starters complete

Chips, hummus, bread, cheese, butter, dates and peaches. A good mix of healthy and junk!

Ah Shorba! The best thing about Ramzan

Ramzan would not be Ramzan without this lentil and spagetti soup. I refuse to believe it! You'll find the recipe here.

Roast chicken with potatoes

No complicated flavors here - slow roasted chicken with onions, garlic and potatoes.

Another roast chicken :)

 Spinach and Bechamel Sauce Pasta

I really regret not having eaten enough of this spinach, mushroom and white sauce pasta. But I was just so stuffed!

Ramzan is super prime time for a food blog but I have mostly been in a food coma or horribly sick through Ramzan. Hopefully, I'll be more regular with my blog updates from now on. Ramzan Mubarak!

Home Alone Chicken

The hardest part of maintaining this blog has got to be coming up with names for each post! The recipe ones are even harder because I have to literally dream up names for my experiments.

So we'll call this one Home Alone Chicken because I came up with it when my mum left my Dad, my sister and I home alone for a few days. Finally, we got tired of ordering in and I decided to play 'mum' and here's what I came up with!

Spot the chicken in this picture

You need:

1/2 chicken pieces 

2 -4 tablespoons of yogurt

Ginger and garlic paste

6-8 green chillis

2 large, firm tomatoes sliced

2 large onions sliced

4 potatoes sliced (round)

Salt

Pepper

Marinate with chicken with yogurt, ginger and garlic paste, salt and a few chopped green chilli for at least an hour.In the mean time, fry the potatoes. On a clean, hot non-stick pan, sear the tomatoes and onions, separately ans set aside. For the chicken, heat about 2 tablespoons of canola oil and add the chicken, marinade and all. Keep stirring till it changes color - cover and let it cook for a slower flame for about 15 minutes or until tender. The chicken when done should have a bit of grav ity from the yogurt marinade, don't let it run completely dry. Lastly, fry off some whole green chilli.

When serving layer the dish in the following order - chicken, potatoes, onions, tomatoes and green chilli. Sprinkle with some black pepper and you're good to go with naan or chapati.

I quite loved my creation but my sister thought it was a bit bland - however, that's because she's quite the wuss and won't bite into fried green chilli!

Afghans Do It Better

It seems 'Kabuli' is THE place to eat in Islamabad - Afghan being the hot new in cuisine in the capital these days. Also, Habibi - a mix of Afghan, Central Asian and Middle Eastern is worth a try too and the old Karachi classic BBQ Tonight is now in Lahore and Islamabad too. Gone are the days of the Afghan naan wala, we now have a cool, new breed of Afghans showing the capital what food is all about. 

But of course, the best way to experience a cuisine is in people's homes. And hearts. The Afghan embassy in Islamabad was kind enough to host myself and colleagues from the media - from both Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Afghan ambassador Mr. Muhammad Umar Daudzai and his staff were gracious hosts. I told him I was doing a story on the growing influence of Afghan culture in Pakistan and he personally took the time to explain each dish on the spread to me. Here goes:

Kabuli pulau

Surprise, surprise - Kabuli pulau is called 'pulau' in Kabul. Where does all ALL this flavor come from? Slow cooking the beef and then cooking the rice in that beef broth with cinnamon and cardamon.

Afghani kebab and tikka

As you can see, most of this dish is gone. Skewered,barbecued  tender pieces of chicken and beef are probably the stars of Afghan cuisine. So rich, so simple - you're never quite sure when you're full.

Zamarud pulau

What a pretty name for a dish! Zamarud being emerald, of course. This is basically a vegetarian pilaf with spinach, dill and leeks with very simple seasoning. I was told lamb or beef can be added to this - which reminds of an Arab staple at my home - a pilaf made with fried meat, dill and peas, with the same 'zamarud' tinge.

Burani

By far my most favorite dish of the night! The humble eggplant/baingan done so well! Grilled  slices of eggplant topped off with a tomato sauce and a garlic yogurt. This is definitely one I will be trying in my kitchen.

Mantu (like Momos)

Remember my love for Nepalese momos? The Afghan-Tajik version of these dumplings is a little more suited to the 'desi' palate. These 'mantus' are stuffed with raw meat and then steamed. They are usually topped with a garlic yogurt and a tomato and 'channa dal' sauce. It's an interesting little mouthful - lots of different textures and flavors.

Spinach

Simply because, as the Ambassador said, 'Afghans love spinach.' Which might explain the 'fitness' of Afghan men.  And women, of course. More power to the spinach!
                                                                                       

Mutton Stew

Chicken Qorrma

Also on the menu, some Pakistani influences in the form of a mutton stew and chicken qorma.

When I asked to meet the chef, there was some surprise and some consultations before the chef came out to meet me. Such a gentle, old man who seemed obviously flattered (and a bit confused) by my request to see meet him. There wasn't much conversation to be made and most of that was lost in translation. But thanks to Zalmai Azizy for the help! That's the best Afghan chef in the region - Ghulam Sakhi Rahmani! Ghulam Sakhi has been cooking for close to thirty years and most recently for the Afghan mission in Islamabad. If they ever let him go, I'm stealing him!

Ghulam Sakhi Rahmani

The kitchen crew at the Afghan embassy

Great food, better conversations and warm Afghan hospitality - I'm really looking forward to more of that in Kabul. Thank you Mr. Daudzai and Mr. Rahmani!

The Big Life in Bara Gali, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

I wasn’t really sure what to expect when I arrived in Bara Gali – the summer campus of the University of Peshawar.   Located some 30 minutes further up from Nathia Gali  - lots of pine trees, lots of monkeys – but still a startling change from the overly commercial Nathia Gali experience. 

I arrived there with a group of young journalists from all over Pakistan ( and eventually joined by another group from Afghanistan) for an Af-Pak Journalist Exchange Fellowship organized by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.  I have to admit, this stands out as one of the most  ‘unique’ travel and food experiences I have had so far – that too in Pakistan!

The view from what was the bar  during the British era in Bara Gali

This was the our usual 'hang-out' area. Between sessions, during tea and meal breaks, some of you would sit under the cool shade of the trees. It was just so heartening to watch the wide open spaces and fresh clean air - a rarity in Karachi.

One of the buildings on campus

The summer campus was once a British military camp, so needless to say, our accommodation was basic but sufficient and in retrospect, rather charming too. They were cottages from the British era, with 3 - 4 of us to a cottage. We were promptly given a torch each to find our way.The kitchen was no different. Good, strong, clean old fashioned kitchen with only the basics. Freshly baked naans were the first accompaniment to the cold mountain air.

Fried chicken and tomatoes getting prepped

High pressure situation for the Kabuli pulau

Naan at work

A laptop to keep tab?

From the minute we arrived to the time we left – there was food, food, food  - five to six meals a day. This is not an exaggeration. Breakfast, tea, lunch, tea, dinner is how the day was organized. There was a loud gong sounded off at every meal time and we had to get up from whatever we were doing and make ourselves available in the dining room. 

The ingredients in almost every recipe remained the same but the cook kept playing with our taste buds. Kabuli pulau was an absolute staple – at least once a  day – well greased with slivered carrots, raisins and big hunks of beef. The sweetness of the raisins was a refreshing blend with the beef and the rest of the meat heavy menu. There was always chicken, beef and vegetables on the menu, sometimes mutton too.

Russian salad, KPK style

Succulent, sexy namkeen gosht

Kabuli Palau

Fried chicken, KPK style

The chef had perfected a few basic recipes that seemed to work well with all kinds of meat and vegetables – one was a tomato based mix for curries and stews, a red chilli flakes based marinade for fried meats and a salt and garlic mix for the ‘namkeen’ gosht.  The food was not as complex as we have made it to be in big cities. Basic flavors, well cooked and served fresh is all you need for a good dish.

Bara Gali – how do I explain this? For a complete city slicker like me, I felt like I was in some kind of reality TV prank, sent there by my mother to teach me a lesson. Lots of walking at a height of 7597 ft, cold water, unreliable power supply, no internet, rare phone signals – it was a whole new world for me. Add to that a new laptop with NO music and no iPod. Yikes! But those 5 nights in Bara Gali really made me realize the importance of how we were really meant to live – free from wants and luxuries but with the bare necessities and most importantly, good, honest people.

Sunset at Bara Gali....

....from where we had tea every day.....

  I now cherish the friendships made in those ‘difficult’ days – stories of cold showers shared over steaming kahva while watching folk musicians sing and dance. Bara Gali may be an acquired taste but it is one of those  must have experiences if you are an aspiring 'traveller.'

The Night Life - musicians from Peshawar

Thanks to the University of Peshawar for looking after me and teaching me a lesson J It was an experience and a half. Setting off for Islamabad was almost bittersweet. Thanks for the memories, Bara Gali!

Peri-Peri Chicken and Mashed Potatoes

Everything a recipe/food detail starts with 'healthy', I try to avoid it - because it probably means food that's been stripped of any flavour or personality. But recently, I have decided to get healthier - make the right eating choices and make habits out of them. I bought myself a kilogram of whole chicken breasts, which Mum sliced into single portions for me - we got about 9 pieces. Mum and I have been experimenting and here's one of mine...

I know what you're thinking - prison food looks better than this! But no really, this looks and tastes MUCH better. Please take my word for it - I just don't know how to take pictures

You need:
1/2 chicken breast
1 large potato
1 tsp Nando's Peri-Peri sauce (Hot)
Juice of 1 lemon
1 clove of garlic
Olive oil
Salt

Mix the Peri-Peri sauce with lemon and chopped garlic. Pour it over the chicken breast and let it sit for at least an hour.  Make three diagonal slits along the chicken and get the marinade inside.

For the potatoes, peel it and drop it in boiling water. Take it out after 15 minutes and mash it with a fork. Add a teaspoon of olive oil and salt and mix well.  If you think the potatoes are a little lumpy then add about 2 tablespoons of hot water to the mash and stick it in the microwave for 3 minutes. Mash them with a fork once again. Lo-fat, lo-cal mashed potatoes are ready!

Back to the chicken now - heat a teaspoon of olive oil in the pan and add the chicken. Let it sizzle and change color.  I like to cook it slowly by adding just a spoon of water and covering the pan. 5 minutes later your chicken should be ready to go!

Also, my research indicates that the chicken breast is about 135 calories and the mashed potatoes are about 195 calories. That's a 330 calorie dinner - not bad - especially if it has potatoes in it.

Here's hoping there will be many more healthier choices in my life and yours!

Not-So-Simple Dimple

Asian food is my comfort food but it's still risky in Karachi. In your head you might have expected satay but what's on the dish is a generic grilled chicken on a skewer. Simple Dimple Khao Suey Palace deliveries are all the rage among the ladies in my office - Asian salads, soups, khao sueys, satay (like the one described earlier). However, Simple Dimple still does a great job of soothing the office worker's soul.

Last week, I ordered the Chicken and Mushrooms in Oyster sauce. 

It's really easy to over-salt anything cooked in oyster sauce. This was perfectly salted and flavored. Simple oyster sauce and a hint of chilli with sliced garlic. But the very art of balancing the 'caramel' flavour of the sauce with the garlic and chilli, so none over powers the other is not quite so easy - but Simple Dimple has 'balance' down to an art.  The dish was generous on the fresh mushrooms - which is fantastic - and a few of the canned button variety thrown in too. The mushrooms were still moist and chewy.

The chicken, however, was not as stellar as the mushrooms. I fear its yet another case of the rampant eatery affliction called 'general chicken' (name coined by me, of course). General Chicken is exactly what the name implies - cooked in a generic fashion to fit any kind of chicken dish. In this case, the chicken did not taste like garlic, chilli and oyster sauce. It tasted like the basic stir fry chicken marinade of soya sauce, a flour rub and maybe some garlic. I felt that the ingredients did not have to get to know each other. Perhaps the chicken was just mixed in right at the end for a few seconds? More power to the chicken, please?

Also, the dish costs Rs 300. Which is fair. What's unfair is the steamed rice that costs Rs 100. And I'll let the reader decide if the delivery charge of Rs 100 is fair.