Life 'n' Such

Amal has brilliant, the nicest, and most well behaved kids, she is my super hero! She has five kids(including one set of twins!). No matter where she lives, she makes the place warm and welcome. She is now in Chicago and I miss her. She cooks fantastic stuff, I didnt learn from her much, cos I used to always play with her kids . I have a couple of recipes of hers.

This is a dessert recipe, which can be made ahead and frozen.

Ingredients:
2 cups flour,
1/2 cup farina/semolina (in arabic its called ‘sameed’ )
1 tsp baking powder,
1/3 tsp yeast,
3 cups luke warm water

Filling #1 :
1 cup walnuts broken into little pieces,
1/2 cup coconut dessicated,
1/2 cup sugar,
1 tsp cinnamon

Filling #2:
spanish cheese, grated and washed in water through a seive
coconut (optional)

To make Syrup:
(equal parts of sugar and water)
about 1 1/2 cup sugar,
1 1/2 cup water,
1 spoon lemon juice

Put the ingredients listed above (not the fillings) in a blender to form a smooth batter. In a little non -stick pan pour a little batter (pancake size) to make small circles about 5 inches in diameter. Wait till bubbles appear on the top surface, and the surface dries out (less than a minute I think). Scoop it with a spatula and lay it on a tray covered with paper napkins or dry towel. Repeat until all the batter is finished.

Let the pancakes cool down. Now take spoonful of any kindof filling (#1 or #2) and put it in the center of the pancake. Close it and press the edges of this semicircle tightly so that the filling doesnt come out. Follow the same for the rest. (Note: At this point, it can be frozen and then when you need it, remove it, thawing isnt necessary, just follow the rest of this method) Arrange on a baking tray.

Brush the surface of this katayeef(semi-circle, stuffed pancake) with oil and bake at 450 def F, till they are crunchy and reddish brown in color.

To make the sugar syrup, boil sugar and water together to form syrup. Add the lemon juice.

When the katayeefs are baked, dip them one by one in the sugar syrup and its done!

Serve hot. Enjoy!

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I am planning to paint my room soon (for the third time!). I love Behr paints, a gallon is enough to paint a average size room and have some leftover for touchups in the future. There is a promotion going on in Home Depot now as part of the MLK day. You get $5 off a gallon of paint.

Paint can change the entire mood of a room! This time, I got simple off white color to acheive a calm look. I will post the picture of my room, after its done!

Update: To see how certain colors look, you can try them virtually on any model rooms. Try it, before you are ready to make a commitment http://www.behr.com/behrx/workbook/

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This is created by Hacer. It is for dessert lovers who are on a diet. (I dont mean its fat free, but its really low fat!)

Ingredients:
for cake:
4 eggs,
2 turkish teacup sugar,
3 turkish teacup flour,
1 turkish teacup yoghurt,
1 1/2 sp baking powder

For pudding,
3 1/2 cups milk,
8 tbsp sugar,
2 tbsp flour,
3 tbsp cocoa,
1 1/2 tbsp corn starch

1-2 spoons butter(optional)

1-2 cups milk for pouring over warm cake towards the end.

First mix the first 4 ingredients in the cake list, and towards the end mix the baking powder. Bake in a 9 X13 inch baking tray till its golden color. (Spread the cake towards the sides with a spatula, so it doesnt raise up in the center, while baking)

To make the pudding, mix all the ingredients( except butter) in a cooking pot. Then put it on the stove to boil, stirring constantly(or else will stick to the bottom). After it loses its flour taste, and starts to thicken, it is done. Turn off the stove, and add the butter, and mix fast. Use a handblender to make it smooth.

When the cake is warm, remove it from the tray. Then slice it through the center to get two equal halves. Keep one layer back in the tray, add 1/2 to 1 cup milk. Then put half of the pudding on this layer. Keep the other layer on top of this pudding layer. Again pour 1/2 to 1 cup milk over it. Finally spread the remaining pudding on this layer. Cool it in the refrigerator. And done, its ready to eat!

(Optional: You can garnish it with dessicated coconut, or crushed walnuts. Also in the center layer, you can slice 2 bananas, and spread between the 2 layers of the cake.)

note: you can use 1%, 2% milk, or vitamin D( I think skim milk will be very watery)

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Love Pizza, want to cut on carbs? Try this recipe, its very delicious and looks very fancy! Yasir’s Mumtaaz aunt and Qam uncle from Toronto, were visiting us a couple of months back and she showed me how to make this. Mumtaaz aunty is great at cooking, baking, interior decorating, gardening, I think she can do anything .

You can make this recipe with one vegetable or all listed below. Every veggie will contribute a different taste to this recipe.

Ingredients:
8 Eggs (2 per person- we have big appetities ),
10-12 Mushrooms, sliced
1/2 bell pepper cut into small pieces,
olive cut into rings,(optional)
1 tomato cut into slices,
1 onion, sliced
salt, pepper as per taste
About 2-3 tbsp oil(any kind)
couple of handfuls of grated cheese (mozarella, swiss, or feta/turkish/bulgarian cheese for a different taste)

In a big bowl, crack open the eggs, and beat them till light yellow(the more you beat them, the fluffier the omelette becomes). Add salt to this. Use a big non-stick frying pan (preferable oven safe, if it has a plastic handle, wrap it with aluminium foil)

First fry the mushrooms in a little oil, till the water evaporates. Then remove them and keep aside. Add the beaten eggs to this frying pan and let the base get cooked a bit. Then with a spatula, try to lift the pieces of it like you would to a pizza, this will make the uncooked egg on the top, go to the bottom of the pan. Do this all around the omelette. Keep it on low flame, add the veggies one at a time, the olives, mushrooms, onions, and the peppers sprinkled randomly and finally the tomatoes. Arrange the tomatoes in a circle. Sprinkle grated cheese generously. Then transfer the pan to the broiler (on high for a couple of minutes). Watch, or else, the cheese will burn.

When the eggs raise a bit and the cheese browns, it is done!

While serving, cut like you would cut a pizza. Eat with bread toasts, or croissants, or garlic bread, or just plain for ‘Carb free meal’!

note: if you add turkish cheese/feta cheese, reduce the salt.

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I made this last night for dinner. I was thinking of baking chicken, but then since I had lots of mushrooms, green onions, and bell pepper (they were a little old), so I thought of looking up recipes with these ingredients. I found a couple of recipes, and naturally I didnt have all the ingredients needed for those recipes, so I mixed some of them, added some new ingredients and the result was fantastic!

Ingredients:
For roughly 3 chicken boneless breasts, (cut into bite size pieces)
Marinade:
2 tbsp cornstarch,
2 tbsp Rice vinegar, (the original recipe called for rice wine)
2 tbsp lemon juice,
1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce,
3/4 tbsp of maple syrup, (if you dont have maple syrup, add more honey)
1/2 tbsp of honey,
1 spoon of hot pepper sauce,
1 1/2 tbsp freshly grated ginger,
1/2 tbsp garlic.

3-4 tbsp toasted sesame,
2 tbsp sesame oil, (if you dont have this, its ok)
2 tbsp vegetable/corn oil,

8 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 big bell pepper, diced into big chunks,
4-6 green onions(scallions), chopped in 1/2 inch size pieces

Marinate chicken for atleast an hour (4 hours would be great). To toast the sesame seeds, place them in a toaster oven/ regular oven for a couple of minutes. If you dont have oven, you can dry roast them in a pan, on the stove for a couple of minutes.

In a wok, or a big pan, put the two oils, heat it. Add the chicken pieces to it(there will be some marinade left, keep aside), and fry them on a med-high flame, till brown. Remove the pieces of chicken in a plate. Add the mushrooms first, fry them on a high flame for about 2-3 mins, stirring frequently. Then add the bell peppers and then the green onions. Fry this for another 3-4 mins. Then add the chicken pieces to this, with the reserved marinade. You might need to sprinkle some salt at this point(first taste though). Cover and cook till the marinade thickens up and the chicken pieces are all done!

Sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds while serving and a little black pepper powder.

Eat with steamed rice. (Thats what we ate with last night )

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When Rudaba aunty was visiting us, she made this in front of me, it is pretty easy, one thing to note is that when cooking meats/chicken, it is very very important that the pieces be fryed well!

Ingredients:
about 2 and half lbs meat (1 kg), we made lamb
2 big red onions, sliced and fryed till brown
2-3 cardomom,
about an inch of cinnamon stick,
1 bayleaf,
ginger garlic paste 3 spoons,
corriander (dhania) powder,
red chilli powder,
salt,
tomato paste about 2-3 spoons,
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder,
mace 2 pinches,
garam masala few pinches,
yoghurt 1 cup,
oil for cooking

First fry the onions and keep aside. In the cooking pot (we used pressure cooker, it helps to cook faster). Add some oil, when it heats add the whole spices. Then add the ginger garlic paste, fry for a minute(dont let it burn), then finally add the lamb pieces. Fry well on high flame, taking care, the pieces do not stick to the bottom. Add the salt and the chilli powder to this.

Fry for sometime, then add tomato paste. Mix well. Add the cinnamon and mace powder. Add about a cup of yoghurt, Mix well and fry again for sometime till the oil seperates out (i.e. you see a layer of oil forming on the top)

Add a cup or two of water, and let it cook on slow heat, till the lamb pieces are tender. Sprinkle cinnamon powder on the top.

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Komal Hegde, now Komal Raut… but still the same old…..same old! She is Ms. Perfect, and Ms. Right, and Ms. Know it all, and Ms. I am great…etc etc. She has the cutest little boy called Atharva(i hope I spelled it right! ) We became friends at the enggineering school we attended, Vidyavardhini at Vasai, Mumbai. Haa i just figured that we are decade old friends !

Komal Hegde oops Raut, is a foodie in the truest sense! You just have to hear her talk about it. This is one of her recipes, I remember at times, when she had the craving to eat this, she would go by herself to the restaurant, and eat it!

Ingredients:
vermicilli,
sabja,
rooh afza syrup or any flavored syrups,
milk,
icecream scoops,
nuts for garnish.

First soak the sabja (or follow the directions on the packet), boil the vermicilli as per the directions too. Mix milk, sugar and roohafza. In a long glass, add the milk mix, sabja, and the vermicilli. Then a scoop of icecream and garnish with nuts.

note: per serving, about a spoon of sabja, 2-3 tbsp of vermicilli and about 3/4 glass of milk mix, and a scoop of icecream.

note: subsitute the icecream with kulfi for ‘kulfi falooda’ !

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food/june06_050.jpg
This is a very delicious soup for the cold winters. Ulfet, Nurhan, Hacer all make this soup. Most of the ingredients used by them are same. Its again very healthy, fast and yummy!

Ulfet’s recipe.

Ingredients:
1 cup red lentils (red masoor daal),
1 -2 tbsp rice,
1 chopped onion,
1-2 tbsp Oil (any kind),
Salt as per taste,
1/2 tsp black pepper powder,
red pepper flakes as per taste,
1/2 potato chopped,
about 6-8 cups water,
mint powder (optional while serving)

Put all the above ingredients in a pressure cooker /cooking pot and cook it till the lentils and vegetables are done. With a hand blender, or a whisk, make a puree of the soup. Thats it, serve as is, or with a pinch of mint. Eat it alone or put some bits of bread in the soup. Enjoy!

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This daal recipe is by Rudaba aunty. I use this recipe for any kind of daal (infact any Pulses e.g. Lentils, beans etc). They are high in protein and/or fibre.

Ingredients:
whole masoor daal (the brown round one),
salt,
turmeric (haldi),
ghee or clarified butter,
3-4 curry leaves (kadi patta),
1/2 tsp whole cumins (akha jeera),
1/2 tsp mustard seeds (raai),
onion chopped,
tomato chopped,
garlic ginger paste,
green hot peppers,

Dry spices:
corriander (dhania) powder,
cumin (jeera) powder,
red chilli powder,
1/2 tsp garam masala,

fresh cilantro(fresh dhania) chopped for garnish,
black pepper powder for garnish.

note: I do not have exact measurements, but I think about 1/2 or 1 tsp of the most ingredients will be ok for a cup of daal. Also if you do not have some of the ingredients you can skip them. You can make the daal with only the daal, some salt, ghee, turmeric, red chilli powder too!)

Method:
Boil the daal, with the turmeric and salt in pressure cooker or any cooking pot.
To make the tadka: heat the ghee in a little pan, add the mustard seeds, then when they start to pop, add the cumin seeds, then finally the curry leaves. After a bit, add the onion, green pepper, saute, then add the tomato, and ginger garlic paste.

Fry well, then add the dry spices. Again fry, for few seconds, they are done real quick, so be careful not to burn them.
Add this to the boiled daal, and stir it, and let it boil together for a few minutes. To garnish, srinkle the chopped cilantro and some black pepper powder.

Eat with hot steamed rice or rotis.

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Hacer makes this better than I do, but I guess food tastes better, when someone else cooks it for you with love. Here is her recipe for it.

Ingredients:
3-4 Boiled potatoes, diced,
1 boiled carrot, chopped
1/2 can sweet peas, washed and drained
Cooked Macaroni about 3-4 cups,
Chopped parsley few tablespoons fresh or dry,
Chopped pickled cucumber 1-2 slices,
yoghurt 1-2 cups,
mayonnaise about 2 tbsp,
few garlic cloves chopped fine,
salt, pepper.

Make the dressing by mixing the mayo, yoghurt, and crushed garlic and salt in a bowl. Mix together, the potatoes, cooked macaroni, parsley, peas, carrots and the cucumbers in a big mixing bowl. Add the dressing on the potatoes etc. Mix well, sprinkle salt and pepper as per taste. Refrigerate for sometime if desired.

This recipe can be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator. Add more of the dressing if it appears dry.

Enjoy alone as a snack or as part of a meal!

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