Raisins Bread Knots

It was a wonderful month of Ramadan. I still can't believe it is over very soon. Eid was on Tuesday for us. It was a lovely day and on the Almighty's grace, it went on very well. We had been invited to a friends' house in the north of Germany. After prayers, we set out there and we had a memorable time there. We returned home only very late last night. This post is exclusively for the Blog Hop Wednesday, a blog event by Radhika of Tickling Palates. Even before Eid, I explained my situation to her and she kindly gave me one day excuse. So, I'm posting for the event today.

This time, I got the opportunity to visit Neha's blog - From my heart. Her blog is young, but within a short time, she has posted some really wonderful and unique recipes. I really liked a few of them and had a tough time choosing. At last, I asked my husband to pick one. He finally closed in on these cute little bread knots.



The original recipe can be found here. I followed it almost exactly, except for the following changes:

• I omitted washing the bread knots with egg-whites. Instead, I brushed the knots with a little olive oil before baking. This gave the knots a beautiful upper crust.
• I added some raisins along with the flour while kneading, which was a great idea indeed. We really loved biting into those sweet pieces. (Ok baba, I admit, it was my husband's idea!!) 
• I used Nigella seeds instead of Basil seeds.

I enjoyed preparing these pretty knots very much. They were easy to make, but tasted great. Initially, I wondered how to make those knots, but later realized that it doesn't really matter. It was fun twisting and turning the dough. Unleash your creativity and you get wonderful shapes. I think, most of mine turned out to be like snails rather than knots. As I said, it really doesn't matter. We took some of these to our friends too and they too liked it a lot.



It is best served warm. You can either bite into them as such or enjoy with marmalade or honey. A dash of honey is my personal choice. Have it as breakfast or as tea time snacks. I'm sure you would like them either way. Sending this to Blog Hop Wednesday - Week 3.

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Broccoli Coriander Curry

Last few Sundays have been quite busy for me. I had been cooking something specifically for blogging. Waking up on a Sunday morning, the next thought would be what to cook for the evening (Iftar), what are the things I have at hand and how to get it to blogging. I would keep watch over the sky to see if it is cloudy or sunny. After the usual cleaning works, I would happily start cooking, then arrange the items and shoot... It is all such fun, you know.

If at all I have a little bit of that enthusiasm when it comes to writing the post. Sigh... After all these, I would not have the slightest inclination to write the post on Sunday itself and would tend to procrastinate. Weekdays have never been better. After a tiring day at work, the body and mind just wants to relax rather than sitting up with the laptop. I don't know how many of you feel the same. But, I, the lazy goose, am still learning to be better organized :)

Now, coming to last week's work. I found a few pods of butter beans in the farmer's market. I was more than excited. I absolutely love those creamy crunchy butter beans I have tasted in India. Those I found here had beautiful purple patterns. I thought of trying some different curry with them rather than a stir fry. I had some ideas in my mind and was determined to give a try. I put the butter beans in a pressure cooker and started preparing the curry in parallel.

The curry was developing exactly like I wanted it to be. After some time, I opened the cooker only to find the beans overcooked. Ooooppss... It was a disaster :( They turned out to be so mushy that they would not survive the stirring with the curry. Nevertheless, they tasted good and I just added some ground pepper and saved them aside. Ok, I learnt a lesson. Now, what to do with the curry, it is indeed good!!

An idea sparked suddenly on my mind. I had some frozen broccolis. Just added them to the curry and cooked along. The end result was very tasty and it made up for all the distress I had a little while ago. This is the story behind this curry. Now, let's get straight to the recipe.

Cooking Time: 30 mins
Serves: 2 to 3

Ingredients:
To grind:
Coriander leaves/Cilantro - a small bunch
Cashew - 10 pieces
Onion - 1 big or a handful of small shallots
Green chillies - 2

Cinnamon - 2 small sticks
Cardamom - 3 pieces
Cloves - 3 pieces
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp
Broccoli florets - 400 g
Coconut milk - 3 tbsp

Method:
Wash and chop the coriander leaves. Chop the shallots/onion and green chillies finely. Take all these along with the cashews in a blender and blend to a smooth paste adding very little water.

Heat oil in a skillet. Add the cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. Now, add the ground paste and sauté till the raw smell of onion fades off. Now, add the ginger and garlic paste to it and sauté for a few more minutes.

Add the cut and clean Broccoli florets, stir and cover the skillet and cook for about 5 minutes in medium heat. Give a stir again, add the coconut milk and cook till the florets are cooked, but still crunchy. Give a final stir and switch off the heat.

Garnish with coriander leaves or nuts and/or a dash of cream and serve hot with steamed rice or roti.

Notes:

• Instead of coconut milk, you can use about 3 tbs of grated coconut. If so, you can grind it along with the coriander leaves and shallots.
• In my humble opinion, shallots give a better taste to the dish than onions.

As I said, this curry originated out of the blue in my mind. So, feel free to adapt it to your taste buds with various other veggies and ingredients too. We had this curry with Roti and later with Rice too. It was very creamy, tasty and aromatic. We were glad that we had a simple, tasty yet healthy vegetarian dish. Hope you like it too :)

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Haleem

A bit relaxation for a few days. And again, the stressful times are back. The project schedules keep me busy with office works. Sometimes, at home too. :( Nevertheless, I do not want to miss my first opportunity to participate in the Blog Hop Wednesday, an exciting event started by Radhika of Tickling Palates. A big thanks to her!! This is a great idea and she is doing a great job organizing things for this. Hats off to Radhika!!

Anxiously, I looked up the chart to find whose blog I should be visiting this week. A sweet surprise!! It was none other than Umm Mymoonah's Taste of Pearl City. Oh, what do I say!! She was one of the two inspirations for me to start a blog in the first place. I fondly call her "my Blog Guru". Whatever doubts I have with blogging, I always look up to her and she patiently explains things to me. With two naughty little kids at home, what she has accomplished in a short time is just admirable!

Well, her blog is the one that I most often visit. I have already tried numerous things out of her treasure box. To name a few, Garlic Rolls (read my post here), Kalakand, Polenta Idli, Prawn Gravy, Ataif bil Ashta and many many more. Besides, I have a few bookmarked pages too. So, for this event, I gladly picked one out of the list which I had been eyeing for quite some time now - Haleem.

I came to know about this Hyderabadi speciality only through her blog for the first time. Before trying, I was not sure if it was a gravy or a soup. I think, it is both. Meat, usually lamb is cooked very slowly for a long time, along with wheat and lentils flavoured by Indian spices. This way, the meat becomes soft and shredded, combined with the spices to give a thick soup like consistency.

I cooked Haleem during the weekend itself, as I knew I wouldn't be able to manage it during the weekdays. See, now it is 11pm and I'm still writing the post with half closed eyes.

The original recipe can be found here. I almost followed the same except for a few changes. We absolutely loved the Haleem. We had it for Iftar along with Turkish bread. And later for Sahr too as a soup. It was very filling and tasty.

My Notes:

• I used about 750g meat. So, I doubled the quantity of ingredients.
• Like Umm Mymoonah, I cooked Haleem in pressure cooker only. Seven whistles were enough for the meat to be finely cooked.
• With time, the Haleem thickened. So, I thinned it a little bit for our second serving.
• It is best served warm.

On the whole, we loved it so much. It was a welcome change to the normal curry that we usually prepare. I would be definitely making it again. :)

As an ending note, for those who are curious about what my other inspiration for blogging is - it is none other than my husband - the backbone of this blog. :)

I'm sending this entry to Blog Hop Wednesdays, Lubna's Joy from Fasting to Feasting IV Jabeen Corner's Iftar Nights. Signing off now guys. See you next time soon :)

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Basil Pesto

It has been one week into Ramadan. On the Almighty's grace, the past week has been really good. Though it ought to be simmering hot in August here, with temperatures soaring as high as 35°C, this year has been very different. Pleasant sunshine keeps alternating with cool showers followed by mild soothing breeze in the evenings. I don't know how long this could last, but as long as it lasts, my spirits are high are bright.

The good thing about the long days here is that, I get enough time. I mean, after returning from office, I'm finding ample time to prepare for Iftar. We didn't have busy plans for the weekend too. It was quite relaxing to be at home. As with most of you, I have a loooong list of things to be tried. One among them is to make Home-made Pesto. Last Sunday proved to be a perfect time to try that.

Basil - hmmm... the name itself smells fresh, unique and exotic. I was introduced to this excellent herb only in Germany, by the name Basilikum. I was so much attracted to this lovely smelling herb that I wanted to put my favorite Mint in the second place. Did I really wanted to? Ohh, I'm not sure myself! Anyways, I wondered why I missed Basil all these years in India. Whenever visiting a tourist place or even in my office canteen, Pasta with Basil Pesto has been my option so many times. I must confess, it saved me from starving, many a times.

Even at home, when preparing Pasta, Basil pesto remained my favourite. But, I had been using store bought Pesto sauce till now, which of course, was good too. Nevertheless, the craving to make Pesto at home lingered for a long time. So, I made it a point to buy lot of Basil leaves this weekend. I got two bunds of fresh Basil leaves from the farmer's market. You know what, the entire kitchen caught the fresh smell in the little time it was exposed to.

Making our own Pesto could be as simple as 'mix and blend'. It could also be as time consuming as preparing a party meal. The trade-off lies in how authentic and flavourful you want your end product to be. I read in several pages over the internet and was convinced, to make something close to the authentic Italian Pesto, it takes patience and commitment!!



Some suggest to chop the Basil leaves sooooo long into tiny tiny pieces, that it resembles a blended one. Some suggest to just grind the Basil leaves little by little in a mortar and pestle. So, I decided to combine the both. Here is a draft of how I prepared my Pesto.

Preparation Time: 30 to 45 mins
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
Fresh flat leaf Basil - 2 bunds
Garlic - 2 to 3 cloves
Pine nuts - 50g
Parmesan Cheese - 150g
Extra virgin Olive oil - 150 to 200 ml
Walnuts - a few pieces
Salt and pepper - to taste

Method:
Separate the Basil leaves from the stalks. Wash and let them dry. Dry roast the pine nuts very lightly and keep ready.

Take a really sharp knife and a cutting board. Start chopping a little of the Basil leaves. Now, add a garlic piece and chop together. Add more Basil leaves and chop again. Add a few pine nuts and chop together. This way, keep chopping the Basil leaves together with garlic pieces and pine nuts little by little. You can add walnuts in-between. This might take well about 20mins, depending on your chopping talent :p

Grate the parmesan into thin strands. Now, take a mortar and pestle. Add a little of the chopped leaves and about a spoonful of cheese and grind together, just to blend them well. This would infuse the taste of Parmesan into the Basil. Do not press too much, as it might darken the pesto. Collect in a bowl. Repeat the process with the rest of the leaves.

Now, add required amount of olive oil till you get the desired consistency. Adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper. Your hand-made pesto is now ready. :)

Mix the required amount of Pesto with your favourite freshly prepared Pasta. You can store the Pesto in a fully sterilized bottle, covered with a layer of oil and keep in the refrigerator.

Note:

• All the measurements I have given above are completely indicative. You can vary the measurements according to your requirements and taste.
• Original Genovese Basil leaves are flat and young. You can try with any kind of Basil leaves, as per availability and the taste is said to vary accordingly.
• I used just 2 garlic cloves of the size shown in the picture. If you do not like too much garlic, just go light on it.
• Try combining with coriander and mint leaves too for a taste pep. Sure, they would taste even better.
• You can add almonds, cashews too. Walnuts are again optional.

There might be reasons for you to think that this is not for you. Like, you might not have so much time to put into pesto making. Or, you might not possess a mortar and pestle, nor a sharp knife. In that case, just put all the ingredients mentioned in a food processor/blender and blend to the right consistency. Adjust oil to the right consistency. But believe me, the hand-made one is surely worth the try.

I'm sending this delicious Pesto to PJ's Herbs and Flowers: Basil guest hosted by Kaarasaaram. The easy version goes to Taste of Pearl City's Anyone can Cook Series 29.

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Zereshk Pulao

Ramadan, the holy month, has arrived. Fasting during the month of Ramadan from dawn until dusk is obligatory for all Muslims who have reached their age. It is a month not only to refrain from food and drinks. It is a month to practice "purity in thought and deed" and to seek the pleasure of the Almighty. So, on this month, may we be kind to our fellow beings and may we be forgiving as to be forgiven.

Ramadan again reminds me of the wonderful times in India. We used to get up on the early morning hours for Sahr(morning food before fasting) and as a family sit together at the dining table and eat something light. Then we recite the Niyyat together followed by prayer. I would then go to school/college. At the evening, when I reach home, mom would be preparing some delicacies and getting ready for Iftar(breaking the fast). Right after sunset, we would break fast, pray and eat afterwards. The menu for Iftar would usually contain some cool drinks, sweets and lots of fruits. It is good to go light on it again. Sometimes, my dad would bring the special Kanji (நோன்பு கஞ்சி), a kind of rice porridge, from the mosque. Ohh!! I can still remember the aroma and flavor of the light but filling Kanji. I am not sure if this practice is followed in other parts of India. Those of you in Tamilnadu, who have tasted this would really relate to what I mean.



For the past three years, I am seeing Ramadan in Germany. I must confess, I'm definitely missing being with the family and all the above things. However, the past Ramadans were quite good. This year, Ramadan has come in peak summer. The day is long leading to longer fasting times. My mother-in-law beautifully said, "More fasting... more blessings!!". So, we are taking this as a great motivation to fast enthusiastically. You know what, today my husband prepared the same Kanji at home. Do I really need to tell you how it tasted? :) I felt like I was back in India!!

Now, coming to the post. This was our lunch last Sunday. This is a Persian rice dish. My husband, when he was studying in Germany, was sharing accommodation with another Iranian guy, who used to prepare this dish often. My husband picked up the recipe from him. It is a simple yet flavorful rice Pilaf prepared with Berberis (also called, Barberries) and Saffron. Zereshk in Persian refers to the dried Berberis fruits. They impart a slightly tart flavor to the Pilaf, traditionally accompanied by chicken. Let me go straight into the recipe now.

Preparation: 15-20 mins
Cooking: 30 mins

Ingredients:
Basmati Rice - 500 g
Barberries - 100 g
Onion - 1 medium sized, thinly sliced
Cardamom and Cloves - a few (a little indian touch)
Cumin - 4 tsp
Sugar - 3 tbsp
Ghee/Oil
Milk - 1/2 cup (lukewarm)
Saffron strands
Salt to taste

Method:
Clean and wash the basmati rice, drain and keep aside. Add few strands of saffron to the luke warm milk and set aside.

Clean and rinse the barberries in cold water by placing them in a colander and allow barberries to soak for 15-20 minutes. Take the colander out and run cold water over the barberries, drain and set aside.

Heat 2 tablespoons of ghee/oil in a pan, add 2 tsp of cumin, a few cardamom, cloves and leave it to splutter. Then add the sliced onion and sauté until the onions turn golden brown. Now add the barberries and sauté just for a minute over low heat; otherwise the barberries burn easily. Finally, add the sugar, mix well, and set aside.

Now place the drained rice in a rice cooker or a vessel with twice as much of water. Add 2 tsp of cumin, 1 tbsp of oil and enough salt and cook it until its 2/3 done. Drain rice in a fine-mesh colander and set aside.

In a heavy bottomed vessel heat 2 tbsp of ghee/oil. Add a thin layer of rice and a few spoons of the saffron-milk. This will form a tender crust at the bottom of the vessel when the rice is completely done. This tender crust is known as tah dig. Add the rest of the rice in the vessel, sprinkle a few spoons saffron-milk over the rice; cover it with a clean kitchen towel and a tight lid. This will avoid any steam escaping from the vessel. Cook the rice covered like this for 10-15 minutes over medium low heat.

Remove the vessel from heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes. This will also free crust from the bottom of the vessel.



Serving:
Take 2-3 scoops of cooked rice and mix it with saffron-milk and set aside for garnishing. Then take 2/3 of the cooked rice and mix it gently with 2/3 of the barberry mixture. Then arrange the plain rice on a serving platter in alternating layers with the barberry mixture. Finally, decorate the top with the saffron-flavored rice, some of the barberry mixture, cashews and pistachios.

Voila! you have great looking platter of Zereshk Pulao. This pulao goes well with Chicken Tandoori and Raita. I personally feel, it would be equally good with tandooored Paneer or Bagara Baingan too. :)

Note:
If you don’t like the barberries to be too sweet, adding just about 2-3 tbsp of sugar would be enough,  and that should be good. If you like more you can adjust the measure to your taste.

I'm happily sending this recipe to the following events:
Iftar Moments by Taste of Pearl City, Iftar Nights by Jabeen's Corner and Food Palette Series Black by ToriewToronto and Lubna's Joy from Fasting to Feasting IV.

I'm also sending my Lamb Biryani, Printen and Strawberry Shortcake Cookies to Iftar Nights by Jabeen's Corner.

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Lamb Biryani

Biryani - even the word sounds exotic, smells aromatic and promises a yummy treat, doesn't it? If you ask me to define Biryani, I could use only one word. Royal! Yes, of course. Being born in an Indian islamic family, I was very well accustomed to Biryani right from childhood. Though we were no royals, we were never denied of this treat on every special occasion. Be it a wedding, a house warming function, on Eid, on Birthdays or even for special guests - every now and then, I used to get an opportunity to lay my hands on Biryani even as a child. But, back then, I never understood the historical influences or the geographical significances behind this lovely one pot meal.

India is a land of rich history, whose culture is varied, strongly influenced by the many invaders in the past. Biryani is said to have got its origin in India during the Mughal dynasty. It is an aromatic rice dish flavored by a blend of rich spices cooked along with meat or vegetables, specially prepared for the royals. With changing times, slowly this dish gained popularity and started spreading to many parts of India. Taking in the many likes and dislikes of the regional cuisines and availability of spices, Biryani metamorphosed and thus many varieties of Biryani came into existence.

Hey hey, I'm not going to write a thesis here. Just wanted to give a good intro into the post. Those who still find 'Biryani' to be an alien word, kindly refer to wiki. Coming to my story... Mom used to make tasty Biryani. When I was in school and then in college, Mom's Biryani is famous among my friends. Whenever they visit me at home or at times of Eid, she prepares it happily for them. During my college days, she used to prepare vegetable Biryani for my vegetarian friends too. I felt secretly proud of my mom for this. But I never cared to know the amount of labour and love that goes into making it.

After marriage, I got to taste the Biryani prepared by my mother-in-law. The way she prepared and the taste was entirely different from my mom's. I liked it this way too. Only then, I was intrigued to find the difference. My mother-in-law prepared Biryani in layers unlike my mom, who cooked meat and rice together. After coming to Germany, my dear husband prepared Biryani and it tasted different again. I'm not sure myself which one I like the most.

Being here in Germany, with a family and a home for myself and my husband, it was the first time, I as a host started inviting and entertaining friends. At such times, I and my husband give some thought about what our guests might like to eat, prepare a menu beforehand and plan who is going to make(cook) what. If we plan to make Biryani, my husband dons the apron. I proudly, still humbly, admit that whoever has tasted his Biryani liked it very much and asked for more. Praises be to the Lord. I was waiting for a long time for the perfect moment to share his recipe in my blog. Ramadan is around the corner and Taste of Pearl City's Iftar moments is a good chance. So, here I am, taking extreme pleasure in presenting you my husband's Lamb Biryani recipe. I sincerely hope, you would enjoy this.

Preparation Time: 40 mins
Cooking Time: 30 mins + 20 mins for Dum
Serves: 5-6

Ingredients:
Meat of lamb - 1250g (with bones) *
Basmati Rice - 1 kg *
Salt - to taste
Ghee - 4 tbsp

Onions - 3 medium sized, sliced thinly
Tomatoes - 3 medium sized, chopped
Potato - 1 big, sliced
Green chillies - 3, slit lengthwise
Yoghurt - 1 cup / 150 g
Ginger garlic paste - 3 tbsp

Cumin seeds - 2 tsp
Whole garam masala - cloves, cardamoms, cinnamon and bay leaves
Oil - 3 tbsp (Sunflower or canola oil)
Lemon juice - juice of 1 lemon

Mint and Coriander leaves - 1/2 a bunch each, chopped coarsely
Cashews - a handful
Raisins - a handful
Roasted onions - 2 handsful
Saffron - a few strands, soaked in 2 tbsp luke warm milk

For Biryani Masala:
Coriander powder - 3 tbsp
Red Chili powder - 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Crushed black pepper - 2 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1 tsp
Nutmeg powder - 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 2 tsp

Note:
Kindly note, all the ingredients and measurements mentioned above can be varied according your taste.

Preparation:
Getting the things ready for Biryani is the main labour that goes into the making. Actual cooking is damn easy. So, let's get the things ready now.

Step 1: Cut and clean the meat. As opposed to curries, for Biryani, the meat pieces should be of 2-inch cube sizes. Meat with bones is preferred. After cleaning, drain the meat of excess water.

Step 2: Prepare the marination - In a large mixing bowl, take half of the masala powder mix given under 'For Biryani masala'. To this, add the cleaned meat, yoghurt, ginger garlic paste, 2 tbsp oil, juice of half a lemon and enough salt and mix well. Cover with a fresh foil. Let this marination rest in the fridge for about an hour. Reserve the rest of the masala powder for later use.

Step 3: In the meantime, get the other things ready.
Slice the onions thinly. Cut the tomatoes into small cubes. Slit green chillies lengthwise. Clean and chop the green leaves. Slice the potato and keep aside.
In a small bowl, take 2 -3 tbsp of lukewarm milk. To this, add the saffron strands, cover and save aside.
If you do not get roast onions readymade, take a few onions(as per demand), cut into thin slices, fry in hot oil till crispy and golden brown, drain in kitchen towels and keep aside.
Roast raisins in 1 tbsp of ghee slightly. Take care not to burn them. If you do not get roasted cashews, you can roast the cashews along with the raisins.

Step 4: Prepare the rice - Clean the rice carefully not to break it. Take rice in a big vessel or rice cooker, add double the amount of water, add 2 tsp cumin seeds, 1 tbsp oil and enough salt. Cook the rice only until half cooked. When you feel the rice is half cooked, switch off the heat, drain the rice and take it in a bowl separately.

Cooking:

Step 1: Cooking the meat: In a cooker, heat 3 tbsp of ghee. After it is slightly hot, add the whole garam masala and fry for a minute. Now add the onions and saute until they become translucent. Add the green chillies and marinated meat. Stir fry for a few minutes. Add rest of the Biryani masala and fry for a few more minutes. Now add the chopped tomatoes and about a quarter of the chopped mint and coriander leaves. Please take care not to add water at this stage. The meat would get cooked in its own juices and from that of the tomatoes and the curd. Close the lid of the cooker and cook until 3-4 whistles.**

Step 2: Layering: Take a heavy bottomed vessel. Add one tablespoon of oil (We used the ghee leftover after frying the raisins) and leave the flame/hot plate on low heat. Now spread the sliced potatoes to cover the base completely. You got it? They are just to avoid burning of our Biryani***. Above the potato layer, spread about half of the meat with a little gravy. On top of it, spread half of the rice. Now, spread half of the mint coriander leaves, followed by one handful of fried onions. Now, take one or two ladles of gravy and evenly pour it over, followed by a few drops of lemon juice. Repeat the same process for another layer of meat, rice, mint-coriander, fried onions, some more gravy and lemon juice drops. Now, on top of all this, add the roast cashews and raisins. You can save some for garnishing later. Finally, spread the saffron milk evenly all over.

Step 3: Dum: Now, close this set up with an aluminium foil, sealing the edges tightly so that no steam gets out. Leave this on low heat for about 20-25 mins. In native language, this process is called "Dum". What happens now is that, the heat slowly spreads from the bottom upwards. During this, the meat and rice are cooked slowly, which finally gives the softness and aroma to the Biryani. There are many ways of putting Biryani in Dum, but this is what we find convenient and best on our electric stove. After about 20 mins, you can check the evenness of heat by touching the top and bottom surface of the vessel. If you find the heat to be even, it means it is almost done. Then, switch the flame off and leave for a few minutes before you open the foil.

Tips for Serving:
While serving, take Biryani in sections, cutting through the layers, so that you have a good mix of meat, rice and everything. Do not stir or mix directly in the vessel. After you take it in another serving bowl, you can garnish with more raisins, cashews and coriander leaves. Biryani goes well with Raita.

Note:
* Usually, the meat to rice ratio would be 1:1.5. This can be varied according to your needs. We have used here 1:1.25.
** After cooking the meat, in case you get a lot of gravy, please don't be tempted to pour all of it into the layers. That will make the Biryani soggy. Use your best judgement here. You can save the excess gravy for supper with Rotis.
*** If you find the potato slices at the bottom to be burnt, you can discard them. Otherwise, you can still serve it along.

Sending this to Taste of Pearl City's Iftar Moments Event and Torview's Food Palette Series Black and Lubna's Joy from Fasting to Feasting -  IV.

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Tuna Couscous Salad

Until last week, summer has kept its promise and we had a fair share of sunshine. This week, it is no more true. Right from Sunday, it keeps raining here and the weather reports forecast the entire week to be so. Today it rained heavily. Sitting on the eighteenth floor in my office, with complete glass walls around, tell me how I can concentrate on my work? With a cup of coffee in my hand, it was just comforting and nice to watch the rain splash against the windows. It brought me a cloud of thoughts, which I sincerely wanted to draft somewhere. Yes, I'm doing that in parallel and I hope to post about it soon. :)

Ok, now coming to the main point. This recipe has been sitting in my drafts for quite sometime now. This is a very easy breezy salad, which you can put together in a matter of few minutes. On a busy week day, this is a very good way of fixing up the supper and hardly needs a recipe. Anyways, here you go.

Preparation time: 15 min
Serves: 2 - 3

Ingredients:
Couscous - 1 cup
Tuna fish - 1 tin
Feta Cheese - 100g
Olives - a few
Tomato - 1
Onion - 1
Mint - to garnish
Salt and pepper - to taste

Method:
Chop the onion,tomatoes and olives to little pieces. Cut the feta cheese into little bite sized chunks. Cook the couscous as per instructions or as found below.

In a large mixing bowl, take the cooked couscous. Add the chopped onions, tomatoes, olives and feta cheese. Drain and add the tuna pieces and spread them. Add salt, pepper and chopped mint leaves. Give them all a good mix. Done!!

Cooking couscous:
Take the couscous in a bowl along with little salt. Add equivalent amount of boiling water to it. Keep it covered for about 5 minutes. Add a little butter or olive oil and fluff with a fork.

Notes:
This salad resulted as an effort to make use of some of the items sitting in my fridge. If you are a vegetarian, you can omit tuna and use some cooked beans instead. If you want to go light for the dinner, avoid the feta cheese. You can use parsley or coriander leaves instead of mint. Oh, the choice is yours and it is endless.

A perfect candidate for Taste of Pearl City's Anyone can Cook Series 26 under 'Beginners' Category.

Recently, Shilpi of It is tasty ma! has generously bestowed the following awards on me. She has a great collection of delicious traditional Bengali dishes and sea foods. Do check out her blog for more. I feel honored and excited to receive these little tokens of appreciation from her. Danke schon Shilpi :)

I would like to pass on these awards to all my dear readers and followers whose loving comments are the  only driving force of this blog. Please feel free to collect it from here and proudly publish in your blogs.

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Bruges

As most of you would agree, taking a break from the routine every now and then helps a lot. A vacation is very essential, in the sense that, it is not just a break from the routine, but that it really gives more time to relax ourselves and rejuvenates us to be more efficient after the break. For these and more, I cherish vacations a lot.

Last month, during one of the long weekends, we decided to go somewhere on a relaxed trip. We joined with one of our friends - another couple and we four set out to Belgium. This is just a small account of the wonderful memories we had there.

The Belfry Tower at the Marketplace, Bruges

On a fine saturday morning, we started our trip by car, quite relaxed. Taking enough breaks, we finally arrived at Bruges (Brügge - German, Brugges - Dutch), our destination around 15:30. After checking into our hotel and freshening up, we set out for an evening stroll.



Bruges is a small ancient historical town located in the north western Flemish region of Belgium. With many narrow streets, studded with artfully built little houses and old buildings, it was hardly a ten minutes walk to the market place at the city centre. The market place was surrounded by historical buildings, built with a unique European flair. There were lots of cafes lining up the streets near the market place. They were not named Cafes like in Germany, rather called as Tea Rooms. I guess, the locals liked to drink tea more than coffee. We seated ourselves in a nice tea room. The hospitalilty was super genial. Except me, everyone ordered Waffles, yes, the famous Belgian Waffles. I kept just drooling at those (as I'm allergic to eggs), when my husband was describing how light, soft yet tasty they were. We further walked down the city, through the narrow lanes, across the beautiful canals and enjoyed the evening hour sight seeing. The city is sometimes referred to as 'the Venice of the North', credits to the cute little canals.

The Canals in Bruges

The next morning started with a fulfilling breakfast at our hotel. Then we all set out to visit the Choco Museum. Didn't I not point out yet what Belgium is famous for? Yeah, you guessed it right. Pralines!!  Not just that. Belgium is also famous for their Waffles, hundreds of varieties of Beer (for Beer lovers), French fries and many more. Ok, let me come to the Choco Story. This is a chocolate museum and it was a few footsteps away from our hotel. There was an impressive collection, depicting the history and origin of Chocolates right from the Aztec Civilization; how cocoa was first discovered, consumed and how the modern day chocolates evolved. It was a wonderful journey through the museum and as a highlight, at the end, you get a demo of chocolate production from an expert and a little praline to taste too. I must admit, wowwww it tasted gorgeous and just melted in our mouths. We came out of the little museum with happy faces. :)

Chocolate figures in Choco Story Museum, Bruges

We continued our journey through the city. Bruges has a Dutch speaking community. We were glad for the fact that, Dutch has a lot of similarities to German(Deutsch). We could easily understand sign boards, food on the menu card, street names, etc. Altogether, it was an interesting guessing game with the languages. My friend's husband had Birthday on that day and so, he treated us for lunch in a cozy, artfully designed restaurant. I had a bowl of Penne pesto and a large glass of flavored iced tea. Why pasta? Though the city offered a wide range of culinary options, after applying all my constraints and filtering, I finally end up in Italian pasta only. But, it tasted real good. My friend's husband wanted to try Mussels there once, but sad that he missed it.

Madonna and the Child at the Church of Our Lady, Bruges

After lunch, we purchased some souvenirs and Pralines to take home. Apart from the array of chocolate shops and beer shops, I also found a lot of Tapestry shops and a few notable diamond shops. Later on the day, we visited the 'Church of Our Lady', which houses the famous Michaelangelo's 'Madonna and the Child'. Then, we visited the 'Begijnhof', a closed community dwelling, where the Beguines (sisters of the ancient Roman Catholic Church) lived together, sponsored by the rich benefactors of the city in the past. It was a serene experience just walking through the colonies and the park surrounding the Begijnhof.

The Lake of Love, Bruges

After all these walking, we were dog tired when we returned to the hotel. It was not yet dusk and we were really hesitant if we should continue our sight seeing or just retire for the day. After a small break, out of some intuition, we just started off again in car. We travelled to a nearby village called 'Damme'. The travel by car along the canals and green fields was very relaxing and we found that it was a good decision to have made the extra effort. Damme is just a scenic beauty. The cool breeze, the picturesque surroundings, the greenery and cattle made us jump with joy. We got some of our precious clicks there.

Damme, near Bruges

The third day, we bid goodbye to Bruges and returned home. On our way back, we took a break for lunch in Brussels, the capital city. There we made a brief visit to the European Commission building, the executive body of the Europen Union, only to find that it was closed for the holiday. Later we took a break for coffee in Leuven, another charming little town in Belgium, but in the French speaking area. It was almost 11pm when we reached home.

Pralines from Bruges

Dear readers, thank you so much, if you have patiently read till this line. I am glad that I could give a complete(yet trying to be precise) account of the things I saw, experienced and enjoyed. If you feel like you travelled along with me, then please feel free to leave me a line with your comments or critics. It would encourage me to write more notes like this or even better ones in the future. :-) Ciao!!

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