Expanding My Repertoire

There are a few things in life that remind you of good times i.e. childhood. For me one such reminder is Lebanese food. We grew up eating Shawarma, Toum, Houmous, Khubz, Arais-el-kafta etc. I reminisce about life in the Middle East whenever I get to taste this amazingly aromatic and delicious cuisine. Such mild yet luxurious flavour. I think about my dad and his obsession with Arais-el-kafta. His expert replication of all the different types of food he used to love.

I thought I'd share with you my take on Lebanese cuisine tonight. I tried my hand at their Lamb kafta. For a long time I've been trying to make it perfect. Mellow yet flavourful. I went to my butcher's early morning after a night shift. I got the freshest meat ever. He advised me to get minced lamb shoulder and not leg if I want to make kababs. His point was that shoulder meat has more fat in it and it keeps the kababs moist. He was spot-on!

LEBANESE LAMB KAFTA

INGREDIENTS

Minced lamb shoulder meat- 500gm
Salt- to taste
Coriander powder (Pisa dhanya)- 1 tsp
Cumin powder (Pisa zeera)- 1 tsp
Garlic- 4 cloves
Onion- 2: Slice one onion and fry it till golden, leave the other one raw
Cinnamon powder (Pisi daarcheeni)- 1/4 tsp
Garam masala- 1/2 tsp
Flat leaf parsley- 1 tbsp
Olive oil- to shallow fry

Put all the seasonings, garlic, onions, parsley and minced meat in a grinder and grind together.

Now make small portions of the mixture, thread onto a wooden skewer (soak the skewers in cold water for a few hours to prevent burning) and shape them around the skewer. Wet your palm slightly so the surface of the kafta is nice and smooth.

Shallow fry in olive oil on medium flame to keep these kaftas moist.










Serve with houmous, toum, cucumber yoghurt, minty salad and warm Pita bread. I was too tired therefore served it over rice. What works for me is that Zaf loves rice. You can make pita pockets out of these as well. I loved these and after several attempts, I finally got the ratio right. Would love to know what you think. Happy cooking to you!

Survival Of The Fittest

Finished my 1st set of night duties as an RMO 2 Acute Medicine yesterday. RMO 2 is a sorry character since he/she has to complete unfinished jobs in 18 wards, help the House Officer, clerk new patients, respond to peri-arrest calls and hold the crash bleep. Me in Navy scrubs with 2 bleeps on me that increase to 4 at 6:30 am, I feel smothered.

You then join the post-take rounds which may end as late as 10:15 am. I then drive 20 miles back home trying my best to not sleep at the wheel (trust me I have done it :( ). I was lucky to be working with an excellent bunch of girls though and loved cribbing together. What doesn't break you, makes you! It felt wonderful at the end to conquer such an inundating task.

I was so ecstatic to survive that I celebrated with cooking up a feast yesterday: Lebanese Lamb Kafta with roasted Pita chips! Turned out YUM!

Since I promised my friends that I would cook and post a recipe to my blog today, here we go! I'd cooked this one up over the weekend in my Haandi (clay pot) and it was just too good. Very earthy creation. You can use whatever pot you like.

MURGH MASALA

INGREDIENTS

Chicken (bone-in) cut into 8 pieces-0.75kg

MARINADE
Beaten yoghurt-3/4 cup
Freshly ground black pepper-1 tsp
Salt-to taste

SPICY PASTE
Peeled Ginger-1 inch piece
Garlic cloves-6
Medium-sized onions-2
Whole cumin (zeera)-1tbsp
Whole dried red chillies-10

GARNISH
Lemon slices
Fresh coriander (Hara dhanya)
Julienned ginger (Bareek kati adrak)


TEMPERING/BAGHAAR
Vegetable oil-1/2 cup
Whole garam masala (whole mixed spices): 10 black peppercorns (kaali mirch), 1 cinnamon stick (Daarcheeni), 3 cloves (laung), 1 black cardamom (bari ilaichi).

Coarsely pound the black peppercorns and add to the chicken alongwith yoghurt and salt. Leave to marinate for 30 minutes.

Dry roast the cumin and red chillies on low flame until fragrant

and then pound coarsely in a mortar and pestle. You could use a coffee grinder too but the spices
get slightly burnt in the process. Besides I like to put all my love in my meals.

Now pound together the garlic, onion, ginger, red chillies and cumin together to a thick paste. Don't worry if the consistency is not smooth. It tastes even better with partially ground ingredients. You can use a blender if you want. I like it as earthy as possible.

This is how my paste looked like after a few patient minutes.

Crackle the whole garam masala in hot oil.

Now add the paste to the oil and stir on medium-high heat for 4-5 minutes.

Add the chicken with the marinade, mix well and

cook on low-medium heat for 10-20 minutes until the water evaporates and oil comes up.

Now uncover and stir quickly on high flame. Once the consistency of the gravy is nice and thick (4-5 minutes)

dish it out and garnish with julienned ginger and finely chopped coriander.







Ideally this should be served with chapati/paratha but I took an easy way out and served it over boiled rice. It was just too good. In case you were wondering, this is from a cookbook with some tweaking and tailoring :).

If anyone can advise me on how to post a larger file on this blog, please write to me. I will eagerly wait for your responses. Goodbye till the next post!

Slow but Steady

The essence of happiness, I think, is enthusiasm. To learn, to meet new people, to observe, to reflect. What contributes to happiness is positivity, persistence and giving everyone the benefit of doubt except your own selves. To acknowledge every single person around you for what they've taught you, for the time they've spent with you. To accept that one's viewpoints change with time and nothing is set in stone. To make no claims whatsoever.
I think cynicism keeps one unhappy. How can you be at peace with yourself while busy noticing someone else's imperfections? It's emotionally exhausting.
All the while, it's difficult to be positive when going through a rough patch. If you are being abused or criticized round-the-clock, how will you muster the strength to not displace it to the next person? But that, my friend, is the test. That is where your own personality kicks in. If one is able to keep hope alive while being hit at, she/he in my opinion is an example for humanity. From Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) to Nelson Mandela, humanity survived only due to persistence. Positive perseverance. He swore at me but I 'chose' to smile at him. It was much less exhausting than swearing back and living with the consequences. But what it took was a pause to absorb what had happened and to 'actively' think how to react. Not just react out of an impulse. That's easy and that's why the majority does it. Without giving it any thought.
Keep doing it, it'll take VERY long but one day you'll reap the rewards. You'll smile forever. Contain your tongue when angry and you'll find the secret to the highest levels of bliss.
To happiness!

میرا اللہ اور میرے اللہ کے بندے

میرا اللہ بڑا فراخ دل ہے۔ میرے اللہ کے ہاں ہر گناہ کی معافی ہے سواءے شرک کے۔
میرا اللہ اپنے بندوں سے اتنی محبت کرتا ہے کہ اگر کؤی اس کے بندے کا دل دکھا دے تو جب تک اس بندے سے معافی نہیں ملتی، اللہ سے بھی نہیں مل پائیگی۔
میرے اللہ کے بندوں کا معاملہ ذرا مختلف ہے۔ کبھی کبھی تو ایسا بھی ہوتا ہے کہ موت کے بعد بھی ان کے ہاں سے معافی نہیں ملتی۔ اس بات سے بھی دل نہیں پگھلتا کہ اس کے اس ایک عمل سے کسی پر آیا عذاب ٹل سکتا ہے۔ کسی کی زندہ رہتے ہوءے تڑپ ختم ہو سکتی ہے۔
میرے اللہ کا بندہ اپنے آپ کو اللہ سے بڑا سمجھتا ہے شاید۔ جبھی تو وہ اپنا دل بڑا نہیں کر پاتا۔ یا پھر یہ جھجک ہے۔
سب مٹی میں مل جائیگا۔
سب ٹھاٹھ پڑا رہ جائیگا۔
میرے اللہ کے بندوں، مجھے معاف کر دینا۔ جو میں نے نادانی میں دل دکھایا یا کچھ ہونے کے زعم میں، یا پھر انجانے میں۔
میرے اللہ کے بندوں، ایک محبت کی نظر کی بھیک دے دیناایک مسکراہٹ کا صدقہ کر دینا، صرف اور صرف اپنے اللہ کے لئیے۔ کیا پتہ تم جس سے ناراض ہو، وہ اللہ کا محبوب ہو

Pakistan raped on 2nd May 2011

No matter how much I try to digress, deny and pretend that it's all well, it keeps hurting. Pakistan is much like it's daughter "Mukhtaran Mai". It was gang-raped by Zardari and co., Obama and his seals and perhaps OBL and yet the criminals are roaming around freely, stomping on it's bosom. My country still breathes.
After my stay in USA, I fell in love with the country and it's people. The real America, where dreams come true. The American people, majority of whom don't judge you by your religion or appearance (true atleast for Boston), who stand up for the truth. But this is not true for the US government as is known. The number of times they've changed their story about Op Geronimo-EKIA is amazing. But since they are the masters, who has the courage to challenge them. Whatever details are inconsistent or conflicting will be scoffed upon and brushed under the carpet with the label "conspiracy theory".
And then Zardari and co., who think providing an explanation to the Washington Post is all that is required. The Pakistani people, "Ah never mind, they can take anything and everything!". It's true. I for one, don't have the courage to protest consistently (as yet). I dream about starting a hunger strike and then laugh at myself. I don't have the courage Allama Iqbal once prayed for his people to have. Why should I criticize others. I keep on living a full life...

As Iqbal prayed:
جوانوں کو میری آہ سحر دے
پھر ان شاہیں بچوں کو بال و پر دے
خدایا آرزو میری یہی ہے
مرا نور بصیرت عام کر دے

where he asked God to bless his children with wings and his vision; I pray that God accepts his prayer.

My message is love, as far as it reaches.

میرا پیغام ہے محبت جہاں تک پونھچے

Was just browsing different TV channels when 'Anjali' caught my eye. It was in the early 90's that abbu showed us this movie. It's a Tamil movie dubbed in Hindi. The central character is a disabled girl Anjali. They chose the cutest girl on earth to play this character. God! How much I cried and still cry when I hear the song 'Anjali, Anjali'. Abbu, ammi, all of us wept when we watched. The emotional trauma that the family has to go through. The siblings' jealousy because she required attention 24/7. And the most profound effect was Anjali's silent love. The way she expresses it with her little gestures. The way she forgives and embraces everyone. Flawless!

Loneliness

When I was away from Zaf, this was one piece of poetry that used to give me great consolation. It felt like the poet has spoken out what I had in mind. To listen to nature, to open the inner eye, to see what's not obvious and make the most of every phase of life.

Allama Iqbal (The Poet of the East) created this masterpiece in Baang-e-dara. In the silent dark hours of the night when I couldn't sleep, I would just read this, feel the leaves rustling, look at the beautiful stars and thank God for blessing us with the senses to enjoy His creation.

تنہاءی

تنہائ شب میں ہے حزیں کیا
انجم نہیں تیرے ہم نشیں کیا!
یہ رفعت آسماں خاموش
خوابیدہ زمیں، جہاں خاموش
یہ چاند، یہ دشت و در، یہ کہسار
فطرت ہے تمام نستررن زار
موتی خوش رنگ، پیارے پیارے
یعنی ترے آنسوٰٴوں کے تارے
کس شے کی تجہے ہوس ہے اے دل!
قدرت تری ھم نفس ہے اے دل
!

The only expression I could ever think about for this poem was 'گونجتا سناٹا'.

I think when you make a choice, and you find yourself struggling because of it, stop and look around. Find something that can make it, not just bearable, but fun. These are my 2 cents on seeing the half glass full always.

Nostalgia

It was in Al-ain (UAE), in our house that we used to look forward to ammi's chicken curry or 'murghi ka shorba' after school. Me & my brother used to ask ammi to make it once or twice every week and still couldn't get enough of it. Even now when I visit Pakistan, this is the first meal that I want from ammi. Lustrous and colourful curry with succulent chicken pieces served over smoking Matar pulao (Pea pilaf).
Ammi makes it with what's called 'andaza' which is an urdu expression used for cooking without measured ingredients. Your instincts guide you as to the quantity of ingredients needed.
This time I've tried to write down the proportions in order to share it with you.

MURGHI KA SHORBE WAALA SAALAN (SIMPLE CHICKEN CURRY)

Chicken (bone in) 800gm
Oil 1/4th cup
Cloves 4
Cinnamon 1" stick
Black peppercorns 5
Black cardamom 1 (lightly pounded to release the flavour)
Onion Half of a medium-sized onion
Ginger paste 1.5 tsp
Garlic paste 1.5 tsp
Red chilli powder 1.5 tbsp
Haldi 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Coriander powder 1 tbsp
Beaten yoghurt 2 tbsp heaped
Garam masala powder 1/4th tsp
Hot water Half cup

First cut the onion into large chunks and dip in boiling water for 5 minutes.

Blend the onion with a tbsp of water to a smooth paste.

Now heat oil in a saucepan and add chicken.

Fry on high heat until opaque.

Take out the chicken. Add the whole spices to the hot oil and then the onion, ginger and garlic paste. This is a tricky part. Stir well on high heat until this base is cooked well. If this base is not done well the curry will taste sweet. If overdone, the curry may taste bitter. It took me about 15-17 minutes to get this part done. It depends on how much water is there in your pastes. The colour should be wheatish to light golden at the end of this stage and you shouldn't be able to smell the garlic anymore. Keep adding water to prevent it sticking to the base and burning. One way to tell it's done is that holes start appearing in this concoction and it does not splatter out liquid anymore.

Now add a little water to the pan and then the red chilli powder, turmeric powder (haldi), salt and coriander powder (dhanya). Stir well on high heat. Add the yoghurt, keep stirring and add water every so often to prevent burning.

Once the curry is a pretty orange gold colour with holes appearing in it and the oil separating, add the chicken and mix well.

Add the 1/2 cup water. My mother pours it such that the curry is washed off the surface of the chicken and the edges of the saucepan. Turn the heat to low. Sprinkle the garam masala powder and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

And the result is:

You can decorate it with ginger (julienne-cut) and fresh coriander (chopped). I like it unadulterated. This is how I had it.

Thank you ammi. I can eat this 4 times daily!

2011- The Year of Exams

Just remembered that my MRCP 2 result was expected during this week. Checked it now and yes! Passed. Now ABIM in August and then PACES in November. My husband playfully goes,"Just study in the last 3 weeks. You'll make it, guaranteed!"
And now time for all my friends and family to say, "Such a drama you are!". Better than condolences I guess.
It was the hardest exam I've taken, to date. Finished the 1st 2 papers before time but had about 10 answers left in paper 3 and so just marked them without reading the questions. All I did was 2000 questions in 3 weeks to practice. Followed the Cricket world cup, participated in the heated discussions and facebooked incessantly during the 3 weeks of hibernation. No, I could not finish Sharma, did not see the images so there IS hope out there. Phew!

Thank you God.

On Resuming

This is what a Medical residency does to you. Was it in 2008 that I promised to share my activities with you "soon"?!
Guess am ready now. For now editing the settings. Rest later!