Archives for April 2011

posted on April 24, 2011 by

Boulani- Potato Turnovers in the Afghan Manner

Afghan Boulani

Carb on carb is considered very naughty.

But we, the Afghans do it, the Pakistanis do it with our spiced potato sauté mopped up with pillowy naan; the Poles do it with their pierogies and you haven’t really lived yet if you haven’t been to that trattoria in Baschi, Umbria and had a silky raviolo stuffed with a velvety potato mash, served with a fruity olive oil and shavings of that musky, sweet, intense black truffle. That dish is called “i-want-to-lick-my-plate-and-the-person-who-created-this-combination”.Read More

Filed Under: Afghan, appetiser, tea time, vegetarian
posted on April 18, 2011 by

Gosh-e-Feel: Baby Elephant Ears- Fried Pastry in the Afghan Manner

gosh-e-feel elephant ear cookies

I first tried “gossip” when I lived in Rome. No, not that kind. I learned what gossip was in the kindergarten when my ‘husband’, Jamie and I paid Gina for a pound of tomatoes and instead of putting the two plastic yellow coins in the till, she put them in her pocket. And instead of tommies, she handed us bananas. By recess time, everyone knew about the dreadful thing Gina had done to us.Read More

Filed Under: Afghan, dessert / pudding, Irani/Persian, tea time
posted on April 2, 2011 by

Spicy Grilled Saffron Prawns with Garlic-Scallion Rice

Spicy Prawns

Lago di Albano is shaped like an egg and glistens like lapis lazuli under the sun. When the sun starts to set, the shadows from the poplar trees in the Colli Albani above deepen the colour of the volcanic lake’s sleepy, glass-like surface.  It is at the edge of this lake that I have sat with my colleagues on Wednesday evenings after work, some of us swimming enthusiasts; their bodies cutting through two kilometres of the lake’s width, and others, like myself, sitting under the willow tree outside Ristorante I Quadri 2000, popping cherry tomatoes out of a paper bag from the Testaccio market into my mouth. That is the spot where everyone would gather after their swim for newspaper-crips pizzas with oozing mozzarella and a spot of fruity red wine from the Castelli. Not the best red in Italy, but with the lake facing us and a spoonful of that wobbly, sweet panna cotta in our mouths amidst the chatter of friends, it did not matter.Read More

Filed Under: mains, spicy