Strawberry Yoghurt Parfait in the Persian Manner

Monday, June 13, 2011 By shayma 17 Comments

Yoghurt Strawberry Parfait

It was the sort of evening where dessert had to be eaten first. It was the end of June and the tiny, scarlet, sweet-as-jam wild strawberries, le fragoline di Nemi were in season. Baba was visiting me in Rome from Bucharest and on the weekend our dear friends, Uncle Iqi and Aunty Neeman graciously drove us up into the Castelli Romani to the small town of Nemi. They always knew where to take us for the best medium-rare steak or the crispiest-thinnest pizza in Rome. And this time, they invited us for early season porcini mushrooms and le fragoline in Nemi. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Irani/Persian, Italy, breakfast, brunch, dessert/pudding

Spiced/Masala Omelette in the Pakistani Manner

Monday, May 23, 2011 By shayma 31 Comments

Masala Omelette

Blog post is in response to a request from my friend AFC- who loved his masala omelettes during his business trips to India.

I like to eat my masala omelette placed between two pieces of soft, untoasted bread and eaten like a sarnie with some sweet chili sauce. It’s a childhood thing, you know, that ‘nursery food’ texture we all remember. The masala omelette is to the Pakistani kitchen what pancakes are to an American kitchen. The only pancakes I ever had as a child were out of a box, and that too, slathered with Aunt Jemima’s Kitchen syrup. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Pakistani, breakfast, brunch, eggs, spicy, vegetables/vegetarian

Ab Doogh Khiar- Cucumber Soup With Walnuts and Crunchy Shallots in the Persian Manner

Sunday, May 15, 2011 By shayma 15 Comments

Persian cucumber soup

Her name was Bridget but we called her Aunty Brige. Not pronounced ‘bridge’, like the one which connects two points across a river, but Brige, with a long ‘i’, as in liege. She was tall and wore lots of white, flowing dresses which looked beautiful with her crown of wavy, strawberry blonde hair. One could imagine her sitting elegantly next to a harp, with her fingers plucking at the strings. Aunty Brige had light eyes; I cannot remember if they were green or blue or hazel, and they were always hidden behind large spectacles. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Irani/Persian, appetiser, brunch, soup, vegetables/vegetarian

Spelt Flour Buttermilk Pancakes with Caramelised Apples

Sunday, January 9, 2011 By shayma 25 Comments

Recipe created by my dear friend BH and myself. BH adores spelt flour and has shown me how to incorporate it in my repertoire.

I could never understand why we didn’t eat Uncle Ben’s rice at home; the kind that Mrs. Ferris, my friend Sarah’s mum boiled in its own bag and served us alongside roast chicken. Each grain was plum and served slightly watery.

Why did we have to have basmati rice all the time? Sometimes laced with cumin and sometimes cooked in a cinnamon, cloves and cardamom-infused chicken stock. [Read more...]

Filed Under: breakfast, brunch, vegetables/vegetarian

A Picnic Potato Salad in the Afghan Manner: Borani Kachalu

Sunday, June 20, 2010 By shayma 33 Comments

Baba tells me that Bobby Darin’s Dream Lover would play repeatedly at picnics with his friends in 1960s Lahore. But for real affectation, there had to be some Françoise Hardy. Baba also tells me that if you didn’t know her hit La maison où j’ai grandi, or at least pretend to know it, then you were essentially a nobody.

And there were no picnic invitations for nobodies. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Afghan, appetiser, borani (yoghurt-based cold salad), brunch, vegetables/vegetarian

Kati Roll-Kolkata Style

Sunday, May 2, 2010 By shayma 49 Comments

This post was featured in Oliver Thring’s weekly round-up. Oliver Thring writes for the Guardian and iStarvin’.

“Always keep some whipped butter next to the sink,” Aunty Bhupinder tells me as I lament over my dry hands after my move to Toronto. “Once you’re done with cooking,” she continues, “wash your hands and smear a little bit of whipped butter all over them.” Following the advice of someone I love like a grandmother, I slather some whipped butter on my hands. But in vain. Aunty Bhupinder’s hands are soft; like cake batter before it goes into the oven. No amount of whipped butter will soften mine up like hers. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Indian, breakfast, brunch, eggs, mains, spicy, street food

Spicy Baked Eggs

Sunday, April 18, 2010 By shayma 53 Comments

Breakfast in a Pakistani Home

“Halwa puri!,” Baba and Kaka (father’s elder brother in Dari) would holler from the bottom of the stairwell in our family home in Lahore. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Pakistani, breakfast, brunch, eggs

Roasted Beet ‘Carpaccio’ in the Persian Manner: Borani-e-Labu

Sunday, April 11, 2010 By shayma 25 Comments

“A monarch, regardless of being a queen or a king, must defend his or her land and treat the people with justice,” declared the Sassanian Empress Porandokht, (AD 630-31). An advocate of sexual egalitarianism, she was the first female monarch to rule over the Sassanian Empire. Under her 16-month rule, before she died, Empress Porandokht signed a peace treaty with the Byzantines and reformed her empire by re-structuring and lowering taxes.

Every era has had their crop of strong women, and Mader, my paternal grandmother, was most certainly one from hers. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Irani/Persian, appetiser, borani (yoghurt-based cold salad), brunch, vegetables/vegetarian

Date Cake

Tuesday, March 9, 2010 By shayma 49 Comments

Yassi’s As-Moist-As-a-Pudding Date Cake

Yassi sits on her stool in the kitchen kneading the glossy détrempe for la pâte feuilletée; puff pastry. There is no beurre sec, but Lurpak will do. Her silver and black hair is in short waves and immaculate as always; her pastel kurta is starched. Yassi’s slender, milky fingers are bare as they push the dough back and forth, like a potter with her clay. Her mother’s vintage ring bearing three overlapping leaves in rose, yellow and white gold removed and placed in the porcelain Wedgewood jewelry jar given to her by her daughter-in-law. She looks at the granite counter, “It would be lovely to have a cup of champagne resting there for small sips while the dough rests,” she thinks. But she is no longer in her Paris kitchen, she is in Karachi. [Read more...]

Filed Under: breakfast, brunch, dessert/pudding

‘Khagina’: Aromatic Scrambled Eggs

Sunday, September 20, 2009 By shayma 31 Comments

The French have their pillowy, like-a-curdled-creme, soufflé-like version of scrambled eggs. The Latin Americans have their huevos revueltos; the Colombians serve theirs with pillowy arepas. Us Pakistanis & Afghans have our own version of scrambled eggs, called Khagina. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Afghan, Pakistani, breakfast, brunch, eggs, mains, spicy Tagged With: , , , ,