Prawn Masala in the Pakistani Manner

Wednesday, November 16, 2011 By shayma 22 Comments

Pakistani Prawn Masala

Lahore. The city of my birth. The city of the humble samosa. That flaky, deep-fried triangular parcel stuffed with cumin-laced, spicy potatoes you buy from the dhaba; kiosk, from that little alley behind Liberty Market, where they sell glass bangles, twirled and twisted organza scarves and sparkly rhinestone-studded sandals. Greasy and stuffed into a khaki paper bag, you bring the samosas home and eat them hot, dipping them in a red, tangy-tart chili garlic sauce which comes out of that famous Mitchell’s glass bottle. And after that first bite, you slip your finger tips into the handle of your teacup and take a sip of cardamom-fragranced milky tea, to wash it all down. With each sip, the tannins burn your mouth even more. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Pakistani, mains, seafood, spicy

Ami’s Palao – Caramelised / Spiced Pilaf in the Pakistani Manner

Monday, May 30, 2011 By shayma 26 Comments

I don’t have friendships which have lasted thirty-some odd years.

I don’t have friends from kindergarten that I grew up and stayed up late at night with around the bonfire during summer camp, singeing marshmallows till they were gooey enough to be sandwiched between graham crackers with some chocolate tucked in. I don’t have a collection of yearbooks on my bookshelf which I can share with friends and laugh over that nerdy Grade Two portrait, the one in which my hair is parted in the middle and swept up on both sides with a candy-pink barrette, (thanks, Ami). [Read more...]

Filed Under: Pakistani, mains, rice, spicy, vegetables/vegetarian

Spicy Grilled Saffron Prawns with Garlic-Scallion Rice

Saturday, April 2, 2011 By shayma 19 Comments

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

Kebab-E-Dayg: Kebab Curry in the Pakistani Manner

Monday, February 21, 2011 By shayma 28 Comments

Afghan Kebab

My Ami’s brother, my eldest Mamoo, always takes me straight to Rahat Bakery after I land at the airport in Lahore in the winter. During my summer visits all one wants to do is go straight home and languish in the air-conditioned room, whilst slicing into the plump flesh of a mango. But in December, when Lahore is in its element and all you need is a mere shawl twirled around your silhouette to keep you warm, we stop for treats at the bakery. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Pakistani, mains, spicy

Cooking with Aunty Mehrnaz-Cuisine from Gilan: Mirza Ghasemi and Baghala Ghatogh

Saturday, January 22, 2011 By shayma 37 Comments

Mirza Ghasemi

Mirza Ghasemi

We kicked off our snow-covered boots and entered my friend B’s parents’ home through the side entrance. Our feet found their way onto the rose pink carpet from Tabriz, intricately woven, just like the delicately embroidered shawls my Ami wears. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Irani/Persian, mains, vegetables/vegetarian

Tah-Chin: Persian Rice Timbale with Savoury Saffron Chicken

Monday, December 6, 2010 By shayma 35 Comments

Photo by my husband, Z.

Below is my latest published piece for Edible Toronto’s Winter Issue. You can also view it on their website here. See end of post for recipes.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Irani/Persian, Press, mains, rice

Borani Kadu: Roasted Butternut Squash Verrines in the Afghan Manner

Sunday, November 7, 2010 By shayma 23 Comments

Kadu Bharta.

Two words which sent shivers down my spine as a child-that Pakistani roasted squash dish which I just could not abide as a child. I don’t know whether it was the nursery food-like texture on my tongue of the cooked vegetable or the sight of it; one amorphous mound on my plate. I remember my parents scooping it all up with a chapati and adding spoonfuls of piquant mint chutney to the equation. It wasn’t for me. [Read more...]

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

Aloo Baingan: Potatoes & Aubergine in the Pakistani Manner

Monday, October 11, 2010 By shayma 31 Comments

It was our last summer in London. Post-graduate degrees in hand, we were going to leave the UK soon. I was to join my parents in Washington DC; S was to return to Karachi and Z was moving to Islamabad, her new home after having grown up in Manila. We spent our days walking around Covent Garden pausing to hear a street performer sing an aria, stopping at Caffè Nero for a creamy cappuccino, walking into Karen Millen to ogle the silk dresses (at that age, yes, Karen Millen was l’alta moda) or sitting in Z’s kitchen with her flatmates on the Pentonville Road in her uni housing, while she prepared a Pakistani scrambled egg dish of potatoes, cumin and green chilies for us. And there was tea, lots of tea, along with chocolate digestive biscuits for pudding. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Pakistani, mains, spicy, vegetables/vegetarian

Ami’s Kebabs

Sunday, September 26, 2010 By shayma 32 Comments

I would like to thank Lucy Waverman whose staff helped me write this recipe. I had a loose recipe from my mother according to her andaaza, estimation method.

Ami and I usually sit in our breakfast room when we’re having an afternoon cup of tea. For her just a splash of milk, “pour it in with just a flick of the wrist, Sham,” Ami cautions me. And for myself, a cardamom popped in, no milk. We share namak paray, finger-thin crackly wafers spiced with cumin as we sip our chai. Ami used to bake buttercup-yellow dense cakes when I was a child, but she’s given up on baking now. But that’s all right, as my Aunty Shelly lives just down the road and I can steal a blueberry-banana bread loaf from her kitchen on most days.

My favourite chai-time treat is when Ami makes kebabs. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Afghan, appetiser, mains, spicy

Keema Bharta Borani- Aubergine & Savoury Mince Borani in the Afghan / Pakistani Manner

Sunday, September 19, 2010 By shayma 26 Comments

French-Indian. Mexican-Japanese. Thai-Chinese. Fusion cuisine? Not really my brand of gin.

But when you have a family who is originally Afghan, now settled in Pakistan- invariably, there will be lots of ‘fusion-cuisine’ type of dishes prepared in the kitchen. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Afghan, Pakistani, borani (yoghurt-based cold salad), mains
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