Mast-o-Khiar- Cucumber & Walnut Dip in the Persian Manner and My Birthday

Wednesday, October 12, 2011 By shayma 24 Comments

Mast-o-Khiar Cucumber Dip

That coral pink sludge we used to buy from the Sainsbury’s closest to our dorm was usually scooped up with salt and vinegar crisps. Taramosalata it was called. My Greek friend MM had introduced me to it, but I am sure it was quite different than the real stuff she was eating back home in Athens. We all loved it, we thought we were the ultimate gourmandes, eating in the common room together, bitching about that Italian Econometrics professor who didn’t really know what that damn Monte Carlo algorithm test was- and neither did we. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Irani/Persian, appetiser, condiment, vegetables/vegetarian

Chutney Surkh-e-Murch: Red Pepper Chutney in the Afghan Manner

Sunday, August 21, 2011 By shayma 26 Comments

Red Pepper Chutney

The Bullying. Stratford Landing Elementary School, Grade 2. In a suburb of Washington DC.

Ami used to make me sandwiches for lunch so I wouldn’t have to eat the horrid spaghetti in bolognese sauce from the school cafeteria. This “Italian” dish was usually made with meat which looked more like cat food, straight out of a tin. All the other children used to bring soft sandwiches smeared with peanut butter and grape jelly, and even though I pleaded for those sarnies, Ami said no. It wasn’t good for you- all that sugar and carbs. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Afghan, condiment, spicy, vegetables/vegetarian

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

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

Aloo Tiki- Potato Cutlets in the Pakistani Manner

Sunday, May 8, 2011 By shayma 35 Comments

Aloo Tiki

Ami and Nani Ami

Ami and Nani Ami in Murree, Pakistan

It’s dreadfully difficult to find ice in Rome. It’s considered an American thing- ‘ma, tu sei Americana?‘, the server joked with my sister when she requested ice in her coca-cola. It was May, and my dear friend A and I were hosting a party on her terrace and we needed ice for making those sweet, tart mojitos. We were in a crisis- we had no idea where to get it from in Rome- and we needed lots of it. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Pakistani, appetiser, tea time snacks, vegetables/vegetarian

Boulani- Potato Turnovers in the Afghan Manner

Sunday, April 24, 2011 By shayma 28 Comments

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 snacks, vegetables/vegetarian

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

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

The Spice Spoon Featured on The Kitchn

Tuesday, December 14, 2010 By shayma 11 Comments

I am featured on my favourite website this morning- The Kitchn. Click here.


Zain, my husband and I never go out for brunch on weekends — because Saturday and Sunday are the two days when he gets deep into the kitchen and prepares all sorts of omelettes for us. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Interviews / Features, Irani/Persian, Press, eggs, vegetables/vegetarian
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