Pakistani food

 I tried a new region's food last week - Pakistan. The flavours were similar perhaps to North India, yet very distinct. I made rajma which was a red kidney beans in sauce dish. This was quite good and I would make this again. I also made nauratan pullao, a mixed vegetable pilaff (rice) dish with cumin, cardamom pods, bay leaves, cinnamon, pepper corns and chili powder. This latter dish was interesting, but I'm not quite sure I'd make it again. One thing interesting though was that you sauteed the vegetables in the spices first, then add the rice and water to the pot, allowing the rice to cook IN the spices. It had a spicy kick to it, but also a very sweet flavour.

Red Kidney Beans with sauce

Mixed Vegetable Pilaff

The highlight of this cooking experience for me was the flat bread! I had never baked a flat bread before. I couldn't find a genuine Pakistani bread recipe so I made an Indian Roti. It has saffron (which came straight from Morocco thanks to a good friend!) and cilantro in it. And then you dry fry it. It was delicious

Indian Roti

Moroccan Dinner

A few weeks ago, I welcomed my Aunt and Uncle for dinner at Camino House. It was a chance for me to cook for them (they have done so much for me so it was such a blessing to be in a place where I could do something for them!). I decided to introduce them and my housemates to the wonders of Moroccan food.

Moroccan food holds a special place in my life. Awhile back I had "loved and lost" and was trying to mourn the loss of a dream that I had held for awhile that the man I loved was not the man for me. One wise woman in my life suggested that since I enjoy cooking so much, I should pick a nationality and learn how to cook their foods during this time. That way I turn something difficult into something beautiful. Plus the man I do marry would be fortunate enough to have a wife who likes to cook a different culture's cuisine.

Some of the dishes I made were success dishes from a dinner party I once held to celebrate my "exodus" in life - a day in which I was freed from a bad situation and my life set course on a new path. I made a tagine (which means one pot) with kefta (meatballs filled with flavours) and a wonderful sauce. This has been a hit in the past and for the meat eaters it was a hit again.

Kefta with lemon tagine

Below are two salads. The first one, slada gharaa bil tofah, a roasted zucchini and apple salad is one of my favourite side dishes in the Moroccan cookbook that I own. You roast the apples alongside the zucchini in the oven, creating a really unique flavour. The second salad, slada jazar is a carrot and cumin salad with orange flower water. When I first started cooking Moroccan food I had to hunt high and low for orange flower water but it is worth it!

Zucchini, Apple and Orange Salad

Carrot and Cumin Salad

This next side dish surprised me - I used a whole bunch of Spinach and look how very little it made! I couldn't believe how much spinach shrinks when boiled. This dish is called saute d'epinards, sauteed spinach with orange and almonds.

Sauteed Spinach with orange and almonds

 One of the things I love about international cooking is that I get to discover new foods. In this cooking adventure, I discovered fava beans - these beans are huge! Maybe an inch or more in length! This made a lovely garlicky fava bean dip called bissara.

Garlicky fava bean dip

 I live with two vegetarians and six carnivores (two of the carnivores are twin 18month olds). So I needed to come up with a vegetarian dish. Kind of a challenge with a cookbook that has mostly meat and fish dishes! Alas, I found berber adas which is berber lentils with cilantro. My book says that this is a simple village dish I suppose from the village of berber?

berber lentils with cilantro

This endeth a good meal :)