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

Beating the heat with Caribbean food

I have neglected this blog lately, but surely have not neglected cooking! I have been making Caribbean food and sharing it with friends. Tonight I made a wonderful chili with a Caribbean twist. I am used to making the Mexican version and it is probably my favourite food. Tonight's dish, however, had thyme, soy sauce, cinnamon and nutmeg in it. But it was fantastically wonderful, making it my favourite dish so far. I think I say that about every dish I make ;-) I just love trying new foods from around the world with new flavours. Thanks to Caribbean recipes, I am discovering thyme and what a wonderful herb it is.

Caribbean Chili

I also recently made a very spicy Mexican dish. It was pork with pineapple and TWO jalepeno peppers :-) I felt like my mouth was on fire, but it was definitely worth it!

Pork and Pineapple

Here are a few more pictures of the Caribbean food that I have been making lately.

Tomato and Okra Salad

Green Bean Salad

Grapefruit and Avocado Salad

Pineapple and Mint Drink

Citrus Quinoa Salad (except I accidently made couscous instead of quinoa)