Holidays

The first day of my holidays started on a lazy note. After waking up early at 7 a.m, I fell asleep again and woke up an hour later - around 8 a.m. I was excited with the hols.

The weather looked superb. I rushed to the window to draw the curtains aside. The sky was still grey. The road looked silent. The commercial centre opposite my apartment was still closed. The only activity I could sense was from a 24 hour supermarket located at a short distance from our house. The roads were still wet due to the previous day's rains.

I made myself comfortable on a couch and started to plan my coming days. We had Eid scheduled in a couple of days time. We still had some grocery shopping pending. And hubby had mentioned about his sis family visiting our house for lunch the next day. So I thought I could fix some cooking programs for my friday. There was ample time for everything else. From reading to cooking and watching TV to outings, there was time for everything. I felt relaxed and happy that the long awaited holidays had finally come.

So I spent the rest of the day with some routine activites - cooking breakfast & lunch, watching TV, reading my book, magazines. We postponed our shopping for the evening due to excess traffic jams everywhere. The roads had attained a bad shape because of the rains causing the traffic . I looked out of my window to find a jammed road.

Finally by the evening we decided to go shopping. I was all excited with the new sandwich maker we bought that day and decided to fix some sandwiches for breakfast the next day.

The next morning we woke up late. And I fixed some scrambled egg and cheese sandwiches for breakfast.

For the lunch party, I arranged a simple table. The arrangement was this way :

Main Course -     Kabooli Rice
Salad Course -    Greens salad (Mix of chopped cucumber, tomato, lettuce, onion, cabbage, frozen corn & grated carrot)
Side Dish       -      Grilled Chicken & Raita
Dessert Course -  Fruit custard decorated with dry fruits

After lunch I used facebook for a while and read my book. Time was passing fast.

We had decided to dine out that evening and we visited a new restaurant for the first time. We chose an Indian menu with assorted naans (breads) basket - butter naan, methi naan, corn naan, semolina naan and plain naan. This was accompanied by two curries - Chicken Tikka Masala and Bhuna Gosht. I loved the flavour of the Chicken curry and I ate it greedily. It tasted so perfect that I even packed some with me and brought it home.

After dinner we went for a small walk across the Corniche and finally returned home by 10:30 p.m.

We fasted the next day as Eid was the day after. So we woke up very early for "Sehri". After our prayers, we slept only to wake up late in the morning. The only work I had for that day was to make a sweet dish for the Eid. We decided to make Carrot sweet (Gajar Ka Halwa). So we shopped in the afternoon for fresh carrots. The sweet was finally done late in the evening after we broke our fast as I was making it the first time and wanted to taste it while I made it.

 Soon after dinner and cleaning the kitchen, I sat on my couch to apply some henna on my hand. Like I mentioned before, I am not very artistic. So my mind was blank for ideas and I managed to fill my hand with some designs. Still it looked good and I admired my effort for a minute before I called it a night.

Fenugreek rice / Methi Pulao

INGREDIENTS:

1 Cup Long Grain (Basmati) Rice

1 cup green peas

10-12 paneer cubes (deep fried)

A small bunch of methi (fenugreek) leaves (chopped)

1 big onion (chopped)

1 tomato (chopped)

7 flakes of garlic (paste)

1 inch ginger piece (paste)

2-3 green chilies (chopped)

1/4th tsp. turmeric powder

Red chili powder to taste

1 teaspoon coriander powder

1 teaspoon Bengal gram/chana dal (soaked in water for an hour) (optional)

Salt to taste

1tbsp oil/butter

HOW TO MAKE:

1)  Wash methi properly and drain the water and keep aside.

2)  Cook the rice and keep aside.

3)  Heat oil in the pan and fry the chopped onions and methi leaves together till soft. Then add garlic - ginger paste and fry till light brown.

4)  Now add tomatoes, peas,green chilies, bengal gram, salt, chili powder turmeric powder and coriander powder. Stir-fry for 8-10 minutes. Add enough water and cook on low flame for 5 minutes.

5) Mix this with the cooked rice and garnish with fried paneer.

 6)  Serve the methi (fenugreek) pulao hot with chilled raita.

RATING NOTES:

              DIFFICULTY LEVEL    :   EASY

              RATING  POINTS         :    8/10**

**  Do not overcook the rice till fully soft. As the methi curry prepared will have some water. The rice will soften in that only. 

** You can also add some Kasoori Methi ( dried fenugreek leaves) to enhance the taste.

Destructive rains

It was the weekend. It was the first day of our 6 days hol. I was still in bed. It was dark.I checked the time to note that it was only 7 a.m. The world around me was silent & asleep. I lay in bed and recollected the previous day's events.

It had rained that day. It had rained heavily for an hour causing all the water from the wadis to overflow on the roads and into buildings,blocking the traffic and overturning the cars causing a lot of destruction. I had reached home in a panic after managing to evade all the rainwater that had filled the roads. My friends and colleagues who drove their own cars had suffered that day after being stranded for several hours on the road waiting for the roads to get cleared. Everything was in a chaos. It was sad to see cars floating on the water and lying in heaps on the road sides. Several bulidings were evacuated due to over flooding. But thanks to one of my colleague who drove a few of us safely to our homes on time.

The long awaited rain brought in fears into us. These pictures say the rest.

Hubby reached home an hour later. I fried a few onion fritters and we munched them enjoying the beautiful weather. I thanked God a million times for making that difficult day so easy for me.

Rain and Holidays

Winter seems to have started here in full swing and I am at a loss of words to describe the lovely weather we are experiencing here in Oman. The leaves are tinted gold and orange and vibrant red and every day I seem to be admiring the beautiful flowers that have filled up the lovely gardens maintained here. The greenery maintained in this city inspite of the sultry weather most of the year is truly amazing.

The sun has hardly shown up over the last couple of days and the sky has been grey all day. Infact it looks like as if we are likely to have a storm in a while. This afternoon again I had my lunch outside in the balcony witnessing the lovely breeze and the magnificient overcast sky. I am eagerly waiting for some rain in this desert. Like I mentioned before, its ages since it last rained here - more than ten months back.

The long awaited holidays have finally arrived and are a few blinks away. It is amazing to me how time has flown by so quickly. I have been thinking of so many things for the hols and I’ve been thinking about cooking and baking special foods, about the possibility of friends passing through, the places to visit and the rest filled days ahead and my books to read. The marvellous weather spicing up the holiday excitement. I’m excited that I’ll have a week off then to enjoy everything and everyone!

While I write this post, I am delighted to mention that it has just started to rain here. I cannot belive that the rains have finally come after ages. The scene in my office is that everyone seems to have left their seats to rush towards the glass patio to watch the splash of vibrant colors. I look out of the window to see an image which is a shadow of brilliance and the alluring sceneray.

I can hardly continue to write now as I am tempted to sit by a window and watch the heavy rain that has filled up the roads and the wadis seem to be flooding. They resemble a muddy lake due to the abundant water that has filled in them.

So have fun and I will post back soon about this excellent day that has come our way.

Grilled Chicken

Today I return with a Grilled Chicken recipe as promised in my previous post. Since we enter winter, this recipe is quite handy for all those who experience severe winters. And you can also use the same recipe for Barbeque as well with so many other alterations of your choice.


I grilled the chicken using the Microwave Oven. I marinated huge chunks of chicken overnight and grilled for an hour in the microwave oven. Oil is used liberally to get fine textured pieces. The oil content can be altered as per your choice.

 Chicken pieces can be cut as per your choice - either you can have small/medium/large pieces or you can grill the whole chicken at one time. The chicken that I grilled was of the medium pieces type and I selected the wings & legs portions for this purpose.


I marinated the chicken overnight and left it in the freezer section of the refrigerator. I removed it and brought to normal tempearute exactly one hour before I could start grilling it. Grilling time I set for 1 hour and 10 minutes. But I kept turning the pieces and oiling them every 20-25 minutes so that they could grill uniformly.


The recipe is as follows:


INGREDIENTS:


Chicken  - 4 Pieces
Ginger paste - 1/2 tablespoon
Garlic paste - 3/4th tablespoon
Red chilli powder - 2  teaspoons
Coriander powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Garam masala powder - a pinch
Tandoori masala powder - 2 teaspoons
Vinegar - 1 teaspoon
Lemon juice - 1/2 teaspoon
Red color - a pinch
Corn flour - 1 tablespoon
Oil   - as per your choice

HOW TO MAKE:


1)  Marinate the chicken with all the ingredients except oil and refrigerate it for atleast 2 hours or preferably overnight for best results.

2)  Remove the chicken from the refrigerator atleast 1 hour before grilling. Set the oven for 1 hour and place the chicken pieces on the grill rack and grill the chicken.

3) Turn the pieces regularly basking with oil till they are done and get a brownish color.

4) Serve them hot.

RATING NOTES:

              DIFFICULTY LEVEL    :   EASY
              RATING  POINTS         :    8/10**

**  The more the marination time, the better the results - a more tastier dish in other words.

Pav Bhaji

 

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons chopped garlic
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
• 1 cup chopped tomatoes/ground tomato
• 2 cups cauliflower, finely chopped
• 1 cup chopped cabbage
• 1 cup green peas boiled
• 1 cup grated carrots boiled
• 4 potatoes, boiled and mashed
• 3 tablespoons pav bhaji masala
• Salt to taste
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 8 (2 inch square) dinner rolls / pavs
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped green chilis
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

HOW TO MAKE: 

1) Heat the oil in a wok over medium heat. Saute garlic and green chilli for 30 seconds, then stir in onions and ginger. Cook until onions are brown.

 

2) Add tomatoes, and cook until pasty. Stir in cauliflower, cabbage, peas, carrots and potatoes. Season with pav bhaji masala. Cover, and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt, and stir in lemon juice.

3)  Toast the dinner rolls, and spread lightly with butter. Serve garnished with chopped onion, green chile and cilantro.



RATING NOTES:

              DIFFICULTY LEVEL    :   EASY
              RATING  POINTS         :    8/10**

**  Do not overcook the vegetables. They need to be just rightly boiled and not too soft.

Spicy Chicken Bits

I found this recipe in a website I dont remember. I tried it as a side dish for our weekend lunch along with egg rice and coleslaw. So I post this simple recipe here for you all.

INGREDIENTS:

5 Chicken Sausages/ Franks
2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1/2 tsp green chilli-coriander paste (optional)/ chopped green chillies
2 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp chat masala
4-5 tbsp Oil


HOW TO MAKE:


1)  Cut the chicken sausages into thick slices or bits.

2)  Add ginger-garlic paste, red chilli powder, garam masala, chat masala, chopped green chillies and lemon juice to these chicken bits and let them marinate for some time.

3)  Heat a kadhai (wok), add oil and let it heat. Then add a pinch of asafoetida and then add the marinated chicken.

4)  Mix and cook stirring occasionally for 3-4 minutes. Decorate the serving dish with lettuce leaves, spring onions and tomato slices and transfer the chicken bits to the dish and serve as a starter or snack.

RATING NOTES:

              DIFFICULTY LEVEL    :   EASY
              RATING  POINTS         :    8/10**

**  The more the marination time, the better the results - a more tastier dish in other words.

The week in a nutshell

It is a bright and a fresh morning and its the mid-week for us here. Another two working days to pass for the weekend to come. These days I find myself staring at the calender every now and then counting days for the hols. But the countdown has already begun for them.

Well, I had a good weekend and as usual did not do much except for sleeping, watching TV, using facebook and reading my book. This reminds me to tell you all about the book I am reading. But I think I can save this for another day as by then I will have more progress in my reading activity.

I just lazed around in the weekend but I did make 2 simple dishes from my recipe archive - the Pav Bhaji and Grilled chicken. I plan to post these recipes on this page very soon. There is not much to cheer for these trys as they are not something new. I have made them before also. Neverthless I will share it with you all.

By the time it was friday evening I started to go about with my preparation chores for the working week and finally called an early night to mark the end of a simple but rest-filled weekend.

Come Saturday morning and I was all energetic and I realised that I could have done more in the weekend. So I quickly prepared a TO-DO List for myself. Striking a completed job on the TO-DO List is so exciting and encouraging that it compels me to finish everything quickly. These days I am maintaining 2 TO-DO lists for myself - one in the office and the other at home.

I had a beautiful saturday lunch with my colleagues. There were 3 of us in this and we lunched in a french restaurant called La Mer which offered us a unique variety of cuisines that included both French and Arabian dishes. The ambience was magnificient and welcoming with a classical contemporary design and an open plan "Show -Kitchen". The Arabian Sea could be viewed from the Glass Patio next to which we chose a table for ourselves. The place was not at all crowded when we visited it and byt the time we were finishing, we could see people filling in.

The restaurant also has an outdoor section with a fabulous view and it has several seats and tables scattered under the palm and date trees with a direct view of the sea in front. The silent rushing waves of the sea on which the afternoon sun shone and the occasional sight of a few sea birds scattered here and there offered us an enchanting view and I wished to spend all afternoon watching the beautiful waves and the alluring sceneray that mother nature possesses.The long pathway across the restaurant at the edge of the sea was so inviting for a lovely walk. But our timing was not right for the same and may be some evening I could sneak out for this experience I thought.

Even though this restaurant has a special sea food section, I opted for the poultry cuisine - I started directly with the main course and a creamy chocolate shake. I skipped the salads, but they looked so colourful and appeatising.

 The dish I chose was Escalope de Poulet - boneless chicken rolls filled with sundried tomatoes and raisins served on a garlic-spinach bed along with buttered mashed potatoes mixed with thyme sauce and rosemary. While I ate, I enjoyed this for the first few bites. But midway I felt this dish was quite heavy and filling for me. I somehow managed to finish it. The chocolate shake was also tasty.

The restaurant also serves breakfasts, Arabian cuisine and a variety of desserts.  At the end of the lunch, I got a few pictures which I have pasted above before we finally left the place to get back to office for another boring afternoon filled with work.

My sunday was a usual day with tons of work in office. Nothing significant to mention for the day. I have been browsing a bit these days randomly on different blogs, I have been tweeting regularly too. Very soon I will update my twitter links on this blog too.

I leave this page with a promise to return with a few recipes to share with you all. Catching up very very soon.....