After the peaceful Ramadan meals that seemed to magically plan them out, it has been a crazy bulk cook-athon / speed-cooking kind of life. Sara & I had frozen curries for almost the entire month of Ramadan and S.I.L. had frozen pizzas and calzones and the stash lasted throughout the month. As of now, I am overwhelmingly multitasking between new tenants moving in, my mother's cataract surgery, post-Ramadan clean-ups, travel plans, and more yaddi yaddi yadda.
We can begin the food journals with a gorgeous post about the beautifully decorated Eid spread of ours which we shared with a friend and her family. Areej - the famous woman behind Ilaichi wali Chai and Qeema Naans came over with her family for Eid.
Read "An Elegant Eid Dinner" for the bit about that Eid dinner.
CHAAND RAAT TRADITION - SLIGHTLY ALTERED
First came Eid and the gianormous feast that comes with it. I was so busy with work that I was not able to do the Chaand Raat Tandoori Chicken (full size whole) tradition that I so proudly started last year. That's that. I did do tandoori boti though. So that counts.
QUICK FIX FLATBREAD PIZZA
One of the Giant food stores sells a '00 flour flatbread which I am super fond of because I use that to make pizza! Unlike the kitchenistas I know who make everything from scratch (hats off to them), my broken back screams a huge "NAH!" when I think of making the dough. So there we go. These are a brilliant quick fix. Put on melted butter (mixed with garlic powder and little bit of salt), add the pesto sauce (pizza sauce) - I make my own - and top it with cheeses and bake until cheeses melt at 370 F.
♨️Cheesy pizza bread up! 🍕 fresh hot just out and steaming for hungry folks! pic.twitter.com/TZ9n5a86uD— Aßßie (@theabbies) July 28, 2016
K&N chicken products (frozen) from Pakistan are my other favorite quick fix solutions. The nuggets and kabas are fry and eat. The Koftas, I use to make a chicken kofta curry.
HEAVY DUTY COOKING: PASANDA
Some serious heavy-duty cooking happened when I made Beef Pasanda Stew.
Pasanda (Urdu: پسندہ) is a popular North Indian and Pakistani meat dish, derived from a meal served in the Court of the Mughal Emperors. The word is a variation on the Urdu word "pasande" meaning "favourite", which refers to the prime cut of meat traditionally used within.
The Pasanda meat cut is typically from the leg of lamb/cow and comes as flattened strips. They are marinated in seriously strong spices before slow-cooking into a stew.
Sara finally got her hands on some Zucchini. All this time she was wondering if green squash was zucchini and we didn't know we were just a Google search away from getting a yes. Mom got to her cooking mojo and make some zucchini curry. That video down below is me frying spring rolls (ready made, frozen) and cooking the curry she left half done for her.
LOTS OF PULAAO RICE STEAMING
The simple peas pulaao is always a lifesaver. It goes with all curries. It cooks within twenty minutes and it literally saves my broken back when I get home and there is practically nothing to go with the curry of the day.
♨️ Peas pulao bubbling away. Quick cooking before a busy day begins. #recipe pic.twitter.com/WyeTmZ7bwe— Aßßie (@theabbies) July 20, 2016
I need to get back in the kitchen so I can give you some rest! You've been doing too much! *hugs*
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