How to make Red Currant Laban 

INGREDIENTS:

METHOD

1. Add all the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth
2. Serve immediately 

This one gave me a hard time but nothing is impossible! Presenting, Moroccon Msemen and Meloui from a kitchen in Yanbu!


When I first saw the making of Msemen video, I was like – “this is insanely tough and why not fold like porotta or laacha if layers are all that we need?” But having done it more than once, I learnt two things – one, you can achieve the desired results with different approaches or even healthier versions by stripping off some main ingredients – but then, it would be better to call it something else. Right?Two, as an outsider, I need to first respect the culture and tradition of the cuisine I am attempting to recreate so it would only be fair if I try their true form. Agreed?

I have a love-hate relationship with my blog, Yanbu, Mr F and Avocados. Avocados can test your patience just like the others listed. If you never had to cut open to an undesirable avocado, then consider yourself as spectacularly lucky. Undesirable here refers to unripe, rotten, overripe, bruised, stringed, etc that makes you go ewwww.

Back home, some 15 years ago we had our own Avocado tree. No one knew what it was until one fine day we saw a bunch of avocados hanging. My mom had got the sapling from Ooty and it took a few years to see its fruit which was new to us. Those days we had no internet and so we relied on asking our guests and finally it was recognised as butter fruit. Yeah! Did you know avocados are also called as butter fruit? We used to scoop, add sugar and eat right out of the skin. But unfortunately, we had to cut down that tree as its roots were damaging our underground water tank.


Back to my love-hate relationship. You can never rely on these avocados as it is never ready-to-eat when we want it to be ready. I have been guilty of picking too many and hardly use them as either its gone bad or never ripens making me believe it is dead. :-) So, like always, I sat and read a lot, I mean a lot of articles on the internet about avocados. How to pick, check, save, store, speed the ripening process, slow the process etc. Everything you want to know about avocado is there for you on the internet. Making time to learn how to deal with your love and taking care of your love will help you keep loving forever. Isn't it? :-P

Today, I am sharing the simple recipe for a bowl of Guacamole made with Labneh. So easy, you can make this in a jiffy. The classic guacamole has lemon juice which acts as an agent to stop the oxidation process which causes avocado flesh to brown when it gets in contact with air. Labneh or yoghurt will also help in keeping the avocado flesh fresh.

I make dips similar to this and use it to spread the burger buns, cold sandwiches, or for a movie night with loads of crackers. This time, I have served for breakfast with those German bread and fruits. Also, a few leftover date energy bites!

How to make Guacamole with Labneh

INGREDIENTS

2 ripe avocados (medium size)
2 heaped tablespoons labneh
Salt to taste
1/2 medium tomato - inside flesh removed and chopped finely
2 tablespoon chopped onion
1 teaspoon red chilli flakes
a fistful of chopped coriander leaves or parsley

METHOD

1. Cut the avocado vertically and remove the seed
2. Use a spoon and scoop out the avocado flesh and blend using mixer grinder or use a fork and mash them down to pulp 
3. Mix in the rest of the ingredients and give it a good stir
4. Taste and adjust salt accordingly 
5. Serve immediately with favourite chips, crackers, toasted bread, sandwich, etc 

MENA Cooking Club is cooking a dish from The Comoro Islands! Now, I had to look up the map to know where exactly this island is located and why it is part of MENA!

The Comoros Islands or Comoros is an archipelago located in the Indian ocean between Madagascar and Mozambique. The islands became populated by diverse groups from the coast of Africa, the Arabian Gulf, Indonesia and Madagascar and so their cuisine is heavily influenced by the Arab, Indian, and more recently the French. The Comoros gained independence from France in 1975 and joined the Arab League in 1993 making them one of the youngest countries.

Being an Island, Comoros people relish seafood, coconut, bananas and plantains as the staple! Sounds like Kerala right? :-)

This month, the challenge was to cook ANY dish from this land and incorporate the Secret Ingredient – Coffee. It was not tough to find Comoros specific recipes! In fact, there are quite a few websites, bloggers who have shared a recipe of this land but I was looking for a more reliable resource and a recipe where the coffee flavour would complement or enhance the dish.

I was sceptical to try coffee with meat or poultry, even though that would have been a bold step. However, like always I was drawn to their popular flatbread - Mkatra Couscouma or also known as Mardouf which they serve with minced meat sauce.

Salads and soups are never part of my normal everyday meal. If you noticed, this blog too has just two salad recipes so far which truly mean I have not ventured into making exotic salads nor the simplest soups. As far as I remember, as a kid I used to believe that cucumber, carrots, and tomatoes served in different shapes constitutes "salad"! I was so wrong, right? :-P However, these days I never miss an opportunity to try most of the salads at a breakfast buffet!

Including salads in every meal helps in reducing the intake of the main course - which eventually contributes to better health and weight loss.. unless you are eating only coleslaw :-D! We all know what to do and what not to do, yet fail miserably in our attempt of at least maintaining the weight! So with that note, I am going to share my latest love - hoping it is not an infatuation or a fling :-P love for fruit salads with a zing factor!



This kind of salads are my last resort to serve a quick snack instead of lunch or dinner on weekends because spending time in the kitchen is the last thing I want to do during weekend. Well, the weekends are when we are weak to wake the wok! - It is better to have home made salads and snacks than eat out junk - am I right?

Remember Dukkah? I am finding ways to use it up. Dukkah, like I have mentioned before is a spice blend made either with wheat berries or with hazelnut as the base along with a few dried herbs. You get the is any store or you can make your own stock. When I am done with this store-bought stock, I am going to try Sawsan's version.

Without Dukkah, this is just a simple fruit salad with salt and pepper. I love to add red onions for the savoury factor.

Mixed Fruit and Sweetcorn Salad

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup sweet corns, frozen
1 pomegranate
1 peach
1 baby cucumber
1 medium onion
1 apple
1 orange
Freshly ground pepper
Dukkah as per taste (well, this can be skipped to have a normal salad)
Salt to taste

METHOD

1. Cook the frozen sweetcorn as per the pack instruction and drain and keep aside 
2. Remove the arils of pomegranate 
3. Finely dice peach, cucumber, onion, and apple
4. Peel orange and chop each segment into three pieces 
5. Add everything in a big bowl, cling wrap and refrigerate until needed
6. Sprinkle salt, pepper, and dukkah spice as per your taste just before serving
7. Give it a thorough mix and serve immediately 

I must say that F and I had this salad straight from the bowl sharing one spoon and it was over in no time. This salad was not part of the meal but the meal itself! :-D

PS: Don't be like me. Include some form of protein and carbs along with the salads and make it a complete meal. I can totally justify this kinda eating once in a week as a form of detoxing! LOL!