I stand by you Paratha!I do!

Alright, as intensely as I proceed in my quest into the international culinary world and as much as I love a brioche with tea, extra butter or a ciabatta with my favourite seasonal dressing or french toast or fataer or simply some bagel or pretzel or donut...alright, getting carried away. Anyhow, point being when wanting to indulge in a holiday breakfast, as fancied up as my knowledge in just a few of these delicate work of wonders from around the world has become, I can't forget me growing up in Karachi having those lovely traditional Parathas. Yes, Parathas!

Paratha is dough layered and fried on Ghee (clarified butter) or cooking oil. I won't bore you with the wiki info on how they're rolled up or how many gazillion fillings go in them. What I'm really reminiscing is the Ghee paratha rolled into caster sugar. That's how my mom got rid of me! Dipping them into some hot tea was a guilty pleasure and apparently that's how my parents got through my childhood peacefully. I also hear dates and milk were one of my obsessions! Off topic anyhow I guess now I know where the sugar butter serious business comes from. Though I haven't tried the real street paratha in a long time and living in Dubai you do get a lot of Indian parathas to go with chai (Tea) which is a favorite amongst at least 50% of the working class in Dubai and truly they aren't all that bad occasionally since well, they aren't really the weight watcher's highest preference.

Below is the snap I took from my window, early in the morning. It's the view from the window at the back of my house. Left me drooling...

This certain "Parthay wala uncle" who probably wears the same attire everyday of the week, in this not so "hygienic" environment makes these perfectly curling Parathas! These looks absolutely lovely and neat cooked in melted Ghee to crisp gold texture wrapped in a newspaper with some kadak chai. Oh wonderful, desi comfort-squashing up-random food-items-to-truly-comfort you-food! I live by the biggest "foodstreet" in karachi and most of the places use this technique with almost the same ambience for cooking. Incase, you've already been scared by all the diseases and hygiene issues also being hygienically concerned myself; trust me they are worth a shot! The baby who grew up in Pakistan says it out loud. Even if you are living abroad but someone truly desi at heart, you know what I mean. If you're not, just have it once and when you're hooked onto it, it's even better with some good Desi curry or Tikka. If you're my mom, you can go with the "home cooked paratha". This is just a single type but a lovely popular bread in Pakistan that can be apart of your meal at any given time of the day.

-A

My Sushi experience

Hello, 

I'm quite excited and equally nervous about this blog. I'm not too sure if I can make the most of it or if I'm even meant to be doing anything of this sort but it'll definitely kill my curiosity and I'm a highly curious person.

 Starting with my first post I thought I'd share my first (to me) exciting experience. It's going to be a bit longer than usual so bare with me. I understand, to many it's extremely common but I've grown up in an environment at home where it's always "be safe rather than sorry". It's only recently that my love for food has driven me to get out there and get my taste buds to socialize with everything that's edible. This time it was the famous (or infamous) Sushi! Yes, it's a shocker that at 20, it was a challenge to try it out. I've had many people force me to try it out and finally, I decided to wait for my friend who lives in London to return and try it out with her. To be honest, I was fearful of the whole idea hence the dependency of someone far away from me...the thought of raw fish kind of disgusted me. I had all sorts of ideas about sushi that could drive a sane person away from it or ruin a normal appetite but the curiosity of the dish troubled me for long and it was about time. 


We went to a near-by Japenese chain called SUMO in Sharjah,UAE. A friend familiar with the restaurant's do's and don'ts to avoid wasting money into something that wouldn't work at all as a beginner and a good company makes it all the more better. Note: always take a friend who loves sushi rather than someone who's as new as you; they're likely to ruin the experience by making faces at the attendant or when food arrives that alone kills the desire to eat and then have them make a troubled stomach face while eating - certainly not a good sight. Anyhow, as we held the menu, we took a while as there was a wide range to choose from. Finally, we ordered Crunchy Crazy (Shrimp tempura covered with sweet chili sauce and drizzled with teriyaki sauce) - quite fancy looking with raw onions on the side, Rock and roll (fresh tuna, salmon, avocado covered with crunchy tempura), another dish that's name I've forgotten probably the "Ninga" (shrimp tempura and mayo roll layered with spicy tuna) a green salad, lemonade for my friend and Coke for me.  If you look at the picture it looks like an appetizing meal and it was!

As you can see a few of the rock and roll have vanished even before I could click a picture. As challenging as it was, I must say it wasn't as terrifying as I thought. My first bite was a bit hard to take in; I was a bit embarrassed of making the poo face (that was certainly the idea in my head) but I settled to the thought of being honest. I wanted to try them all to be able to comment and gradually it was growing on me. I managed to switch my taste with salad and coke and bites of sushi. A green salad is a good balance with anything new and with a dine out at Sumo the lovely Japanese green salad with ginger sauce and fresh avocado is definitely a must have. Everyone should try it out specially the crunchy flaky tempura sushi which in my opinion is the best one - highly recommended for beginners. It was all in all a satisfying meal. Not a HUGE fan yet but something I'd enjoy occasionally. Once I'm hooked on it, maybe I'll decide to learn to make it myself. Untill then, next sushi stop in Dubai: Okku!

Tempura: Any seafood, meat, vegetables dipped in thin battered and deep fried.

-A-