Random Food Pics

I honestly couldn’t think of a better title. Because, these are, well… just random pictures of food!

I was cleaning up my computer and found some photos I’d taken when I’d gone to Bali last year.I found 3 pictures of food (yeah, I took just 3 measly photos out of all the fabulous stuff we ate… But Iwasn’t blogging then.) Nothing phancy, but I still thought I’d share.

We stayed at a place called Villa Waru, and breakfast everyday consisted of pancakes, toast, eggs made to order, and lots of beautiful local fruit. And of course, Balinese coffee.

Yellow watermelon...who'd have thunk it?

Here’s one of the breakfast fruit plates. They had yellow watermelon!!

And here’s dessert from one night. There was an iced fruit salad, with crushed ice, strawberries, and a thin, custardy-concoction infused with rose essence.

The last pic I have is of a dessert platter- all kinds of Balinese sweets made with sugar and coconut. The striped sweet was a lot like the Calicut-style halwa we get back in Kerala, but less greasy. And the green, pink and white layered sweet was a gelatinous coconut barfi. Yummy!

Chicken Mince Buns

Chicken Mince Buns

My mom-in-law bakes very well and while I spent a month with her in Qatar, I got a chance to assist her in the kitchen. We made sesame buns stuffed with chicken mince one day. My contribution to this project was peripheral to say the least. I helped stuff a bun or two. More of a photgrapher than a baker’s aide! I clicked the process.

The dough before rising

The dough a couple of hours later

The chicken mince stuffing

The mince was chicken keema together with finely chopped carrots, beans and onions. Everything was tossed together in a kadhai with some spices and garlic stir-fried. Easy peasy.

Once the dough was ready, it was time to stuff them up!

 A little sprinkling of sesame seeds on top….

Ready to bake

 And voila! Ready for the oven

After baking on high heat for close to 40 minutes, out they come

Baked and ready!

Ta-dah!

Home-made bread tastes different- in a good way! The buns were sweeter and crustier; and the insides were soft but not too soft. Some of the mass-manufactured pavs I buy from my grocer feel like Kleenex!

I must try and bake my own bread at home.

Date And Walnut Cake

Qatar has an ABUNDANCE of dates and date palms. It’s probably the only fruit that can flourish in those conditions. Driving around the city of Doha, all you’ll notice are the date palms- lining the roads, in gardens, along the driveways. So, it was only natural that my mom-in-law decided to make a yummy date and walnut cake. My mom-in-law was the chief baker while I helped her. 

Dates soaking

For this recipe, the dates need to soak for about 5 hours in water+bicarbonate of soda so that they get nice and soft and the sinewy strands fall off the fruit.

Walnuts

Dates- all mashed up

Once they’ve soaked, you need to make a mushy date mixture- I just used my hands, but you can use a spoon if you like

The butter, flour, eggs and sugar mix

The batter

The dates and walnuts have been added and the batter is now ready for the oven

Out of the oven

Voila

And that’s all there is to it 😛

 This cake is moist and chewy and crunchy all at the same time which is why I love it. And it isn’t clawingly sweet either. I ate 4 pieces at a go!

The recipe we followed was adapted from allrecipes.co.uk, which can be found here.