Recipe for Tehari

Today is first time I cooked it...

You will need:
Mutton or beef
onion paste
garlic paste
ginger paste
(i usually cut up all 3 and just stick it in blender together to make paste)
Coriander (dhaniya) powder
Cumin (Jeera) powder
(if you have seed forms of both - roast in dry pan then put in blender to powder it)
Cardamom (elachi)
Cinnamon stick
Cloves
Black pepper
Red Chili powder
fresh green chili
Yougurt
Bay Leaves
Salt

Cut the meat into bite size pieces (remember they shrink so cut a lil bigger than bite size) and wash well. Mix in yogurt with all the spices except the rice and green chili - let it marinate for 1/2 hr. Let it simmer and boil till meat is tender and medium well done. While thats cooking, wash the pulao rice and drain the water out well. Using a cheese cloth works well. Pour some ghee in a separate pan and fry the dry rice until it takes on a darkish color. Once its thoroughly fried pour it in with the beef mixture. Stir well and pour some more warm water and tightly cover (don't let steam out) and let cook. Stir once in a while to make sure its not sticking to the bottom. Pour some ghee or warm water if it is too dried out. Serve warm with some salad.

I am not very good with measurements and never cook measuring out. I eyeball and guesstimate how much is required depending on quantity of what I am cooking. One onion = 3 gloves of garlic = abt 2 tablespoons of ginger paste. The salt, cumin and coriander powder really depends on your personal taste - I put more cumin in when cooking red meats as it gives a good flavor. So for a single portion it would require abt 1 tablespoon of jeera and 1/2 of cumin. you can adjust to fit your taste. For single portion it would take abt 3 pods of cardamom, 4 cloves and 1 one inch cinnamon stick.

I just had some from my first batch - its delicious!

Recipe for Halwa

Halwa

Depending on what flavor
Semolina (Suji)
Carrot
Chole
Green Papaya
anything can be made a halwa

Suji Halwa

Ghee (clarified Butter)
Cardamom pods/seeds
Dar Chini (Cinnamon sticks)
Sugar
Milk/Warm water

Pour some ghee (clarified butter) in a pan and heat. When its warm enough put in some elachi (cardamom seeds) and cinnamon sticks and let it warm and let flavor out. Then put in the semolina and fry it in the ghee. it should be a 3:1 ratio abt. it shouldn't soak in the ghee-the suji should be dry and frying in the ghee. fry and toss till it starts taking color. should be off-whiteish to reddish. Then pour in milk or warm slowly till it rolls into a pasty ball. It will start of crumbly. It needs to get to a cohesive smooth ball. Once it in a ball you can do 1 of two things. Leave as is in a bowl and mix in some raisin or almonds or cashews and serve warm or cool. Other option - lay it out in a flat dish and flatten halwa at desired thickness - usually 1/2 inch thick - when cool cut with knife into diagonals and stick a bit of raisin on top. or mix the whole thing with slivers of almonds/cashews and then cut into diagonals.

When doing Papaya or carrot - make into pulp by grating - then follow above instructions w/o using suji.

I am still learning - but thats how I made 1st batch...

Learning...

I am constantly learning new things! I thought I was familiar with living in Dhaka but hell - there is so much social responsibility that I may have a hard time assimilating! Tonight is shabebaraat - the praying of all night 15 days prior to beginning of Ramadaan. Well - the custom is each family sends out Halwa (mashed sweet) and bread or roti to other family/friends homes! So this morning we recived two plates of halwa from Cal's cousin and uncle with 4 diff types of halwa! I didn't know this and was made aware by my aunt. When i told her I didn't know how to make halwa she suggested I make Tehari instead and pass that around. Tehari is pulao rice and mutton/beef cooked together eaten with a fresh salad. I spoke to Cal about it and it made sense to us since all were making sweets we would send smth different. Well - it takes forever to cook enough for 20 people on 2 burners! I should have started last night but we started this morning and we are no where near done even cooking the first batch of meat and its already noon! I guess we will be passing out our food in the evening. We are planning on sending to 7 homes. Everyone sent us a little bit of food since how much food can 2-3 people eat... but we have to send double cause each house has min of 4 members and max of 7!

Its not only tedious but also expensive venture and its not the end. Sometime in the next 15 days I have to potato chops for Cal's office - thats abt 60 employees - so abt 120 chops! Then is Ramadaana nd occasionally we have to send food to one house or another and not to mention Eid after Ramadaan which means new clothes for our servants and gifts for family - like a sari for my grandmother and his oldest aunt, etc... Sheesh!!! When are we gonna end up buying our fridge, microwave, bedroom furniture for our apt - I don't know!

Ok enough bitching for one post! I should go check up on the cook to see what damage he is causing...

One day in Dhaka

its tuesday night and pretty blah day normally... Cal called out sick and i slept in till 1pm while he worked from home. after i woke up Alom (our cook/servant) had made lunch - he is pretty good at taking instructions and started to cook they way I like things - we had lunch and then bummed and watched TV. I put a load in the washing machine and Alom hand washed a few things and put all out to dry. Cal took a nap and then i sent Alom to do some bazaar - groceries. he came back a little jittery and scared... there have been riots in the area since yesterday and it escalated today. the riots are among the Univ students and the military. the main road/entrance is at the end of the road from us and the market/bazaar is there too. so he was afraid cause there were shots fired and mad rush and he thought he was getting stuck and managed to walk home safely. He came back and then headed out again in the other direction toward our other apartment to see about cleaning up and and checking the water and power situation. he comes back half an hour later... no work being done. so he started dinner... our kitchen window looks out on the street and tuesdays is the hawkers market day so the entire road in front of our house is closed for the street hawkers. he runs into the living room excited and asks us to look out the window.. there was a mad rush of rickshaws zooming past - never seen them drive so fast - and the hawkers just picking up their stuff and running. apparently the riots had gotten to the head of our road. then 5 mins later we hear blasts and see an army truck rolling past. they were exploding tear gas and our street was filled. the kitchen window was the only one open and alom heard it first. Cal and I tried to run to the roof but the door was locked. we come back to the apt and alom is stumbling in from the kitchen... the tear gas smoke had filled our kitchen and bedroom. he was in pain. we made him wash his eyes out and he was fine but excited. he ran downstairs to see more action but the streets were cleared out and gas everywhere. i got some in my eyes when i tried to go into the bedroom. the streets were deserted. we turned on news and it said the riots had moved to the main street on the other side of us. we could still hear the gas bombs going off. we are safe in our house... no one would dare come in and we have like 2 guards at the gate. so I was greatful that Cal didn't go to work cause the news showed that all cars were stuck on the main roads and then abandoned as the riots started and the cars and buses were broken by the students. If Cal had gone to work he would have had to walk home and I would have been worried sick. so now everything is calm on our street - although deserted too early for the day - riots are still happening. we are about to eat dinner... i made some sweet chicken curry, cabbage n peas, aloo bharta, green banana/plantain bharta and daal. and watching some bad movies on HBO.

We get HBO and other channels- never miss out on the shows Entourage, movies, Friends, scrubs, desperate housewives.. we get them all... so thats a day in the life of Ish - the housewife. Cal is encouraging me to try all the things I wouldn't have if I was still in NY so - going art supply shopping and getting clay and going to try my hand at a piece I have been imagining for months.

Being Mrs.Jahan...

Since being back in dhaka - every evening we have had a dinner invitation from some family member of Cal's. Then my cousin Rupom got married so more dinners and my aunts and nani (mom's mom) send over food. I have cooked dinner maybe 2x so far. At every event i have to wear a sari - where it used to take me 1/2hr to get dressed and out now takes abt 1 1/2hrs! but i am slowly becoming an expert and wrapping a sari quickly and well =)

i have been sick since last week. it started with sore throat then escalated to full blown fever of 103 and up for 2 days. Poor Cal didn't sleep much - stayed up all night taking care of me and went into work half days wile i slept in the afternoon. went to see the doctor - luckily he dislikes prescribing meds as much as i dislike taking them. he gave me something for the nausea so i could eat and nasal spray so i could breathe. i know have a hacking cough that sounds like my lungs are gonna pop out! and today was 1st day i could stomach any food... i had to make a plain chicken salad w no signs of masala!

Cal retained his dad's servant for a while. so he does the cleaning and laundry and the cooking - i just supervise it all.i have to hire a cook that can just create the days food w/o asking me! Everyday, 3x a day = "Apu, what do i cook for lunch/dinner/evening snack?" and grocery isn't just going to the grocery store and picking up what u had in mind - i send him to the bazaar! and they only sell seasonal produce - which is great but i have yet to figure out what that is!! i can go to the grocery store but, its not worth i for everyday shopping.

life of a housewife is pretty damn boring! most exciting thing i have done is handmade a wedding gift card/envelope for my cuz - it came out pretty damn cool - and learn how to make aloo kababs. Cal wants me to rest and rest till i am all rested out and learn to take a decent pace in life b4 allowing me to jump on projects. we have to work on the new apt so that'll keep me busy for some time too. putting dance and stuff on hold cause its just too damn hot to dance and with rainy season, i can't go out much anyway.

btw- where we live is not flooded. when news show footage - they show the outskirts and the worst rural parts of the country. monsoon season is always an issue and this time isn't any different. flooding = lack of clean drinking water = diseases = lots of people ill. where we are, rarely flooding occurs, we have our own source of water that isn't polluted. so - most people in the middle to upper class are perfectly fine and not affected by flooding. as always, its the poorest thats the worst stricken.