OK, back to Dadi’s madrasah …

The school is large but it is by no means luxurious. The walls are smooth and clean but unpainted. Similarly, the floors are bare cement. The girls sit at simple desks for lessons and sleep on mattresses which are stacked neatly come morning. Since the madrasah relies on donations, money is prudently saved and even more carefully spent. Almost every piece of furniture is donated and pre-owned. The only items which seemed remotely grand were framed Qur’anic verses beautifully inscribed on papyrus. Even these were donations … from a terminally ill man who wanted to contribute to the madrasah.

Still, the place has a quaint and unique charm. There is tranquility that fosters contentment and at the same time, provides the ideal atmosphere for focus on academic and spiritual pursuits.

My daughters could not wait to help prepare the meals. A lady who lives close by comes in during the late morning everyday to prepare the students’ meals. Patient and ever so smiley, Aunty let my kids experiment as much as they liked.

Ms M preparing roti

Hers is no kitchen of dreams. She has only a little shed-like structure where the groceries are kept, washed and prepared. Vegetables are held over and cut directly into the cooking pot - no chopping boards for this chef! Her stove is a tandoor - a clay, coal-fed (well, in this case, wood) oven.

Here you can see how the cook prepares the tandoor. She has some wood lit - branches, scraps and whatever else she can get her hands on.

Here is another view of the oven. Maybe it would have been better if they had built it away from the wall - it is blackened from the smoke!

They don’t eat meat very often there but this was a special occasion :) Aunty’s signature chicken curry was in the works… Spicy and a little oily, but mouthwatering all the same. It isn’t easy cooking over the tandoor, I think, since it is hard to control the fire.

When the curry was done, the fire was doused with some water so only a small fire and glowing embers remained. Time for the roti - a flatbread made of wheat flour - to be cooked. Aunty had already prepared a mountain of dough. She rolled pats of dough into little balls and then expertly pinched them to form flat rounds. These were then flipped quickly from one hand to the other in a clapping motion to make them thinner and then speedily slapped onto the walls of the tandoor to bake. All done completely by hand with nary a rolling pin in sight! :)

I’m not a big fan of roti - I prefer rice or the less healthy parathas made of refined flour and ghee - but this roti was delicious. The outer shell was crispy while the inside was soft and fluffy. Here are the results of Ms M’s efforts :)

Lovely stuff ma shaa Allah…

More in Part 3 in shaa Allah…

French Toast… desi style :)

Chopped onions, coriander leaves, green chilli and ground spices like turmeric, coriander, chilli and garam masala were added to the egg mixture.

I wasn’t kidding when I said everything must be taken with spice in this continent!

WITH SPICE!

A street vendor preparing challi with chilli and lime

Pic taken by my sister-in-law, E Wang

Another totally fluffy post, but it isn’t like I have fans to impress anyhow *S* I am having loads of problems with my email and am flooded with spam on a regular basis. So I will be setting up a new email account (AGAIN! Let’s heave a collective sigh of frustration all together now…) and will be contacting all you lovelies who still keep in touch with me despite my numerous disappearing acts.

OK so on to the fluffy post…

I love all kinds of seafood but it is a bit of a rarity here in Islamabad. Most Islamabad folk will stick to chicken and red meat, thank you very much.

My mother-in-law will eat a little fish if I cook it but has to stop herself from wrinkling up her nose - she has yet to get used to the smell. (Much of the fish here is fresh-water fish so I think there is always that pungent smell that is so hard to get rid of?)

My father-in-law, who had once worked in Karachi (where most of the seafood comes from), loves fish. He promptly hands over all marine acquisitions to me since other members of the family won’t touch them with a ten-foot pole!

My sister-in-law has declared that she “does not eat fish” but she will eat my tuna sandwiches… But then, tuna isn’t really a fish, is it? It comes from a can!

Tuna Salad/Sandwich

Ingredients & Method

1. Drain a 425 g can of tuna.

2. Break up the tuna with a fork and combine with:

• 2 chopped hard-boiled eggs
• 3 chopped spring onions
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
• 1 chopped celery stick
• 1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
• ½ cup mayonnaise
• ¼ cup sour cream
• Salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

3. Serve with lettuce leaves on bread rolls. I also like to include sliced cucumbers in the sandwich. Sliced tomatoes, steamed baby carrots and slices of crunchy Fuji apples on the side are my girls’ favourite!