Wanderberry Tales

With the MENA cooking club giving a free reign to cook something traditional to any of the MENA countries, the ball was completely in our court this month! I kept mulling on it for a few days and then my husband decided to ask one of his Egyptian friend from office - he gave us a list of popular items that included Kousa mahshi, Cabbage mahshi, Koshari and Hamam Mahshi which were popular during Ramadan. The same friend had once suggested a restaurant to try out the Egyptian cuisine. We had feasted on Koshari, Fattayer and kebabs that day. So when this came about, we only thought it was fitting to try out Koshari - an Egyptian dish; as traditional as it can get! Koshari is a popular Egyptian folk food and a look at the dish will definitely reveal the way it has come. Koshari comprises of lentils, rice, pasta, chickpea, crispy fried onions and a tomato based sauce. The influence of rice and lentils is believed to be from Indian cuisine. The pasta and the sauce reflect Italian in...

This is my first month in the MENA Cooking Club   with Jordan being the chosen country of the month. I am not familiar with Jordanian cuisine except that my last birthday dinner was at a Jordanian restaurant where I relished on Jordanian Mansaf and Mint Tea. Oh and I loved the tea! With Famidha from My life in Yanbu  suggesting that I join the MENA club, I decided to put on my boots and get going with the club. I have never been a part of any such food blogging venture before - so it is my first and if laziness does not get the better of me, I intend to keep going:) I chose the Jordanian coffee for my kitchen to kick start. I am not a great fan of black coffee, so when 2 years ago I ordered a cup of coffee at Cyprus and I was given a small shot glass with dark coffee inside and that smelled so strong, I was bewildered. With great difficulty I gulped it down. I have no idea what made me go back to the same place the next day and order the same coffee. And I did it for an...