Wanderberry Tales

Habits are quite situational! I hate waking up early mornings although I know that's the best part of the day and would love to inculcate the habit of waking up early. Having said that, do not mistake me to be a person who wakes up at 9 am! I am up before 7!Ain't that good enough :P However, I surprise myself on trips, I become an early riser. I love those early morning walks and that peace it gives! The part of Dubai I stay in has a serious dearth of such good and peaceful places for a morning walk which makes me think would the presence of such a place in the neighborhood make me an early riser (**thinking**) The next best thing that could happen in the morning is an amazing breakfast. Eggs form an integral component of the breakfast table. When you can have a wholesome egg dish with just a slice of bread to wipe away the final gravy - yumm! Mornings are made! That is Shakshouka to me - it makes an amazing dinner too! Its a dish popular in the Middle east and Afri...

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...

The fun part of staying in a place like Dubai is the possible avenues for trying out different cuisines and if you have a foodie in you the rest is history. I had a hidden foodie in me and marriage brought out the foodie. The reason being - I got married to a person who loves food, eats anything on his plate, who never wastes food and if he does trust me the food is beyond edible. Name any food program on television and he has watched it and if not, he will make sure he watches it . That got me addicted as well  - Food Network is the most popular channel at our place now:) So let us just say we bonded over food and food shows!! Shibin used to get these flat breads for breakfast from Spinneys - sometimes with zaatar topping, sometimes with cheese or else a combination of both. It is only recently I learnt the name and I had the desire to make it myself. On the first try I got it a little crispier and the second time round I managed to get the texture right.  I have...