Traditional Iranian bread

Today as I was walking through the Satwa quarter in Dubai, I came across an Iranian Bakery, intrigued I approached, and the two bakers invited me in the shop, to see how the bread was made, They were really kind and wanted me to discover the process.
You bet, I was up for it! I only had my telephone on me at the time (I know, I did not carry my camera. Shame on me!) so all the photos were taken with my Sony Ericsson. I will return with my SLR, I promised myself!
The balls of dough prepared are flattened,
Then the flat disc of dough is flapped between the hands very quickly,
Then stretched in an instant on a convex shape covered with the cloth.
Then the bread is thrown very abruptly on the inside of the oven where it will stick and cook, forming bubbles. It is then taken on and reserved under a cloth.

The result tastes like a gorgeous crispy crepe! The guys wanted to give me a few of them, and refused that I pay them, so I definitely need to go back to pay for a second lot!

I found that on this stretch of road, people were incredibly kind and interactive, and they are very happy to have their picture taken, I asked every time and they all thought it was crazy but posed for me nonetheless!
I’ll definitely have to come back next week! (my last week in Dubai)…

Pomegranate Raita

I've always been fond of raita, and I am obsessed with Pomegranate at the moment. I spotted this recipe on the BBC and thought I'd give it a go. The ingredients are very easy to find, fresh, and the recipe is incredibly easy as well as healthy. You can use the raita as a dip or as a side dish or salad.

You can either buy ready pomegranate seeds, or do it yourself: once you learn how to, it does not take that much time, and has the benefit to be fresher.

It tastes very fresh and could well help you to calm down theses curry burning sensations....

Ingredients
- 200g Greek yoghurt (I always use total yoghurt)
- ½ cucumber, grated, excess water drained away
- 1 pomegranate
- 1 tsp sugar
- salt, to taste
- handful chopped fresh coriander leaves

Preparation
Beat the yoghurt so that it becomes fluffy-ish
Grate the peeled cucumber and carrors. Make sure you squeeze the water out of the cucumber by pressing it in your hands.

Now add all the ingredients in the yoghurt

Mix together, then place in the fridge for a bit, it's ready to eat!
Bon apetit!


Source: BBC program Indian made easy

Breadstick Fingers

Breadstick Fingers
Originally uploaded by grayd80

Happy Halloween!

I don't tend to cook anything special for Halloween since it is not really in my culture: Halloween is new and shy in Britain, and virtually non-existent in France where it has no roots. But I always marvel at the creativity of people who cook around the theme.

Yesterday I was browsing Flickr and came across this fantastic dippy dish. I don't think I've ever seen such realistic finger food before!
I sure will make these whether it will be Halloween or not!

I'd like to thank you Deanne for accepting her photo to be featured on my blog. Click on the photo to get Deanne's instructions!

We don't have pizza sauce here, so I'd say a salsa will do for the bloody sauce:
- a can of chopped tomatoes or better some passata if you have
- 1/2 clove of garlic chopped finely
- 1/2 onion chopped finely
- 1 tsp sugar to neutralise the acidity (adjust to taste)
- herbs (optional)
- salt, pepper
- You can add some chili, but it depends on your guests...

Mix everything, and it's ready to serve.

I'd like to point to another blog where I saw some formidably creative ideas: There! on the blog of Create Eat Happy :)"

Now have a great day!

Source: Photo and fingers recipe by Deanne/grayd80, and my own quick salsa