Exhaustion, Batting, Physics, and Refreshing Fruit Chaat

Didn't our lovely lads look exhausted out there yesterday?  Completely pooped from standing in the field and heat for such a long time.  It certainly wasn't my Gulzilla's day; he worked so hard, and so did the other bowlers,

Today, Tokyo...next Test Match...SOUTH AFRICA ARRRRRRGBLAHAJRR!!!

but to no avail;  Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis just kept smokin' out those runs.  Thank goodness they declared and Pakistan got to bat!  A change was just what our guys needed and they showed some fight and some attitude!  Right on guys, way to claw back into the game!  Now let's hope the great batting performance continues today, day 5 of the test match. 

The match was broadcast on TV last night, and man...did it look hot there.  And there was a dust storm happening.  That's something that can totally sap your energy,  I mean, even I got tired and run down just watching!  I need a pick-me-up and I'm guessing that you do, too.   So for today's food, I'm going to show you how to make my Grandmother-in-law's  Refreshing Fruit Chaat.  The trick for extra deliciousness in this dessert is to cut the fruit into the smallest dice possible.  In physics talk, smaller objects have a larger surface area (surface area to volume ratio). That allows for more surface area of fruit to come into contact with the sauce, resulting in deeper flavour.  See?  The things you learn in physics class in high school do get used in real-life situations!  So if you're in high school now, study up!  You'll be a better chef for it.  Anyhoo, here you have it...Fruit Chaat.
Ingredients:
2 apples, cored and peeled,, very finely diced or chopped
2 bananas, very finely diced
2 guavas, very finely diced.  If no guavas are available, use pears, very finely diced
Juice of 5 oranges
1/2 cup of sugar or more
1/2 teaspoon or more of salt, depending on taste

First of all, add sugar and salt to the juice of the oranges.  Don't use commercial orange juice because it's slightly bitter.  Squeezed oranges are best.
Stir the juice until the salt and sugar are dissolved, making a thin syrup.
Add the diced fruit, let sit for an hour or more so that all of the flavours mix and intensify.

Salt is added to this dessert to make the fruit flavours stand out, and it also adds a richness which cannot be achieved by sugar alone.  You may also add some ground black pepper and a bit of red chili powder if you so wish.  Some people like to add cloves and cardamom pods, but my Grandmother-in-law would have a fit.  According to her, you only use salt, sugar and maybe a pinch of black pepper.  I'll leave that up to you. 

Furthermore, you can add other fruit, but make sure you always have apples, bananas and guava/pears.  Otherwise, it's just a plain old fruit salad.

Now go get refreshed!  And tomorrow we'll take about day 5 of the test match. 
Happy Eating, and Happy Cricket!

Total Gullification, A Batting Collapse and a Form-Recovering Qorma

All right!  I missed a day of posting because I had to take care of a few things.  Sorry about that.  So let me catch up on the cricketing action.  I must admit I'm very angry with the Pakistan team!  The bowling for the 1st SAfrica innings was stunning.  It was pandemonium on the second day.  It was crazy.  It was total Umar Gullification.  3 wickets for 18!  Yes! 

Previous English Gullification

And then Abdur Rehman wreaked havoc with his 3 wickets, with Saeed Ajmal completing the destruction of South Africa with his wicket.  And let's not forget Younis Khan with his extremely economical bowling...I had no idea he had it in him!  He is certainly one of my favourites now!  Yes!  Yes!

And that's not all!  The batting to start off with was good...very very good.  I wasn't too sure about Taufiq Umar a few days ago...boy was I wrong and I'm quite happy to be wrong in this case.

My Apologies, Taufeeq!  Arriba!

Right on, Taufiq, and right on, Mohammed Hafeez!  Mo Ha, I'm liking you more and more.  As we say in French...You rocqued my worlde.

You've got every reason to smile, Kiddo!

Good on ya for your 60.  Younis Khan also batted very nicely, and things were looking up indeed. Yes, yes, yes!

Then yesterday, day three.  Ick.  A bit of a batting collapse for Pakistan. Nooooooo! You got it backwards Pakistan!  The batting collapse is supposed to happen to the opposition, not you!!!What happened, chaps?  You all seemed sort of weak and confused!

Umar Akmal, yesterday afternoon.  True story.

Did you eat plain margarine sandwiches and soda pop for your dinner?  That will rot your guts, sap your strength and make you ugly!!! Come on guys, get your form and fight back!

A terrible lunch for cricket, a terrible lunch for Humanity.

Have some of this delicious Qorma instead and for crying out loud, look alive, man!

Ok, enough of the cricket.  Qorma is a lovely yoghurt-based salan which uses the bhunna method, which I described in the October 19 post.  Now, you may have seen some TV chefs making qorma and they load it up with ghee and cream and ground cashews for some reason.  An old fashioned qorma, like the one I'm showing you how to make, has very little oil and no cream.  All of the flavour and creamy texture comes from the cooking method.  That makes this dish very healthy, very filling, and very delicious.  So enjoy it without feeling guilty!
Form-Recovering Qorma
Ingredients
1 chicken, no skin, cut in 10 or 12
about 1 litre or 1 kg of plain yoghurt (low fat yoghurt also works well)
1 onion,  finely chopped
about 7 cloves of garlic, crushed or very finely chopped
4 cm piece of ginger, crushed or very finely chopped
1 bay leaf
1 cinammon stick
1 star anise
5 green cardamom pods
5 cloves
5 black peppercorns
1 teaspoon cuminseeds
1 teaspoon (use more or less) lal mirch (red chili powder)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
salt to taste
chopped green chilies according to taste
some chopped coriander (cilantro)
oil for cooking
some water

1.  Heat up 2 or 3 tablespoons of oil in a big pan.
2.  Fry the onion until it's golden and slightly crispy.
3.  Add the garlic, ginger, bay leaf, cinammon stick, star anise, cardamom pods, cloves, peppercorns and cuminseeds.
4.  Add the turmeric and lal mirch.
5.  Fry everything for a minute or two, just make sure you don't burn the garlic.
6.  Add the yoghurt, and stir.
Now at this point you might notice that the yoghurt curdles.  Don't worry about it.  You're going to cook it until it changes texture again into a nice, uniform creaminess. 

7.  When the mixture reduces and  starts to stick to the bottom of the pan, add a bit of water to lift it and keep on stirring.  Repeat this several times, aka the bhunna method, and you will notice that the mixture changes texture from appearing "curdled" to a uniform paste.. 
8.  When you have a nice, relatively smooth uniform paste and you notice that the oil is "leaking" from the mix, add about 3 or 4 cups of water and bring to a boil.
9.  Add salt to taste.
10.  Add the chicken and chopped green chilies.  Add the chilies whole if you don't want too much heat.
11.  Simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 1/2 hour.  If you're going to serve the qorma on rice, leave it a bit watery.  If you're going to serve the qorma with bread, reduce it until the sauce becomes quite thick.
12.  Garnish with coriander.

Before I go today, I want to mention something about oil.  When you use lots of oil, everything cooks much faster.  Lots of oil will also make people feel full with much less food.  So I'll let you be the judge on how much oil to use when you're cooking!

Have a good one today, and for crying out loud, I really hope the Pakistan team does something about their batting.  I love you guys, but I mean, come on!!!!

Happy Eating, and Happy Batting!

Test Matches, New (or are they old?) Players, Gossip, and Daal Chawwal to Steady the Nerves

I'm having a much better morning.  I'm still in a tizzy, but I'll get over it because there are 2 test matches going on today!  Yes!  Nothing makes me happier than a test match and for extra awesomeness 2 of my favourite teams are playing.  Pakistan my mostest favourite, is playing South Africa and then India, my second mostest favourite, is playing New Zealand!  What's a girl to do when there's so much fabulousness around?  Easy:  Watch Pakistan on the TV and watch India on the streaming live feed on the internets!

Fee-fi-fo-fum, Misbah-ul-Haq smells the blood of South Africa!

Today really will be a test for Pakistan's new test captain, Misbah ul-Haq.  I'm not exactly jumping for joy about his captaincy because I think that Younis Khan would be the better skipper, but what can you do when you live in a shoe.  And that shoe happens to be a PCB sneaker.  Ugh.  But as they say, the proof will be in the pudding. 

Let's hope it's a sweet pudding to reflect a sweet victory!

And there are some other interesting additions/omissions to the team.  My favourite, Fawad Alam, is not playing.  Weird.  Taufeeq Umar, who hasn't played a test since 2006, will be the opening batsman.  That's crazy talk!  Adnan Akmal will be the new wicket-keeper (I think they should have picked the other guy), and Mohammed Sami will be the new pace bowler.  I don't know anything about him and haven't found his profile on cricinfo yet.  We'll see how it all goes.  But I will say one thing to the team:  Win or lose I demand to be entertained!  Go Pakistan!

And some gossip:  Zulqarnain Haider, the recently retired wicket-keeper who is now in London has become the champion of all decent Pakistanis and has vowed to fight corruption in cricket.  He is so brave and so good.  Here is what he said at a press conference a few hours ago:

       "I am trying to build my image and my family's image and my country's image.  We have a lot of good people in Pakistan.  I am making this stand for Pakistan and for all cricket"


Zulqarnain Haider sticks out his tongue at Corruption


Now if that doesn't make you fall in love with him a little bit, you're plain old heartless.

Right.  And now the food.  Today it's Daal Chawwal, or Lentils and Rice.  This is a very comforting dish which will steady the nerves and provide fortitude to withstand all of the beautiful drama that the Pakistan team will certainly provide us with tonight! 

1 cup of masoor daal (the split red lentils)
1/4 onion, finely diced
6 or 7 cloves of garlic, crushed or very finely chopped
3 cm piece of ginger, crushed
1 roma tomato, finely diced
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon lal mirch
about 4 cups of water
salt

1.  Rinse the daal until the water draining away is clear
2.  Put everything except the salt in a big pot and bring to a boil.
3.  Simmer until the daal has turned into a uniform mush.  You shouldn't be able to see the individual lentils anymore.  This will take about 30 or 40 minutes.
4.  Add the salt. 
Since we're eating this with chawwal (basmati rice), make sure that the cooked daal isn't too thick.  Add more water if necessary.

Now, daal is usually "finished" with something called a tarka. This adds a terrific richness and depth of flavour that really makes the daal jump out at your tastebuds. I'll give you two types of tarka, choose the one you wish!

tarka #1
1/2 onion, very finely sliced
5 cloves of garlic, finely sliced or coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
chopped green chilies
3 or 4 tablespoons of oil

In a frying pan, heat the oil and fry the sliced onion and chopped chilies
When the onion is golden brown, add the cuminseeds and garlic, fry until the garlic is golden.  Don't burn the garlic!
Add the tarka to the cooked daal and stir.  The daal is now ready to eat.

tarka#2
3 dried red chilies
5 cloves garlic, finely sliced or coarsely chopped
cumin seeds
5 or 6 fresh curry leaves
3-4 tablespoons oil

In a frying pan, heat the oil and fry everything at the same time until the garlic turns a light golden colour.  Add to the cooked daal and give it a stir.  Ready to eat!

Serve the daal on a bed of basmati rice.  If you don't remember how to cook basmati rice, check here http://kikiscookinforcricket.blogspot.com/2010/10/t20s-in-abu-dhabi-guls-grace-and.html.

You can also serve it with roti, but make sure to cook the daal a bit longer so that it becomes thicker.

I'm looking forward to the test matches. Pakistan Zindabad!

Happy Eating and Happy Cricket!

And the diziness continues, so have a cup of Younis Khan's Cafe de Olla to relax

Right-o!  And this just keep getting messier.  Zulqarnain Haider has allegedly spoken with a pakistani newspaper in the UK implicating a team-mate, but I can't find any credible sources for that.  The Telegraph newspaper is saying he will not implicate players.  It's all so contradictory!  Poor Zully...I hope things get better for him.

I don't know what to write now.  I don't even want to think about tomorrow's test match!  Ugh.  I just want all of the players to be safe.  They must be under a lot of strain and the joy of the game must be gone.

Anyhoo, I'm going off for a coffee with a friend.  I suggest you take a quick break to get your mind off the whole mess as well.  Why don't you have a coffee too?  Here's a lovely coffee...Younis Khan's central Mexican style Cafe de Olla.

Boil 5 or 6 cinnammon stix in about 1.5 litres of water.  Boil for about a half an hour.

Use that water to brew coffee.  Brew it in a machine, or brew the coffee on the stove in a clay pot, which will give it authentic flavour.

Add brown sugar or piloncillo to taste.  Piloncillo is that hard brown sugar that comes in the shape of a cone.  It's got a molasses taste.

If you've used a pot on the stove to make the coffee, filter out the grounds by pouring it through a strainer.

Enjoy the coffee, it'll lift your spirits.  Have a good one, don't let things get to ya!

Happy coffee, happy cricket!

Zulqarnain, The Empire of Akmal, and Roti

And it's a better morning today. Zulqarnain Haider is safe in the UK, and his family is under police protection in Lahore.  Hopefully they'll be able to join him very soon.  According to some reports, he's asked for asylum and has retired from cricket.  According to other reports, he's only in the UK for a month and will be returning to the Pakistan team if he's provided with security.  It's all confusing, but I am so glad he's safe, and I sincerely hope that there are better days ahead for him.  He's an honest, hardworking, good-natured fellow and deserves so much better!

Zulqarnain's replacement (and those are big shoes to fill, Z is a great wicket-keeper) will be another Akmal.  This means there will be three Akmal brothers on the team:  Umar the batsman, Kamran the team's regular wicket-keeper (indisposed due to surgery), and now Adnan.  I have no idea why Adnan got selected; on Wikipedia he is described as being an "adequate" cricketer.  Not exactly a glowing recommendation.  Well, let's hope he performs better than Kamran.  Old Kamran has been a bit of a hot mess lately and is wildly inconsistent.  I was hoping that Sarfraz Ahmed would take over the wicket-keeping role, but hey, why not start a family dynasty in cricket.  It's so much more glamourous than a team consisting of talent!

Sarfraz Ahmed, in good wicket-keeping form

As the caption says...a hot mess

Ok, enough of the mean stuff from me.  I must say that I do like Kamran Akmal's chirpiness during matches and the games are strangely quiet without him.  But I'd be happier without the dropped catches!  Sorry Kamran.

So, today I'm going to tell you how to make roti, or unleavened flat bread to go with the "drier" salans.  Roti is made with atta flour, but plain whole wheat flour will also do the trick.  We'll just make a small amount today to get some practice.  Get out your rolling pin!

Ingredients
1 cup atta or whole wheat flour
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup water

Stir everything together, and start kneading with your hands.  The dough should slightly stick to your little fingers.  If the dough is too dry, you'll get a tough and unpleasant roti.  Knead it for at least 5 minutes.  The dough should turn elastic.  

Put the dough in a bowl and cover it with a damp cloth and let it sit for about an hour or longer.  This allows the flour to absorb all the water and swell a bit.  The texture will also change; the dough might look and feel a bit like silly putty.  It will be very elastic and stretchy. 

Tear off a piece about the size of a golf-ball and roll it into a ball.  Then dip this ball into a bowl of flour (so that it won't stick when you flatten it).

With your rolling pin, roll out the ball of dough into an 8 inch circle on a floured surface.

Put a flat pan on medium heat on the stove.  Do not use any oil.  When the pan is hot, place the raw roti on it, and after a few seconds, press down on the roti with a clean tea-towel and rotate the roti  a couple of times.  This will make the roti inflate.

Flip the roti over when it looks like it's drying out a bit.  Press down on the roti and rotate it a few times again to make it inflate even more.  When it has nice dark brown spots on it, it is done.  Eat immediately or place in a towel, then in an airtight container to keep warm.

There is another method to cook roti, which saves a lot of time because several can be cooked at once.

Preheat your oven to 250C or over 400 F.  Take the raw roti and place it directly on the oven rack.  After about 2 minutes, the roti will be fully inflated, looking like a little football and will be slightly browned on top.  That means it's done!

Some people like to put some ghee or butter on the roti as soon as it's out of the oven  or pan in order to keep it soft.  I'll leave that up to you.

And finally, one last tip:  if you want extra soft rotis, add a tablespoon of yoghurt to the flour and water mix. 

Have a good one today, and let's hope this Adnan kid does a half-decent job wicket-keeping. Go Pakistan!

Happy eating, and happy cricket!

We're worried for you Zulqarnain Haider. STAY SAFE

This is a serious post today.  Zulqarnain Haider, the Pakistan wicket-keeper, disappeared from his hotel in Dubai yesterday after receiving death threats for not throwing the 4th ODI.  I just found out about an hour ago that he arrived in London and that his family are under police protection in Lahore.

Apparently, the PCB was informed earlier of the threats ZH received, but did nothing about it.  The ICC is investigating, but they really have no idea of what they are dealing with.

I am worried for all the players on the Pakistan team.  Their board is not protecting them.  ZH's nightmare is just beginning; he may never be able to return to international cricket or even to his home in Pakistan. Stay safe, kiddo, you did the right thing by leaving and you have my support 100% for your decision.  Personal and family safety always comes first.  I know what I'm talking about, I was in a similar situation 12 years ago.

No cooking for today.  If you're a religious person, pray for Zulqarnain Haider.  He's probably terrified and needs all the help he can get.

The Revenge of Les Rosbifs! Poor India!

DID YOU SEE THAT??? DID YOU SEE THAT???  TENDULKAR GOT BOWLED FOR 12 BY CHRIS MARTIN!

New Zealand absolutely destroyed India yesterday.  Gambhir-gone!  Sehwag-gone!
Dravid - gone!  Tendulkar-gone!  Raina and Dhoni - gone, gone, gone!

I made fun of the Kiwis just a few days ago, calling them roast beefs, and teasing them about getting sunburnt.  Well, the last laugh is on me.  New Zealand, I apologize.  That was great cricket yesterday, and I'm going to remember this test match for years to come.

Now yesterday, I promised that I would post a recipe for roti, but that will have to wait.  In honour of the Kiwi's stunning breakthrough yesterday, I'm going to show you how to make a great New Zealand Roast Beef and Gravy.  Go Kiwis!

Roast Beef

1 kg roast or 1 big piece of beef, almost any cut will do
1 tablespoon of English mustard powder or dijon-style mustard
1 tablespoon flour
salt and pepper
1 small onion, cut in half.

1.  Pre-heat oven to 240 C
2.  Dust the fat surface of beef with mustard powder or dijon mustard
3.  Season with salt and pepper
4.  Place meat on 2 onion halves in a roasting pan
5.  Place above centre in oven
6.  Cook at 240C for 20 minutes.
7.  Turn the heat down to 190 C, and cook 15 minutes for each 1/2 kilo
8.  Add an extra 15 -30 minutes to total cooking time for medium to well-done
9.  Baste meat at least 3 times while cooking
10.  To check done-ness, insert a thin skewer: red juice means it's rare, pink juice means medium, and clear juice means well-done
11.  Remove from oven, place on board, cover with foil - shiny side in.
12.  Let sit in a warm place for 10 minutes.  Use the escaped juices to make GRAVY.


New Zealand Roast Beef is Great EVERYWHERE! 


Roast Beef Gravy
1/4 cup beef drippings (the fat in the bottom of the pan)
1/4 cup flour
salt and pepper
2 cups of hot beef broth and escaped juices

1. Take roast out of pan
2.  Place pan on stove burner, use very low heat
3.  Add flour, stir
4.  Add hot broth, salt and pepper and escaped juices
5.  Stir out all lumps and simmer for 1 or 2 minutes.

And there you go, a nice roast beef to enjoy before, during, or after a great cricket match.  Have a good one today, and I'm really looking forward to day 5!