ShareMy visit to Dubai’s busiest fish market in Deira was worth a visit.
At the break of dawn, the place is bustling with sellers and traders luring every single customer to their catch of the day.
Mind you, they do sales talk in languages you can imagine – German, Japanese, English and what not - depending on how they see you!
Dubai, being situated in the Arabian Peninsula is abundant with so many kinds of fishes. The Dubai Fish Market has an incredible variety of local fish, crabs, shrimps, you name it at very affordable prices and very fresh, some still moving.
If you haven’t been to a real, wet fish market, be prepared, though - it is an eye opener to your senses. The smell is, well, fishy but what can you expect from a fish market? After a while, your nose will get used to the smell and you won’t mind roaming around looking for the perfect fish

Next to the Fish Market is the Vegetable and Fruit Market. The vegetables are better than the ones in the supermarkets.
Dubai is a desert land but because of its location, we get lots of fresh produce from neighboring countries in Mediterranean, Europe and India. Some veggies and fruits are locally produced as well, using state of the art greenhouses.
This is where you'll find a large variety of cheap and fresh fruits both from local and imported from neighboring countries. It's also a place where you can get a hand on different types of dates

In all,had a great time in the market. Cya...
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SharePav bhaji  is a fast food dish popular in most cities of India and liked by almost everyone. Pav means bread and bhaji is a term for the mashed vegetable curry  garnished with coriander and chopped onions.
  
Ingredients-


 
  • Boiled and mashed vegetables(potato/cauliflower/capsicum/carrot/beans/green peas)-500gm
  • Finely chopped onions-1 big
  • Finely bchopped tomatoes-2 medium
  • Chopped garlic-2tbsp
  • Chopped fresh coriander leaves - handful
  • Pav bhaji masala -  2tbsp
  • Red chilli pwd - to taste(optional)
  • Salt to taste
  • Lemon juice
  • for garnishing - onions and coriander finely chopped
  • Low fat Butter
  • Pav/Burger buns/bread-1 pack (use brown bread/buns for a healthier dish)

Bhaji:

Cut all the vegetables in big pieces and boil them with a cup of water and a little salt in a pressure cooker.
Mash these vegetables.
In a pan put 2tsp oil, add the garlic and chopped onions and sautee till slightly pink in colour.
Add the tomatoes and cook closed until soft.
Add the paav bhaji masala.(I use Everest/mother's recipe pav bhaji masala) saute the tomatoes well.
Add the vegetable mixture to it & mix it well .
Add salt (according to taste) and red chilli powder if you like a real hot gravy.
Add water if the gravy gets too thick
Let it boil for a minute or two.

Add 2tbsp butter to it as per your taste and mix it well.
Once you remove it from gas pour in juice of half a lemon for that extra taste.

For Pav:

 
Apply butter to your pav.
Toast your pav until they turn golden brown.

 
To serve:

 
Serve your Pav and Bhaji together with onion, cilantro & lemon juice garnished on the bhaji.
Enjoyyy !
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ShareTahini is readily available in stores across many countries. 
It is an essential ingredient in Middle Eastern dishes such as humous and falafel
I just like to make my own tahini and have found that this recipe is the best.
I have made it with both vegetable oil and olive oil and decided that I like if best with a combination of the two.
It is worth making tahini in bulk to reduce waste as the sticky paste is difficult to empty cleanly from your food processor. This is the proportion of oil to sesame seeds to use, increase the quantities to suit your needs

 
Ingredients:

 
  • Sesame seeds-5cups
  • Olive oil or vegetable oil-1 1/2 cups

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toast sesame seeds for 5-10 minutes, stirring the seeds frequently with a spatula. Do not allow to brown. Cool for 20 minutes.
Pour sesame seeds into food processor and add oil. Blend for 2 minutes. Check for consistency. The goal is a thick, yet pourable texture. Add more oil and blend until desired consistency.
Makes about 4 cups
Homemade tahini should be stored in the refrigerator in a tightly closed container. It will keep for up to 3 months.
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ShareFalafel is very popular in the Middle Eastern snack.
As a main dish, it is served as a sandwich, stuffed in pita bread with lettuce, tomatoes, and tahini sauce. As an appetizer, it is served on a salad, or with hummus and tahini. Falafel is a favorite among vegetarians.



  • Dried chickpeas or canned chickpeas -1cup/1can
  • Onion, chopped -1large
  • Garlic, chopped-3cloves
  • Fresh parsley, chopped-3tbsp
  • Fresh cilantro, chopped -3tbsp
  • Cumin -1tsp
  • Flour-4tbsp
  • Dry hot red pepper-1/2tsp
  • Salt-to taste
  • Baking powder-1tsp
  • Oil -for frying
  • Tahini sauce thinned with a few drops of water(Homemade recipe to follow in next post)
  • Chopped tomato/onion/bell peppers- for garnish
Place dried chickpeas in a bowl, covering with water. Allow to soak overnight. Omit this step if using canned beans.
Drain chickpeas and pressure cook for 20mins until cooked 
Drain and allow to cool for 15 minutes.
Combine chickpeas, garlic, onion, cumin, parsley, cilantro, salt and pepper in bowl. Add flour and baking powder.
Mash chickpeas well ensuring to mix ingredients together. You can also combine ingredients in a food processor if  you want the result to be a thick paste.
Form the mixture into small balls, about the size of a ping pong ball. Slightly flatten.
Fry in 2 inches of oil on medium flame until golden brown .Remove from oil and drain on a paper towel for a minute or two.
Serve hot. Garnish falafel platter with cut tomatoes, green bell peppers, red onion and turnips. Serve tahini on the side.
NOTE: As an alternative, falafel can be formed into patties and served like a burger.

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ShareFresh, delicious, healthy and bursting with peach flavor!
There’s nothing like a sweet creamy peach milkshake to cool off those summer nights. A couple days I went to the grocery store and found huge, beautiful peaches for an amazing price. Lucky me!

Ingredients:
  • Peaches -6
  • Ice -4 cups
  • Honey-to taste

 
Peel the peaches, chop them and place them in a blender with ice, and blend. To serve, pour the glass half way with the smoothie, add a dash of honey, pour the glass to the top, and top it with one more dash of honey.
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Share
  •  Lauki (bottlegourd), peeled and grated-4cups
  • Onion (chopped)-1large
  • Tomato (chopped)-1large
  • Gram flour (besan)-4tbsp or more if required
  • Yoghurt-2tbsp
  • Garlic cloves, finely chopped-3cloves
  • Ginger, finely chopped-1tsp
  • Black pepper powder-1/2tsp
  • Chopped Green chilies-4
  • Cumin seeds-1tsp
  • Coriander powder-1tsp
  • Turmeric powder-1/4tsp
  • Red Chili powder-1tsp
  • Salt-to taste
  • Oil-4tbsp

Dry roast besan on low heat for 2-3 minutes
Squeeze water out of the lauki; mix in salt, ginger and black pepper.
Sauté over high flame, to dry up excess liquid and leave to cool.
Add roasted besan, 1/2 tsp red chilli powder,2tsp chopped corriander leaves; mix well and shape into walnut sized balls.
Deep-fry koftas to a golden brown over high flame and keep aside
Coarsely grind green chillies, onion, yoghurt and tomatoes all together in a blender
Add 2 large spoons of oil in a pan.
Add chopped garlic and the coarse masala to it.Once the masala is cooked,lower the flame and continuously stir the masala
Add the dry masala, i.e. red chili powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder and salt to taste
Add 2 cups of water to make the gravy. Boil the gravy for 5mins
Add koftas into the gravy
Garnish with fresh coriander leaves
Serve hot with roti or rice.
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ShareKiwi fruit, is one of the top healthy fruits.
Kiwi fruit is rich in vitamins, minerals and protective phytochemicals that promote health and longevity of human life.
What more can one ask for? This amazingly tasty drink is an amazing health drink,a heat buster and an excellent cocktail drink for parties.
Ingredients
  • kiwi fruit, diced with some larger chunks for garnish-1cup
  • Juice of lime, freshly squeezed-1
  • Finely minced ginger-1/4tsp
  • Dash of salt- optional
  • Sugar syrup-3tbsp
  • Ginger Ale(carbonated soft drink flavored with ginger)-8 oz.
  • Ice
In a mixing container, add sugar syrup, dash of salt, minced ginger, diced kiwi, and lime juice; mix well.
Pour ginger ale into a chilled serving glass.
Pour juice mix over soda, making sure to swirl minced ginger and kiwi.
Garnish with kiwi and lime rind. Enjoy!
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ShareMy idea of the perfect dessert involves custard in any shape or form.
This rich custard gets its color and flavor from a caramelized-sugar topping. It's a great make-ahead dessert that's sure to impress any gathering.
The recipe I submit to you today is Julia Child’s crème renversée au caramel–unmolded caramel custard. You line your molds with the caramel, fill it with custard, and then bake in a water bath to ensure slow and even cooking. It can seem a little complicated but crème caramel is actually quite simple to make and it never fails to impress.

for the caramel:
  •  Sugar-2/3rd cup
  • Water-1/3rd cup
Add sugar and water to a heavy stainless steel saucepan and cook over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. When it starts to brown, swirl the saucepan around but do not stir. This will ensure that the sugar turns color evenly and will help wash any crystals off the side. When it is thick and a light, nutty brown, remove from heat and pour directly into molds; swirl each mold to coat evenly with the caramel.

For the custard:
  • Milk-2 1/2 cups
  • Sugar-1/2cup
  • Eggs-3
  • Egg yolks-3
  • Vanilla extract-1tsp

Bring the milk to just below a simmer in a saucepan.
Gradually beat the sugar into the eggs and egg yolks in a bowl until well mixed, light, and foamy.
Continue beating while pouring in the hot milk in a thin stream of droplets.
Add vanilla extract.
Strain the mixture through a fine-meshed sieve into the caramel-lined molds.
To bake the molds, set them in a pan and pour enough boiling water around them to come halfway up the sides. Place in the bottom third of an oven preheated to 350F.
After five minutes, turn down the heat to 325F. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until the center is firm but slightly wobbly. Cooking it too long will result in a tough rather than tender custard.
Chill in the refrigerator. To unmold, run a knife between the custard and edges of the mold. Place a serving dish upside down over the mold and quickly reverse the two, and remove the mold from the custard.
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Share have been longing to try baking spring rolls insted of frying them.Finally,I tried it and they turned out to be perfect.
Delicious and crunchy without deep frying!"

Filling:
  • Chicken boiled and shredded-2cups
  • Carrot cut into juliennes-1cup
  • Capsium cut into juliennes-1cup
  • Cabbage shredded-1cup
  • Sliced onion-1cup
  • Black pepper powder-to taste
  • Salt-to taste
  • Ajinimoto- a pinch
  • Soy sauce-1tsp
  • Oil-to brush rolls
Heat 2tsp oil in a pan.
Saute onions o high flame till translucent.
Add shredded chicken and saute.Now add carrot and capsicum and saute.
Add salt,soy sauce,ajinomoto and pepper powder to taste.
Finally add shredded cabbage and toss.Switch off flame.
Let it cool.

Filling the spring rolls:

Thaw the spring roll pastry as per the instructions in the package.
Carefully remove a sheet and cover the rest with a moist cloth to prevent drying.
Keep the filling in the bottom and wrap .
Grease the baking sheet and place the wrapped spring rolls.
Brush them with oil and bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes or until they are golden brown.
Flip the rolls after 15 minutes and flip them back again after 30 minutes.
The spring rolls were very crispy and tasty.
You would never deep fry your spring rolls again, once you taste this.
These spring rolls can also be made using phyllo pastry sheets,but the fat content is more.


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