Wednesday 27 April 2016

What's Cooking Thursday #1: Minced Meat with Pitta Bread

What's Cooking Thursday is a series of different recipes of meals & desserts that I've been cooking recently. Although I don't always like my own cooking I do like my mum's and most of these are her recipes. I hope you enjoy!

I don't know about you, but sometimes I can't be asked to make an elaborate dinner. I want something easy, quick, flavoursome and wholesome. My absolute go-to is this minced meat (keema) recipe that I've learnt from my mum. She adds tons of spices to her food to really amp up the taste!

INGREDIENTS

1kg minced meat
1 1/2 medium-sized onions or 2 small onions
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp ground garam masala
1 tsp groun coriander
1 tsp ground cumin seeds
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1/5 tsp of chilli powder
2-21/2 tbsp tomato puree/paste
3 tbsp oil
a generous helping of mixed vegetables
one handful of fresh coriander leaves
You can also add 3 medium-sized boiled potatoes to add to the very end!


I usually give my meat a rinse underneath the tap and squash all the water out and let it sit for a bit before I put it in the pot.

 
Finely chop your onions and chuck them into your pot along with enough oil to coat them while frying. 

Cook them until just passed golden brown - it doesn't matter if a few bits are darker or lighter than the rest so long as you have a general golden colour throughout. This helps with the flavour and colouring of the minced meat. You'll want to turn the heat down to its lowest point

You'll now want to add a mug full of hot water and turn the heat right back to bring to the boil. 

Here we will now add our 1tsp of ginger and garlic as well as our tomato paste

And now we're adding 1tsp of the rest of our spices (ground garam masala, coriander, cumin, curry powder, paprika, salt) and 1/5 of chilli powder - or you can add to taste. It is better to add less chilli powder and to leave or to add to taste later on.
You mix all the ingredients together and you leave on the heat for 2-4 minutes until you can start to see the oil bubbling in the pan.

You now add your minced meat!




















And mix thoroughly until it's covered in the sauce. You the leave this alone to boil with the lid on for about 3-4 minutes so that the water can escape from the minced meat



















You then check on it and see how much water has come up and add to it if necessary. At this stage I usually add half a mug.



















I now add in the mixed veg to cook along with the minced meat and leave to cook for 15/20 minutes on a slightly lower heat. I usually take this time to wash up and to clear up my kitchen counter so most of it is clean!


Now that it has cooked you can add the fresh coriander and taste the minced meat. You may add to your liking here. I like to add at least 1/2 tsp of everything and maybe 1/5 tsp more chilli powder.
Mix thoroughly when you add more!

You'll now want to get rid of any excess water. So you crank up to high heat and stir consistently until all of the water has evaporated.



















 And it is complete!
Serve with pitta bread and enjoy!


 


Two Tiny Hands


Monday 25 April 2016

It's Time to Focus on Your Goals Today!

Its never late to write about goals. They are useful whenever you decide to start. They don't have to be at the beginning of the year only to be forgotten about on February 14. Every day is a fresh start for you and you can change things on any day any TIME you like. You just have to set realistic ones and to make sure you turn your steps to getting there into good habits. The more you do something the more chance your 'good habit' will stick!
I haven't set any for myself for a long time and I'm getting a bit lost in myself. I thought it would be good to get them down here and force myself to get started. (I've also been doing Helene in Between's 14 day challenge and this was something that came to mind when she said to write a post, ta for the prompt!)

MY PERSONAL GOALS

  1. Be a little more adventurous - whether that means meeting new people, cooking new food (and for other people!), getting out and finding new places. Do something adventurous to tell stories about!
  2. Learn a bit more patience - especially when it comes to other people and my babe, I can get easily frustrated and need to be a bit more chilled out and resourceful on how to deal with impatience.
  3. Start up cross-stitch again - I enjoyed doing this a lot when I first picked it up, but dropped it for a bit when I discovered blogging again.
  4. Learn & memorize the 30th chapter of the Qur'aan with translation - I'm hoping to learn the arabic in 2 weeks and the translation is a couple of months.
  5. Get someone to teach me Arabic - online or in person, I don't care so long as I'm doing it. I really think I'm missing out on all the un-translated books out there that are waiting to be read!
  6. Study & memorize the basics of Islam particularly The Three Fundamental Principles.

 MY BLOGGING GOALS

  1.  Post consistently at least twice a week!
  2. Get my camera out again and start snapping more
  3. Spend more time blogging
  4. Have a schedule for posting & always have something in the queue!
  5. Collaborate with someone (hint hint)
  6. Guest post
  7. Go self-hosted
  8. Get paid for a post
 MAIN GOAL

  1. Don't take life too seriously! Laugh at yourself more. Don't hang on to people who aren't returning the favour. Feel, accept & then move on. 


SO having shared all of mine now...


& what advice do you have for me about mine?



Two Tiny Hands

Thursday 7 April 2016

Therapy


I've had a lot of thoughts in my head this week, but have had a hard time trying to translate them into coherent ideas that can be written (or typed) down. So today is a post for the sake of posting (and my sanity).

Here are the things that have been on my mind lately:

1) I find it so hard to blog sometimes, because I often think that I'm not talking to anyone. It is a blank wall and there is no one interested in what I have to say - so why post, or make effort into making anything look nice, at all? What's the point if no one's looking at it?

Well, does it really matter if no one is looking at it? Couldn't it just be for myself? Yes, of course it can. In fact I've loved to look back on things I've kept that I have written in the past. I've read my past writings many times and have often looked back on those periods of my time with some reflection.

However, this doesn't mean I still don't find it hard to do things for myself. Things that will matter one day - that I will want to look back on. I think this has to do with extreme procrastination and laziness. It also has got to do with a lot of self-loathing as I have been self-destructive in the past and don't have the highest opinion of myself. Therefore I do not deserve to have happy moments to look back on - I have written too many things that have painted myself in a bad light and all the tough moments, but rarely the good things.

After all one bad thing is often spotted a mile off in a sea of brilliant blessings.

2) My cousin's grandmother passed away a couple of weeks ago and despite trying to get a hold of her since then she has not once picked up any of my countless phone calls. It's left me disheartened.

3) The lack of time spent with my husband makes me frustrated and sad

4) I'm thinking about trying to teach my little cousins Qur'aan - a very fresh, very new thought. It was brought on by the fact that I will need to teach mine soon and practice would not go amiss. I have also not been in the teaching game for quite a while. I am unsure of how it would work out, how I would try and teach her especially if something doesn't sink in well. I'm not a qualified teacher and although I have some experience, I'm not sure if I'm up for it or not. I am thinking of planning a way to do these lessons, making Istikhaara and then broaching the idea.


These ones are the most prominent in my mind and it was nice to let these thoughts out. So on my last note have a look at the view I had yesterday;



What's been on your mind lately? What kind of therapy works for you?