Being a blogger has its perks. The biggest being that it helps you connect to other food bloggers in your area and talk about the thing that is forever on your mind: food of course. Thanks to the Food Bloggers Qatar first meetup curated by the lovely Doaa, we got to meet Gopika and Manju albeit very briefly – there were just so many people to meet.
If you aren’t aware of their blogs you should definitely add them to your reading list. I know they’ll be a go-to at lunchtimes while I ponder what to have for dinner. Knowing that their blogs were mainly about recipes rather than reviews we thought it would be a good chance to collaborate.
Plus it gave me (the Indian food junkie) a chance to expand my repertoire and actually get Hani in the kitchen (thankfully Gopika snapped the very rare sight). The ladies kindly thought of my English palate, so lessened the chilli and black pepper, but I think I’d up them a little as I like my eyes to widen and wake up to the flavours.
Here’s what we cooked up:
Chicken Kebab
The recipe for this can be found here on Gopika’s blog. Although the watery chicken mince I bought proved difficult to work with Gopika somehow managed to get the meat to wrap around the kebab sticks and stay put (we could have added more breadcrumbs had I had them). Her advice is to make sure the onion, ginger and garlic are finely chopped so they are well blended with the meat. Although the meat proved problematic, the end result was delicious. The meat soaks up all that flavor and its something I’ll be trying to recreate again and again. It’s something I know I can persuade my Dad to trade in the fatty takeaways for and I’m looking forward to cooking it for him when I go back.
Kerala Style Vegetable Stew
Manju very thoughtfully selected vegetables that I’d be used to: potatoes, carrots, cauliflower and green beans… although you can probably use whatever is your preference and what’s in season. I can take or leave potatoes (I know what’s wrong with me) so I would omit those and replace them with chickpeas or peas. It was lovely and light and worked well with the other dishes. This would be my go-to lunchtime fill. It’s quick and easy to make (if you’ve already got your spices roasted and ground). Find Manju’s recipe here.
Ghee Rice
Hands up who get’s excited about rice. OK so, that’s no one. Ever.
It’s the thing on your plate that usually looks unappealing. It’s there to bulk up your meal, lighten the load of spice, or soak up that sauce. Gopika’s ghee rice, not only smelt fantastic as the ghee, onion and spices were warming up, but looked and tasted great too. The addition of ghee roasted cashews and some raisins elevates the humble rice into a dish that gets you complements (everyone at work raved about this). Both Gopika and Manju tried to teach me about how you’ll be able to tell by the smell that the spices have cooked: the odor changes into something that should hit the back of your throat and make you cough. We wafted and wafted. I didn’t cough. I guess the pressure got to me. So Gopika said it sound be around 2-3 minutes in case your sense of smell seems to be in hibernation like mine.
Raita
As I can’t tolerate yogurt it was Hani’s turn to get his hands stuck into recreating Manju’s spiced yogurt. He claims to not being able to eat rice without it, so he whipped it up super quick (it’s an easy dish for a novice) and enjoyed it with the kebabs and rice.
Find Manju’s recipe here.
Our thoughts:
We absolutely loved spending time with Gopika and Manju, they have a great passion for food and bringing and they were so well organized having roasted spices, cut up vegetables and brought pans and things with them. They also made the whole experience enjoyable and encouraged us to get to know the spices we were using and get involved rather than just watch and learn.
All the dishes were tasty and well balanced in flavour and are something I’d like to recreate on my own of for loved ones, so they left me with a happy stomach and a happy heart. They certainly create food with love. They are also available to create menus and supply food for parties or get togethers or whatever suits your needs. I know I wouldn’t hesitate to call them.
Lemon & Mint
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