Kunafa!

Coming to the middle east, I was introduced to this cheesy & sweet dessert called Kunafa for the first time about 8 years back in Kuwait and I simply felt in love with it! I have always loved cheese....all kinds... so it was obvious that I would favor this cheese based dessert!

Kunafa is a traditional arabic dessert and is quite popular particularly around Ramadan. Don't know why but during Ramadan many shops would make this dish in huge pans and just the look of it would be so tempting!

By far the most delicious Kunafa I have ever tasted were the ones in Kuwait. The cheese were real soft with a crispy layer of vermicelli on top and were bright orange in color topped off with sugar syrup. It was sweet but not so sweet and I could easily polish off quite a bit of it.

Two weeks back, knowing my love for this sweet dessert my friend prepared Kunafa just for me. The cheese was too little and it was more of the vermicelli. The vermicelli was too hard and it was tough to chew. It was a disaster but I was sincerely touched by the thought that went behind it. I will never ever forget this Kunafa!

Then today, I passed by Carrefour and I spied Kunafa in the delicatessen section! It wasn't that good to look at and now having tasted it, it wasn't that good at all!

One of these days, I shall learn how to make Kunafa. One of these days....

A letter from a friend

Amongst my papers I stumbled into this gem of a letter....

Hi M,

So good to hear from you too! It really does seem to be a good year - I had quite a run of doom and gloom last year. This year things seem to be looking up already - two emails from a chum and good news in them too! don't worry about being "not exactly the budding flower". You could just be a late bloomer.

Age creapt up on me faster than I could imagine. I still think young but from somewhere (quite likely from the sky - not the hundreds of bars of chocolate I scoff on a regular basis) the kilos have piled on. Weight is certainly the enemy to age. If you can fight off the fat, you will have no problem - age will be your best friend. At the moment my body is my main enemy with its ally - a rapidly expanding waisline!!

.........

Right now we are experiencing the worst summer ever. Steaming hot days and rain at night. You would think we are in the tropics! One good thing about it - it keeps me indoors so I can catch up on my writing. I haven't managed to publish anything yet. I lost most of my early work when my computer crashed. So its back to the grindstone from scratch. You'll have to hang on for that autograph for just a little longer. Maybe in years time I'll have completed a collection of short stories about women who have overcome odds. Serious stuff! When I get to writing about fun times I'll have to consult you - remember our flashes of hilarious moments? Laddoos and naps in the sun?

My phone number is xxxxxxx. Do you know the time difference between SA and Kuwait?

When is the best time to call? Hoping to hear from you soon.

Lots of love
Su...

We lost touch after my visit to SA. Wonder how she is? Did she publish her book? I did email her but received no reply. I will try the number she gave here hoping it's still the same....

PS:- I called after doing this post and yes! the number still was the same. It was her at the first hello...the same ol 'Su!

Taste of Thai

When it comes to eating something light on the stomach but filling, nothing comes close to Thai Food! Here too where I am currently living I have found a quaint little Thai Restaurant nestled among one of the busy streets. Where trees are rare there is a couple of lean trees richly decorated with those small colored light bulbs which makes it look so christmasy! One could sit outdoors as well as indoors.

My usual meal would consist of one of the famous hot & sour soup called Tom Yum to start with. The main ingredient I always choose for this soup is shrimps. So it it the Tom Yum Shrimp soup flavored with aromatic lemon grass, lime leaves, cilantro and fresh mushrooms. Believe me when I say this is yummy!

Then comes salad. Sometimes it would be the Shrimps Salad. This is shrimps mixed with red onions, lemon grass, cilantro & lime juice served on a bed of lettuce. At other times it would be the Seafood Salad. This is shrimps & squids with the same ingredients as the former more or less.
For the main meal, I like to have rice with any of the shrimps dishes. Shrimps with Basil Leaves, Green Shrimp Curry (shrimps & vegetables in green coconut curry with Thai Basil & chillies), Shrimps in Red Curry, sometimes with bamboo shoots and at other times with mushrooms. As an extra, the rice is topped with a fried egg!

All these food would be washed down with one of the Thai drinks.....Thai Iced tea or Iced Longan Drink usually though at times I could go for the Coconut Water.

A good meal in whole.....a little expensive albeit....but money well spent!