Food Challenge.

Food challenge, sounds like I’m about to ask you to eat bowls of ice-cream to make and break records. Well, that’s not the matter. To my surprise, I was nominated for this Food Challenge yesternight by an amazing fellow blogger, Saiz. I prayed as I scrolled down that the rules don’t ask me for a recipe and yassss they didn’t!
It’s kinda weird, but I keep it real.. that.. I am a really good chef Alhamdulilah but really bad at telling recipes. I can’t. I don’t give directions, I do stuff directly for people who need my help in the kitchen. Crazy huh? I’m good for lazy people hah.
Anyway. This post is going to be about food that I’ve not-so-much interest in. I’m not a foodie. Often when I cook, my hunger dies while I’m cooking. I don’t die for food. Food doesn’t tempt me. Neither do I love cooking food. It’s just a thing that I can do but not something I like doing. My attitude towards kitchen is : Every girl knows how to cook, its no big deal, and every adult should know how to cook so that they don’t die of hunger. You get me, right?
There’s another perspective of perceiving this by the way. I don’t specifically like cooking probably because it was not something that I did by my own choice. I HAD to do it. I had no other way out. I needed to cook for my family because they needed me when mommy couldn’t stand in the kitchen. She stayed sick for like a year and I had to take her place in the kitchen. So yeah, I didn’t “learn” cooking, I just got up and started cooking, with some little directions from mommy. It wasn’t all bad though, I got praises and appreciations and applauds as rewards and it was worth it. I made my family proud, what else can one want?
Lets come to the point and get going. The rules :

1. You have to tell the person who is nominating you what is your favorite food (so He/She can also give it a try if they like. )
2. You have to write your feelings not the recipe.
3. You have to add a picture of the dish.
4. You have to nominate 7 persons for this challenge.

There’s not one favorite food of mine. I’m the person who loves lentils, veggies and roti. Yeah, you can call me a vegetarian. So.. I’m going ahead with some of the best dishes I’ve ever made in my life and they are worth a try.

First of all, Hydrabadi Mirchon ka Saalan.

It isn’t as spicy as it sounds and is not really a curry but rather a pickle thingy. We usually eat it with Biryani to add more flavor to it. I absolutely love it because its pretty hard to make and I’m one sugharr larki who knows how to make it haha 😀 Wait a minute, how can one ‘feel’ about food? Its food, treat it like food not something mahaan. Acha Sorry.
Yes I’m a hyderabadi, my sarcasm makes sense now, no? 😛
Next up, The Queen of Desi Foods, Biryani.

Biryani is that one food which is the easiest to make. Like. Did someone come to visit you without a call? Serve them biryani. The flavor tho, is amazing. Some mint garlic raaita works perfectly with this dish. I don’t love Biryani but I like it. I bet whoever invented it actually accidentally mixed boiled rice with qourma. Haha. Sorry not sorry.
Next up, Chinese Fried Rice.

I don’t particularly like Fried Rice, but oh well.. this dish is heaven. Every single time mommy is in the mood to have some, I’m the one supposed to make it. You know why. 🙂
Next up, Spaghetti.

Spaghetti and Macaroni are like the foods of paradise. Look at that. I mean. Cheese. Mayo. Ketchup. Veggies. Pasta. Yum.
Next up, Achaar Gosht. 

This doesn’t look as tempting but believe me this one thing made me feel so proud of my self. It was actually good. The thing about this dish is that it is all meat, plus it smells and tastes like Achaar! (By now, you know that I don’t know how to describe food. Not my forte.) I made this one in a really angry mood so yeah, you can see how recklessly it’s garnished.
Next up, Meethay Dahi Baray.

Meethay Dahi Baray are simple Dahi Phulkis with sweet yogurt. They taste like the tenth power of delicious. It’s usually served with shaam ki chai. This dish tastes better after long hours of fasting.
Next up, Spring Rolls.

Perfection is what I strive for, and spring rolls are perfect things that never let me down. Feeling hungry? Spring rolls. Feeling upset? Spring rolls. Feeling bored? Spring rolls. But the effort it takes to make all of them can never balance out the little effort it takes to just fry them. My back started aching by just writing that line. Gah.
Next up, Mince Filled Rolls.

It was an experiment and it worked out! The smokey flavor of minced meat with slight taste of green chilies makes it worth while. Roll up in a piece of bread and booyah! Yum.
Next up, Bhail Poori.

This dish is basically a layered thing. Layers upon layers of mashed potatoes, chana chaat, nimko, paapri, dahi phulki and some more beaten yogurt with honey. Its yum. Try it out. With shaam ki chai of course. I LOVE IT.
Next up, Falooda.

I made this intentionally like a kheer. Yes, it’s in a bowl. It was one of the best desserts that I have made yet. I am not a meetha person, pun intended. I don’t like meetha. But I’m always up for Gulab Jamun. Gulab Jamun is life. Falooda is.. the short form of milk and condensed milk and milk noodles and pistachios and almonds and stuff like that combined and cooked together with obviously lots of sugar.
Next up, Pistachio Kheer.

I made this on 14-8-14 for the love of Pakistan since it was our independence day. Hence the green tinge. I didn’t even take a bite from this tho. Because. I’ve mentioned that above. But do give it a try. Its amazing to eat. The flavor of khoya with all those almonds and pistachios and elaichies makes it an experience, out of this world.
And finally, My Interpretation of Heston Blumenthals’ Royal Classic Trifle.

I made this on my dad’s birthday despite the fact that he has diabetes. Since I had kitchen in my hands and I could do whatever I liked so yeah, I tried to implement what I had learnt from Master Chef Australia’s Season 5. It was an experiment that worked out perfectly. Its just a layered custard, upside down. I couldn’t go through all those hard levels to make this dish so I did it my way. A layer of vanilla custard on a layer of cake on a layer of smoothly set strawberry jelly and topped with pieces of bounty chocolate and whipped cream, it was actually pretty amazing to eat. It was the first time when my family ate the whole of a dessert.

So here’s my food experience in a food blog, once and for all. Gosh this is a really long post. Smh. I’m sorry. Thanks for reading!
I’m not nominating anyone, if you are reading this and you want to write a Food Challenge post, then go ahead, I nominate you. Yes you. Don’t run away.

Stay blessed.
– Mahaah.