Passing Through This Life

so with the kids at home for two weeks and between the fighting arguing and what not their always what to do for afternoon snack ... so today i decided to do an algerian classic which is kissera all you need is semolina salt and oil and water as to how much is pretty much up to you   i used today i kilo or semolina and about a tsp or so of salt and oil about 3/4 tbsp  rub all together and then add water until you bring the dough together then roll it out or here in most home they use the palm of their hand and flatten it out .... as to how thick or thin is really up to you as that too varies here then place on a tabona and tajin  or you can use your cooker with those flat pan here is what a tabon is like    place your dough on top of the tajin and cook on a low to medium heat till it looks like this   and then enjoy with a hot cuppa or some hot chocolate  

oh my , oh my,  this has taken me some time after many day and lots of yarn i have finally finished my daughters crocheted bag it didnt go to plan as i didnt have the right type of wool but none the less it looks good and the main thing is that my daughter loves it i joined a site called ravelry that was recommended by a friend and this is where i found the pattern for this bag .... to see the pattern log on or register first this is how the bag looks on the site   and this is how my one turned out     as you can see it is a lot bigger as with real wool it would have shrunk but none the less it`s not bad.......  

sometimes the kids do have a late breakfast because they cant get up ... especially while on holidays form school .... those are they day where a very light lunch will do so today i sliced up some chicken breast and coated then i flour, egg, and breadcrumbs that i mixed garlic, pepper cumin, carwia, and coriander . salt   i fired in a small amount of oil .... then i made dome yogurt dip .... that natural yogurt, garlic and mint and bought some algerian bread   put it all together and yuuuuummmmmmyyyyyy

so i`m getting use to making these paratha it has taken it`s time but i got their so tonight i decided to try them with a potato stuffing which a good friend made for me the first time i tried them and masha`allah i loved it so i used 4 cups of flour about 4 tbsp of oil salt water  enough to make a soft dough i mixed everything together and then oiled it and left it for 20/30 mins then i made the filling 4 potatoes carrot courgett garlic spices (what ever you choose to do) i boiled the potatoes and once cooked then i let them cool down then i placed them into a frying pan and grated a carrot and courgette  and added garlic and spices and cooked on a low heat while mashed and mixing everything into the potato... once cooked let it cool start with the dough and take a size of a walnut and roll it out thin then brush over it with melted butter and roll it and knot it (look at pic above to see ) once your finished all leave for another 20 mins then go back and each piece roll it out again ...

  Virtues of the Prophet (PBUH) and Companions – 7th Muharram 1432 (13th December 2010) Narrated Muawiya (Radi-Allahu ‘anhu): I heard the Prophet (Sallallahu ‘Alaihi Wa Sallam) saying, “A group of people amongst my followers will remain obedient to Allah’s orders and they will not be harmed by anyone who will not help them or who will oppose them, till Allah’s Order (the Last Day) comes upon them while they are still on the right path.” Bukhari Vol. 4 : No. 835

so the name says it i set out to make paratha and ran out of time as dh arrived home early and couldnt wait to eat so i cut the time in half and this is what i came out with well the pastry was 3 cups of flour a pinch of salt 1/2 tbsps of oil (i added 3 ) water (i just poured until til i had a soft dough filling mince ( as much as you like ) i small onion cut finely three cloves of garlic pepper / salt / cumin / Cinnamon and parsley (a hand ful) once i mixed the ingredients for the pastry i oiled it and placed it to the side for 20 mins normally after this i should roll out into discs. Brush with melted butter and roll into a sausage which you then knot and leave to rest for another 20 minutes but i ran out of time so i just took it from when i oiled it and made small balls and rolled them out i place the filling on one half and then covered with the other half and then roll the rolling pin over it and placed on my hot plate ( tajin)

well i always like to try new things and the most recent is pakoras  i know many ppl who cook them and i have eaten them once and loved them ... so my thought is lets try them ... so i did and masha`allah they were delicious  even my dh like them   and they are very simple to make too   i just sliced some potatoes and onions also i chopped some parsley ... the recipes that i found them from said coriander but i had none and it also said a small chili but i too had none so i added chili  powder instead as well as some pepper and cumin and salt then i added a little water and then a little gram flour and kept doing that until the mixture was wet and once done i fried them and masha`allah i think they turned out great but i will leave that to the experts to say whether it is or not

so as each meal come i`m stumped in what to cook and if it was only one meal but here in algeria  lunch time isnt just a simple sandwich it`s a meal ..... and with growing children and a husband one dish isnt enough so your always thinking what else can i make with it .... so masha`allah i`m always looking for inspiration and flicking through blogs galore  and one recipe i found which is very common here in algeria but is considered  a meal in it`s self is garantita ... but in my house hold it`s a side dish   so masha`allah i found this recipe here jazak`allah khair umm z it is my first time to cook it and i hope it came out well ..... my dd10 loved it and my dh said masha`allah ... so it seems a hit     another side dish is potato cakes which is a very simple dish   i just peeled and wash and cooked 4 big potatoes once cooked i mashed them now sometime i put a little milk and butter and once mashed i let it cool down but this time i didnt then i added 1 small onion...

so i love to cook with a cheese called kiri or philli  it make a delicious dish  .... so the many way i do it is   i make the sauce   chicken breast (as many as you like) 1/2 onions mushrooms white pepper /salt/ginger and kiri/philli cheese   here are two pics of a sauce i make with them     in the first pic the chicken breasts are sliced into two and pre cooked a little before beginning the sauce and half way through the sauce i added them to finish them in the second pic it is cut in to small pieces and fried a little with the onion and mushrooms and then add the spices when the sauce is near finished add your cheese and lower the heat and allow to simmer until the sauce has become thicker   the first pic i make this with lataka`s recipe here and what i do is put one of the lataka`s first then a little sauce then a piece of chicken the some more sauce and then another lataka and sauce and i end it with a piece of chicken on top and pour some more sauce o...

so one of my friends made this dish and masha`allah i was so impressed at how easy it was i decided to try it so jazak`allah khiar nicola and to the sister who`s name is sarah who had it first... this will become a regular in my house it went down a treat and nothing was left so here is where the recipe for the chicken kebabs are the rice is simple .... i just cooked white rice  and cooked some peas and carrots and boil a couple of eggs and when every thing was cooked i mixed them together and then grated the eggs ... i halved it so that i could put olive oil over one and butter in the other as some of us dont like olive oil a nice and simple dinner or lunch