Don't judge a book by it's cover!

   When I read this post on somebody's wall, I was quite surprised that it isn't only me who thinks that way. Throughout my life, I have met quite a few ladies who are not at all what they look like and yet are judged by how well or  not they recite the quran, participate in religious activities, where they sit in mosque i.e in the front, how much they cover themselves i.e chadar and scarf or not. Not to sound like the bad one here but I have met girls who qualify for the above and yet fail in terms of being a good person overall. I start wearing my hijab (head scarf) since the age of 9 Alhamdullilah. For some reason where I was from (Dar-es-salaam), this wasn't enough, my friends told me hijab was not hijab unless accompanied with an Abaya. It was like they looked down upon me. The auntys' kept telling me until my dad one day decided to ask them why they were so bothered and if they were going to account for my sins. Since then not a word. Funny thing is, these same people moved to the west and their Abaya was nowhere to be seen, I just want to tell them that Allah is everywhere not just in a specific city. 

   I have been told several times. Why don't you recite Munajat's (poetry) or Quran/Dua in gatherings ?. Again girls who don't are pretty much looked down upon and the ones who mashAllah have the confidence to fall in the good religious muslims category. Being religious is to know what you are reciting, the meaning, the message or at least that's what I think, being good at reciting the Quran can also mean you're good and fast at learning a language. It doesn't make a slow learner or a slow reciter any less of a muslim. Personally, I have never been able to gather the courage to recite anything in front of a big group or in front of anyone to be honest, for me it is very nerve wrecking but that doesn't mean my love for Allah is any less does it? I like to keep it quiet and converse with my lord in person. 

 Although, this has become a stereotype, and we cannot change the way people think and to be honest the love for Allah and Islam is between you and Allah. I am not concerned about what anyone else thinks, because they'll say something today and forget it tomorrow - It's how the world works. That's just how I think, everyone has their own personal opinion and this is mine. However, Please, I am not saying that people who recite in public are all not good muslims or are just showing off lol - I have my own sisters and friends who are beautiful reciters and good practicing muslims at the same time MashAllah, I am just trying to change the stereotype belief, the few that don't, have just as much love for Allah than anyone else. 

Spread the islamic love. May Allah forgive us for our sins and have mercy on our souls. Amen.

Our beautiful princess Aamena!

This morning our sister was blessed with a beautiful baby girl named Aamena. She is named after our beloved grandmother who passed away not too long ago and needless to say she is back to bring even more happiness and blessings to our family.
Do keep our grandmother, our little Aamena and our family in your prayers always :))
Congratulations to the new parents and family.
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Quick fix dinner Scrambled Eggs w/ Cottage Cheese.

Well...original plan last night was to make grilled chicken skewers, but for some reason I could not think of any marinade or maybe my mind was being too lazy to think. It's all the exam stress I am guessing. Anywhooo we thought of getting some takeout but then I thought of scrambled egg (bhurji in Indian). Needless to say my mom makes it best and I have never been able to achieve the same taste for the past year I have been making it including yday :(. Something tells me I will get there soon ;). Time to go marinate some chicken skewers - updates tonight.
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The oh so yummy Paneer Chilli.

For those of you who have been to Khana Khazana or BBQ village in dsm must know exactly what I am talking about. Paneer chilli has always been a family favourite especially with my sister and I. I have tried various recipes but nothing has come close to the restaurant style paneer chilli :(. So this recipe is one of the 74027472934 trials and yet all these recipes have failed to satisfy my taste buds like the bbq village paneer does but nonetheless it makes a tasty and quick dinner on a week night.

Recipe

Ingredients. 

2 cups cubes paneer 

1 bell pepper

2 large onions

4 green chillies - slit 

1 tsp ginger garlic paste

1 tbspn soya sauce 

1 tsp green chilli sauce 

1 tsp tomato ketchup

oil

1/2 tsp sugar

1 tbsp cornflour + 3 tbsp water

salt to taste

For the marinade

3 tbsp flour

2 tbsp corn flour

1 tsp freshly ground pepper 

1 tsp minced garlic

A pinch of salt

Water

How to...

1. Make a thick paste with ingredients for marinade and let the paneer pieces soak in it.

2. Add oil in a pan and shallow fry paneer pieces, until slightly brown and drain and set aside.

3. In the same pan, add chopped onion, green chillies and capsicum. Cook until the onion turn transparent - 2-3 mins

4. Turn flame high and add soya sauce, green chilli sauce, sugar and ketchup. Stir fry for about 30 seconds and reduce flame. 

5. Add the paneer and the cornflour water paste, add salt as desired and cook for another 3-4 mins until sauce thickens. 

6. Enjoy :)).

Original recipe from cookingandme.com

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The Creamy Garlic Prawn w/ Fettuccine.

First of all, before I get sued by god knows who, most of the recipes I use are either from friends, family or the internet therefore I will try and give credit as much as I can :). Not all of the internet recipes turn out good but oh well we learn through mistakes ;). This is one of the recipes I found online although it did need a couple of add ons and minuses here and there, the end result was pretty satisfying. I have made something similar before and it turned out to be really dry and my dear husband (who is amazing and never complains btw Alham) and I had to have it without much choice. This recipe on the other hand turned out to be way better, it was creamier and tastier. I need to look up the link for the original recipe as I print recipes as soon as I find them and never save the links. However, I will update this post with the recipe
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P.S I am still new to cooking and the whole kitchen experience so please feel free to make your own changes accordingly :).

The Recipe.

Ingredients.

Fettuccine - as desired (original recipe called for 400g)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 finely chopped medium sized onion
3 crushed cloves of garlic
3 medium sized tomatoes, seeded and chopped
300 ml light cooking cream
600g cooked, peeled, deveined medium prawn
15g fresh basil

How to make it.

Cook the fettuccine according to package and drain.
Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium - high heat and stir fry the onion and garlic for 5 minutes.
Add the tomato and cook for 3 minutes before adding the cream.
Bring to boil, then reduce the heat to simmer for 5 minutes until the sauce thickens.
Stir in the prawn, fettuccine and toss.
Gently stir in the basil and serve immediately.

A few changes I made/added:
- Used 6 tablespoons of ready chopped tomatoes instead of whole tomatoes.
- Added lots of crushed pepper after adding the cream.
- Although the prawns were ready cooked I fried them separately w/ a bit of oil and garlic.
- Had to add quite a bit of salt to get the right taste.
- Before serving I added a dash of lemon.

Original Recipe by Ponicuta.

Enjoyy :)) x.