One day I’ll get back to posting regularly. Maybe that day will be in Ramadan (the month of fasting) which starts some time next month. After all, it’s a good time to reminisce and also feed all the hungry searchers and googlers looking for iftar foods like aloo pie and baigani, and barfi recipes and what it’s like to celebrate Eid ul Fitr in Trinidad. Even if I didn’t know Ramadan was approaching, I’d be able to tell from my Statcounter!

Another really popular search is for the “ghost of the solomon hochoy highway” “claxton bay ghost” “the story about the little girl in the white dress by claxton bay in trinidad and tobago”, leading to my post on the Haunting of the Solomon Hochoy Highway. THe popularity has resurged based on the recent reports in the Trinidad and Tobago Express on the government investigations into the “death highway” (which is apparently caused by speeding, dangerous curve and high wind, but mostly speeding - that’s the official word!) People have still been commenting on the original post, adding their bits of knowledge to the history and folklore. The T&T Express seems to have done an investigative piece on the story though, confirming that the statue and site of disturbances is Forres Park, providing input from estate workers etc. Apparently this year is 100 years since the poor girl died.

From the story -

“Maria was the daughter of a Forres Park estate overseer who died near the highway in March 1909 while on her way to warn her lover that he was about to be killed because her parents did not approve of their love affair. Shortly after her death, a statue of the Virgin Mary [by her grieving father] was erected near the spot where she died. It was some years later that the statue was desecrated by a mentally impaired woman who claimed it was not responding to the questions she had asked it. In a fit of anger, the story goes, she climbed the pedestal on which it stands and decapitated the statue.

Former workers at the Forres Park sugar estate testified to the decapitation and they also knew why the statue was erected by the overseer. …Harry Seedas, a former worker on the estate, was the last person to testify about the accuracy of the event. Seedas died a few years ago leaving behind the story of a legend that has captivated the minds of many for years. This year marks the 100th anniversary of her death and residents are planning a religious ceremony in commemoration of her death and to make every effort to have her spirit put to rest.”

Another really popular search is for the “Good Eats burger” or the “Alton Brown hamburger” or the very specific “grind your own meat burger”. I imagine there’s a great demand for burgers on the US Independence Day (Happy Independence Day to any US readers!), so I hope my AB Burger post was helpful.

July 4th is also an important anniversary for us in the Caribbean. On this day, in 1973, 4 regional leaders signed the Treaty of Chaguaramas, creating the Caribbean Community. In Guyana, it’s CARICOM Day and we get a holiday on Monday. Yay, us! (I mean the Community, not just us lucky folk working in Guyana.)

—————————————-

Although I have not been blogging (or taking photos) recently, my creativity has not been wanting. It’s just all been sucked in by the exigencies of the day job. It’s a crying shame when your JOB makes you use that part of your brain you reserve for your own activities. I mean, it’s been rewarding and fun to do things that are not necessarily all about law and procedure, but I don’t know. I am undecided. After all, I have all of, I don’t know 10 faithful readers, and those eager search-engine users to serve. You don’t pay me, but that’s ok. That’s what the job was for right?  Anyway, if I get to put away the job for tomorrow and Monday (holiday!!!) then perhaps there will be more to blog very soon. After all Lilandra is visiting, and we have been cooking from time to time.

1. Because Mom said so.*

2. So that when you spill your pasta in the sink, while cooking with injuries all over both hands, you don’t feel guilty about scooping up the pasta and putting it back in the hot water to sterilise it.

Fastidious people should avoid my chicken cacciatore tonight. Although it is good. Very good. But after all that, the pasta is overcooked…

—————————-
* Quite fanatic about it too. Out of her four two elder children, one always had to be on sink-clearing duty while she cooked.

Ok, perhaps this might sound like another “paranoid’ warning about the nefarious alien bovine plots for the Earth. But people in Guyana must clearly be in the know more than I knew!

For here is a sign that has tickled my interest and raised goosebumps. “No Cattle Allowed” at the entrance to a residential area just outside Georgetown. Now, you can read this anyway you wish, but I choose to believe that these people know that cows can READ, hence the sign (because cows generally roam the area unfettered by human accompaniment, so who do they expect to read the prohibition?) AND they are afraid. Very afraid. They need to warn the cattle away!

Don’t believe me about the underlying menace behind this sign? Then what is the bird of prey doing lurking about? Sure, it’s just a chicken hawk, hardly the largest or freakiest looking bird in Guyana, but it’s the perfect setup for the horrors to come, to have a bird of prey looming overhead…

Be warned.

I’d always known of the 2 kurmas, and gulab jamoon, as separate entities, and it was only once I hit high school that I realised there was any other way of thinking. Kurma growing up (in a primarily Indian village in Central Trinidad), was really the fat kurma, served as sirni (sweet) after Juma in the mosque on Friday, or at Muslim functions and weddings in little plastic bags (fancy boxes and paper bags developed in later years). There were only a couple families I knew who would sometimes make and bring the thin kurma, which in my mind, was the kind normally sold in shops A recent conversation with a friend who also grew up in Central area, provided a possible reason that we didn’t get much thin kurma growing up - being Christian and surrounded by both Muslim and Hindu neighbours, she remembers getting fat kurma from the Muslims and thin kurma from the Hindus. AHA! It all made sense.

Thinking back to my sources of kurma, and checking with Mom, this explanation was indeed valid. In fact, back when lines between Muslim and Hindu Indo-Trini foods were more defined, you wouldn’t ever get thin kurma from a Muslim household! Muslims served sawine, halwa, maleeda and fat kurma. I used to wait to go to Hindu weddings to get karhi (the dhal with pholourie-like things in it) and even to this day some traditionalists say channa and aloo is “Hindu food”. Mom says long-time, paratha (buss-up-shut) was the roti of choice at Muslim weddings, while dhalpuri was the only roti served at Hindu weddings. Fortunately, I firmly believe if food is good and halaal, there should be no other distinctions In any event, gradually over time, these lines in the sand have been eroded to the point that people outside or within these communities never even think about such categorisations.

But back to the fact that there are 3 fried sweet dough things!

Thin Kurma is made from the least rich of the doughs, which is rolled out flat and cut into thin, rectangular strips, deep fried, then coated in a sugar syrup (paag). Simply Trini Cooking has an excellent step-by-step recipe with photos.

Fat Kurma is a little richer and should taste of some spice (cinnamon, clove and ginger). The dough is usually rolled into ropes, which are cut at an angle into diamond-like cuboids, deep-fried and coated in sugar (usually ending up in white, clumpy, oh-so-sweet sugar all over). It should only be crunchy on the outside, and soft and a little fluffy on the inside.

(Trini) Gulab Jamoon is fried balls of a dough enriched with spices, butter and condensed milk, then glazed with sugar. Traditionally made in elongated ovoid shapes, hand-rollled individually (see photo on the right).

But onto the FAT kurma recipe!

Ingredients

* 2 kg flour
* 500 gm butter/margarine
* 1 tin condensed milk
* 1 tin evaporated milk and 1 tin of water mixed
* Ground spices to taste - cinnamon, elaichi (cardamom) and clove
* 6 tablespoons finely grated ginger (or as desired)
* Oil for frying
* 1 kg granulated sugar (plus 1 cup)

Method

1. Mix flour and margarine completely until it looks like fine breadcrumbs.

2. Add half the tin of condensed milk, half the ginger and the evaporated milk and water and mix well.

3. Knead the dough until it is smooth.

4. Separate the dough into 4 balls and knead again to a smooth surface and allow to rest.

5. Put oil to heat in a heavy pot.

6. Roll out a ball to 1/2″ thick and cut into 1 1/2″ strips. Roll these strips slightly into ropes, and cut at an angle into 1 1/2″ pieces. Alternatively, don’t roll into a rope but cut the strips, turning/twisting the strip after each cut.

7. Fry the pieces in batches until golden brown. Repeat for each ball.

8. Leave the kurma in a large basin to cool and continue until all the balls are fried as directed above.

9. Divide the unsugared Kurma into 2 or 3 basins and have sturdy spoons for mixing.

For the Paag (Sugar Syrup):
10. Put sugar and one cup of water to boil in a large pot with the remaining ginger until the sugar mixture spins a thread when dropping from a spoon.

11. At this stage add the remaining half tin of condensed milk and boil again until the mixture spins a thread.

12. Divide this mixture equally between the basins and stir continuously until the kurma is evenly coated. You’ll need help to mix all kurma at the same time or the paag will harden. Unless you just keep the kurma in one large basin and turn it all at the same time.

13. Transfer to another bowl or tray to spread out a bit so that the kurma doesn’t clump together.

This is usually served in little clear plastic bags, but you can go ahead and pop them in just like that. Go brave!

————————————-

* just to clear up other possible confusions, this has nothing to do with korma which is a type of creamy curry, originating in Pakistan or North India

** oh, harken back to school bazaar days promising many Indian Delicacies for sale!

…Rhodes and his crew explored some of the culinary highlights that Trinidad and Tobago has to offer. This included a river lime in Lopinot, a trip to Maracas Bay and a tour of the Chaguanas market, with top local chef Khalid Mohammed as their guide. They sampled doubles which were declared the firm favourite, closely followed by saheena and bake and shark. After the market expedition, the crew had dinner at Khalid Mohammed’s Chaud, where they feasted on the produce purchased at the market. ”

Trinidad Express story.

This sounds like something I’d want to see. Especially after the disappointment of Alton Brown not making it down to Trinidad and Tobago! I wonder how much of their experience will make it to the final programme.

—-

P.S. Thanks to Trig - this is part of Rhodes Across the Caribbean on UKTV Food.

Even 3 year olds know this.

Niece #1: “Mummy, can I get some chocolate”

Sister-the-elder: “No, it’s too late. If you’re hungry you can have some bread or some food.”

Niece #1: “Mummy I will be happy if you give me chocolate, I am not happy now.”

Good thing she never watched The Incredible Hulk, or her next line would have been, “You wouldn’t like me when I’m not happy, Mummy.”

We did somehow manage to take quite a lot of photos of the things we ate (although not everything!). Somehow, I guess this seemed acceptable…I haven’t sorted through those yet. I just couldn’t face it. Soon we’ll just create an album of the daily food or something.

While I’ve only got up to the days just after the Hajj was completed, anyone who’s interested can go visit Chennette’s Flickr album for Hajj 1429.

The photos are still of Makkah and I have some proper Kaabah shots to upload yet. Not to mention Madinah!! Insha Allah it’ll happen. What with relying on my cameraphone and the Olympus P&S that is supposed to be sister-the-elder’s when we thought we’d have the new Nikon Coolpix we got for the parents…the photos got better as we got used to the camera…AND I am tweaking

First View of the Kaabah

Originally uploaded by Chennette

The family returned from the Hajj on the 29th of December 2008. Last year That was on Monday and today is Friday. But we arrived with the usual Hajji cough, cold, flu, allergies, tiredness from 3 days of travel, good cheer from the completion of the Hajj and the communion with 4 million people from all over the world…everything but our luggage. Four of us, and the only luggage we got was our little 2-gallon container of Zam Zam water!

Alhamdulillah, we got our luggage yesterday. Of course, passage through and long stay in Caracas meant that 4 were opened and a couple things snagged from 2 of them, but nothing overly important or valuable (i.e. all my new hijabs are intact).

Lilandra walked with a copybook and had the great idea for us to journal (by HAND) so that we could at least have some notes for blogging later. We did pretty well on the trip TO Saudi Arabia, even having comments (in the margins) and guest commentary and musings from the parents. That never made it past the plane to Jeddah though. Once we got into Saudi we were in full Hajj mode and that just took up all our concentration and attention.

The experience of the Hajj is difficult to explain briefly. On one level, it is intensely personal, a completion of an individual religious obligation (if you can afford it) and an opportunity for forgiveness and personal prayer and supplication. During the Hajj, you try to do as much as you can to maximise the benefits of the experience. On the other hand, it’s a massive community exercise, with millions of Muslims from all over the world descending on the same location to do the same things for a few days. Oh, the languages, and the peoples, and the crowds. It’s all just amazing to be part of that, part of such a huge celebration and really feel like one of an Ummah (nation).

Lilandra and I will nonetheless try to chronicle our journey at our Hajj blog for posterity, and maybe for the benefit of any future hujaaj*. There are some really funny stories - especially the ones that were not so funny to us at the time. Wily old ladies and the unspoken battle for sleeping ground. The shock of the stooping toilets. Flat tyres and deserts. Saudi seasoning = salt, salt, and salt on the table.

I’ll link to them as we post, maybe cross-post a bit. But we’re back safely, and more or less healthy depending on when you ask us. As for photos, well, they technically don’t allow photographs in the Masjid-al-Haram (mosque around the Kaabah) and the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah, but I managed it in Makkah (hence the pictures of the Kaabah and more to follow). In Madinah they’re much much stricter, but I do have some courtyard photos to share

————–
Hujaaj is the plural term for a pligrim, singular is Hajji or Hajja

one of the five obligatory pillars of Islam. We’ll be gone until the end of December, without internet access. So…no blogging

I won’t be able to moderate comments during the period, but don’t really want spam running wild on the blog for the month, so forgive me if you’re new and your comments don’t register. If you send an email to chennette [at] chennette.net I can deal with any requests or comments when I return.

Cynthia, of Tastes Like Home
, with the gorgeous photos and delicious foods, has published her Caribbean Cookbook and it is available from Amazon.com from November 30, 2008! it will be released on January 23, 2009! Until then you can order the book from the publishers.

Cynthia is a Guyanese, living in Barbados, who writes a food column and blogs about food. She’s adventurous in her cooking, yet very nostalgic and passionate about the food of her childhood, her homeland and the Caribbean at large. I am sure the book will be great. It will certainly look phenomenal if her photos are the standard!

Congratulations Cynthia!