Dish#2 – Boussree

Never heard of the word? Boussree. I don't blame you. Its the local name probably known in the not-so-small Memon community of Pakistan. We got it from my maternal grandma and my mother. We have grown up having Boussree for breakfast on the weekends. It was such an important part of my life that my mother ensured that my wife learnt it before proceeding further in our marital life. I am sure the sanctity of the dish is now clear.

So I thought I need to learn this one. So here we are folks, UTP made Boussree today for breakfast.

Firstly, lets get the spelling of the name right. I wanted to create the right spelling so 9 out of 10 people pronounce it correctly. First I thought I should write Bussree. But then thought about 7 out 10 people would read that as School Bus and Ree which is not how its pronounced.

Then I thought I'll make it Boosree and then I thought still about 5 out of 10 people would question the halal nature of the dish due to its easy relation to booze. I would probably need a fatwa issued to assure the audience that the dish is edible and yes indeed halal.

So I finally made it Boussree. Just ensure you don't go Bo-uss-reee. Make it two syllable with no rolling of the tongue to make it Bouss-ree. That's the best I could do. Hope you got it.

Anyway, lets get down to how its made. Its a sweet roti or a sweet roti sandwich. If you know sweet roti or "mithi" roti then just know this one is a two layered roti with sugar sandwiched in the middle and way much softer.

First make the dough. One Buoussree takes 2 small cups of flour and a pinch of salt. Put some water on a ratio. Put a little and feel the flour. The flour talks to you when its thirsty. Don't put too much water or it gets sticky. If you do so by mistake then add more flour. You can't have flour sticky at all.

I didn't have to beat the flour that much like I had to for the pizza. This was much easier however, interestingly, my daughter snuck up and asked, is the dough been bad again? You'll only get this joke if you read the pizza post which I did for last week's cooking.

Leave the flour after its  nice and round and it will dry up a bit to get rolled. Then pat a little water on it and punch the dough a little more. Pull out half a lump out so you leave half more for the second layer and start rolling the half lump. Put some dry flour to make sure it doesn't stick to the floor and keep rolling.

The first roll need not be an exact circle as its gonna be done over anyway. Once you have rolled it to an approximate circle or oval or pyjama or basically any shape, read and then apply the secret move.

Now, I ll let you in on the secret move. Put some oil all around and cut one slit from the centre to the edge of the circle. Then roll over the whole thing so it becomes a 3-d Conical figure. Pull out a lump of flour from the pointy side and compress the rest in your hand. This ensures the oil merges into the flour. There is no better way in history known as yet to do this. This has come to us from generations and down to my mother to my wife. Then squeeze using both thumbs, both palms to make it a small circle and roll it again into a circle. Smart eh?

Once its a circle keep it on the side and do the same as mentioned above with the other lump for the second layer. Only on the second layer, when you are done with the secret tip on top, put sugar well balanced all across. This is the same as putting jam on toast only much stickier. You thought jam was sticky. Spread the sugar evenly and when done, bring the first layer that you had rolled and place it nicely on top of it. Its needless to say that both the circles should be 95% the same size.

When you are done with this, you would have a sandwich of 2 rotis with sugar in the middle. Sounds yummy already but here is another important trick that makes this dish what it is. When making a round sandwich ensure the edges are really thin and tight. Start twisting the edges in with just one finger, the index finger. If you try this with any other finger or anything else (don't get creative...), it will not have the effect required. Twist all the way around and the edges should start looking like curlies or macaroni curls.

The frying pan should be made hot for a little while and then put some Ghee in it. Yes this dish is not for diabetic or cholesterol conscious people. Its sweet and oily. Sorry, I should have probably told this earlier. Fry the round sandwiched rotis until they are golden brown. Put more ghee if required depending on how oily you want it. I prefer, not too much though.



Voila, its done. Yes, short and sweet (literally). It usually is better to cook 2 small Bousrees (4 lumps ~ 4 layers) instead of a big Bousree. Cut the circle in 4/6/8 pieces depending on the size and enjoy it. This dish is enjoyed more with milk tea instead of coffee and is more of a breakfast dish.

The same method can be used for cooking Minced Meat Bousree, Aaloo (potato) Bousree or any other filling that you like. Just replace the sugar with any item. Then it could become a lunch or dinner item as well. Ensure to get raita (spicy yogurt) if you want to make this with anything meaty or veggie.

Dish#1 - Pizza, Potato Salad & Garlic Bread

The project begins. Umami Tasting Parsnips - Episode 1.

This last Friday, the project began. My wife decided, it's got to be straight forward and not to complex. Also, something that we could all enjoy. So the menu was set. Chicken and Tomato Pizza, Potato Salad & Garlic Bread. She wanted to squeeze in a chocolate cake as well but I gave her the look. This is the first day lady, and she realized she is getting a little carried away with it. I could see she was hiding her excitement but its this same attitude of hers which keeps pushing us all to do better every next time. Lets Learn Urdu is one of her such example projects, where she keeps stretching the limits for our elder one. She is the woman behind this successful man, for sure.

Anyway, back to the topic. So I got my Chef's Hat ready, my Red shirt and the apron (it still needs a UTP logo) and we got going. I peeled potatoes first and chopped them down and put them in to boil. You need to put half a teaspoon salt in the water for some reason. It helps it get soft and slightly salty.

Then I got to the Pizza dough. Lots of punching and kicking on the dough to make it behave. My wife told me that Italians, the so called maestros of Pizza making, bang the batter while holding from one side, so it stretches. I particularly enjoyed this part, cos I believe that was the only element of violence that I got during the whole episode. My manly ego was satisfied. We put a little olive oil, some normal cooking oil and flour with a small packet of yeast. When the dough was round and plump and had had its share of beating for the day, it was left to swell from the wounds.

While I was kicking the dough's ass, my daughter comes and asks what's going on? Obviously the sound of beating got her distracted from her cartoons. I used this situation to my advantage. This dough has not taken care of her sister and also not been a good girl lately. So it's getting a beating. Then I went bang and bang and I think the message sank in pretty well with few gulps. That reminds me of a story from a Sindhi drama which I will keep for some other day. Its related to pillow beating.

Next came cutting the capsicum and tomatoes for the pizza and also shredding the cheddar cheese and mozzarella cheese. All this was done while the potatoes boiled. I checked the softness of the potato and when the knife can go in smoothly through, they are ready to be soaked dry. They were pulled out and left to dry through a steel net.

A little time later, the Pizza dough, started screaming for attention as the wounds were paining and swollen. We were looking at some thick crust to be cooked. A little bit more kicking and punching and the dough was ready to be laid down. I mean, like strolled through the roller and made into a circle. This is where I used one of the tricks used to make it a perfect circle. Wonderfully, even my wife didn't know that one. Moment of pride. See you stretch it and stretch and then you cut a circle around it with a knife. The extra dough at the end is then put in the middle again and rolled further in. This is what they don't show you in cooking shows. They can do their pizza flipping and height reached etc but they don't show you how they make it into a perfect circle.

Anyway, it was rolled over and then a joint effort to place it on the Oven tray. I laid down the Pizza Sauce using my hands and fingers to ensure the sauce reaches where it should. This is something that mayG had done a day earlier. Next time I ll prepare the sauce myself also. Next came the cheddar cheese, boiled chicken pieces (shredded) and on it the capsicum, tomatoes and olives. On top came the mozzarella cheese. It was ready to go in. The oven was heated.

Mozzarella cheese has no real taste. It is just to bring the stretchy cheese effect we see in advertisements. The pizza tastes just as good without it but...Consumer brainwash. Man.

While the oven heated, I whipped the mayonnaise, cream and some seasoning into a thick paste for the potato salad. This was yummy. I almost had it all while whipping.

The oven heated and the pizza went in with a lot of prayers. I got to the Garlic Bread after that. Long french loaf, cut slanted (my touch) needs to be filled with a paste. This paste was made from one Garlic clove, 2 slices of butter and olive oil. A little seasoning. A lot of mashing and when the butter melts, its ready. The french loaf is not cut all the way through and rather left right till the bottom so that the loaf stays together. Then the paste is slid into the cuts. This is a skill that I developed on the job. Once done, its put into an aluminium foil and snuck into the oven.

Final touches on the potato salad where the potatoes were mixed with the paste made earlier with a spoon as the potatoes are too soft to be used with anything else. A little leaf on the top (for the look) and the salad was ready.

After a little while, the Pizza started screaming, let me out and we got it out. A little overdone but still yummy. I couldn't figure out exactly how long we put it but I believe we kept it 2 minutes too long. Anyway, it wasn't as bad as it may sound. This Pizza was filled with stuff on top, soft through the rest and it needs some teeth at the bottom of it. Not the crispy kind but something that you can't melt in but need a bite. I personally liked the touch, I would like to get the same effect again every time.



Anyway, we set the table, Pizza in the middle, Garlic bread on side of it and Potato Salad. A job well done by UTP and appreciated by the wife. I have actually done it folks. The fear is gone now. I can take on any dish that comes next.

It became such a large pizza that we had it for dinner, breakfast next day and also for lunch and dinner the next day. It was approximately 20 inches in diameter and really thick. So that's my plan. Cook something on Friday which lasts through the weekend so its a relaxing Saturday.

Feel free to get in touch with me on any further details cos I couldn't write them all in. Wow!! I did it. I don't believe it.

Umami Tasting Parsnips - The Project

What's the deal with the title, you ask? Well its name of the new category on UTP. I have just initiated a self-project. It may not involve Umami or Parsnips, but its sure involves a lot of tasting and well mainly cooking.

Yes folks, UTP is facing his worst fear. His most hated thing. His punishment for life. His nightmare about hell. I am entering the realm of cooking.

I don't know why I am doing this yet. But I am. I think I was inspired by the movie Julie & Julia and not because of cooking but more with being inspired to blog. However, that has led me to think, what the hell is this cooking thing that women boast about and we men (well most of us) hate?

Considering all the head chefs of pretty much all big cuisines of the world, talk Five-Star, Seven-Star hotels, talk celebrity cooking shows, males dominate this market. Yet the average male at home, prefers to bum around, watch sports and pretty much do anything but go near the cooking area of the house also known as the kitchen.

The kitchen for most men is where the food is.

Well its true cos you got the refrigerator and cabinets with all the food stuff in. What most women would want us to know is that there is a dish washer, the stove and oven is there as well and not to mention the kitchen sink and the garbage bin as well.

Well its a long list so I have decided to at least get one major one under my belt. That is cooking. For people who have known me for a while, they would know this was pretty much the last thing I would have wanted to do on my list. So here's my answer to that. I like to surprise people. Surprises have always worked for my marital relationship. This one is no different.

The day I told my wife, I want to do a cooking project with her help, she was at first in the "Yeah...Yeah..." mode. But when I told her how I had planned it all. One dish every weekend and I do everything on my own. You just guide me. I had my cooking chef hat, a souvenir from Nanta and I need an apron with the UTP logo on it. She suggested I wear the Red shirt I have always had while cooking so it goes with the Red tape on the Chef Hat. I don't mind that. But seeing the plan I had, she knew I meant business and well how I made her fall in love with me again is something that she'll write about. I don't mind being the spotlight at all. But you already know that by now.

This is of course going to lead to a series of Posts as well so I needed a category. I decided its got to be something that abbreviates UTP. I am pretty much obsessed with my initials. So I went across googling for cooking vocabulary for words starting with U, T and P. I wasn't disappointed at all. I actually found a website whose title was "Cookabulary". Now is that perfect or what?

So as the title of my post says. The category is Umami Tasting Parsnips.

I like the name. Umami is the fifth taste that the Japanese have come up with after sweet, sour, salty & bitter. I think I would like the taste if I cooked it, as explained on the website I just linked to above. Parsnips is a root vegetable, something like carrots. But that is not why I selected it. My "rational" reason to select it was because it looks and sounds like a brief version of "partnership". Yup, that's my logic, like it or not.

This is going to be a partnership. A moment of bonding, every week. I look forward to it. I hope to keep this entertaining as we go along for you as well. Wish me Luck.

Cookin' Nanta!!!

Okay I saved this post right till the my last day in Korea. Now publishing this from the airport on my way back. As I had promised in my last post on my trip to Korea that I am going to dedicate a separate post on Nanta, well folks here it is. Cookin' Nanta was probably one of my best experiences ever.

Nanta stands for making sounds with kitchen utensils. Cookin' Nanta is probably one of the best selling shows in the world and it apparently originated from Korea. So when I was coming here for, I read on multiple websites that even if you don't get to see anything else, I should see this at least.

With a personal recommendation from my wife,  I had to make it a point to watch it no matter what. Where I got to enjoy other stuff as well but this was the best. Its a combination of Comedy, Vegetables flying around, Dancing, Music, Kung Fu and yes sounds from kitchen utensils like pots and pans and knifes chopping etc. Very funny. I don't think I have laughed this much in ages. I almost fell over the seat in the middle. It was simply hilarious. Head aching laughing, with no stopping.

They usually make different stories out of it to make it interesting every next time. The one we watched was where the head chef and his 2 assistants had to prepare a meal for a wedding in about 90 minutes. The manager's nephew joins in who has no idea about cooking or anything. So it becomes interesting as they teach him and prepare the stuff at the same time.



I would have been very content just watching the show but as luck would have it, I got involved on the act itself. They had a session in the middle where they had a game where 4 audience members made cakes and rolled them down to stack 'em while the rest of the audience counts how many done. Red team of 2 people vs Blue team of 2 people. I was red team.

So, I don't know what it was that the actors wanted me on stage along with 3 people. It was probably because I was laughing so loud, much louder than the others. 2 Korean girls and 1 boy from the probably the subcontinent as well made the 4-member audience participating people.

So we made music, made cakes, and we made the crowd clapping and counting. What an experience? With the cooking chef hat on my head. I felt sheepishly embarrassed at the beginning. I mean come on. Different country, nobody knows me. But amazingly, the music and the fun of it got me in it and I forgot where I was in a little while. I enjoyed and didn't want to stop at the end.

The best thing was there were no language barriers. They didn't need to speak. The whole act was based on just actions, expressions and the common language of comedy which everybody understands. I think that is the success factor of this show.

This is one of the best shows that you could see. Its now going around the world, very popular all around. I am sure you can find it in a city near you. It is a must see at least once before you die.

Sharing a video above and one below. You can probably search more on YouTube as well. But you wont enjoy like I did cos when its live, its happening in front of you. They will crack you up and then you can't stop.

Korea - Work Hard, Party Hard

Leading from the series of Travel posts that I have been doing every month and plan to do them until January cos that's how the project is making me travel. This month, is the month for Korea. Yes, readers, UTP has contaminated the streets of Seoul, South Korea this month.

Seoul is probably the best of the lot that I have visited to date. Its a huge city, big buildings all around, lot of industry and home for technology giants such as Samsung & LG and not to mention Car Makers Hyundai & KIA who by the way are one of the main sponsors for the FIFA World Cup this year as well. Just amazing.

Both North Korea and South Korea qualified for the world cup this year and hence this sponsorship makes a lot of sense. Koreans make good cars and they have a big General Motors Unit here as well by the name of GM Daewoo. You must have heard that name before as well.

People are more crazy about Baseball here than Football (Soccer) though but I was told that when South Korea played a football world cup game, there were 8 lane roads (highways) that were blocked for traffic cos people stepped out and watched the game on huge Screens on buildings while hanging around on the streets. The number of people touched a million when South Korea played the last game. That's amazing isn't it? Imagine the site of so many people on the roads and screaming with oohs and aahs. I would have loved to be part of that, only arrived 2 days late.

Koreans won the Olympic Gold in baseball last Olympics and since then their league has got stronger and much more interest from people as well.

The Korean food is well, different to define it nicely. Lots of seafood and beef around and they use a lot of Garlic in their foods. They eat less but eat healthy with vegetables coming into the diet more and more. I had a problem with halal food so stuck to the breads, veggies and doughnuts around. However, I did have Korean food which was quite interesting. KimChi and Jin Seng are two things that you will hear from Korea. Both are excellent for vitality as I heard from many people and with winks from the old ladies. Indicating, that stuff helps increasing the population of the world.

I wouldn't say its a cosmopolitan city but it has got its western influence in terms of fashion, culture which is nothing different from other countries. However, it is good to know from people that the younger generation is close to its roots and lives up to cultural traditions. Most of the population here is Christian and the next big chunk follow Buddhism with the other being minorities.

Its a city filled with gadgets and technology. Every car has a GPS system and quite an advanced one which tells potential traffic jams and the best route to take etc. I was particularly impressed with the number of power sockets I saw in taxis. GPS, cell phones, satellite trackers, I don't know what not. Quite interesting.

People travel by subway or public buses cos taxis aren't that cheap. Ipods, iphones and a lot of Korean technology products around. Why not? You got 2 world leading brands living here.

Korea is known for its cotton and specially night wear such as pyjamas both ladies and men and more popular for the babies. I'll see if I can get some for my kiddies.

Koreans speak Korean which is completely different from Japanese or Chinese. I had to write this specifically out for my intelligent sister.

Probably the only problem I had was with the language and the food. Otherwise, it is right up there with the big and successful cities of the world. It was amazing to see everything so well managed and organized in such a big city.

Koreans work hard which I could see in front of me but they dont work a minute later than the official timings. Then they party hard all the way into the night and specially on the weekends. Good quality of living defined.

Been here a week, got another to go. Lets see what else I see in the upcoming week. There is NANTA on the cards which deserves a dedicated post. Coming up right after this.