Daily Prompt: Smell You Later

Humans have very strong scent memory.Tell us about a smell that transports you.

My mom’s preparation of Turki kebab takes me back all the way to my hometown Comilla, Bangladesh.I can still imagine my mom slicing the beef, the potatoes, onions and the tomatoes. They all had to be the  same size. My mother placing a layer of meat, potatoes, onions, and tomatoes and on top the yoghurt spice  mixture and then some whole red dry chilly peppers and on the very top the oil in a round aluminum pot large enough to hold all the ingredients with a lid.. She’d continue until all the ingredients were used.

She’d  put the pot on the stove and leave it for an hour. The aroma of this dish filled the kitchen and the veranda.We’d sit patiently for mom to call us for dinner. When we were called we’d sit and wait for mom to serve. This is such a pleasant memory, it seems to me when I think of it, I’m back home relishing the food, each morsel had such a divine taste.

……………………………….. 🙂

Kebab Recipe Ranu’s post https://sabethville.wordpress.com

English: Glögg recipe: spices used, clockwise from top, Cinnamon, Ginger (sliced), cloves, cardamom. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Ingredients:

1. Meat(beef) two and a half pound roast,sliced into three-fourths of an inch,size of each piece , length= 3 inches, width= two inches.

2. Onion– 5 medium size, the slices should be same as beef pieces.

3. Potatoes_  5 large, sliced the same as beef  pieces.

4. Tomatoes__6, medium size; sliced same as beef pieces.

5. Yoghurt– 2 cups; plain

6. Oil or Clarified butter– three-fourth cup

7. Whole spices—  a. red dried chillies– 12

b. pepper corn( black pepper) 15 pieces.

c. cloves–12 pieces.

d. whole green cardamom—12

e. cinnamon stick— 6 half inch pieces.

f. bay leaf—6 to 8

8. Ground spices:

a. cumin– 1 tsp.

b. coriander–1  tsp.

Ginger and Garlic– it is best to have them fresh.

1. ginger– 1 inch piece crushed into a paste.

2. garlic–5 cloves, crushed into a paste.

1. Salt– 2 level teaspoon

Mix the the ground spices,fresh garlic and ginger with the yoghurt and put it aside.

Utensil— one five quart round pot with cover.

Method :

Grease bottom of pot with two tablespoons of oil or clarified butter, carefully put the slices of onion,followed by two tablespoons of spiced mixed  yoghurt, three whole chillies,four pepper corns,three whole cloves,three cardamoms,two cinnamon sticks,and two bay leaves  and two tablespoons of oil .Cover this layer with beef and follow the same method as the top layer with the yoghurt,spices , one teaspoon salt and oil. After beef next is potatoes, put  same amount of spices ,oil, yoghurt as on the first layer.The last layer is tomatoes, put the remaining spices,yoghurt,oil and the second teaspoon of salt.

If there is beef, potatoes, onion and tomatoes left, Do the same as in part one but do not use extra spices ,just use less for the part one layers and use them in the second part.

place the pot in a pre-heated oven 350 degrees for approximately an hour. Check after thirty minutes to see everything is working well. turn off the oven and leave the pot for 45 minutes  more. This will help to dry the liquid.

I’m reposting a recipe of mine instead of today’s writing prompt, this will I hope explain why I will not settle for red or blue pill, as a substitute for real food.

nk: https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2013/12/16/kebab-recipe-r…-wordpress-com/

 

 

Freshly made clarified butter, still liquid (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

NaBloPoMo “My Mom’s famous Kebab” Ranu’s post https://sabethville.wordpress.com

My Mom was a very good cook. Anything she cooked was amazing. We all loved to eat. We seldom asked  how she turned out these delicious meals. I watched  when she cooked.  It looked so easy. I thought I can do this too. The ingredients she used were, slices of beef ,same size potatoes, onions were sliced thin,the tomatoes were thin slices too. In addition she used whole dry peppers,peppercorn and cinnamon sticks,there were whole cloves,salt,yoghurt and oil or clarified butter.

She used a round pot for this amazing dish. She had the ingredients in separate bowls. The layering of these ingredients was carefully done. she put a tablespoon of oil or clarified butter in the pot and spread it evenly. She carefully laid the beef ,followed  by three or four dry red peppers, a few peppercorns, some cloves,salt, and one or two half inch cinnamon sticks. Then  potatoes were layered on top making sure they covered the meat, onions went on top and tomatoes on the top layer. On each layer the oil and the yoghurt mixed with ground ginger,garlic ground cumin and ground coriander was spread as well. If she had some ingredients left, she’d repeat the layering. When everything was neatly in the pot, she put the cover on.

It was put on a charcoal stove, to give it the effect of an oven,she put hot charcoal on the cover. It took about an hour. When the lid was taken off,the aroma made us rush to the dining room. We didn’t need any bells!