Lily’s Blog, Dragon Absconded!
Baking Until I Drop

Ramadan 6: Iftar 5: Barfi, Pholourie and Saheena by Lilandra, originally uploaded by Lilandra.

First things first, my brother, his wife and daughter have been home from school for the holidays. They’re leaving on Monday. Chennette came in yesterday to see them off. I’m telling you this *now* because a lot of the reasonings in this post revolve around that first very important point.

For Iftar, we had saheena, tamarind chutney, pholourie (supplied by our neighbour, yet again) and barfi.

All the fried food…oh my!
And barfi?
“My son here sooo long and I haven’t made barfi for him yet!”

There was also some maleeda (travel-special, coconut cooked so it won’t spoil the maleeda) and I left you last time with a “I have to go make pizza”.

Well…who fool me?

I went downstairs and Chennette was frying saheena. She says when she went in the back to help mom make the paratha roti (which you process/mash up finely to make maleeda), mom asked her if she’s frying inside or out? Chennette went, “what?”

Now, I’m already feeling sick because we just came back from a quick trip to the grocery where somebody was walking around in their work overalls and the smell was high (like petrol? gas? a plant?) and started to make me upset. I wanted to throw up.

So, I listlessly start making pico de gallo, cutting up onions, mushrooms, olives, realizing that tin of pineapples I *thought* we had was really fruit cocktail. All the while mom and Chennette are all making requests…hello! pizza! do you remember the pizza we were supposed to make?? Do you? The pizza for your travelling children so they’ll have food on the plane? And I slowly but surely get into will this never end? Will there be pizza? Where is brother who promised, after last time to help next time I make pizza.

Ooo brother appears and announces I’m going to the masjid to pray ‘Asr (middle prayer) and then going straight to get the barbeque. What’s everybody’s orders?
.
.
.
I know we’d discussed this.
But.
WHY AM I MAKING PIZZA IF THEY GOING TO GET BARBEQUE???

See, I was going to make pizza for people to carry on the plane (Chennette included as she’s going to Grenada for a week). But to make pizza just for the plane? What will we eat? So, my plan was to prep all the pizzas and bake some today and some tomorrow. Friday brother says he’s feeling like barbeque…you know, one last time before he goes and Chennette, when’s the last time you had?

*mutters*

I told him go then…Friday.

I wish they’d told me just don’t make pizza for us to eat. Argh.

So anywayz, all the while I’m chopping this, we have to pack up some saheena to send to the masjid and to send over the road and to send next door. Mom comes and says, “Did you slice the saheena and spread chutney in it?” Well of course we didn’t. We just poured chutney in a container to send (thank goodness for a nursing sister-in-law who could taste the chutney for us because oh my tamarind is soooo sour and needs so much sugar for chutney).

Mom dropped off the packages to the neighbours and collected the pholourie…and a tin of pineapples.

Eventually, Chennette and I clear up and try to decide what to do with the pizzas.

We’ll make them after we break fast…some time after. It’s not like we have a choice. It’s about quarter to 6 and we break fast about quarter past.

Then we decide…hmm…maybe we should toss/roll the dough out for four of the pizzas so we can just top em and bake em whenever we’re ready.

So, mom comes down to find us doing that and is like what? Why allyuh not getting ready to break fast?

But mom, we already have the kettlel boiling for tea…and brother comes home with the barbeque and rushes back to the masjid.

Ramadan 6: Iftar 5: Pholourie and Saheena by Lilandra, originally uploaded by Lilandra.

flash forward a bit, we break fast, we bathe and…yippeee! I make it to Tarawih salaah. I’ve been praying at home. I was trying to make it to the masjid to pray at least once this week because my brother has been leading Tarawih and I can’t remember the last time he did when I was around…hmmm…when they used to compete for 20 rakats of Tarawih in under 30 minutes? (but that’s another story). He’s leaving Monday. Theoretically I could go tomorrow but mom and I are dropping off a certain somebody to the airport so doubt we’ll get that.

Thankfully the masjid is air-conditioned and I had all the fans on to help it along. Lovely niece is very noisy. I could swear every time her dad went “Allahu Akbar” in salaat, she goes “Akbar”. She’s 10 months old. We won’t get into why, during the salaah, she had to change her pants. Oh no, we won’t.

Chennette didn’t go to the masjid as she’s not feeling well at all.

So, we reach back, open the door and there is Chennette in the kitchen, looking like she’s making the pizzas.

And the kitchen…smells funny.

Well, you know, we preheat the oven to 550 F for the pizzas…and the other 4 crusts that weren’t rolled out…were resting in the oven.

Yeah.
You get the idea.
On a plate, a large plastic cutting board and a small wooded cutting board.
They were our best and newest cutting boards.
Now? Now?

*sigh*

Chennette eventually burns her hand. Thank God it wasn’t me. It’s always me. Except today.

For that of course, I had loads of washing to do. Such a mess. I told her, that when I’m not feeling well, I don’t bake. I know enough when not to do anything because then EVERYTHING GOES WRONG. And I do mean everything.

She’s lucky that despite my aching feet, I felt much better than how I felt at the end of the fast and was able to contemplate washing up and the mess without fretting too much. You know me, I hate clean up.

And I haven’t even touched my lamb yet.

Pizzas made: Cheese pizza, Veggie pizza (olives, mushrooms, onions, pineapples), Meat pizza (beef, pimento, pineapples) and Quesadilla pizza (I didn’t defrost the sour cream and the yoghurt was bad so…avocado, nachos, pico de gallo, cheese).

Decision about the next four? Tomorrow. Or today. I can’t contemplate this again. I think we’re just going to roll them out. No waiting for rising or room temperature. Just roll them out and top them and bake them simply.

Chennette says at least we have something for suhur.

I say, never again for my siblings. Except next weekend when Big Sis and family pass through on their way to England and we make for them to carry.
But, I shall be better prepared. Really.

Oh I also say Alhamdullilah Chennette did the baking cuz I don’t know if I was up to it.

I’m so tired. I’m going to sleep a couple hours….happy that so far I made it to the masjid for tarawih once at least (note to self, don’t eat until after Tarawih and then only if you really want to) and have prayed all and fasted all since the month started. So far, I’m on par with the second year of fasting after I got sick. Insha Allah this will be the year I keep all (more on that later).