A solitary poppy stands in the storm

In the name of Allah most gracious most merciful

Kashif Wicomb's pic

17 July 2014

 

First poppy bud

 One solitary poppy head has made her winter’s day appearance, unwavering in the storm. Not the winds or the rain or the hail can stop this winter blossom.

Over 30 000 people have stomped out their outrage in the streets of Cape Town for Palestine for Syria as one fist. Masaajid gather collective duah, salah for dead brothers and sisters for the bereaved, the injured, and the sullied and qunut to beseech Allah’s assistance. Subhaanallah. Today, the rain comes down in torrents. An angry wind blows.

The holidays are almost over, so it’s back to school, to campus, to work, to the soil. It is almost Laylatul Qadr and I find myself making less time for food to make more time for my obligations, the blessed month Ramadan goes too quickly and then it’s Eidul Fitr.

drying straw

We have to focus on preparing lesson plans and schedules for lectures with the youth and make space for current events discussion. Learners are excited for the new Islamic Teacher Education Programme as they start their National Professional Diploma. The gardens have to be attended to as well, so we rush to finish cuttings and have soil ready just to place in seedlings and inshaAllah the rain will come on time and the warm sun will polish the leaves and warm the new seedlings.  Abubakr spends lots of time grinding straw in the shredding machine for layering the compost with Basil’s help, at least one batch is ready to sit until the rain is done. Today they make a fire to dry straw because the composting must continue to feed the soil.

In the meantime I draw up a menu so there is no rush to prepare for Eid celebrations and consult, while my heart wonders what Eid would be like in Biladi Shaam and the girls who have been abducted right here on our continent. Many years ago in Palestine the people gathered to have Black Christmas and Eid to let the world know of their oppression and subjugation. So what can we do?

Join solidarity efforts (there is a Palestine Solidarity Protest; Tomorrow at 2:30pm; c/o Spine and Strandfontein Roads, Strandfontein); be mindful of countries in a state of war and make duah constantly, also be attentive closer to home at the orphaned, the destitute and homeless in Delft and Mfuleni and Manenberg; In Lansdowne and Oceanview and everywhere where assistance is needed. Having faith means doing something concrete in the face of an injustice and if you cannot do then speak out and if you are muted then feel the disgust and indignation. Here in Cape Town, there are a core group of Muslims that make effort to attend to those in need and we should all support initiatives such as those.

I have started to put coins in a jar for children at the door; thought about what to cook and bake (in moderation for Eid of course). So what to cook? I know that Abubakr will invite a wayfarer to share either breakfast or lunch with us so I have to prepare for more than 6 people. We like to make something unusual as a main course and something warm as a dessert as well. This year methinks baklava would be good, it can be made in advance, the longer it sits in the syrup the better. And of course I can make the pastry and freeze until I need to use it. My niece once served vanilla yoghurt with surrounding grilled nectarines (the peach type) and drizzled it with pistachio nuts, it was yummy and I thought a good companion to baklava, but its out of season so maybe pears?

One year Abubakr suggested we do something completely different - not crayfish or prawns or tongue or roasted leg, no butter chicken, or rhus bukhari but one delectable main dish. Hmmm, love a challenge, thought I. This dish started as purely a figment of my imagination and then I jumped into action. We went to the butcher and I pointed to a very large leg of lamb in the window. I asked them to take out the gland, debone and to butterfly it. At that stage I was still not sure what I was going to cook. Every time my family asked: “so what are we cooking?” I‘d say this year something Moroccan. This is what I did.

Immediately coming from the butcher I rinsed the leg of lamb slightly patted it dry and ground some whole coriander seeds. I rubbed the inner leg with rough sea salt and the ground coriander. I grated the ginger and garlic, finely chopped spearmint and coriander and smeared it on the inside and outside. Then liberally poured some yoghurt all over it, stuffed it into a bag and put in the fridge to marinade.

At the time my cholesterol was a bit high than normal and I was adjusting and experimenting with different kinds of oil to cook such as grape seed and corn oils. The grape seed oil was a bit too light so I heated a huge sauce pan added olive oil just enough to wet the base. I allowed the oil to heat up, quite hot in fact and scorched the leg on both sides to seal in the juices. Then I cut two large onions into thick rings and tossed it into the oil lifting the leg to allow it to scorch.

I turned the heat down to low and allowed the meat to simmer for ½ hr. Then I scooped out everything into a huge deep baking pan, tucked some baking paper over it and popped it into a low oven about 150 degrees Fahrenheit and went to mosque. When we came back from mosque the lamb was delicately soft but a tad dry. So I took some more onions rings tossed it into the saucepan cut three tomatoes in half added that to the base of the pot. I added some more yoghurt and I put the leg gently back into the yoghurt sauce and allowed it to simmer a bit.

I made some danya and mushroom rice and served the leg on a huge clay baked tray nestled snuggly on the danya rice with wedges of lemon on the sides. I have made this dish at least twice after that, the last time instead of danya rice I cooked some coucous, made a light stir fry of mushroom, peppers, small broccoli florets, garlic and thyme, a dash of soya sauce and tossed it into the couscous. Some butternut slices baked in olive oil and rosemary on the side and fresh garden salad with beetroot tucked in.

Ingredients:

·         1 large leg of lamb over a kg, deboned and butterflied
·         1 ½ cups of Bulgarian yoghurt
·         Sea salt and ground pepper
·         Roughly ground coriander
·         A spring of danya (coriander/cilantro)  and a sprig of mint
·         3 huge onions sliced thickly in rings
·         3 tomatoes
·         Olive oil

The preparation method is in the madness above.

Couscous

Ingredients:

·         2 cups of couscous

·         3 ½ cups of water

·         ¾ teaspoon of alt

·         Tablespoon of olive oil or butter

Preparation of coucous

Bring water to boil and stir in salt couscous and oil or butter.

Take off heat and cover
Allow to sit for ten minutes or a bit more.
Fluff with fork.
Make a quick stir of onion, garlic, mushrooms and peppers and fork into couscous just before serving.

Maybe I will make this Moroccan simmering leg of lamb for Eid or maybe I will surprise myself and my family and make something completely different, and just maybe I love surprises. My brother in law shared some of his favourite dishes on his travels - Oum Ali, an Egyptian dessert - bread pudding meets baklava (see http://chefindisguise.com/tag/the-story-behind-um-ali-dessert-name/) and the Lebanese aubergine dish, baba ganoush (http://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2012/03/baba-ganoush.html). Apparently Baba Ganoush means spoilt Dad, ha ha. Most certainly going to give it a shot to accompany the maybe simmering leg of lamb. 

Plant food and be open-handed and open-hearted.

Yasmine

seedlings under cover