An Iftar Meal At Home

We've been invited to so many awesome iftar meals that it was time for us to reciprocate with one too. While our kitchen isn't halal, it doesn't do pork and more or less keeps kosher, so it isn't difficult whipping up suitable foods with halal ingredients.

Decided on only three simple items to make an easy meal- vegetarian dum biryani, sambar and the man's latest vegetable obsession- cabbage pesarapappu. Cooked it up over two days to make it a relaxing affair. We were running on a pretty tight schedule this week, and had to ensure the logistics worked fine.

Sorted out the sweet potato, pumpkin and radish masala and the sambar a day earlier. Needed the flavors to soak in properly overnight. That left us an easy few hours the next afternoon to roast the cauliflower, cook the basmati rice, and leisurely layer the biryani in the pot before leaving it to bake in the oven. Everything was ready on schedule.

The friends didn't mind the limited menu, ate all their portions and happily had seconds. Whewww! We even had enough for them to tapau home. Hurrah. The friends came bearing gifts and effectively brought their own dessert. Hahahaha. There were already cut fruits in the fridge, but nicer when the friends added on Kyoho grapes and four flavors of ice-cream.

We've all been traveling and when we get back to town, we're tied up with work. It's often tough to find a common time to meet friends when we run on different schedules, even tougher arranging a time to cook for them. These are people we want to make time for and see regularly. Faeriefolk. It was a great evening spent catching up at home, away from the hustle and bustle of the crowds.