Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Fish Pickle with Gravy

Last week, we bought shark fish from the supermarket. It was fresh and I prepared pickle with it. Here is the finger licking recipe for that.

Ingradients
Step 1
Fish     - 1/2 kg (cut into small cubes)
Marinate the fish using Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp, Salt- to taste,  Chilly powder- 1 tbsp, Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp and  Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp. Keep aside for 20 minutes. Fry the fish in any vegetable oil.
Ingradients
Step 2
Ginger                 - 100 gms
Garilc                  - 100 gms
Green chilly         - 4
Curry leaves        - 2-3 springs (randomly chopped)
Take half of the ginger-garlic and finely chop. In gingely oil,  fry it with green chilly and curry leaves. When it is golden brown, transfer it into a plate.
Fried items for the pickle
Step 3
Take half of the ginger and garlic kept aside and grind it to a fine paste. In the remaining gingley oil, fry this paste till oil separates. Add chilly powder - 2-3 tbsp, fenugreek powder - 1/2 tsp. Fry for few seconds, add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of vinegar. Bring to boil. Add the fried items and enough salt into this mix. Simmer for few seconds and remove from the fire.
Fish pickle is ready...!
Note: According to your taste, you may change the quantity of chilly powder and vinegar. You may add 1/4-1/2 cup of boiled water to adjust the thickness of the gravy before removing the pickle from the fire. Store it in air tight container. The pickle tastes good after 2-3 days.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

A trip to Misfat Al Abriyeen

During Eid Holidays, we went to Misfat Al Abriyeen. It is a must watch place in the Sultanate of Oman.  When we reached the city Al Hamrah, we all were really fascinated by the beauty of the old style buildings.
A scene from the city Al Hamra
A street in Al Hamra
Mind catching scene...
Can't resist clicking my camera...
Fascinated by these scenes, we continued our journey to Misfah, one of the oldest villages in Oman. A mountain village with plenty of palm trees - just amazing.
On the way to Misfah...

We parked our car and had a walk around the place.  We found an information board of Oman Tourism regarding the historical importance of the village. Now the villagers are enjoying modern facilities of roads, electricity and telecommunication. Even then they give special interest in preserving the valuable culture they inherited. 


Seems like in wonderland...
We heard the sound of a traditional Omani drum. We walked towards that direction and reached in front of the entrance of a multistoried builiding. 
Entrance...
We thought that it is a building. But when entered, we understood that we are in a narrow street with stones laid on the floor and houses on both sides of the street. Those buildings are built using stones, baked bricks, mud bricks, palm trees, mangrove poles and lime. Lime is mainly used for plaster and mortar.
Narrow street
Palm trees are used  in roofing and to give support for the structure
This was the source of the Omani Drum's sound
A scene from the pathway... 
The closed main entrance of an unused house.
Some houses are occupied.
 'Jahla' are the traditional pots in which drinking water is kept. Jahla can also be seen hanging from windows of  traditional houses. 
'Jahla' hanging from the window of a traditional house..
Remnants of an old house...
Finally we reached the plantation area where banana and lemon trees are also planted besides the palm trees.
A scene from the garden
Looking back....
Another scene from the garden
Raw dates

Ripe dates
Falaj is Oman's unique water channel system which collects water from the water source and distribute it for domestic and irrigation purpose. 
Falaj... Refreshing cool water from the mountains
It is so dense...
Kids are enjoying...
Our kids don't want to come out of the place. But we have to go back home. Finally we started our journey back to Muscat by evening. This trip will surely be a pleasant memory in our life....









Christmas Bell Doily

Christmas Bell Doily "I am in Kerala enjoying Christmas holidays. Kids are happy following Uncle Santa for the church carol. Visit...