Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar, the month of fasting. Whenever we are both free, me & Hayati meet for the fast-breaking meal called Iftar. He used to buy food from a restaurant before, comes in my place and there will eat together. But now it changed as we prefer to cook at home and enjoy the fruit of our labor.
Yesterday, we had another cooking session (Ramadan Special). I decided to fast as well so I will feel what hayati feels whenever he’s breaking his fast. Thought was easy but the smell of the food in the kitchen was so tempting. Wanted to get a piece and have a taste of what we are cooking but I have to stop myself. My body was shaking because of hunger yet I patiently waited for the Maghrib prayer time signaling the end of our fast. We cooked for nearly 4 hours without tasting the food…ingredients are all by approximation. Below are some of the dishes we made.
DESSERTS – All bought pre-mixed (RTC- ready to cook) and just cooked as per instruction in the package. 
The caramel cream turns out a success.
The jelly while settling seems okay...but we had difficulty unmolding it. So I suggested to hayati to dip the molder in a hot water. We counted 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10! And the jelly easily slipped out of the molder. But it turned out a bit watery :( We have dipped it for quite long in the hot water..we learned that maybe 3 counts should have been enough.
THE DUMPLINGS/ PIKA PIKA FOODS – as starters. Again mostly pre-mixed and RTC. This is the most we can do I guess as newbies in cooking.
The dumpling was prepared as package direction. Hayati patiently mixed it with a carefully measured amount of water (don’t want to go wrong with this)until he arrived with a smooth mixture, then covered it with moist damp cloth for about 45 minutes for it to rise.
We formed a small ball from the batter and fried in hot oil. Drizzled with a bit of honey and ready to be eaten. I am in doubt though..should this be classified dessert or starter? 
We also fried other vegetable fritters: samosa, pakora (potato dipped into a batter then fried) and mashed potato with some parsley formed into small balls (the round ones in the below picture). Of all the fritters, my favorite one was the potato dumplings.
THE MAIN DISHES
He is craving for something sour..hayati experimented on this dish. He sautéed onion in about tablespoon oil, added the drained chickpeas, then about 1/2 teaspoon of the mixed masala & pinch of salt. Cooked for about 5 minutes under low fire. Then he dissolved tamarind in a small amount of water and mixed in the dish. He liked the outcome of his experiment and finished everything in the bowl.
Lastly, the dish that up to now I could not believe he prepared…
Hayati doesn’t like the smell of fish. In our years of relationship, I never saw him eating fish dish except when I forced him to have a little bite on my fish sandwich. He claims that in his entire life, that was his first taste of fish food.
Surprisingly, he asked me to buy hamour fillets when I went in the supermarket. When he said he’s going to cook it, I was so hesitant as never he had experience in cooking fish and thinking he might just ruin the fillet and will end up in the garbage bin. I kept on reminding him that this is an expensive fish and he kept on answering me with “no worries, it will be a good dish”. So I entrusted to him the fillets..but of course I did the slicing and slitting. 
Nothing so fancy he did on the fish..just seasoned with salt, pepper and squeezed juice of a half lemon in the fillets. Then in a non-stick pan, he heated around 3 tablespoons of cooking oil, fried both sides of the fish till browned. Then transferred into a baking tray and put in a pre-heated oven (temperature set at 150 degrees) to continue cooking for about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in the same pan used for frying the fish, he sautéed 1 chopped onion, 1 chopped tomato, added tomato paste, then dropped 1 can of drained mixed vegetables. Seasoned with 1/4 teaspoon masala, dash of salt & pepper and cooked for about 5 minutes in medium heat.
Served with love the hamour in a bed of basmati rice with vegetables. Plus a bonus of one boiled egg :)
Hayati’s first fish dish was not that bad..in fact, I can say it was perfectly done and the fish was so tasty (maybe the reason why hamour is so expensive). For that I am giving him a rate of 9/10! Also, just the effort of cooking this dish thinking he dislike the smell is already a ++ points for him…and that’s why ahabek hayati.
