30 days of iftars: #10

A'salaamu alaikum ya'll. So Ramadhan is 1/3 gone; have you made use of your time? I will admit I have not. This year is a challenge for me and my iman is not at its highest. I can't fast because I was sooo sick this past year and had the rejection episode in March. My kidney function hovering around 30% and I have to keep my little buddy hydrated.

That said of course I am able to engage in other ibadah but I will be honest with you all as I try to always do: I am just not doing it. I have been slogging half-heartedly through learning my new surah (114 An-Nas), I make my fard prayers, stay away from major sins, and that's probably the highlight of my Ramadhan. In short, nothing has changed except now dinner must be at an EXACT time and I get up to make suhoor at an unhealthy hour.

I long for those first 3 Ramadhans when I felt spiritually renewed, recharged, revitalized. I know my personal issues have affected me but I take full responsibility. I know the benefits and blessings of this month and I am letting them pass me by. All I can ask is Allah swt grants me forgiveness and helps me get back to the place I long to be, amin.

Alright so on to the iftar menu. (Pretty-birding, ok? lol) I made a nice marqa (which is shorba, soup, served over couscous or some other starchy thing I guess). I did actually take some pics; I know I've made this before but I tweaked the recipe a wee bit and I liked the pics so here ya go.

Since I've posted this recipe before I'll just go over some highlights. I changed my spice mixture to make it a little more savory. I threw some of this into the grinder:

1 tsp coriander seeds
1 clove (not garlic, just a clove lol)
2 dried red chilis
1 tsp caraway seeds
1 tsp cumin
pinch salt, dunno why, just wanted to
1/2 small cinnamon stick.

OK so as always I browned my meat (used beef for a change) in olive oil. At first it will release a lot of steam and liquid so it's imperative you cook it til it's dried with just the oil bubbling around and fragrant. Don't be stingy with the oil; our halal butcher always uses very lean meat so the oil is essential. I cover the bottom of the heavy huge soup pot with about 1/4 inch oil. Yeah, not stingy. :-)

After the liquid evaporates, I added my finely chopped garlic, probably 5 cloves of it. Then 1/2 of a larger can of tomato paste (NOT sauce, nasty) which was about 5 tbsp I think. Anyway brown the heck out of it with your flame or burner on medium low; the pot is very heated from cooking the beef so long and it doesn't need a high temp; don't wanna scorch the tomato base.

See how dark the paste becomes and how the oil separates? Niiiiiice

What happens to your lens when you get too close to steamy, cooking food lol

Then I threw in the peeled "baby" carrots and a can of well-rinsed chickpeas/hummus. Aaminah is a hummus fiend masha'Allah so she snacked on a few straight from the can .

Same pic but the first one developed a weird orange line thru it, interesting. :-)

Then I added the trimmed brussel sprouts; my family loves 'em. Plus you know I love to mix up the color of my dishes. :-)

So then I gave it a good boil maybe 20 minutes then added 2 quartered potatoes and made a bit of couscous. I cheat on the couscous btw; I boil water, add it to my couscous then cover and let it steam that way. It comes out fluffy and yummy so no worries. I hate a lot of prep for simple foods.

Alright here is a pic of a half-eaten bowl of soup. Oh I did add a bit too much olive oil; tasted lovely but there was a slight sheen on the top.