Entekhabat-e-Iran Dar Donya

Today held Iran's presidential election. I went accompanied bff to poll station at ShangRi La Hotel Singapore. We arrived around 530 pm. There were some of bff's friend there. There were not so many people around maybe because it was late already.Later I got to know that not even 200 people came to vote. Well, there are not many Iranian in Singapore.

Different phenomenon happened in Malezi (Malaysia). There are several polling station around Malaysia. And there were big crowd came to vote. Hence, the number of Iranian in Malaysia. AS I mentioned to my facebook, the slogan"man rhai midaham" (I vote) worked! People came out to vote.

One thing that makes me thinking about the election system is that how they want to make sure that people do not make more than one vote? Because they do not registered their name at any specific place to vote just what Malaysian did. They will get stamp in their shenasnameh (IC) or passport. Then if for example one person go to place A to vote using his IC, he can also go to another place to vote using his passport. For example in kharej (outside Iran) and in Iran. I dont know..Just a thought.

At the time I'm writing this, they have calculated the votes in Singapore and Msia. And both goes to Rohani. With big majority. I just hope the sincerity in handling the process is well managed. Lets pray that the result satisfied all people and no bleeding tragedy happen again. Wait until tomorrow to get the full result.

Khodanegahdar..

Someone said that i can vote for iran dafe bad (next time) :p

Aha..another thing is i realized that today's popular photo to upload among iranians in facebook is the picture of finger with blue ink just like we did during malaysia's election that day. Hehe. Coincedence.

Iran 2013 Presidential Election

Pronounce as "rai mi daham" which means "I vote"

This is the trending picture among Iranian lately. As opposed to the previous entekhabat (election), this time the campaign is less controversial/aggressive. I dont know why, maybe they dont want to repeat the bleeding history. Most of Iranian that I know said they will go to vote, hence the campaign above works. I am not really sure, but I think this time there are 8 candidates nominated to be president to replace Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. There are campaign speech every nights and most of Iranian watched it (I heard from bff) but he is not one of them :P. Here in JB, the election will be held at Goodhope Hotel this Friday.

I just hope this election will make Iran a better country. To decrease the tension among Iranian. The economy especially which affected me too literally :I.

Fried kuew tiaw

As i promised on yesterday's post, today im gona share my simple recipe for fried kuew tiaw.

Ingredients:

Half kg kuew tiaw (flat rice noodles)

2 tbsp sambal (ground chillies and onion and garlic)

4 garlic cloves

Chicken pieces

1 tbsp dark soya sauce

2 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp fish sauce

Beans sprouts

Bok choy

Cooking oil

Methods: 

1. Heat some oil, fry sambal and garlics until fragrant.

2. When the color darken, which means the mixture is well cooked, add the 3 sauces

3. Add chicken pieces.

4. When the chicken cooked, add noodles, and vegetables.

5. Taste with salt, sugar and msg (substitute with chicken powder if you dont like msg).

5. Done. This dish has to be cook in hight heat and fast. Around 5, minutes. Make sure you prepared everything before start cooking, 

One of bff's favourite

Adapted Irani - being okhdeii

It's weekend!! It means meeting khanavadeh (family) specifically nieces and nephews. Every weekend's  event. Today we went kharid (buy) for household things..then i asked niece what do you wana eat for dinner? She wants kuew tiaw goreng. Fried rice noodles. At first i wanted to cook penang style, the watery style. But then i forgot to buy prawn to make the sauce. So i just cooked the simple version. Maybe i'll up an entry for the recipe later. Because this time i wana talk about becoming irani.

Actually i was pissed off with one chinese girl. I stumbled upon her facebook through mypersiankitchen. As always, i stalked her. :) you know i like the fact that she's learning farsi as well as trying to be persian. But i found that she is over reacted to be irani. Why i said that is because one of her post said something like this "maleziyaei kheng! Hame malayi  bishoore". The first sentence she wrote in her post means "dumb malaysian". But then after some comments she wrote the second sentence which literally means "all malays are rude". What she actually wanted to say? Is it referred to malaysian or malay? Does she knows the different between those two words? She claimed herself 80% irani. But how come she have confusion here? Another comment she wrote "man az malezi montaneferam" which means i hate malaysia. Hello dokhtar age shoma az malezi montaneferi boro gomsho az inja! (Get lost from here). Later i realized that the sentences that she wrote i ever heard before and it came from iranian. Are you trying to say that you are already 100% irani to say something like that. I have no problem with "real iranian" to have saying that because i know the difference between iran and malaysia, because i've been there. But then you girl, have you ever been there?  Pasho dige (wake up) and swallow that you are still chinese malaysian and you can never be iranian. Step on your ground babe! Stop saying that you love to be iranian. It is just becoz your bf is iranian. If your bf is pakistani, maybe now you are learning urdu and trying to hate people who are skeptical with pakistani who sells carpet.

My message to her: khahareman, basse dige. Enghad khodetun jelo irania okhdei nakon. Midunam kheili dustari irani beshi. Mesle man. Raahe dorosabi boro. Hatman duspesaret dustare shoma harfe ba adab bezani. Mikhay irani beshi na bayad chiziayo bad ham bokoni. Vaghan man khoshalam bebinam shoma farsi ham baladi. Behet eftekhar mikonam. Ba ayandat movafagh beshid!

Ok. Thats all. It is a reminder to myself also. Even though thousands time my bff said he is proud of me to learn to be persian and he wants me to be truely persian, i said i can never leave my roots. I will always be a malay. And i will never say something offensive to my roots and country. that is bishoor. My purpose of learning is to make things more comfortable, to shrink the difference and to understand each other more. 

Shahrzad Restaurant Johor Bahru Malaysia: A Review

The day before bff's "big day" he promised to treat me at Shahrzad Restaurant - newly opened Persian restaurant in Johor after his defence. This is our first time there. I heard positive reviews from customers but we hold our desire to go there obliviously because of the price. Well, call us cheapskate, we are students! Or I am a student and bff was a student. LOL. So, thankfully bff passed his oral defence and we kind of celebrated it with good foods - particularly good Persian foods.

So we went there with another friend. It is located at Taman Abad, near KSL City, New York Hotel. It is a housing area..or was a housing area because the restaurant is actually operating in a house, 2-rooms house. Most of houses there have been turned to business premises. The problem that might come is place to park vehicles because there's no special parking area. You need to park your car at the road side and it might be dangerous especially if you come with child.

As we entered the restaurant, I saw the owner of Ariyana Restaurant. I wrote about it previously. Most probably he is one of the owner because Ariyana Restaurant had closed the business. Plus previously I got to know that the owner is another person. So when both of them were there, I guess they share the business. OK. just info. none of my business. :)

The decoration was ok and simple. They had decorated the 2 bedrooms looking like a Arabian-theme tent. There are also tables outdoor for those who want to have shisha. The feeling was like entering someone's house. We sat inside and we had to talk slowly as if others can hear our conversation. It is really like a house. I think if they put music or tv it is better and we will feel more comfortable. They did played violin-music I think at the back but yeah, it was so soft. Maybe that is the way the owner want customer to experience. I dont know.

What we ordered:

Welcome free starter. Same like PG Art Cafe

Kashk-e-bademjan RM12

Shah Kabab RM34 or 35 not sure

As i mentioned before I am not a fan of jujeh kabab. But since they did not have jujeh kabab with ustukhun (with bones), I took this. And surprised!! I like it. Succulent and juicy. Marinated with mayonnaise. Not sour.

Kabab Koobideh RM34 or 35 not sure.
I tasted a little. But I dont like it. As usual, I dont like any kabab koobideh. Sent me to the best restaurant also I guarantee I wont like it. I dont know what bff's opinion but I looked he cleared everything. :P
Beverages we took nushabeh (coke) RM3 and doogh i forgot the price.

My verdict:
1. Food taste delicious. Authentic Persian taste. Real kabob.
2. Generous portion. I bloated after half of meal.
3. Good hospitality.
4. Nice ambiance. Clean. Calm.
But....
5. The price is too expensive (for me) that I have no second thought of going there again (for the mean time). Mind that they charge 16% tax also.

So guys..if you are in JB, don't forget to try their foods. I heard the chef was previously worked at Dubai, hence some Arabic foods.

Khoda negahdar..

Finally

He received dr. Title.

I am one proud girlfriend.

He can continue making his dream come true.

But me? Still the old me. With dreams that never achieved.

Because of some circumstances, i feel weak.

I have nowhere to go, to look for.

Just continue my life.

Go with the flow.

If luck come, maybe that is what meant.

Is it nightmare?

It was a lovely evening. Beach side. Light yellow theme. A young lady groomed me with make up and nice dress. A bunch of people coming to watch our solemnization. We did not invite them! Bff called me asking why too many crowd? He was angry. I said i dont know, just be calm and everything will be ok. I am ready, i stepped out the room. He was there waiting at the dias. None of his familybor friends there. He's wearing a suit. But his face was so different. like a malay! Next to him was my brother. My mom at right side. The kadi also there. There was marching of soldier to start the ceremony. Perfect, my soon to be my husband loves it. I said, "salam, belakhare in rooz umade". We smile and i took out my phone to take our photo to upload in Instagram. The suddenly, i sense my heart pumping out loud. Too hard that i can sense it. I opened my eyes..astaghfirullah..i had a dream. Checked my phone, it was 5.05 am. It was a sweet dream ever. there's tears on my eyes, sad the dream has ended. I can sleep for years if it is the only dream i would have.  Now i am writing this at 5.23am. I am wide awake but i dont wana start my monday yet. Maybe i should make some prayers so that allah will make the dream come true or let everything runs accordingly as we had planned. Insyallah..

Fried onion - Piaz Daagh

Piaz daagh, direct translation will be "hot onion" is very important in Persian cuisine. Even in Malay we also used piaz daagh many times to garnish our foods. For example in soto, mee sup, chicken soup or any kind of soup. In Persian foods, they used piaz daagh as a garnish in aash reshteh, maash polow, adas polow or any dishes as you wish to. 

Making piaz daagh for me is not an easy task. First you have to "cry while slicing the onion. Then, your house will smell onion the whole day. You need a bottle of febreez to get rid the smell :) It also need good techniques to get crispy golden piaz daagh.

So my trick to overcome these problems are:

1. Make a big amount of piaz daagh in one time so that you no need to challenge yourself very often. Keep in refrigerator to use when needed.

2. Buy chewing gums and eat it while slicing onion. Or bite a tooth pick to hinder sore eyes. Both thee methods work for me!

3. Open all windows and turn on your cooker hood to have good air circulation so that the smell does not stay in house.

4. Patience.

Ingredients:

Lots of onion and some garlics. 

Methods:

Make sure you slice the onion very finely. Heat oil. Make sure the oil is hot enough when you wanted to put in the onion or else your piaz daagh will not be crispy. Medium heat not high heat or else piaz daagh will burnt. Deep fry with lots of oil. Stir continuously. Once the color turn to yellow, beware because it will burn easily afterwards.

Fry onion and garlic separately. Place on kitchen towel to absorb the extra oil. Done!

 Movafagh bashid!!

Befarmaeed Sham: Maash Polow (Mung beans Rice)

,

Maash Polow, Salad Fasl, Salad Shirazi & Potato Tahdig

Maash polow is so easy to cook. It is the right food to be cooked when you run out of time. In an hour, it is done. Now, maash polow has become one of my favorite and bff loves it too! 

Ingredients:

~ About 300g ground beef/mutton

~ 1 1/2 cup of rice, soak with water and salt for at least 20 minutes

~ 2 large onion, diced (i love to put lots of onion for its sweetness)

~ 1/2 cup of mung beans

~ 1 tspn turmeric powder

~ 1/2 tspn cinnamon powder

~ Potato slices for tahdeeg

~ Salt and pepper

Methods:

1. Boil mung beans until soft (approximately 15 minutes). Drain.

2. While waiting the beans to be cooked, par boil the rice (add 1 tbsp cooking oil) following methods to cook persian rice. Drain.

3. In a pan, heat some oil, fry the onion until translucent,, add turmeric.

4. Add the ground beef, blackpepper and cinnamon powder.

5. Cooked for about 15 minutes until it well cooked. Taste with salt.

6. Mix the mung beans with the meat mixture.

7. In a pot, Pour 1 tbsp of cooking oil. Place potato slices on bottom.

8. Layer rice and meat mixture alternately.

9. Cover the pot with kitchen towel to get beautiful tahdeeg. Simmer with low heat for about 30 minutes.

For salad fasl (season salad) dressing:

I mixed mayonnaise, ketchup, lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil.

For salad shirazi recipe: Click here. I add piaz che (spring onion) this time. 

Mirza Ghasemi

Mirza ghasemi. Sounds like a human's name right? I know a malay boy's name Mirza, while Ghasemi is a Persian family name. Hehe. But i havent know anybody with name mirza ghasemi yet. He/she might be delicious. :p 

Back to the dish, this is one if the pish ghaza (appetizer or side dish) that i really like. Previously i always ordered mirza ghasemi from a persian restaurant nearby, but unfortunately the taste of mirza ghasemi there is not as tasty as before. I also ate mirza ghasemi at naab restaurant at kl but the way they served it was different as they did not mix egg in the mixture but top it with fried egg. For me, i prefer the one that mix everything together. So yummy, with lots of garlics. Make sure if you make it at home, open your windows to let the air circulate well. If not, you'll smell like a garlic the whole day. :)

Lets check out the recipe!

Ingredients: 

2 medium eggplant, grilled, peel skin and chopped

7 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped

1 tspn tomato paste

1 large egg, slightly beaten

1 tspn turmeric

Salt and pepper

Cooking oil

Methods:

1. Heat some oil, fry garlic, add some turmeric, add chopped eggplant, cook for 5 minutes.

2. Add chopped tomatoes and tomato paste

3. Cook and stir continuously for 10 minutes

4. Pour the egg, sprinkle some salt and pepper to taste, stir gradually

5. Cook for another 5 minutes, done.

6. Serve with noon lavash