Yummy Lamb Curry

Assalamualaikum. Salam 21st Ramadan!

Today i'm sharing this dish but yet nothing fancy. It's just my first time cooked Lamb curry. LOL. I made it during our good friends came for Iftar together at our place on last saturday. It turned out very good! Got comment like 'Terbaekkk' from our honourable guests. hihi. And I also cooked Nasi Minyak, made bread pudding with custard sauce and dadih while Yati brought along yummy spagetti. Alhamdulillah..suka tengok semua orang makan bertambah-tambah even waktu sahur! :D

Actually, i googled the recipe and tumbled on sham jallaludin's blog. The original recipe used mutton but i used lamb rib..hihi apa je la yang ada dalam stok kan..but according to Yati, guna lamb rib lagi sedap. ;)

so here is the recipe:

The ingredients:

Daging kambing (mutton) cut into medium pieces ( i used cut lamb ribs)

about two inches of ginger, sliced into small strips

1 large onions. sliced

10 shallots. sliced

5 garlics. sliced

Rempah tumis 4 sekawan. a few of each cinnamon stick, star anise, cardamom and cloves.

Curry leaves

meat curry powder ( i used alagappas brand)

salt, dried chilli paste, coconut milk. prepare three thickness. One very creamy, one medium thick and one very watery. ( i used the medium think only ;))

some potatoes. cut into 4-6 pieces

The method:

1. Heat up your wok with oil. Once the oil is hot, put in the large onion, shallots, ginger, garlic, salt ( i leave salt to last step), curry leaves and 4 sekawan. Let it fry for a while.

2. Add about two big spoons of chilli boh and add two tablespoons of curry powder. ( i put 4 tablespoons) Mix them well.

3. Add the meat and mix well so that all the meat is covered. Keep stirring. Add some chilli boh and curry powder to enhance the colour and flavour ( i skipped this as i already put 4 tablespoons beforehand)

4. When the meat has decreased in size, add water until the meat is slightly submerged. Stir well. Leave to boil so the meat is tenderised. this will take a while.

5. when the water decreases, add the watery coconut milk and stir well. (i skipped this part). Let it boiled to tenderise the meat even more. This is the time to add in potatoes. Leave it to thicken.

6. then you can add the thick creamy coconut milk if you don't think it is thick enough. But if you feel that it;s thick enough, then you can go without. Just turn the fire off and leave it to cool down. (don't forget to put salt! ;D)

7. then serve it with rice, nasi minyak or eat it with bread, naan or others.

copy paste/credit recipe to sham jallaludin from 'mums old recipe book' blog.

This Ramadan I vowed not to spend too much time in the kitchen. I cooked everyday menu and just make simple dishes. I could not bring myself to prepare many or extraordinary meals for our Iftar due to long hour period of fasting. Lucky, hubby's very understanding and not fussy eater. :)

Also after what happened to our suffered brothers and sisters in Syria, Egypt, Africa and Burma seem that I can't help myself thinking of how they're doing during this holy month and what they're eating. :( Anyway, only a piece of do'a sending from bottom of my heart to all of them..:'(

Till then.

Spring Holiday: Mozart and The Sound of Music, Salzburg.

Assalamualaikum

The old-town of Salzburg was listed as a UNESCO world heritage in 1997. The word Salzburg is  from Germans and literally means "Salt Fortress". There was salt carrying activity from the Salzach river in Austria and Germany long time ago. 

The city was also the birthplace of 18th century composer, Mozart and the musical scene of The Sound of Music film in 20th century. :)

 happy us minus hubby with Dom Platz as the background

                                 

Though we just had a short transit but it was still a golden opportunity to be in this city. I think i'd started dreaming to visit Salzburg after i watched 'Passport to Europe' at travel channel Astro. 

Like other European big city, Salzburg has narrow roads hence busy traffics. So from my research about the city, it was best to go by foot for city sightseeing. So for us who rented car, we had to find the paid parking area at the city first then we walked from there to the city attraction that we chose to visit. 

The signage: where to go? ;)

Since we had to return the car at 12 noon and catch train to Prague at 2pm so we just only had 2 hours. Within the short period of time, we definitely cannot cover the whole city so that's why we decided just to find the Mozart's house and visit Mirable Garden, where the Sound of Music film scene took place. :)

Salzburg museum

First, we bought a map at the souvenir shop. The shop owner was very kind to show the quickest walking direction to both places. Luckily the weather was sunny but still chilled that day so we had a nice good walk and enjoyed the town. The town has so many alleys and it was a bit confusing too. Really need a reading map skill. ;)

horse carriage ride service

                                 

fountain at Residenzplatz

The kids were sporting too so it was a bonus and we managed to arrive at Mozart's house without being lost. :D The house which was where Mozart born at become a Mozart's museum now. But we did not managed to pay a visit due to time constraint..huhu

in front of Mozart's birthplace 

Mozart's Bio

at at Getreidegesse 9, the old-town

Mozart Monument

At 11.30am, we returned to carpark and drove to Avis office to return it. Alhamdulillah, the process went well without any extra charges though the car's condition was very dirty. Seminggu kot travel merentasi 4 negara (Swiss, France, Germany and Austria) in cold and wet weather. :D

                                

Once we returned the car, we had to go sightseeing by foot again. From Avis office, we walked to the train station to keep our luggages in the paid locker. Then we went to Halal Kebab's to buy our lunch. The staffs were kind enough to give extra breads. Maklumla kitorang dah order agk banyak kan..dekat 30 euro jgk spent for the food. We bought some rice, kebab and chicken and fries. On the way to Mirable Garden, the kids had munched the fries first. :D

just arrived at another entrance of Mirabell Garden 

Finally after 30 minutes walking we reached Mirabell Schloss and Garten. The garden was quite big and was beautifully landscaped. There were many people during the afternoon, some were reading papers on the bench, some were just sitting chitchatting with friends. The garden was very alive! 

The fountain where the scene of Do Re Mi song from The Sound of Music took place 

can see the Salzburg Fortress at the top of the hill from here

Well, mission accomplished! Apart from both places that we visit, other attractions are not quite in our interests. Hihi. Next time I will try to share our journey to Prague by train in shaa Allah. :)

Huhu It's already 18th of Ramadhan today. Hope it's still not too late to wish Salam Nuzul Quran and have a nice weekend, hope you have a nice day with your love ones. :)

The school summer holiday has just started last wednesday so the Eins will be having 10 weeks break till early september. Yay! so relax sket now for all of us especially to go through another halfway of this holy month. In shaa Allah! :)

Till then.

Spring Holiday: Seegasthof Gamsjaga, St. Gilgen, Austria.

Assalamualaikum

After enjoying Swiss view, we continued our journey up to Austria. We had stayed at Seegasthof Gamsjaga at St. Gilgen for one night. Too bad it was a short stay because it was a very nice B&B with tip-top service and stunning location. 

Oh, we miss the place...

the B&B was just right beside this beautiful Wolfgangsee

Credit to hubby who found the B&B, he definitely preferred staying at countryside rather than city.  I kinda have a same preference with him now. :P St. Gilgen is just 40 minutes away from Salzburg city. Since we rented a car that day so I don't really mind the location. hehe..

the stunning view of the lakeside village at St. Gilgen.

After several hours of journey from Interlaken, we finally reached the destination. Though, B&B was located just at the roadside, but the road was not that busy. Once we entered the B&B, we adored every inch of the B&B. Everything was so pretty, neatly decorated and so country. hehe. 

And guess what, we got the room at second level which overlooking the lake and the mountain! Yay Also the room was quite big and have compartments. My kids love their bunk beds and they keep climbing the bed and running around! They did not looked intense anymore as they were in the car before. ;)

the view from our room's window

our cosy and minimal english style room ;)

The next morning, we had a super delish English breakfast. There were many choices of vegetarian food to try. Heaven la jugak though i still cepat lapar sebab tak dapat heavy breakfast! hehe..Oh yes, i love the cafe's table setting and interior too. Aihh, fall in loveee. 

Ada funny story too! Adake weol duduk kat meja lain, padahal ada waitress ni approach us and bagitau yg dia dah siapkan meja sebelah untuk weols..haha weol ingatkan table tu dah di'reserve'kan untuk orang lain..haha malu eden! so they were not kind of double-standard people..because they treats customers equally. ;)

salah meja, meja yang dah reserve untuk kami tu meja yang sebelah sana..huhu

the breakfast table, penuh dgn aneka roti, croisant, cake, cheese, fruit jams and drinks (tp dah kosong dah jug2 tu :P )

Then after checked-out, we took some time to let the kids playing at the playground. Playground pon not bad, siap ada tree house and big ship lagi! Memang sakan la the kids main, sampai susah plak nak ajak balik. Zafri sampai nangis-nangis kene tangkap dengan babah...huhu kesian dia, sekejap sangat dapat main..

enjoyed the playing on the tree house and the ship

Sementara kids main, ummi dan babah pergi menikmati pemandangan tasik Wolfgang atau Wolfgangsee. Dekat2 situ je. fefeeling honeymoon gitu. haha! 

ummi dan Seegasthof Gamsjaga from sideview..:)

Nway, berkabus pagi tu..so gambar kelam je...hihi tapi Nyaman bangat pagi2 duduk kt tepi tasik ni, very the fresh air! Tapi kalau dapat mandi kt tasik ni lagi bestkan! haha..tatau la Summer time boleh mandi ke tak tasik ni sebab kat tepi tasik ni tengok air nya mcm cetek. 

hubby at the edge of Wolfgangsee ;D

Lepas dah penat ambil gambar, weol pon paksa the kids masuk kereta sebab nak pergi ke Salzburg city plak...sebelum tu wajib ambil gambar dulu depan Seegasthof Gamsjaga ni.Tp sayang Babah tade sebab tripod dah kemas and simpan, malas nak keluarkan balik katanya..:D

only for of us. Good bye SG!;)

Ok to be continued..:)

Doli Dombot

Salam 9 Ramadhan!

What is Doli Dombot?

It is actually how Zafri saying 'Charlie and The Number'! Hahaha.

At first we really can't make out what he wants by saying that many times..

But then we know after hearing him saying Doli Dombot, Doli Dombot while watching his all-time favourite at Youtube app. Pelat lagi this 2 years and 3months old of mine. ;D

By the way, How is your Ramadhan so far? :)

As for us we have a long Ramadhan and at the same time we are having a heatwave here in UK with temperature of 33 degrees C at the highest in London yesterday. So it is very challenging indeed compare to the previous Ramadhan.

But hopefully, we could go through it successfully until end of Ramadhan. Amin! :)

WW: Cycling at South Park

Look how happy and content my kids were yesterday at the park. It was a brilliant hot and sunny day! :)

Alhamdulillah Iris can ride on her bike now. She just learnt it a day before the Nursery Bike Day last week. Well done, Iris!! ;)

Third Ramadhan in London

Assalamualaikum

Alhamdulillah still alive to meet this Ramadhan, the month of full Barakah. It's our third Ramadhan here in London and might be the last too..or might be not..hihi wallahua'lam Allah knows best!

Again, Ramadhan falls during Summer like in last year so we will be fasting almost 19hrs. Subuh starts at 2.37am and Maghrib starts at 9.15pm. MasyaAllah it will be challenging but hopefully Allah will make it easy for us. Amin!

This year, hoping to train Zahin to fast as she's gonna be 7yo in September. We already slow-talked with her and seems that she can accept it. Will try to use Wardina Safiyya's tips so will see how Zahin do it. So please pray for us k! :)

So i on behalf of my family (ishamizu & co.) would like to wish Ramadhan Mubarak to our dearest family and friends, and also all Muslim who read this blog. ;) Hopefully all our ibadah and good deeds will be accepted by Allah S.W.T. Amin!

Hello Summer!

Assalamualaikum.

I guess i can say that Summer has officially arrive here in London. Wee! ^^

The highest temperature today has reached 28degrees Celcius. Feeling hot and feeling just like in Malaysia! Hehe.

Alhamdulillah gotta see alot of sunshine and the best thing is dry clothes!! Garing ok! Tomorrow the temperature was predicted to be higher at 30degrees celsius! *happy*

And below the pictures of lil helper of mine did the laundry today. ;D

Thank you Zahin for helping me out. Mmmuahh!

Spring Holiday: Cable Car Ride to Snow Paradise on Swiss Alps

Assalamualaikum

After Lake Thun, we went to Grindelwald again and this time managed to go up to Mt. Männlichen  aka the Snow Paradise, one of the Swiss Alps at 2343m over the sea level. Just to give the kids experience riding on a cable car. We bought tickets and took off from Männlichenbahn, Grund. 

Our tixs. Bought three but paid only for two which costed us CHF64..they didn't charged Zahin and Iris, Zafri went up f.o.c  (below 5yo ;))

But never I know that the cable car ride is apparently the longest ride in Europe! Hoho no wonder I felt the 40 minutes ride was like 4 hours! But nevermind, the experience and the view of Gindelwald valley were priceless. 

Swiss village at the Grindelwald valley taken from the cable car ride

I was nervous all the way up but the others just relaxed. My kids kept swapping their place and standing to enjoy the view through the window during on the ride which wobbled the cable car and it did scared me to death! Huhu..

hugging my son to cast my fear away :P

two excited girls :D

 The cable car was just nice for five of us..and nothing much can be done except photographing..:P

happy kiddos with doting dad ;) 

this is how the cable car looks like ..very small for the massive journey huhu

tukar2 tempat..tak reti duduk diam ..hihi

just arrived...gasped for more air...LOL

Actually, there are many superb activities can be done up here like Skiing and snowboarding, winter /summer hiking to Kleine Scheidegg (most scenic), chairlifting to Wengen, mountain biking and helicopter and aeroplane flights for a breathtaking bird's eye view of mountains and glaciers. But if coming with student budget only can go sightseeing lor! Hihihi..

kunun2 jd student kt Swiss Ski and Snowboard School..:P

ni tgh belajar cara2 nak ski...:P

 Anyway, it was all foggy and poor visibility on Mt. Männlichen, we went nowhere far from the station. Actually, if it's in Summer, we could walk to the summit..and would enjoy the spectacular view of famous Eiger, Monc and Jungfrau mountains from the mountain restaurant at the summit..huhu tade rezeki lg.

but still these girls had so much fun ;)

and i rather stayed indoor, was happy too! ^^

Along n Angah together took Adik to play snow outside. my fav pic here! credit to Babah. ;))

hands in hands kuis2 snow..cuteness! :D

 And when we thought we had enough, we took the cable car ride down to Holstein, the transit station. On the way down, we captured some pictures again..

i wonder how he can ski in such a poor visiblity. kagum ok...;)

masa ni takut ok, rasa mcm dlm bilik kecil bdinding putih je..insaf sgt! sobs

kagum dgn ilmu dan skil serta teknologi yg Allah kurniakn kepada manusia yg tlh membina this mode of transportation

and really love the fantastic view, Subhanallah!

 As soon as we arrived at Holstein, the place was much more happening. We could see clearly now. Hihi. We bought some snacks at the shop as we already ran out of ours. Not many choice though, we just bought crisps and evian mineral water..afterwards, we posed here and there and enjoyed watching other people skiing alive..;)

in front of Holstein station..

our family photo :)

alpine trees 

My beloved Hisham's ;)

My beloved Eins..suka betul main snow kt Swiss..kt UK hmm...i wonder why,.

'snow paradise'

gotchaa!

family photo no 2 ;)

father n son just done skiing ..so sweet :)

hubby asked me to feel the snow, the size n texture up here was slightly bigger and rougher..Hmm well-observed uh. ;)

en. hubby's snow white..:P

adoi smpi tjatuh2 tangga nk pegi kt ummi..huhu cian adik..

and last family photo taken by British tourist..he insisted to take tp blur plak huhu..

In most review, Männlichen is highly recommended place to witness stunning views with fewer crowds. But I really suggest you to go during Summer between July and September. So a lot of activities can be done and many places will be opened. But be prepared of their expensive costs almost on everything. But still if ada rezeki, we also wish to come again in Summer. Summer bila tu Wallahua'alam. hihi..

By the way, we had purposely skipped Jungfraujoch (4158m) or Top of Europe in our plan tentative because worrying of my kids health condition. Both Eins have Athma so we reckoned they might not fit enough or ready to conquer it. 

I read that the pressure was very low up there and even in the good shape people could not stand it hence dizzy and throw-ups. So we better not to take any risk and glad we had made the good decision. Alhamdulillah, my kids were in the pink of health throughout the trip. :)

Till then..Wassalam.