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Sumptuous Iftar delights!

Enjoy an array of Iftar delights at Dhaka Sheraton Hotel from delicious drinks to traditional sweets like as Jeelapi, Rossomalai, Zarda, Payes, Semai, Sandesh, Mousse, Cream Caramel, Pitha to delicious fruits from the selection of sliced fresh seasonal fruit, fruit cocktail, fruit yogurt, dates, dry apricot, and pears. All these to be followed by the chefs' exquisite iftar special from the range of Alo Chola Chatt, Chicken Chat, Babaganouj, Khoriatike, Fattoush, Khair Bil Laban, labenh, Mixed salad, Olive Pickle, Achar, Chutney, Rice Puff. Also try our special Halim with garnish, Piazo, Beguni, Pakora, Aloo Chop, Singara, Cutlet, Fried Gram, Dabri or Pindi Chana, Nehari, Mughlai Paratha, Tehari, Bhoona Khichuri, Morogh Pullao, Tangri Kebab, Boti Kebab, Shashlick, Chaap, Tikka, Puri, Nan, Paratha, Bhoona, Do-Piazza, Kosha or Stir fry.

The month long buffet Iftar temptation will start from the first of Ramadan and will continue until the end of holy month at the Bithika Restaurant.

Alternatively take away traditional Iftar Box will also be available. Alternatively should you prefer to break your fast in the privacy of your circle or loved ones, friends, colleagues, or business partners, ask for their special Ramadan banquet set menu's tailored to meet your individual needs.

lS Desk

Iftar at Mantra

The Mantra fashion Café hosted an Iftar festival on Thursday, 7 October. The festival featured some common, and some not so common, delectable iftar favorites prepared by renowned local chef Keka Ferdousi. The event was organized as a prelude to Mantra specializing on Keka Ferdousi's creations all throughout Ramadan this year.. Ms. Keka Ferdousi cooked about 20 different iftar dishes for the festival. Arshad Hossian, the CEO of Mantra Fashion Café, hopes that the iftari at Mantra will be able to satisfy the appetite of those looking to taste something exotic, yet familiar, during the month of Ramadan. Mantra Fashion Café will be offering these and more iftar items everyday, throughout Ramadan, this time around. Mantra will also be glad to take any large iftari orders anyone might have for them. Customers have been requested to contact them from beforehand in that case.

Diary of a Food Obsessed Person

By Sam Q

Dearest diary,
I have once again joined the work force or should I say the teaching force of the community. I had actually decided to retire from this part of my life and lead a life of the idle fat persons life, but presto! Somehow I was maneuvered and cajoled back into that familiar territory. Only this time it got better. I get to be the boss. Anyway, just before taking the job, as I was contemplating whether I would join or not, my mother and my husband descended on me like two tons of bricks on either side of me, literally took hold of my shoulders and shook me like a rag doll simultaneously to tell me the virtues of working. Picture this diary, me sitting in the middle, ping ponging between the two most important people in my life.

My mother's argument:
A. Baking is not an actual profession
B. She does feel proud enough to be a baker's mother
C. What good has baking done for me anyway? Except making me fat.
D. Made my son fat
E. Nobody comes up to her anymore saying, "Oh what a good teacher your daughter is".
F. And the final ego booster is, since she is the splitting image of me, nobody mistakes her for me anymore. She feels good when she is mistaken for a forty year old.

My husband's argument:
A. I will feel more productive (like…yeah)
B. I will have a separate identity. (hello.. no identity needed, no crisis felt)
C. More spending money (his will do)
D. Getting up early in the morning is good for my health. (well its been a month already… no change.)
He gave up!

My argument:
A. done enough for the community during my productive and reproductive years. (pun intended)
B. not a morning person
C. I really miss going to the gym and catching up with my gym partner and friend, Raj.
D. Sorting out my fridge everyday, is a major high for me
E. And as my previous employer said I miss doing all my "princessy" things. Ex: face pack, amla pack, hot oil etc., etc.
F. It makes me really envious to see hubby curled up in ball while I leave the freezing , darkened room for work.
G. And once again, not a morning person
H. And finally, no hang up being Mrs. Sam Q. I love being a woman with no responsibility of a man.

So dairy, you decide who wins? I hope my present employer doesn't get to read you dairy, otherwise I just might get my wish granted and get to stay home.

On a serious note dairy, I am actually enjoying work after my two year hiatus. I have supportive colleagues and teachers who had made me feel welcome and specially my vivacious and perky assistant, Sanjida.

And getting up in the morning is not as bad as I had imagined it would be. But catch me admitting this to my husband. I would hate to see his "I told you so" look.

So diary, I will pen off today with a favorite recipe of mine. As winter is approaching a nice spicy soup should do the trick.

SPICY THAI CHICKEN SOUP
1 tbsp oil
1 small onion sliced
10 ounce stir fried strips of chicken
1 -2 tbsp of red curry paste
1 liter chicken stock
400 gm chopped tomatoes
5 ounce baby corn
4 tbsp chopped coriander
grated zest of ½ lime

METHOD
Heat oil, add onion and fry till transparent. Add previously fried chicken strips and cook for five minutes and then add curry pastes. After 1-2 minutes add chicken stock and tomatoes. Add baby corn. Boil for another 4-5 minutes. Serve with coriander and lime zest. Add salt if needed.
* red curry paste can be found in Agora or Pick n' Pay.

Did you know
Khadi-fabrics of freedom
'Khadi' refers to any cloth that is hand spun and hand woven. It can be made from cotton, silk, and wool, or a mixture of any two or all such yarns.

Khadi's first true designer was Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi gave the fabric a more important status after his return from South Africa, when he began to urge the people of India to reject foreign imports in favour of homespun material.

Khadi over the decades has moved from a freedom fighters identity fabric to a fashion garments. At one time it was scorned as the fabric for farmers and the rural weavers. Around that time Gandhi used khadi as the uniform for the first 'Non cooperation movement and the 'Gandhi cap' had strong symbolic over tones, that of the Indo-British battle over the looms of Manchester a bid for a modern Indian identity. So deep-rooted was the sentiment attached to this fabric that Pandit Nehru wove for his daughter Indira Gandhi a wedding sari in Salmon Pink Khadi while he was in jail.

This sari is still worn by women of the Nehru-Gandhi family on their wedding days. Khadi, however can no longer be sold on an emotional level. A new approach has to be adopted for the new generation who are unaware of its original implications. It will be worthwhile for the young and trendy generations of this millennium to discover the beauty of khadi and support it as a fabric of our tradition.

Compiled by Sultana Yasmin

Special discount at Dhaka Language Club For Ramadan
Dhaka Language Club is going to start a special batch for Ramadan with a special 10 percent discount for all courses. The available courses are Spoken English, Business English, French, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, German, Italian, Special Bangla language course for foreigners. IELTS preparation and News reading courses are also available here.

Dhaka Language Club is situated at Road 29 House 395 New DOHS Mohakhali.

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Hanging Out

Samarkand

If you are looking for authentic Indian cuisine, then one name that definitely comes to mind is Samarkand. Ever since its inception, Samarkand, has been regarded very highly by connoisseurs of Indian food.

The restaurant offers a buffet service to its customers. Starting from 12.30pm and continuing till 3pm, the lunch buffet can be enjoyed. It costs Tk 350 per head and you will be able to taste 30 gourmet items. As for the dinner buffet, it starts from 6.30pm and continues till 11pm. The price charged for the dinner buffet is slightly more than the lunch buffet Tk 550 to be precise. The reason for this extra charge is that for the dinner buffet, customers are offered 42 gourmet items.

Although all the items are sumptuous, we strongly recommend that you try out their chicken as its simply mouth-watering. Another item that we would urge you to try out is their jilapi. It is so tasty that you will not want to have a jilapi from anywhere else after having theirs.

Samarkand's customer service and décor is excellent. It is an ideal place to spend some time with friends or family. As it is quite a spacious restaurant, you can consider celebrating birthday parties, gaye holuds etc. here.

So, what are you waiting for? Without further delay, head to Samarkand and devour some truly special delicacies.

By Sayeed Mahmud Nizam