Itqan

Salaam,
Alhamdulillah we have completed our RnD project. Praise be to Allah! I used to think that praying for first class and striving hard to achieve this degree sounds a bit duniawi, or wordly matter. How do you justify that? BUT

I attended a motivational talk a few days ago (Jazakallah khair for the brother who organized it,best motivation ever), the main hadith goes like this.

Rasulullah SAW once said in a hadith narrated by Imam Tabrani:

“Indeed Allah loves one who does work, he does it with itqan.”

Itqan means doing the best at it.Simple, yet it puts everything into perspective. We work hard for this degree because Allah loves us for that. MashaAllah.

Another hadith goes like this

From Abu Ya'la Shadad ibn Aws RA, from Rasulullah SAW : Allah has decreed excellence (ihsan) for everything, so when you kill, then do the killing excellently well (in the context of retaliation for combat) and when you slaughter(an animal), then perform the slaughter excellently well, and let any of you sharpen his knife and let him put the animal at ease." [Muslim]

do your best and never give up, because
O my sons! Go and inquire respecting Yusuf and his
brother, and despair not of Allah's mercy; surely none
despairs of Allah's mercy except the unbelieving people.(Yusuf,12:87)

Allah loves excellence in everything we do, be it in seeking knowledge, and even cooking if you think of it!

Oh yeah, interesting story, i was asking my friends the reference for this hadeeth a day before the talk. Lo and behold! Allah gave me the answer Himself,the next day i was fated to attend the talk specifically about itqan. SubhanAllah, how Allah works wonders.Allah is the Most Knowing

Peace to the whole wide world

Chickan pie

Naughty......creamy,hearty and warming. Chicken pie...

Yushy (eating the chicken pie filling): Kanyang ku eh makan isinya ah, very filling ah
Minul: Cos it's chicken filling. teehee
Yushy: Rolls eyes....

Lurve Kolo mee.

Praise be to Allah! As jerry said, we've been eating quite a lot this week from the luxurious nasi talam with lamb biryani and barbecues(2 more in a few days time). A special request from Yushy, kolomee! First time making it, doesnt really taste like kolomee from restaurants but nice nonetheless.

What you need (Fit for 10 people):

5 chicken thighs deboned and chopped

6 stalks of pak choy sliced vertically

1 kg of chicken mince (wouldn't harm you if you add bits of chicken fats,hehe)

400g of shallots

Marinade

8 tablespoons of Oyster sauce

8 table spoons of Sweet Soy Sauce

white pepper

2 table spoons of sesame oil

1.Steam the vegetables.

2.Then stir fry the chicken mince n shicken pieces for 15 minutes.

3.Make the sauce by frying 4 cloves of garlic then with the same ingredients as the marinade but add 3 cups of water with 2 chicken stock cubes. thicken with cornflour and drizzle with sesame oil.

4.Boil 450 g of fine egg noodles.

5.Slice thinly the shallots and fry slowly until goledn (15 mins). Do not discard the oil, it's heavenly fragrant.

6.Then, mix the sauce, chicken and noodles together.Mix ell, top with shallots and drizzle with the shallots oil.

slurp....

peace

Happy Birthday Mom

Salaam and good morning world,
Alhamdulillah, my mom just had her 52nd birthday a few days ago. May Allah grant her longevity,happiness and Jannah ameen. I was told that the love for Allah must exceed your love for your parents. Hmmm, i know that for a fact but at first couldn't make sense of it. They were the one's who gave birth to me, took care of me, who brought me up. But then i started to realise, isn't it Allah that created me? Who brought me into this world? and the one that I am most thankful for , HE BROUGHT ME TO THIS WORLD AS A MUSLIM.
MashaAllah. I love you.

"People, (remember) if you doubt resurrection, that We created you from dust, then a drop of fluid, then a clinging form, then a lump of flesh, both shaped and unshaped: We mean to make Our power clear to you. Whatever We choose We cause to remain in the womb for an appointed time, then We bring you forth as infants and then you grow and reach maturity....."(Al-Hajj(The Pilgrimage) 22:5)

MashaAllah, Allah is the most Merciful
When you love Allah, your love for your parents would come naturally. How come? Because Allah commands us to do so.SubhanAllah.

"And you Rubb has decreed that you worship none but Him. And that you be dutiful to your parents. If one of them or both of them attain old age in life, say not to them a word of disrespect, nor shout at them but adress them in terms of honour. And lower unto them the wing of mercy, and say: 'My Rubb! Bestow on them your Mercy as they did bring me up when i was young (17:23,24)

"And we have enjoined man (to be good and dutiful )to his parents. His mother bore him in weakness and hardships, and his weaning is in two years-give thanks to Me and to yo your parents"(31:4)

Abdullah bin Mas'ud RA reported: I asked the prophet SAW,"which of the deeds is loved most by Allah?' Reasulullah SAW said " Salat at its proper time," I asked, "What next?' He SAW replied, Kindness to parents." I asked, "What next?" He replied,"Jihad in the way of Allah" [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

Happy Birthday Mom,I Love you

Peace

Chicken kebab

Simple and spicy kebab. A before and after shot. Will post recipes for this and the other posts inshallah. Rite now i'm in a picture uploading frenzy!

Profiteroles

ooooohhh, profiteroles! ijah lapar! I'm so proud of making these, my first time working with pastry and i suceeded! With the will of Allah! Fluffy choux pastry with a whipped cream filling, drizzled with chocolate sauce and dusted with icing just to add that extra bit of magic. yummy! happy but hungry................................

Strawberry cheese birthday cake

Surah Al-inshirah
1 Have We not opened your breast for you (O Muhammad (Peace be upon him))?
2 And removed from you your burden,
3 Which weighed down your back?
4 And raised high your fame?
5 So verily, with the hardship, there is relief,
6 Verily, with the hardship, there is relief (i.e. there is one hardship with two reliefs, so one hardship cannot overcome two reliefs).
7 So when you have finished (from your occupation), then stand up for Allahs worship (i.e. stand up for prayer).
8 And to your Lord (Alone) turn (all your intentions and hopes and) your invocations.

Just needed to remind myself, because sister miyam and I are stuck trying to find the correlation between the diffusion coefficient,distance and chemical content for our research project. It's a good surah to recite when you are stuck on something. Haha.

And here's sister miyam's birthday cake! told you it's way back. Home made straw berry cheesecake! crushed double chocolate chip cookies and viennese for the crust, cream cheese, and sour cream, baked. Then lathered with sweet strawberry jam and freshly cut strawberries. MashaAllah! I have some more overdue pictures just wait and see.InshaAllah.

Peace!

Fried Tiger prawns and roast pousins

aaaaaaahhh, some more overdue pictures, made this on sister miyam's birthday,
Massive tiger prawns, simply seasoned and deep fried.
Pousins (fancy name for baby chicken), seasoned with salt, pepper and turmeric. Roasted.
simple and tasty.
peace

Nasi lemak

Bismillahirrahmanirraheem.
A waaaay overdue picture (courtesy of jerry). The traditional nasi lemak. I made this way back in March.
Nasi lemak: rice cooked in coconut milk infused with slices of fragrant ginger and zingy lemon grass, pandan essence and salt. Uber good ,uber fattening. hehe
peace!

When it is raining..

Assalamualaikum,

I'm hijacking sam's blog! Haha. I have no idea what i want to say, but we'll go with the flow. But i warn you that its gonna be different from his usual posts. I'm just humoring him pasal he was curious about my privatised blog.

I am currently addicted to sorority life!And i have a feeling its because i have so many many courseworks yth aku main saja atu. And when it is all over, i bet i'll get bored. And this is a boring post!

In less than a month, i will have my final exam insya Allah. Can't believe we are graduating soon iA. Macam the end of one chapter of our lives. And knowing that, patutnya semangat lah ah kn do all the courseworks and revise for the exams. Tapi malas jua masih! Haha. The story of a typical student (almost all lah).

I was bored the other day and i read my old posts. Awu, loser kn. Yatah i was wondering how a few years can make a lot of difference. And adakah aku ah, mau th jua kn bagi initial for names.. inda plg ku ingat who i was talking about. Hehe. And i kinda miss the guys yg we used to hang out with. I'm thankful that i still talk to my girls.

oH OH. this is getting personal :p

Ok baby sam, back to you.

Peace.

Barbecute

Assalamualaikum, praise be to Allah! Barbecue gatherings are a favourite past time for Lufbruans, a tradition since first year. Usually it means socializing with friends but for me it's busy work, because half the time it's our house organizing it.haha. MashaAllah, but i like it. Tasty food and great company.

We had 15 kilos of chicken and 6o plus chicken satays.Was a bit skeptical at first, are we going to be able to finish everything?, but mashaAllah, nothing is wasted. Alhamdulillah.

Oh yah, a first; chicken satay! Not really a fan (mostly because of the sickly sweet sauce) but yesterday i was a satay loving convert. hehe. These pictures were the only instance where i managed to collect that many satays in one plate, because people kept on eating them of the barbe one by one alhamdulillah!

Satay marinade goes like:
spice paste ground made of 2 table spoons chilli powder, 1 table spoon of tumeric powder, 2 large onions, 2 table spoons sugar, 1 tbsp coriander seeds, 1 tsp of sugar,2 stalks of lemon grass blended in oil.
Marinate for 12 hours for best results!
For the Satay sauce
Spice paste for blending
3 large onions
5 cloves garlic
3 table spoons of chilli paste
2 chicken stock cubes
3 Tablespoons of sugar
2 cm galangal
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tablespoon coriander seeds

Then fry them till fragrant for 15 minutes. Then add a cup of ground peanuts and a tablespoon of tamarind. Adjust the taste with peanut butter and sweet soya sauce. Don't worry, the sweet soya sauce wont affect the colour.hehe

Peace

Thank you Allah

MashaAllah, this year have been a bitter sweet one, where Allah has tested me with my exam results. A blessing in disguise mashaAllah, that's when i start to think why? Why me? Why such and such exam results? Astaghfirullah, i dare question Allah why? SubhanAllah, Allah has blessed me with satisfactory results before this. How did i thank Him? A two rakaat prayer as syukur on the day of the results? Then what? At good times, when you've got it easy, sometimes we forget to be grateful to Allah.

But Alhamdulillah, eventhough results last semester wasn't fantastic, it humbled me and taught me patience. To constantly think of Allah. The reason Allah tests his servant is to make him a better person if he gets through the trial. Allah tests us because He loves us. Allah loves me. I love you too o Allah.

"Only those who are patient shall receive their reward in full, without reckoning" (Al-Zumar,the Throngs 39:10)

"Seek help in patience and As-Salat (prayer). Truly Allah is with the As-Sabirun (The patient) Al Baqarah 2:153

Abu Yahya Suhaib bin Sinan RA reported that Rasulullah SAW said: "How wonderful is the case of the believer;there is good for him in everything and this applies only to the believer. If prosperity attends him, he expresses gratitude to Allah and that is good for him; and if adversity befalls him, he endures it patiently and that is better for him" Sahih Muslim. Win win situation subhanAllah.

Peace

Pineapple prawns in mayonnaise

Now this is a fresh one,photo courtesy of great friend Jerry just made it yesterday, you could even call it oriental prawn salad even. Inspired by the dishes that we used to order at family lunches at dynasty and i-lotus. Except they use mangoes at i-lotus.

It's fried prawns in spicy batter, mixed with pineapple chunks, mayonnaise. Drizzled with sesame oil and garnished with celery leaves. Nestled on a bed of crispy fried rice noodles.

Really simple and sweet. Would've been much better with large tiger prawns with shells still attached. mmm, that woul'dve been lovely and crunchy. But syukur alhamdulilllah for what i have.

Anyways, i read a post of a friend of mine from nottingham, really beautiful what he posted about the stresses of exams, the ONLY way to find inner peace is dhizkr to Allah, "those who have faith and whose hearts find peace in the remembrance of God-truly it is in the remembrance of God that hearts find peace"-(Ar-Rad(Thunder) 13:28)

MashaAllah, no wonder yelling your hearts out or listening to music doesnt work!

Peace

Home made burger

The posts just keeps coming when you're bored haha (A muslim never gets bored though FYI, we're supposed to constantly make dhikr to Allah.). This is even way back in the winter.Home made burger, totally delicious alhamdulillah.hehe. It's jamie oliver's recipe using jacobs biscuits.

it goes something like 500gm of mince beef, mixed with 10 crushed jacob's biscuits, seasoned with a bit of chicken stock and pepper.Chopped onion and parseley, sealed with egg white and patted into round patties.

OOzes with taste,juicy and meaty.melted cheesy.yummy.

Peace

Trip to borough market

Some overdue pictures from my very lovely easter break alhamdulillah. Our trip to borough market London, a haven for food lovers where everyting is fresh and in season subhanAllah. Another reason why i was excited to go there as that it's where my favourite cooking show films, and mashaAllah, i met aaron craze, celebrity chef and maket kitchen presenter.haha.

The fruits and veg are absolutely beautiful. I get very excited about these kinds of stuffs, my friends said i looked like a kid in a toy store. hehe.

You get ostrich eggs and exotic meats here, and fresh fish from every sea.None of the frozen fish from sainsbury's.hehe

" It is he who made the sea of benefit to you; you eat fresh fish from it and bring out jewellery to wear: you see the ships cutting through its waves so that you may go in search of His bounty and give thanks."(An-Nahl (The Bee) 16:14)

"He set down the earth for His creatures,

with its fruits,its palm trees with sheathed clusters,its husked grain, its fragrant plants. Which,then, of your Lord's blessings do you both deny?" (Ar-Rahman,(The Lord of Mercy);55:10-13)

Peace

A reminder to my self

MashaAllah, i havn't posted anything since february, blame it on final year projects and the easter break.hehe. Food pics still in the hard drive. I've been blogging about food for a year now. Quite irregular posts i might add. I've realised that cooking is a hobby but Islam is a way of life subhanAllah. So from now on it's going to be food posts and bits of knowledge to share inshaAllah. I hope it'll work inshaAllah.
Anyways, just a reminder to myself so that i don't have to keep looking back to my books, i'm going to post it instead.

A good opening post would be about our intention or niyyat InshaAllah. Cooking is a "harus" thing, but if you incorporate niyyat to do it for Allah and to help feed the hungry as sadaqqah,inshaAllah you will get rewarded.

Aishah RA narrates Rasulullah SAW said: "An army was advancing in order to attack the Ka'bah. When they reached an even plain, all of them were swallowed into the earth." I asked :" O Messenger of Allah! How could all of them be swallowed up when among them are merchants who were not part of them(the army)?"

He SAW replied." All of them were swallowed up, and they will eventually be resurrected according to their intentions."( Al-Bukhari & Muslim)


Abdullah ibn Abbas RA narrates from Rasulullah SAW who narrates from Allah SWT:

Whoever intends doing a good deed but does not carry it out Allah SWT records it as a complete good deed. But if he intends doing a good deed and carries it out, Allah SWT records it as 10 good deeds to 700 good deeds, and even more. Whoever intends doing an evil deed and does not carry it out, Allah SWT records it as a good deed. But if he intends doing an evil deed and carries it out, Allah SWT records it as one evil deed. (Al-Bukhari&Muslim)