Qaraar-é-Panjshanbé

If you take anything with you into the new year, take this:

"Qaraar-é-Panjshanbé" is a short film by 20-year old Iranian film-maker Syed Raza Khardmand. The film was recently given an award at the Luxor Film Festival.

"Qaraar-é-Panjshanbé", loosely translated, means "Thursday's appointment" and refers to a common Persian practice of visiting the cemetery and offering prayers for departed loved ones on Thursdays, it being the weekend. Visitors often take dried fruits such as dates and share them with others at the cemetery.

I couldn't find a subtitled version of this film, but then it really doesn't need any.

For those intrigued by the verse recited by the gentleman in the video, it is from a ghazal by Khwaja Shams-ud-Din Muḥammad Ḥafeẓ-é-Shirazi, better known simply as Hafez - Iran's most celebrated poet.

Again, translated liberally, my Farsi is a tad rusty; the verse goes...

"If that Shirazi Turk takes my heart in her hand
I would trade Samarqand and Bukhara for her little mole

Oh saaqi! Give me that eternal wine for in Paradise
You'll never find the banks of Roknabad and the gardens of Mosalla"

Some notes:
Shirazi = from Shiraz in Iran. Hafez himself was born and lived all his life in Shiraz, the region once famed for the wine that bears its name.

Samarqand & Bukhara are historic places in modern day Uzbekistan known for their picturesque beauty.

Saaqi = Wine Bearer or if you like, Bartender.

Grime, slime

The guy who wrote the text in the attached image is being invited to schools to read to and converse with your little children. He is also going to appear on state-funded national television with a Christmas message for everyone.

Back in the day, when I was little, we'd have policemen and firemen and painters and poets and writers and artists visit us at school to inspire our young minds and fire our imagination. We even had a dentist once! They were our heroes.

Today, I'm so sad to say, there's just this kind of sludge that creeps out from under the manhole covers Jeremy Corbyn is so fond of. No wonder it's called grime.

Wrapping up 2019

The holidays are just about upon us. Here are some thoughts I'd like to share as you begin to wrap up 2019 and head into 2020, hopefully with 20-20 vision...

If you are fortunate enough to be able to shop for presents for family and friends, or food and drink for a party you may be having, consider buying local, buying handmade, buying from someone you know, buying from the self-employed.

The big stores don't jubilantly punch the air when they make a sale - your friendly local shopkeeper does. Send the little guy home to his kids dancing a jig, with a spring in his step and a warm feeling that it is indeed the season to be jolly.

If you are privileged enough to have surviving parents or grandparents, sit down with them for a good old chin-wag. Look them in the eye and tell them of your fondest memory of them. Ask them what you were like as a child. Trust me on this one - it feels like mulled wine warming your insides.

If you are blessed with many friends and get together a lot, consider inviting and involving one shy wallflower to each of your dos. There's a rock-solid BFF or quite possibly, the love of your life completely unknown to you hiding somewhere out there only because you didn't ask. Go ahead. Ask.

If you are lucky enough to be in the company of family and loved ones this holiday season and someone turns down an alcoholic drink you offer them, please don't insist they accept. You have no idea why they might be declining and how hard that might be for them. Please don't make it harder. Help them win whatever they're fighting. That's what friends are for.

When choosing presents, nothing is more personal or thoughtful than a carefully chosen book. Don't just tick off a bestseller list - do some digging. What would they like to read? Why didn't you know already? You'll be richer for having done that, as will your friend.

The humongous hug you get from the universe each time you do any one of those things comes for free.

And guess what? You can do all of the above all year next year too, and the year after. 

Start today.

Coriander, Dhaniya, Cilantro

I love coriander. If you're a curry fan, this is how I source and use it:

Supermarket coriander has no aroma and no flavour, and to add insult to injury, tends to cost £1 or more per bunch. You might as well use grass. Best avoid.

Local Indian shops do great deals, sometimes 2 or 3 generously packed bunches for a quid.

Firstly, wash thoroughly in cold water to get rid of the chlorinated disinfectant.

I buy 6 bunches at a time, using 3 bunches as follows:

1. I chop the stems as finely as I can and pack them *tightly* into an ice tray to freeze. Once frozen, I move the cubes into a tupperware box or a recycled ice-cream tub, and keep it in the freezer. The stems have more flavour than the leaves, so discarding them is a culinary crime and should be punishable by permanent exile to a Gulag in Siberia. 

I use one or two or three cubes of the stems as a cooking ingredient, depending how many people I'm cooking for, adding it last to the onion/garlic/ginger/tomato gloop that serves as a basis for all curries. My measurement: 1 cube for every two portions. Alter as you see fit. You can also thaw a cube or two out and mix into your marinade for chicken or lamb roasts or BBQ.

2. As for the leaves, I pick them out and *very* loosely pack them into a similar box and freeze.

To use as a garnish, I scoop out a handfull and crushing them in my hands, I sprinkle them over my finished dish or salad - they melt instantaneously and spring to life, as if they were freshly picked.

I use the remaining 3 bunches to make a chutney/dip. Here's how:

3. I chuck the bunches, stems and all, along with a bunch of fresh mint, also with stems, several green chillies, a red or preferably a pink onion, the size of a fist, two spring onions - green bit included, 4-5 cloves of garlic, a tablespoon of red chilli powder (or dried red chilli flakes if you want proper fire), salt to taste, 2 or 3 table-spoons of lime juice (not lemon!), a teaspoon of amchur (dried mango) powder, and a little fresh ginger into a blender and blend until I get a rough paste of an even consistency. I use some watered down natural yoghurt if the blender begs for more liquid. You can alter the ingredients to suit. 

This is stored in the fridge. 

You can use this gloop on its own as a chutney or add a hefty tablespoon of it to a little bowl of whisked natural yoghurt to make a different kind of dip.

All of the above lasts my family of 4 for 2 weeks.