A taste of Egypt: Konafa!

As promised, here is a recipe for a Ramadan dish; Konafa. Warning: if you are on a diet don't attempt to eat this stuff. :)

Konafa is a traditional Ramadan dish, although it is eaten year round. It can be served hot or cold, and with a variety of fillings and toppings. I found a recipe online for a cream cheese filling here (although I have never had one with cream cheese inside).

Image from Easy Recipes

The recipe below comes with the assumption that you will be able to readily find Middle Eastern ingredients. Fear not, if you cannot find katteyef (or ready made Konafa pastry) you can substitute with fine vermicelli.

Sweet Syrup ingredients:

• 3 cups sugar
• 1 ½ cups water
• Lemon juice
• Vanilla

Konafa ingredients:

• ½ Kilo Konafa pastry
• 1 cup butter
• Nuts
• Coconut
• Raisins
• ½ tablespoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon

Sweet Syrup Directions:

1. Dissolve the sugar in water in a medium saucepan.
2. Add lemon juice and vanilla then bring to boil.
3. Reduce the heat and let it slowly boil for 8-10 minutes.
4. Remove from heat and put it aside.

Konafa Directions:

1. Cut the Konafa into smaller pieces.
2. Heat the butter, add Konafa and mix.
3. Grease baking dish and add have of the Konafa mixture with butter.
4. Mince the nuts with a little bit of sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle it all over the Konafah.
5. Add the rest of the Konafa over and compress with your hand to make sure it is holding well.
6. Put in the oven until the top is golden.
7. Pour the syrup on and the raisins on top.

Voila! Bil Hana Wa Shiva. 

For that extra authentic Egyptian taste, add some Eshta (Cream) on top of the Konafa and you have a sinfully delicious treat.

Tips for Ramadan driving

With Ramadan nearing the end of its second week, cracks are beginning to show in the resolve of those fasting. With this summer heat, it's not surprising that more people are struggling this year, and accordingly tempers are more quick to fray.

This can be most evident when driving around, particularly in Cairo. Driving in Cairo on a normal day is a hair raising experience. If you've ever played the game "Need for Speed," you've got an estimation of what driving in Cairo is like. [Side note - the new Need for Speed game actually has a track in Cairo for you to drive. Classic!]

Cairo driving in Ramadan increases these levels almost ten fold particularly closer to the time that the sun sets. Here are a few valuable tips that will help ensure your safety and the safety of those around you if you end up driving around Egypt during Ramadan.

1. Remember that you are not fasting. You need to be more patient with those around you. In this heat, it's not the food, but the water that really causes physical strain. If someone looks like they are trying to pick a fight or shouting at you, no matter how difficult it may be, let it go. Patience is a virtue, even more so when you are accommodating for people who are fasting.

2. If at all possible, avoid the roads from around one hour before sunset. At this time, people will be driving break neck speeds to make it home in time to break the fast. All usual driving rules go out the window at this point.

3. Expect the unexpected. This is not an unusual recommendation for people driving in Egypt. But I'm not joking when I say that the "unexpected" at normal times of the year is nothing compared to what I've seen Ramadan drivers do. Just the other day when I was out driving, I was seeing micro busses stopped in the middle of the road for no apparent reason. Driving past, the drivers of these busses would be sat with a quizzical look on their faces wondering why and where they were. The toll of fasting showing through the cracks.

4. Especially true for Cairo: driving right after people break their fast is one of the best and safest times to be on the roads. As everyone is inside breaking their fasts, the roads are empty! Finally it becomes evident that it really should only take 10 - 15 minutes from the center of downtown to reach Maadi :p

5. If you use a driver or a regular cab and expect to be out and about during iftar, bring the driver something with you. I would bring my driver dates, water, and maybe a small sandwich if I knew we'd be at the stables when the fast broke. Of course he used to partake in the meals served up by the stable boys, but this little act can mean the world to someone.

If you can stick to these tips for driving during Ramadan, you will find the experience overall less stressful, and perhaps gain a little bit more insight into Egyptian living.

Ramadan Kareem!

Ramadan and power outages

First and foremost, seeing as how I have not had the chance to update my blog recently, I would like to wish everyone a Ramadan Kareem. I hope that this month brings you peace, even for non-Muslims reading this. I will be updating my blog throughout the month with a few Ramadan inspired threads, including a few traditional recipes simplified for all non-Egyptians to cook without hassle! Last Ramadan, I explored parts of Cairo through the eyes of a fasting Muslim; I hope to do the same this Ramadan in Hurghada.

That being said, on to tonight's blog. The power outages. >.<

I was already less than enthusiastic to return to the hot Egyptian summer, even less so when upon our arrival back to Hurghada we immediately start having serious problems with our electricity.

Photographed by Reuters

Living in Egypt, electrical outages are a norm. But they are usually resolved after 30 minutes or so later, with the occasional power outage lasting an hour or more - usually caused by idiots at the bottom of our road doing road works and "accidentally" cutting the electrical wires. I'm fairly convinced that Hurghada does not have any layout of the electrical grids and their lines, let alone the internet wires and their respective locations. Anyhow, I digress.

Today marked one of the worst power outages we've seen in Hurghada in a while. Made only worse by the two power outages last night, both conveniently falling around Iftar. This to add to the 1.5 hour power outage yesterday afternoon, and I'm thinking what the hell is going on?

Today, we lost power around 10 a.m. Let me remind you, with it being Friday most everyone is at home. With it being August, the temperatures are soaring to 42 degrees. Combine that with people who are fasting, and it becomes virtually impossible to survive the day without at least a fan, if not AC.

Our power was returned to us today, after a few brief pops, at close to 4 p.m. That's right, in the heat of the summer, and in the beginning of Ramadan to boot, combined with roughly 3 hours of power outages yesterday, we lost power for close to 6 hours!!! Turns out that one of the MAIN power lines leading into Hurghada was cut today by...get this...an oil rig, roughly 60 km away from Hurghada near Safaga. Why does this not surprise me.

With it being Friday, of course the central electrical office was closed. By about 1:30 p.m. outside my house, as people were trickling back from their Friday prayers, you could tell tempers were flaring. I assume most people weren't up at 10 a.m. on a Friday in Ramadan, so therefore did not realise just how long the power was out, and presumed upon returning from prayers it would be back.  

My next question is, how many fridges full of food were spoiled today. I barely opened the fridge, leading K to call me the fridge nazi, but I am NOT about to let over 100 dollars of fresh groceries spoil because some genius cut the main power wire. Eechs. So my area in Hurghada joined a number of others without power.

Evidently it is not Hurghada that is experiencing power shortages, as Al-Masry Al-Yawm points out. I have previously written a blog about the increased strain on Egypt's power grid during the summer, as more and more people are installing ACs into their homes.

It's not surprising we're seeing these power outages. The Electricity Ministry should be ashamed of themselves for allowing such shortages to happen during the one time of year where everybody needs all the help they can get to survive fasting in this heat. It's time to man up, and begin improving the badly plagued electrical circuits in Egypt, before providing power becomes nigh on impossible. One can dream right?