In the temporary COVID 19, it was necessary to be able to cook quickly and cheaply.
Since meat went up in price in those days, it was dangerous to buy it. Concentrations in markets and supermarkets. At the request of the city authorities to observe quarantine measures, the townspeople systematically violated them. They walked in droves, did not observe the social distance, stuck to each other, did not wear masks. And they only pretended, dressing them on the chin and leaving their nose and mouth open. When sneezing or coughing, they surprisingly took off their masks, sneezed, or coughed and then put on their masks again. With this approach, crowded places became a source of infection.
These were banks, cash registers for utilities, pharmacies, and especially markets and supermarkets.
Therefore ... Shir Ali at that time 10 years ago, when he was 15 years old, he bought all the goods by delivery. Meat could be ordered only semi-finished products - frozen.
Goods from delivery were not of the best quality, fodder carrots.
Many at that time were sent on vacation without pay, and then when it was possible to go to work, their salaries were cut by 40 percent. Therefore, it was necessary to learn to save.
Salaries in Small-An at that time were small, 120-200 US dollars per month from the conversion from the national currency of the "black bucks". At that time, its course began to grow, inflation. Traders raised food prices by 200-300 percent.
Shir Ali learned to experiment on the fly. Quick recipes. Economical recipes. So you can eat and have the strength for work and life.
The best thing is the use of vegetable fats, animals, such as feta cheese, sealed and jars of prepared vegetables - peas, beans, corn. They were stored for a long time and there was no need to use a refrigerator.
His grandfather taught when cooking to use his imagination, to experiment, what his grandson did.
But in COVID-19, it took a lot of effort to process products. Since they were in their original form, without packaging. I had to first process the packages - alcohol + hydrogen peroxide from the atomizer. Wipe with a cloth. Packets from delivery should be thrown into another package. Then, pour vegetables, berries, greens into pots, fill with soda or soda (as friends in Spain did), or pour 6 percent raster vinegar. Fill with water and leave for 20 minutes. Rinse. Dry. Tiring work that takes ShirAli for 1-2 hours a day.
"Hey, grandson, stop doing nonsense, just let me eat a tomato," his grandfather shouted, he did not believe in covert-19. He thought it was a backstage conspiracy and civilization.
"Old man, stop flogging nonsense, the kid is doing everything right, and you better go watch your zombie's TV box, don't bother people cooking," and the grandfather dutifully left so as not to hear the cries of his wife and grandmother ShirAli.
With such small skirmishes, a day passed.
And ShirAli was a cook at home, he cooked food.
He bought greens - parsley, celery, dill, and frozen them. And then, before cooking, it was defrosted during the day and used in cooking. Engaged in the procurement of cereals, water, canned vegetables.
So today he was preparing a simple but at the same time hearty dinner.
In a pan, he laid out sheets of Beijing kale, chopped thawed greens. Then the next layer went carrots chopped with medallions, tomato, broccoli petioles, of course, potatoes, turnips.
When the layers filled a small frying pan 24 cm in diameter, he cut the feta cheese. Half the size of his palm. Cube. Set in a pan. Top filled with a small amount of hot boiling water. And then he poured ready canned green peas. I covered it with a lid, a pan. Put on a big fire, waiting for the water to boil, he reduced the fire to a minimum and left for 15 minutes.
And while dinner was preparing, ShirAli was busy with vegetables, washed them, dried them, put them in containers.
By this time, lunch has already been prepared.
Shir Ali put everything in a large bowl, poured the resulting milk sauce from feta cheese. It turned out almost a soup and salt was not necessary, since the feta cheese itself is salty.
In the bowl were stewed vegetables, herbs, and sauce, which absorbed all the juices of vegetables and various herbs. The aroma was delicious.
This dish is somewhat reminiscent of the concept of pizza, the food of the poor. Everything is prepared in one boiler, simple, tasty, satisfying, cheap.
In order to make the meal more satisfying, you can add a side dish, boiled white rice to it, or just eat it along with black or rye bread.
Due to the fact that Small-An was a colony of the European Empire for 130 years, in the country, unlike other Asian countries, there were cereals and various types of molding bread. The black. rye, gray, white bread, about 20 species. Plus and cereals such as oats, buckwheat, Hercules, barley, semolina, millet, including about 15 varieties of rice. This significantly expanded the diet and was somewhat different from the usual Small-An cuisine.
Traditional cuisine has acquired some European features, while preserving the food of nomads and farmers, including food and other peoples living in the country.
Therefore, if you know the place, you could eat "champaign" Korean dessert of steam, sweet cakes.
Elsewhere, Kuksi and Kimchi, Ramen, Soba, Silky Tofu were sold. In the third, you could taste Uyghur cuisine.
As well as European, Chinese, Japanese, Persian, Caucasian, National, Arab. "Everything is to your taste and the thickness of your wallet.
Therefore, the food itself in Small Ahn could be more diverse, some chefs used these features when cooking their dishes. They used new products and cooking methods by borrowing them from other nations and their culinary schools.
Others preferred to cook only their own kitchen. But there was a choice.
Shir Ali himself, wanted to experiment, so he often used new products when cooking.
For example, leaves of Beijing cabbage, it turns out, reduced blood sugar, who had type 2 diabetes, if he ate them, then within 2 months, he could easily bring his blood sugar back to normal. Shir Ali learned all these subtleties from communicating with cooks and from his own experience.
So the time has come to try his new recipe. Cooking 15 minutes, the taste is pleasant, but there are also disadvantages, salty taste. If you have liver problems, this recipe can hurt.
Since the liver does not like - heaviness, cold, salty, bitter, unpleasant. But he loves - sweet, warm, good, light, cheerful.
If a person learns to hear what his organs love - heart, liver, kidneys, blood vessels, then he will be able to choose the right products, heat treatment methods, and eat healthy food. By consuming such food, he, a person, will be able to reduce the risks of diseases, to be healthier. So the opposite, if there is not quality food, cold and not warm, then you can hurt yourself.
As the Chinese say, you need to eat a balanced meal. In the summer - with a cool essence - melons, watermelons, pears. In winter, with hot - pumpkin, ginger, quince. In spring, add greens to the diet.
For example, black beans contain the most vegetable protein. But another thing, black beans were brought from Iran, which was sometimes sanctioned. Then saffron and black beans disappeared in the markets of Small-An.
The most delicious fruits are Iranian, but due to sanctions, it was not always possible to buy them. There were replacements from ... Argentina ... but that's another story.
The taste of the new recipe prepared by ShirAli turned out to be quite acceptable for a quick snack. Hearty. For the money, economical.
The main thing is that it cooks quickly, and you don't need to think about what to eat, it's satisfying, so you didn't need to cook something else later.