It had been a quiet patch , what with the festivals and all. To mark the return of the club with a bang, Lydia fancied an exotic Luncheon: a Kichri , a hot flavoursome galicky dish , full of goodness and calories.Very Iraqi, very time consuming , very sociable. Well done Lydia, but where was the brave woman to volunteeer for such a task, with what utensils and in what microscopic kitchen? . No sweat , it seems there is already a Tebbacha Daraja Oola on the premises:

Enter Ev'leen Tricot, an Ishat Chail - though we never caught a glimpse of her on the day as she was in the kitchen busy worrying about it all: the ingredients, the temperature, the measures. The state- of- the- art-pot had just been bought for the occasion and the dials were still a mystery, they kept blinking and disappearing. But as we have had our Rabbi the day before take it down the Mikveh and "Tabbalnanu", we knew it would perform very well indeed. The smell of the garlic pervaded the whole street for hours, it was like you were immersed in it with all your clothes. Also watch it Ev'leen, you had to steer a very careful course between adding very little oil (then the Kichri will be dry) or adding too much (then the fashionable ladies will complain about their figures) A good cook has also to have engineering skills you see,to know how to design the Kichri in the shape of a pink pyramid with a brown crust on top. Thank God that our Cook had all those skills and managerial ones on top, as she tried to shoo away all the curious papparazi … because as the saying goes too many cooks spoil the brew …I tell you what a responsibility!

So there we had it , the pyramid was sat gloriously on the tray, and presented to all amid wolf whistles and sighs of relief. The enterprise had been a complete success, and later on I interviewed our fantastic cook for tips on how to make the perfect Kichree

Ingredients: 2/3 glass hot water, 2 glasses rice (soaked),2/3 glass red lentils(washed only), 4 garlic cloves, 1 small onion, 2 tbls tomato paste.Salt and pepper. Kemmoun, ½ a packet of butter or oil.

In a large pot you fry the onion then add tomato paste. You fry the garlic cloves and kemmoun seperately. Then add the lentils, rice, butter and water to the lot ( the water should be one finger higher than the mixture- Iraqi speak) . When they all boil simmer for 15 minutes.

The nutritionists all come with doctorates these days , and that is why they are worthy of our respect. They agree that "Lentils are high in protein and dietary fibre, but very low in fat". By substituting lentils for meat and dairy, we are doing our bodies a real service .

Awafee

Ivy (a member of the North London Community)

October 2002