How to Make Kakoorri, Ranzokhey, and Raghwani (Recipe) and plain bread or roti - with pictures

The other day, when I wrote about kakoorri (singular: kakorray), which are traditional fried bread  that Pashtuns are crazy about and that my mom makes me every time I visit her and return home, lots of people asked me to give them the recipe. So my mom was gracious enough to make me some more today for me to take pictures of and to write out the recipe in detail while observing.

In the comments to the post, Pashtuns from Khuram call them Ranzokhey, Pashtuns from Waziristan call them Raghwani; and Pashtuns from Dera Ismail Khan, Swabi, Swat, and Peshawar call them kakorri. Hence the title of this post. Do let me know if it turns out that kakorri aren't the same thing as the ones above, ha!

Please understand, though, that it's really hard to give exact measurements for things (like sugar, salt, yeast, etc.) because it really all depends on your taste and because we don't really use measurements. hah. I just ... "know" ... when something's not enough. That sucks, I know, but, yeah.

But please do feel to ask if something looks confusing or if something just doesn't seem right, or if something's not explained properly.  I know exactly how frustrating it can be when a recipe doesn't explain every step properly and in detail.

P.S. From the post below, you'll not just learn how to make kakorri, but you'll also learn how to make Pakistani bread (roti, naan, dodai)!

Punjabi-Pashtun and Pashtun-Punjabi Racism and Hatred in Pakistan

Dear Readers,
Thank you for visiting!

This post has been moved to my new blog over at Wordpress. Please click below to access it.

Thank you!

Punjabi-Pashtun and Pashtun-Punjabi Racism and Hatred in Pakistan

The Different Ways People Use Facebook - and why they're all okay!

Lately, I’ve been thinking lots about the different ways that people use Facebook—and the rude, mocking, judgmental ways that some of us respond to those different ways. Several of my friends on Facebook have pointed this out, some of them seeming very apologetic about the way they present themselves on Facebook, some being hurt and offended (and rightly so) that certain of their friends don’t like the way they act on Facebook.

So my post below is for all those who are passive-aggressive on Facebook/twitter, who bully others (especially indirectly), who sub-tweet, who are easily annoyed with the way other people chose to use facebook/twitter, who take their anger out on others for using social media differently than they themselves do. If you're anything like this, please stop. Let people do whatever they are comfortable doing on social media so long as it doesn't hurt you or anyone else.

P.S. It may get a bit too repetitive than you might like, but that's okay with me :) I feel the examples are necessary.

Kakorri - a Pukhtun Gift from Parents to Daughters (and on how evil paternal grandparents and aunts can be)

In the Pukhtun society, at least in parts of Pakistan like Swat and Pekhawar, when a married girl/woman visits her parents for an extended time--say, more than 10 days--her parents' side makes her lots and lots of kakorri (singular: kakorray) as her going-away gift. They look like what you see below (some of the pics aren't good and don't reflect the deliciousness of the kakorri, but you get the idea! They're round, fried, dark red or close to brown, and absolutely delicious. Made of well-kneaded dough, they're best with tea!) So the pics:

What happens when a Pukhtun man wears a burqa and goes into a bazar - hint: harassment & sexual advances from men of all ages

I just saw the best video of all time from a Pukhtun TV program: a man wears a burqa (full body covering) and goes into the bazar or the public to learn what it's like being a woman in public in Khyber Pashtunkhwa, Pakistan's NW province. Of course, we know that harassment is universal, and men will do everything to justify it. In many cases, women, too, justify their harassment and blame themselves for it. Harassment. We've all heard about it, and many of us deny it or will blame the woman on it. Or talk about it in such a way that the woman's at fault instead of putting the blame in the criminal.

Why You Should Read "Salaam, Love" & "Love, InshAllah": on unity, Islamophobia, and Muslim Americans

Pre-post: I realize that not all of the stories shared in the two books (Love InshAllah and Salaam, Love) are about Muslim immigrants or children of immigrants, but I choose to focus on that anyway - on what it's like being an immigrant in the U.S. and why our voices should be heard. I also understand that, per my choice to address this piece to "non-Muslim Americans" and "Muslim Americans," the U.S. isn't simply divided into "Muslims" and "non-Muslims" but I think that these two categories are the most relevant to my discussion.

Thank you for reading!

Love, InshAllah: The Secret Love Lives of American Muslim Women  and Salaam, Love: American Muslim Men on Love, Sex, and Intimacy are two of the most important books ever published, especially about Muslims—and more specifically about American Muslims and American Islam. No, rather, they’re not about Muslims; they are the real, personal stories of Muslims as told by them themselves. Surely, they don’t cover every perspective and every experience in existence, but they should be applauded for being open to diverse perspectives nonetheless. And while it may seem as though they are privileging “American” Muslims only, I think this isn’t necessarily the case. Neither the editors nor the authors in any way suggest that their experiences as American Muslims are more important than those of Muslims elsewhere. I read them as an effort by those involved to narrate and describe their own personal struggles and challenges with being a Muslim in America and facing real, human issues on all things (romantic) love and relationships. In the process, many of them tell what it has been like for them as immigrants or children of immigrants, as Muslims being raised in an Islamophobic society, as young adults figuring out who they are and what their place is in an in-between space (that’s neither their parents’ world nor the world of their American peers) that does not recognize them and their experiences.

To non-Muslim Americans:

For far too long, Muslims’ voices have been marginalized and our stories have been told for us from an observer’s point of view. On the one hand, the media has a certain narrow, artificial, and specific image of what it means to be a Muslim, such that when Muslims do not fit that image, questions are raised about our Muslimness. We are accused of trying to “fit in” even when many of us do not make such efforts (yes, some do, and they have their reasons that need to be understood in their contexts). On the other hand, the American Muslim community at large prefers that the truth about our lives, struggles, experiences be hidden because 1) they might contradict Islamic ideals, and/or 2) they might verify the fears of Islamophobes. And then there’s us, the Muslim Americans who are unsure about what to do with the complexities, the contradictions, and the realities that make us who we are. 

Needless to say, you won't suddenly understand your Muslim American neighbor, but you might learn that you've more in common than you initially thought or than you are expected to have. Reading Muslim American stories should by no means replace any other efforts of yours to get to know Muslim Americans better, but it is a good start or at least a fair and legitimate source of knowledge about them. And, of course, our lives extend beyond the relationships (romantic or otherwise) we build, but they're a major part of who we are, and one of the most beautiful, most important things all humans have in common is ... ta-daaah, love!

Happiness, Semester Classes, and the like!

So another semester has begun. Only, this time, I'm being brave and starting with a positive attitude! I'm going to make myself happy and keep myself relaxed no matter what comes my way.