Zimbabwe -- Dobi (Spinach & Tomato with Peanut Butter sauce)

BM# 44: A-Z Cooking Series -- Around the World in 30 days
Country: Z for Zimbabwe

Dish: Dobi (Spinach & Tomato with Peanut Butter sauce)

We are moving on to the last and final letter Z and we are going to Zimbabwe today. Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in southern Africa, between Zambezi & Limpopo rivers.
Zimbabwean cuisine is much like the other African countries. They rely on a few staple foods. Cornmeal is used to make porridge called sadza or isitshwala and is usually served with meat and vegetables. Rice, pasta and potato based foods also make up part of Zimbabwean cuisine. A local favorite is rice cooked with peanut butter that is served with thick gravy, mixed vegetables and meat.

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Yemen -- Carrot Rice

BM# 44: A-Z Cooking Series -- Around the World in 30 days
Country: Y for Yemen

Dish: Yemeni Carrot Rice

Today we are going to Yemen, an Arab country in Southwest Asia. We are only a day way from our final destination tomorrow and I can't believe how fast the month passed.
The first dish I made for Yemen was a colossal failure -- the first and last failure in my entire A-Z International series. I was quite upset since I planned to make it at the very end and didn't have enough time to remake it. So I picked a very quick and simple (no-fail) recipe for Yemeni Carrot rice from the blog Queen of Sheba. This is an awesome Yemeni food blog that has a ton of authentic Yemeni recipes.

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Xalapa (Mexico) -- Vegetarian Mexican Brunch (Huevos Rancheros with Black beans)

BM# 44: A-Z Cooking Series -- Around the World in 30 days
Country: X for Xalapa -- Mexico

Dish: Vegetarian Mexican Brunch -- Black bean Huevos Rancheros, Spicy Home Fries & Sangrita

Today we are going to Xalapa, Mexico. Technically ther are no countries starting with X, so as a group it was decided that we pick a place that starts with X and then make a dish from that place or the country it belongs to. 'X' is the only alphabet that I didn't have a country or dish planned. First I decided to a place in Spain, but then I didn't want to miss the opportunity to cook from my favorite Mexican cuisine, so ended up with Xalapa, Mexico.
Another factor that made me want to do Mexican is Bobby Flay's Mexican brunch that he made on Cooking Channel. Every he made looked so good that I wanted to recreate the whole meal at home. Huevos Rancheros has been on my to-make list forever, so this gave me an opportunity to try it.

Huevos Rancheros or 'rancher's eggs' is a popular breakfast dish that has eggs and is traditionally served on rural Mexican farms. This dish consists of fried eggs served over fried corn tortillas and topped with tomato-chili sauce.

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Western Samoa -- Poi (Banana Puddling)

BM# 44: A-Z Cooking Series -- Around the World in 30 days
Country: W for Western Samoa

Dish: Poi (Banana Pudding)
We are moving on to Western Samoa today. There are not too many countries starting with W and so I picked one from this list and cooked from it, not realizing until I started typing the post that is the former name for Samoa. Oh well, it is what it is now and I'm going with it!!!!!!
Western Samoa/ Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. To be honest, I had no clue where these islands where till today and WIKI has given me lot of geographic knowledge about the country. It is fascinating to read about a new country, that too about a country that I just made a dish from. So if you want to know where and what Samoan islands are, please refer to this link.

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Vietnam -- Crispy Rice & Mung bean Pancakes (Bánh Xèo)

BM# 44: A-Z Cooking Series -- Around the World in 30 days
Country: V for Vietnam

Dish: Crispy Rice & Mung bean Pancakes (Bánh Xèo)
We are visiting Vietnam today. Vietnam is located in Southeast Asia and is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest and Cambodia to southwest.
Vietnamese cuisine features a combination of 5 fundamental taste elements/ senses: spicy, sour, bitter, salty and sweet which sounds much like Indian tastes as well. Traditional Vietnamese cooking uses lot of fresh ingredients, minimum use of oil and relies on herbs and vegetables. Vietnamese food is considered as one of the healthiest cuisines worldwide.

Last month's Vegetarian times magazine had a whole spread of Vietnamese dishes and I knew right away that it is going to be Vietnam for V. These rice and mung bean pancakes sounded very similar to Andhra Pesarattu and the stuffing with mushrooms and bean sprouts sounded really interesting to me.

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Uganda -- G-Nut Sauce (Ugandan Peanut Sauce with Chickpeas)

BM# 44: A-Z Cooking Series -- Around the World in 30 days

Country: U for Uganda

Dish: G-Nut Sauce
We are going to Uganda today. It is a landlocked country in East Africa. Ugandan cuisine is influenced by English, Arab, Asian and especially Indian cuisines. Main dishes are usually centered on a sauce or stew of groundnuts/ peanuts, beans or meat.The starch traditionally comes from Ugali (maize meal) in the North and East or Matoke (boiled and mashed green banana) in Central, or a Millet Ugali in the west.
Many tribes in Uganda have their own specialty dish or delicacy. Many dishes include starchy vegetables like Cassava, yam and African sweet potato. Various leafy greens are grown in Uganda.Fruits such as pineapple and bananas are plentiful.

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Turkey -- Turkish Vegetarian Meal (Recipes)

BM# 44: A-Z Cooking Series -- Around the World in 30 days

Country: T for Turkey

Dishes: Bulgur Pilaf, Stuffed Grape Leaves, Zucchini Fritters & Knafeh
We are going to Turkey today. One of my girl friend is from Turkey and after tasting their food many times, I knew I have to try those recipes for the BM. I even bothered her on vacation and asked her to suggest some Turkish dishes that I could try. Sweet heart that she is, she sent me links to recipes that I could try. So thanks to my dear friend, I have a yummy and filling Turkish meal today.
The first time I ever had Turkish meal was at a Turkish restaurant where one of my ex-colleagues had her daughter's first birthday party. I don't really remember what we ate that day, but I clearly remember enjoying everything that was served to us.
Here's a glimpse of Turkish brunch that we had at a Turkish restaurant for my birthday this year. We had Simit (famous Turkish bread) sandwich with French fries and in the second picture is the typical breakfast dishes like cheese, jelly, egg, olives etc that are eaten in Turkey.

After that I was lucky enough to enjoy home cooked dishes made by my lovely Turkish friend and her mom. Their dishes are simple but they are exotically flavored with rose water or orange blossom water like in this Baklava. Mint and parsley are used extensively making the dishes taste fresh and delicious.

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Sweden -- Swedish Vegetarian Meal (Recipes)

BM# 44: A-Z Cooking Series -- Around the World in 30 days
Country: S for Sweden

Dishes: Swedish Sandwich Cake (Smörgåstårta), Raggmunk (Potato Pancakes), Broccoli Soup & Christmas Porridge
We are going to Sweden today.It is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. Two of my brothers-in-law live there now. We went to Sweden 5 years ago and had a chance to visit Stockholm (Capital of Sweden) and Gothenburg. It is a beautiful country and we had a great time there. Good thing about visiting a new country, not as a tourist but as a guest is that we got a chance to see the country more up close. We went to couple of grocery stores with my BIL's family that I'm sure we would have skipped if we were tourists.

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Russia -- A Simple Vegetarian Russian Meal

BM# 44: A-Z Cooking Series -- Around the World in 30 days
Country: R for Russia

Dishes: Borscht (Russian Beet & Veggie Soup), Tomato & Cucumber Salad, Salad Olivier
We are going to Russia today. Russia is a country in northern Eurasia. Russia has over 160 different ethnic groups and indigenous people in Russia. Ethnic Russians with their Slavic traditions, Tatars and Bashkirs with their Turkic Muslim culture and so on. My knowledge of Russia was from the Russian folktale books that we used to read as kids. My dad used to buy these books at book exhibitions and we also had a subscription to a kids magazione called 'Mischa'. My mom still has those books and my son loved reading them while we were in India.
Russian cuisine widely uses fish, poultry, mushrooms, berries and honey. I wanted to bake the famous Russian Black bread, but I wasn't sure if there will be any takers for it at home. Pirozhki and Blini were also on my to-make list but never materialized.

This meal was not actually on my initial plan, but the amazing meals that Varada & Pradnya have been making for the BM inspired me to make a meal too. So here I am with a few Russian dishes that can be served for a meal.

I decided on trying simple, easy-to-make dishes form Russia and here is what I made:

• Borscht -- Russian Beet & Veggie Soup
• Salad Olivier -- Russian Potato Salad
• Tomato & Cucumber Salad
• Russian Honey Cake 

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 44.

An InLinkz Link-up

Qatar -- Motabel (Smokey Eggplant & Tahini dip)

BM# 44: A-Z Cooking Series -- Around the World in 30 days
Country: Q for Qatar

Dish: Motabel (Smokey Eggplant & Tahini dip)

We are going to Qatar today because from the little I know there are no more countries that start with Q :-) Qatar is a sorerign Arab country located in Western Asia. It is world's richest country per capita due to the presence of large natural gas reserves and oil reserves.
Qatari cuisine is very similar to other Middle eastern countries. I picked a eggplant dip recipe from Qatar. It seems like some version of eggplant dip is present in all of the Mediterranean cuisines. Motabel/ Moutabel is almost like Baba ghanoush with smokey roasted eggplant as the main ingredient.

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Philippines -- Guinisang Mongo (Mung Beans & Tomato)

BM# 44: A-Z Cooking Series -- Around the World in 30 days
Country: P for Philippines

Dish: Guinisang Mongo (Mung Beans & Tomato)
We are going to Philippines today. One of my very dear friend is from Philippines and she was really kind enough to send me today's recipe that I followed to the 'T'.
Philippines is an island country in Southeast Asia. It is 64th largest country in the world, but is the 12th most populated country, making it quite densely populated country. I didn't know until recently that Filipino American community is the second largest Asian American group in the United States (after Chinese). I thought Indian community was much larger, but I guess I was wrong.
I have had Filipino colleagues in all of my jobs and from what I learnt from them is that they DO NOT like spicy food and they go bonkers when they eat Indian food -- it is way too spicy for them. Their cuisine has Hispanic, Chinese, American and other Asian influences. Popular dishes include adobo, sinangang, lumpia and halo-halo. Common ingredients include coconuts, mangoes, milkfish and fish sauce.

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Oman -- Khabeesa (Cream of Wheat Pudding)

BM# 44: A-Z Cooking Series -- Around the World in 30 days

Country: O for Oman

Dish: Khabeesa (Cream of Wheat Pudding)
We are moving on to Oman today. This is the only country that I know of that starts with an O, so I'm pretty sure what most of my fellow BMers have picked today :-)
Oman is an Arab state in Southwest Asia. Oman is an absolute monarchy in which the Sultan of Oman exercises ultimate authority, but its parliament has some legislative and oversight powers.
Omani cuisine is very similar to most of the Middle eastern cuisines. Dishes are based around chicken, fish, lamb as well as the staple of rice. Most Omani dishes contain a rich mixture of spices, herbs and marinades.

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Nepal -- Simple Vegetarian Thali (Recipes)

BM# 44: A-Z Cooking Series -- Around the World in 30 days
Country: N for Nepal

Dish: Vegetarian Thali (Recipes)

We are exactly half way through the marathon, 13 done -- 13 more to go. Our next stop is Nepal and this was the very first country that I cooked for. I knew it was going to be Nepal for N from the very beginning. Ever since I saw Sandhya's Nepali dishes for one of the previous BMs, I wanted to try them and this was the best opportunity I got. Also when I was planning the dishes, we were freshly done with the Indian states mega BM and all the thalis that were posted really inspired me to plan a thali for Nepal too.
The Nepalese are mostly immigrants from India, Tibet, North Burma and the Chinese province of Yunnan via Assam. So the culture and the cuisine is mostly influenced by all these countries. Much of Nepalese dishes are made in India too, especially in the North eastern Indian states.

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Malaysia -- Vegetarian Curry with Coconut Milk

BM# 44: A-Z Cooking Series -- Around the World in 30 days
Country: M for Malaysia

Dish: Vegetarian Malaysian Curry with Coconut Milk
We are going to the Malaysia today. It is located in Southeast Asia. The country is multi-ethnic and multi-cultural. The population can be broadly divided into 3 ethnic groups: Malays, Chinese & Indian. Most of the Malaysian dishes have strong influences of all these countries.
One of my very good friends is from Malaysia and I asked her help in picking a recipe. She suggested couple of dishes that required procuring ingredients typical to Malaysia. Then I asked her Malaysian curry recipe and she sent me the recipe and then even made it for us. I planned on clicking her curry, but it was all gone so quickly that I didn't get a chance to take pics.

Then I found another Malaysian curry recipe that was slightly different from my friend's version. I double checked with my friend and after getting her nod of approval, I made this curry with freshly made curry paste and coconut milk.

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Lebanon -- Mujadara (Rice & Lentils dish)

BM# 44: A-Z Cooking Series -- Around the World in 30 days
Country: L for Lebanon

Dish: Mujadara (Rice & Lentils dish)

We are going to Lebanon, a country that is located in Western Asia. I think my first experience with Lebanese cuisine was at the local Mediterranean restaurant near my office. It was run by a super active mother-daughter team. They would memorize the orders in their heads and never wrote them down -- no matter how big the order was. They used to have the usual Mediterranean dishes like hummus, baba ghanoush, pita etc., but what I really wanted to order was their Lebanese Moussaka which they said was vegetarian. But unfortunately I never did and now that I'm not working there, I wish I had ordered that dish.

Well today, I didn't make the moussaka, but I made another really filling and comforting Rice & Lentil dish called Mujadara. Mujadara is a humble and comforting dish made with pantry staples, rice and lentils. There is nothing fancy about it, but it is a very flavorful dish with the grown cumin and the crispy fried onions on top. It is also quick dish to make and is usually served with a dollop of yogurt.

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Korea -- Miso Soup & Joomuk Bap (Vegetarian/ Vegan Recipes)

BM# 44: A-Z Cooking Series -- Around the World in 30 days
Country: K for Korea

Dish: Korean Miso Soup & Joomuk Bap
We are staying in Asia and visiting Korea today. I knew from day 1 that I would be doing Korea for K, since I live in a town that has a very high Korean population. We have a Korean grocery store in town and most of the stores have signs in Korean.
I hardly cook Korean food at home even though I have full access to all the Korean veggies, spices and other ingredients. I don't have much knowledge of Korean cuisine and I thought this is a good opportunity to give some Korean dishes a try.
I was under the impression that all of the Korean dishes have meat in them. But there are a lot of Korean dishes that are actually vegan. Buddhist temple food is completely vegetarian and/ or vegan. I found an amazing Vegan Korean blog called Vegan 8 Korean and they have some awesome Korean dishes. I have tried a few Korean dishes already, check those out here.

I made Korean Miso Soup that uses Korean Miso paste called Doenjang. But a good substitute would be red or brown miso paste. I found quite a few recipes that used anchovies and fish sauce, but I skipped them and used some vegetarian options instead. Most of the ingredients were bought specially for this recipe.

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Japan - Vegetable Curry with Edamame

BM# 44: A-Z Cooking Series -- Around the World in 30 days

Country: J for Japan

Dish: Vegetable Curry with Edamame

We are going all the way east to Japan today. I knew it is an island but I didn't know that it is a archipelago of 6,852 islands. Japan always amazes me because it is one of the smaller countries in the world and even after enduring 2 atomic bombs in Hiroshima & Nagasaki back in 1945, it is now one of the most developed countries.
Japanese cuisine is based on combining staple foods, typically Japanese rice or noodles, with a soup and okazu (or side dish) -- dishes made from fish, vegetable, tofu and so on -- to add flavor to the staple food. Japanese cuisine is known for its emphasis on seasonality of food, quality of ingredients and presentation.
Some version of Japanese Sushi is probably found in very corner restaurant in the world. Tempura is also a very famous Japanese dish were veggies and seafood are battered and deep fried. Finding vegetarian dishes in Japan is quite difficult because they use dashi (seafood) stock in most of the dishes.

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Italy - Pasta Alla Norma (Pasta in Spicy Eggplant & Tomato Sauce)

BM# 44: A-Z Cooking Series -- Around the World in 30 days

Country: I for Italy

Dish: Pasta Alla Norma (Pasta in Spicy Eggplant & Tomato Sauce) 
We are going back to Europe, to Italy today. Italy seemed an obvious choice and my son thinks he's half Italian because his favorite foods are pizza and pasta. But come to think of it, I like Italian food too. What's not to like about pasta, cheese and pizza.
Italy also is on my bucket list not just to enjoy the local food but also to tour the beautiful, historic and touristic places. Many hollywood movies are shot in Italy, I especially remember the beautiful locations in George Clooney's 'The American' movie. Lot of Indian movies have shown us Venice, making it a definite stop in Italy while we are there. Oh, how I wish, my dreams can come true.
Italian cuisine is characterized by its simplicity with many dishes having only 4~8 ingredients. Italian cooks rely on fresh, quality ingredients rather than elaborate preparation. Ingredients and dishes vary by region. Cheese and wine are a major part of the cuisine.

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Honduras -- Baleadas (Vegetarian Recipe)

BM# 44: A-Z Cooking Series -- Around the World in 30 days
Country: H for Honduras

Dish: Baleadas 

We are going to Central America today to Honduras. Honduras was conquered by the Spanish in the 16th century and they introduced Roman Catholism and Spanish language along with numerous customs that have blended with the indigenous culture. The country became independent in 1821 and since been a republic. Honduras is best known for the production of minerals, coffee, tropical fruit and sugar cane, as well as for its growing textiles industry, which serves the international market.

The reason for choosing Honduras was when I started listing the countries my husband was away on business to Honduras and it ended up on the list. He was the one who suggested the dish too. Baleadas are one of the original and popular foods in Honduras. It is made of a thick wheat flour tortilla that is folded in half and filled with mashed beans and occasionally other ingredients. They are very similar to Mexican burritos in terms of fillings.

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Greece -- Loukoumades (Greek Donuts with Honey syrup)

BM# 44: A-Z Cooking Series -- Around the World in 30 days

Country: G for Greece

Dish: Loukoumades (Greek Donuts with Honey syrup)
We are going to Greece today and I just found out that it is officially know as the 'Hellenic Republic'. That is my geographic tidbit for the day :-) Greece is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia & Africa.
Greece is the home to the first advanced civilizations in Europe and is considered the birthplace of Western civilization. Greece has a rich culture that has evolved over thousands of years. Modern democracies owe a debt to Greek beliefs in government by the people, by the jury and equality under the law.
Greek cuisine is characteristic of the healthy Mediterranean diet. Greek cuisine incorporates fresh ingredients into most of its dishes. With the rich culture it has, some of the dishes can be traced back to ancient Greece.

The most characteristic and ancient element of Greek cuisine is Olive Oil, which is used in most dishes. Wheat is the basic grain, though barley is also grown. Greek cuisine uses flavorings like oregano, mint, onion, garlic, dill more than other Mediterranean cuisines. They also, especially in the northern parts of Greece, use sweet spices like cinnamon and cloves with meat dishes.

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