Dubai Thrift

February 20, 2021 by monica 2 Comments

GLOBAL VILLAGE DUBAI NOV – MARCH

Global Village a real winter activity in Dubai

UPDATE FEBRUARY 2021

So the pavilions for shopping and food are all OPEN, only the entertainment pavilions and live shows have stopped for now. STILL ONLY AED 15 TO ENTER, but a brand new feel to Global Village if you haven’t been for a while! It’s in it’s 25th season already so Happy Silver Jubilee!

What did we buy this time round?

We loved the Turkish stall for melamine ceramics, dishes and bowls all very reasonably priced and so easy to carry too!

The Indian pavilion is still good for shawl, but do keep bargaining and we like the food from Bundoo Khan’s Pakistani pavilion in Global Village. Try the lamb seekh kebab and naan!

We went to the Moroccan stall also in search of pottery but didn’t find too much that we liked. I did buy this.. very reasonably priced and of course the tea glasses and pots are very pretty too. Good for serving little portions of dessert as well as tea!

FROM BACK IN NOVEMBER 2015

Now it’s Dhs 15 to enter 32 pavilions and in it’s in 20th Season! It’s opening to coincide with Flag Day too so that’s from TODAY 3rd of November till April 9th 2016. This post is based on a previous visit. No festival sales on in Global Village but go along for a different evening out while the weather is perfect for walking.

Experience a real Middle Eastern atmosphere with families enjoying a browse, shopping and eating at the various international stalls. It’s a big place so find out DoinDubai’s Top Tips for visiting Global Village before you go!

Top Tips when you visit Global Village Dubai

Visit Yemen and pick up very reasonably priced rhodium based jewellery for yourself or as gifts. Sample all the various honeys on sale here, different ones for men and women’s health ! We also bought freshly ground cinnamon and a packet of spices for making biriyani rice.

Try Iran for perfect dry fruits such as apricots and miniature figs, also stock up on your favourite nuts from here, apparently the tiny bitter almonds and dried apple are brilliant for keeping cholesterol down. Sample some of the many types of seeds on sale here from melon to sunflower, all perfectly roasted and delicately salted. Do eat some of the shelled pomegranate famous in Iran as you walk around.

Pick up some pretty painted pottery at Tunisia and very reasonably priced coloured tea glasses from Morocco (use for tiny sprigs of Bougainvillea for easy table arrangements if you prefer your tea in a builder’s mug) The funky teapots and tea glass sets here are identical but much cheaper than in a well-known department store in Dubai Mall.

We bought freshly made spicy soft cheese specially concocted and sealed in jars from Palestine, a great hit on savoury biscuits for evening drinks with visitors. You can sample an almost endless variety with flat bread twisted into tiny rolls before you buy.

Take a close look at the costume jewellery in Lebanon, this was the most fashionable and trendy jewellery on offer and at fairly good prices. Very handy if the little ladies are begging for multiple ear piercings, get earrings from here that reflect that look minus the extra holes.

Walk through the India pavilion to get a feel for the variety of products on offer, it’s like a mini Meena Bazaar. I picked out some unusual black and beige semi pashmina shawls that are versatile enough to match a number of outfits.

Do not expect fresh apple strudel or anything like this in Austria despite the very authentic façade of the stall. Do go to Global Village hungry, you can sample heaps of extremely authentic food either in stalls, at the food court area (we opted for Indian here) or in more formal stand alone pop up restaurants dotted about the grounds. The Thai food is particularly good with stalls from restaurants owned and managed by Thais based in International City.

Bargaining and Prices at Global Village

Apart from food do bargain hard for anything you purchase, especially if you’re buying more than one of something. We’re spoilt for spectacular fireworks in Dubai but the ones here are still special and happen on Friday and Saturdays at around 9pm.

Entry to Global Village is 15 dirhams for adults. They do have concessions for elderly and disabled people. Please note that it doesn’t open before 4pm in the afternoon but then it does stay open very late till around midnight or so.

Give the Malls a miss and tell me what bargains you picked up at Global Village, just off Mohammed bin Zayed road (previously Emirates road) past the entrance to Arabian Ranches. There is plenty of parking but it gets particularly busy at week ends. Dress sensibly for the cooler weather and the more local atmosphere.

There is also a funfair but DoinDubai doesn’t do funfairs any more ! As usual do Like and Share on Facebook and subscribe to DoinDubai to get prizes and discounts.

Thanks Monica

Diwali in Dubai (doindubai.com)
Global Village meets international theme park standards (gulfnews.com)
Dubai Global Village (offbeatlounge.wordpress.com)

February 18, 2017 by monica 1 Comment

PALEO VEGETARIAN OPTION

Lot’s of us know about the Paleo diet, but at first sight it’s heavy on the meat. Here is my first ‘almost’ paleo vegetarian option for you to try.

Delicious, easy, quick and the whole family should like it.

Paleo vegetarian option

My paleo vegetarian option can be made 2 ways, with tapioca flour or rice flour, so that’s a bit of cheating, but it’s still a great way of eating healthily and ‘almost’ paleo.

I first made these felafel with both of the flours, but subsequently just with the rice flour. Do remember rice flour, while not paleo is still gut friendly and should therefore be easy to digest.

Ingredients for the paleo vegetarian option

Courgette and almond felafels

To make 8 to 10 small cutlets you will need

1 large, dark green courgette, I know weights and sizes vary
125 grams of almond flour (sometimes called almond meal)
1 teaspoon each of rice flour and tapioca flour or 2 teaspoons of one of the flours or 30 g of one flour*
1 inch of fresh grated ginger
1 smashed clove of garlic
salt/pepper to taste
your favourite kind of chilli – Mine is 1/2 a teaspoon of 800 Degrees Italian chilli or some fresh chopped red chilli
Grapeseed oil to fry your falafel

Of course if you had a thermomix you could make your own almond flour in seconds!

*If your mixture is too “wet” then just add a little bit more of your chosen flour, about a teaspoon or so till it absorbs any watery liquid.

What to do with the ingredients

Grate the courgette then tip into a bowl
Add all the seasonings and chilli
Pour in the almond flour
Add the 2 teaspoons of either tapioca or rice flour or 1 teaspoon of each
Mix all the ingredients together till they form a rough, slightly moist dough
Shape with your hands into little fishcake type portions and lay on a plate or greased baking tray. You may want to have a bit of the rice or tapioca flour on a board whilst shaping
Shallow fry till golden brown on both sides

Serve with whatever you like, a raw, grated beetroot salad, some sweet potato fries and coconut chutney would be my choice. Or you could just serve with a roasted red pepper dip on the side. Here’s the entire recipe with the full video, about 8 minutes long.

These flours are freshly milled and cost a fraction of the supermarket Gluten free flours I’ve seen!

Bajra is a type of millet often used to make Indian rotis, naturally gluten free.
Atta means flour in Hindi.
Makkai means corn.

Does anyone know what Jowar means?

Tapioca flour is a very common Indian flour and is called saboodana in Hindi in case you go to Adils and they don’t immediately understand tapioca.

There is also a branch of Adils in Karama near Bur Dubai.

Most of the rotis/chappatis you’d get in an Indian restaurant would be made from wheat but makkai or corn flour rotis are common and often eaten with saag (spinach), especially in the winter months.

Trying to be healthy?

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April 5, 2016 by monica 30 Comments

CHAWLAS PUNJABI FOOD

What is Chawlas Punjabi Food all about

Chawlas Punjabi food is authentic, tasty and brought to you straight from the Punjab.

The restaurant is actually called Chawlas2, the 2 stands for square. Originally a family run operation that started in Ludhiana in the Punjab, the first and only dish was cream chicken! Sold direct from the family home with no frills attached, people had to bring their own dishes to take it away in!

But that was back in 1960, things have moved on since then and the Chawla family have diversified with other Punjabi dishes and many more restaurants. Now they own 3 restaurants in Ludhiana with many more franchised. The one we went to is Dubai’s first but I don’t think it’ll be it’s last!

Where is Chawlas2 located

Chawlas2 is located in the JLT area of Dubai in Cluster M. Look for the Zoom supermarket as a landmark and then go down the spiral staircase, you can’t miss it. It’s directly opposite the lake.

What sort of food to expect at Chawlas2

Authentic, home style, Punjabi food, so that’s Northern Indian heartland food. Rich, verdant farmland provides hearty, wholesome food with an emphasis on paneer and creamy Kheers.

There is ample choice for vegetarians and non vegetarians but it really does help if you like your chicken as there are many chicken preparations on the menu. I liked and recommend the Chicken Peshawari, tikka style tender pieces of chicken cooked in a traditional tandoor.

I also LOVED the fish curry, the very recognizable tomato based gravy had just the right amount of spice to it, was thick and wholesome. Despite it being King Fish, it didn’t taste fishy at all, it was perfectly filleted and fresh.

The paneer tikka was also very good as the paneer itself is made in the traditional way, hung in a muslin cloth, but I would have liked a little more spice to this starter.

The other key recommendation is the onion kulcha bread. They serve a bread basket that has a variety of rotis, gram flour rotis (missi roti) roomali and parathas for a very underpriced AED 18. But trade up and order the onion kulcha for AED 10.

What to drink at Chawlas2

You could try their lassi, either salty or sweet, but at the moment a whole glass of this elixir may not leave you room for much else. I drank water but my companions raved about their lassi’s.

In a ideal world

I’d love there to be a Gaggia coffee machine on the counter as a perfect ending to quite a rich meal! Maybe one day soon? But for the moment try some of the very good, but rich, not too sweet kheer kesri dessert at AED 13 a portion.

Proof of authenticity to be seen at Chawlas2 Punjabi Food restaurant

Contact Details for Chawlas2

It’s open from 12 mid day till 12pm at night and does have some outside seating in front of the lake. Inside it has capacity for around 25 or so diners. They also cater for home parties.

Prices are reasonable and portions are good. Expect to pay AED 31 for a plate of Peshawari Chicken tikka .

Tel: 04 514 9271

But don’t take just my word for it, here are some other bloggers views for you to digest before you decide to dine here!

Want to try Chawlas Punjabi food with a friend?

Then we can help…

Enter the Competition to Win a complementary meal for 2

2nd MAY 2016 This competition is now closed and the winners are:

Emma Carrington and Oman Sabu! An email with your vouchers on it’s way to you as we speak! Well Done and thanks for being loyal subscribers to DoinDubai!

DoinDubai will randomly choose 2 SUBSCRIBERS to win a complementary meal for themselves and a friend

Enter your answer to this question into the comment box at the end of the post.

Which cluster of JLT is Chawlas2 located in?

Pressing the pink button below will subscribe you to the DoinDubai Newsletter at the same time. DoinDubai SUBSCRIBERS who are already registered STILL have to go through the process to enter the competition. Don’t worry you will not have mulitple subscriptions, it just helps us to have all the entries for this competition in one file.

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Competition closes on the 30th of April 2016

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Thanks Monica

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March 18, 2016 by monica 2 Comments

COCKTAIL KITCHEN

Not just cocktails but great cuisine too at Cocktail Kitchen

My best meal of the week was at Cocktail Kitchen, a great place for anyone who lives in the JLT area of Dubai. But it really is worth going out for your way for. We went there first by accident on our way to Nolas. It wasn’t properly open then so we only had mocktails, but we knew we had to go back.

The food at Cocktail Kitchen

The best value lunch in Dubai at the moment, without a doubt.

We tried their new Business Lunch at AED 59. I started with a very fresh mushroom soup, ate a fish in a parcel for my main (sea bream with potatoes and vegetables) and ended with an affogato for dessert. Yes all for AED 59 oh and that includes a tea or coffee as well!

We also ordered some things off menu like the really good padron peppers. I highly recommend you do the same. I liked the offer of a vegetable lasagne for the non meat eaters on the set menu and will try that next time.

The drinks at Cocktail Kitchen

I loved the actual tasting bar where drinks are made up for you and the fact they’ve brought back the soda siphon too! Try their artisanal beers, large bottles made for sharing or some of their excellent wines, all sensibly priced.

Where is Cocktail Kitchen

It’s in Cluster P of JLT, go to the central building and take the lift down to B1, then follow the footsteps towards Nola’s and Mythos and you’ll come to Cocktail Kitchen.

Gorgeous, fresh ambience and a versatile private room for events too! See you down there

PODCAST 2 Talking about Cocktail Kitchen and Calicut Notebook.

WIN WIN WIN !

Complementary Meal Competitions Closing Date 31st March 2016

Dinner for 2 at Al Dawaar

Brunch for 2 at Intersect by Lexus DIFC

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Thanks Monica.