In recent years I have developed a taste for simple and healthy food and my favourite salad which can be made in few variations or be made up to a tasty dish (cold or warm) has also been appreciated by friends and family. It has no traditional, cultural or religious connection or significance.
The basic ingredients are cooked chickpeas and red kidney beans whether canned or freshly cooked and finely chopped or dried dill. The proportion depends on how many servings are required but I suggest one canned chickpeas and one of red kidney beans as a modest portion. Using caned food will save time.
Basic
Drain and mix the chickpeas and red kidney beans in a suitable bowl. Add the dill olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste and serve. If you are not concern about slight discolouration, use light Soya sauce instead of salt.
Variations
You may add finely chopped fresh green, yellow and red pepper (one of each) and/or a medium size grated carrot. You may also experiment with other varieties of beans and peas even uncooked fresh garden peas.
If you are not strict vegetarian or vegan, you may add 250 gram small size prawns (shelled and cooked) to basic or other variations of the salad.
Main dish
To make it up to a main dish, cook well 250 gram of brown or unpolished rice (white polished rice is too soft to be mixed), allow to cool and mix with all the above ingredients. A hand full of finely chopped walnut or peanut may enhance the taste This is better as a cold dish but if you wish to turn it to a warm dish, make sure all the main ingredients (rice, beans and prawns) are warm (not hot) before mixing. For cooking the rice you may follow the instructions on the packet.
The Rt Hon Hazel Blears MP, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government launched Face to Face Side by Side at Westminster Central Hall, London on 21st July 2008. CEO Inderjit Bhogal and Yorkshire & Humber Faiths Forum Council members Vice Chair, Sajda Shah, Patricia Farrell, Nahida Majid and Kiran Bali along with Council members of United Faiths, Chair, Jasdeep Singh Degun, Ushna Moghal and Lydia Barlow travelled to London to attend the launch. This framework sets out how, over the next three years, Communities and Local Government will support dialogue between people of different faiths and beliefs in every community and encourage the kind of practical interfaith cooperation that can make hospitable and harmonious neighbourhoods. It intends to create more opportunities for local interfaith groups to deepen face-to-face dialogue allowing for a greater understanding, respect and acceptance of each other. The reference to side-by-side has the intention of providing more opportunities for people to come together sharing space and skills to improve their local neighbourhoods.
Zoroastrians in the UK, of whom there are about 4,000, hail from both Iran and India (the ‘Parsis’) with only small numbers living in Yorkshire and the Humber and no place of worship (the only one being at the Zoroastrian Centre in London).
The Sikh tradition is based on the monotheistic teachings of Guru Nanak Dev, an inspired fifteenth century north India preacher. Nanak taught that the worship of one God (Akal Purakh) should be free of hypocrisy and ritualism. The purpose of human life is to seek and unite with the creator, thus breaking the cycle of birth, death and rebirth, yet Sikhs are also committed to service within the community (sewa). Nanak was succeeded by nine further gurus or teachers culminating in Guru Gobind Singh. It was he that vested spiritual authority in the Sikh scriptures, the Guru Granth Sahib, and temporal authority in the khalsa panth (the ‘community of pure ones’). Regardless of caste, which Guru Gobind Singh sought to abolish, Sikhs initiated into the khalsa take amrit (a sugary drink) and assume the religious name Singh (men – ‘lion’) or Kaur (women – ‘princess’) as a mark of their unity and equality. Belonging to the khalsa also involves wearing the so-called ‘five Ks’: kesh (uncut hair); kangha (a wooden comb); kara (a steel bangle); kachhera (shorts) and kirpan (a curved sword). Sikhs are enjoined to avoid alcohol, tobacco and other intoxicants as well as meat that is ritually slaughtered (such as Muslim halal meat), and many are vegetarian (meat is never served in the communal kitchen of a gurdwara or Sikh temple). In terms of festival, gurpurbs mark the anniversaries of the birth and death of the Gurus, Vaisakhi, the anniversary of the khalsa and, Diwali, the deliverance of Guru Hargobind from his enemies.
The Jewish faith is based upon the belief in one ‘G-d’, the Creator of the universe, whose divine purpose was revealed in the Torah. The word Torah sometimes refers to the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures, known as the books of Moses, which have primary importance, and sometimes to the whole Hebrew Scriptures, often called Tenakh. The Torah is a template for the way Jews should live and Judaism has been described as a religion of ‘deed’ rather than ‘creed’. The precepts of the Torah were debated by the rabbis over some hundreds of years, and these debates and explanations are detailed in the Talmud. (rabbi=teacher). A major tenet of Judaism is the sanctity of Shabbat (the Sabbath), which lasts from sunset on Friday evening to sunset on the Saturday, on which no work is permitted. For Orthodox Jews this includes driving, operating equipment, and carrying things. On certain festivals – Rosh ha’Shannah (New Year), Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), Sukkot (Tabernacles), Pesach (Passover) and Shavuot (Pentacost) – there are similar constraints on normal daily activities. These festivals are fixed in the Jewish calendar but do not correspond to fixed dates in the ‘normal’ calendar.
