Unraveling HUDA (#1 Sultan Series ) COMPLETED!

17: 🌻

Third Person's POV

She sprinkled the cardamon, added the cinnamon sticks, lemon juice, cilantro leaves, coriander powder, garlic, tomatoes, cumin powder, and paprika powder to the large pot containing the fried lamb and onions.

Using her clean hands, she mixed them and let them cook for a few minutes, then added little water and covered the pot to let it simmer under medium heat.

" is it ready yet?" the head chef peeped in through the window.

" it's almost done," she replied and proceeded to get the boiled rice that was in a colander, it had cooled down.

She lowered the heat when the lamb sauce started to boil. She then brought closer the saffron water, caramelised onions and raisins.

She added the boiled rice to the lamb sauce, then the raisins, caramelised onions and finally, the saffron water and covered the pot again.

" you're so talented Huda. I'm salivating right now," the girl beside her praised.

"Now you're just exaggerating, Amy".

"No, I'm not. Didn't you notice that the other chefs kept dashing glances at you?" Amy shook her head vehemently and said.

"There's nothing special in what I am cooking, Amy," Huda said and reduced the heat to let the food simmer.

A young girl cleared the ingredients from the counter returning them to their proper place. Amy rolled her eyes at Huda. The latter however took no notice of that and checked the Surbiyaan Hilib Adhi.

" All set!"

Two different girls came and dished the food. They passed it to the previous girl who had cleared the ingredients and put it on a golden tray. The waitress then rolled the trolley containing the Surbiyaan Hilib Adhi and other dishes to the corner where the customers were site.

Huda cleaned her hands and walked to a corner of the restaurant's kitchen where a woman was measuring some ingredients.
" you're here. I'm almost through with the measurements," the woman said softly.
Huda looked at the large quantities of brown, white sugar and cornstarch that she had measured into different large bowls.
" I'm guessing it's a grand ceremony, " she said while simultaneously getting water from the tap into a deep nonstick pan. She turned on the heat.

" it's a grand wedding. Have you heard of the 'Hashims'?"

" no, I haven't, "

There was silence after that. The woman stood aside and helped Huda add water to the cornflour in a large bowl while she mixed it to form a paste.

When the water was almost boiling, they added the white and brown sugars,  then added the cornflour paste. Huda and the woman took turns in stirring the mixture which was on medium heat continuously.

She added the nutmeg, ground cardamom, ground cloves, saffron powder for colour, and crushed nuts. She then began adding the oil while the woman stirred continuously.

This is one of the most important steps in making the popular sweet Halwa or also known as Xalwad, Halwo or Halwad in Somalia which was mostly served in weddings or festivals such as the Eid ul Fitr with strong black coffee or Somali spiced tea.

They removed the pan from the heat and poured the Halwa in large greased flat trays, and sprinkled sliced nuts on it.

" Huda, can I have a minute with you?"

Huda turned at the voice surprised. It was the manager who was standing beside the Head chef. She rolled her eyes mentally. What was it this time?

She had secured the job at this expensive restaurant a week ago. Everything had been going smoothly excluding the fact that the head chef had a problem with her. She was a woman in her mid-fifties who had taken a strong dislike to Huda a day after her employment.