Winter is creeping through its third quarter. The snow, having eclipsed its fair allotment and most of the autumn before that, feels particularly unforgiving today. It’s been a punishing season on many counts, but I’m in a cozy rut of curry, the world’s most forgiving category of food.
Who doesn’t enjoy a curry? Curry is liquid sunshine. It’s a holiday in a bowl. Like fish and chips, Belgian waffles and falafel sandwiches, curry is a food I once associated with disposable utensils. But with a chunk of time and a decent Asian grocer or nearby LuLu Hypermarket, it’s not difficult to make a fine curry. The ones I turn out are authentic to nowhere: a little Thai in influence, a little Malaysian; a tropically ambiguous tangle of tang, sweetness, spice, citrus, fruit and cream (of coconut).
My first attempt was an adaptation of “a luxurious and deeply aromatic noodle dish” from Nigel Slater’s cookbook, Appetite. Providing a suggestive list of ingredients, Slater walks you through the process of making curry paste, an oily, fragrant, jade-flecked sludge of chilli peppers, garlic, lemongrass, turmeric, coriander leaves and seeds, and ginger (I recommend substituting galangal if you can find it).
Once this foundation is made, the rest is a cinch. Fry up the paste in a hot pan, whisk in coconut milk and stock, add fish sauce, lime juice and lime leaves and then build your curry however you like. My preference is for shrimp, crabmeat and fragrant Thai fish cakes made by pulsing codfish and seasonings into a paste and forming little patties. I throw together a basil, coriander and anchovy pesto, fluff it into jasmine rice and serve that in emerald mounds with the curry poured over. Garnish with fried shallots, mint leaves, chopped spring onions, bean sprouts and Thai chilli jam. I challenge anyone without a shellfish allergy to eat this and not feel better.
Why bother making curry paste from scratch? Well, for the same reason you might consider making anything from scratch: it’s fun, it’s rewarding and it’s infinitely superior to anything you’ll find on a shelf. It also never has to be the same way twice. Recipes with elbow room are the most interesting to me. I rely on enough products that are consistent without needing every home experiment to produce identical results.
Two of my current obsessions are Spanish goat cheeses – pata cabra, from Aragon, and vare, from Asturias. Both cheeses vary from batch to batch and both are made by true artisans in the most unaffected sense: all pata cabra is made by one man; vare is made by a couple who bought 25 goats 20 years ago to build a business they could leave for their children. Less preciously, I use Philadelphia Cream Cheese and La Vache Qui Rit, too. Sometimes I love knowing exactly what I’m getting.
People wax on about no two snowflakes being alike, but if you want to get really romantic, consider the shawarma. When I visit home in Abu Dhabi, shawarma happens almost immediately. On every visit, I order one of everything and taste them all. But it’s not always a level playing field. It depends on a number of factors I’m sure; who’s carving the chicken off the spit that day, the temperature of the fryer oil when the falafel slips in, or the quality of a particular side of beef. It’s never the same way twice – and that’s part of the appeal.
Nouf Al-Qasimi is an Emirati food analyst who cooks and writes in New Mexico
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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Fourth Arab Economic and Social Development Summit
As he spoke, Mr Aboul Gheit repeatedly referred to the need to tackle issues affecting the welfare of people across the region both in terms of preventing conflict and in pushing development.
Lebanon is scheduled to host the fourth Arab Economic and Social Development Summit in January that will see regional leaders gather to tackle the challenges facing the Middle East. The last such summit was held in 2013. Assistant Secretary-General Hossam Zaki told The National that the Beirut Summit “will be an opportunity for Arab leaders to discuss solely economic and social issues, the conference will not focus on political concerns such as Palestine, Syria or Libya". He added that its slogan will be “the individual is at the heart of development”, adding that it will focus on all elements of human capital.
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AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
- Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
RESULT
Esperance de Tunis 1 Guadalajara 1
(Esperance won 6-5 on penalties)
Esperance: Belaili 38’
Guadalajara: Sandoval 5’
Bert van Marwijk factfile
Born: May 19 1952
Place of birth: Deventer, Netherlands
Playing position: Midfielder
Teams managed:
1998-2000 Fortuna Sittard
2000-2004 Feyenoord
2004-2006 Borussia Dortmund
2007-2008 Feyenoord
2008-2012 Netherlands
2013-2014 Hamburg
2015-2017 Saudi Arabia
2018 Australia
Major honours (manager):
2001/02 Uefa Cup, Feyenoord
2007/08 KNVB Cup, Feyenoord
World Cup runner-up, Netherlands
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre, twin-turbo V8
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 582bhp
Torque: 730Nm
Price: Dh649,000
On sale: now
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
