It may sound like a cliché but I am a foodie. I love my food and I love well prepared food. I also love to cook. When I cook at home I know that I am preparing wholesome halal meals. Being a student in the UK, I don’t always have the time I would like to indulge in cooking with lectures, studies and assignments. Also as a Muslim I use halal meat in my dishes which is not always easy to get.
I am happy though as I have found a way to juggle both my studies and my love of food. In the UK we are lucky because there are some great places in which to buy fresh and genuine halal meat. Being able to buy the meat I need simply and conveniently, has made all the difference. I no longer have to spend hours and even days searching and am now able to prepare more varieties of dishes. It is important to me that I use halal meat in my cooking and abide by the dietary guidelines of Islam.
Having easy access to cleaned halal meats such as the range by Haloodies, has made life so much simpler for me. I am able to pick up the meat from selected supermarkets and use them when needed. The packaging makes storage easy and I am spoilt for choice with options like minced beef, beef fillet steak, chicken drumsticks, diced chicken thigh fillets, diced chicken breast fillet, minced lamb, lean diced lamb, lamb kofta meatballs and beef burgers.
I can now give into my culinary creativity and make dishes that I have been dying to try. It is a cheaper option for me as well, rather than spending on take out all the time. I find it very relaxing to prepare my meals, plus usually there are left overs which I have for dinner the next day. Stews, tagines, pies have all made their way back onto my list of cooking favourites thanks to the convenience of getting halal meat. I invite my friends over for meals now and there is something cosy about sitting around discussing our projects over a bowlful of lamb stew.
I wanted to share this as many young Muslims in the UK have in the past missed out on such traditional dishes owing to the lack of halal options. Fortunately this is now a thing of the past.
