What’s worse, the smell of mould or the smell of bleach?

The mould in my room finally became too much for me to bear. I was lucky enough to find powdered bleach in my local vicinity (Yay!). I have bleached my bamboo shelves as a first experiment. The mould seems to be gone, but now my room smells like an indoor pool.

I think that’s why mould won’t appear on bleached surfaces… it can’t stand the smell.

Australian Mishti Saves The Day!

My Aussie friends have introduced me to the easiest and most “Aussie-fied” version of the local delicacy, mishti. And I can make it, right here in my village, and half of the four ingredients are available right around the corner:

You will need:

 1 packet sweet “Marie” biscuits (available anywhere in Bangladesh, including the Railgate Market around the corner)
 1 tin sweetened condensed milk (available anywhere in Bangladesh, including the Railgate Market around the corner)
 A bit of desiccated coconut (available from Supermarkets in large cities, but it travels well)
 As much Cadbury cocoa as you can handle (available from Supermarkets in large cities, but it travels well).

Also,
 One plastic bag (if you can find one)
 Two feet with shoes on.
 A bowl
 A spoon

Method:

1. Get the packet of biscuits and open it at one end. Get a plastic bag and put the packet of biscuits inside, with the open end of the packet towards the closed end of the plastic bag (NB – if you get this mixed up, you’ll end up with a mess).

2. Stand on top of the biscuits and march on the spot until the biscuits resemble fine breadcrumbs. Be careful not to stand on both ends of the biscuit packet at the same time, because this will create a bubble that will surely pop at the closed end of the biscuits, thus creating two open ends at the same end of the plastic bag and, like me, you will end up with a mess.

3. Put all ingredients into a bowl, making sure that there is sufficient condensed milk left in the tin to be eaten with one finger. Mix ingredients into a delicious, chocolatey, gooey mass.

4. Form the gooey mass* into things that resemble squash balls, ping-pong balls or chocolate chip cookies. Put them on a tray in the fridge to set.

5. Once set, share them amongst your friends** and watch their faces light up when they take their first bite.

* but not the whole lot - make sure there is enough left in the bowl at the end to be eaten with the hand.

** Can also be saved as emergency chocolate fix, but I wouldn’t eat them all in one go – they are very rich.