Al Khafji is a small town on the wrong side of the Saudi Arabia/Kuwait border. It was the only town in Saudi Arabia which was invaded by the Iraqi army during the first gulf war. The resulting battle left some fierce scars, many of which are probably there to this day. I went there just after the war and was proudly given a tour of the battle damage, including the infamous bullet riddled and missile damaged water tower which was repeatedly shown on the BBC news. Just on the outskirts of town, but far enough out to be in the desert, was a half destroyed squash court. It looked quite incongruous, being the only standing structure in an otherwise featureless expanse of salt pan dessert. It was obviously a squash court because the wall nearest the road had been almost completely destroyed and the lines painted on the inside on the remaining three walls were clearly visible. "Did that happen in the war?" I asked my guide. "No," he said, "it's always been like that."
If you've ever been to Saudi Arabia you'll know that most of the people you come into contact with on a day-to-day basis are not Saudis but Indians. I made a lot of good friends in Khafji and through them, learned a lot about the art of simple vegetarian cooking. Here's one of the recipes I picked up.
Half a medium white cabbage
1 small onion (or half a medium one)
1 hot green chilli pepper (2 if they're not so hot)
2 dessert spoons of dessicated coconut
A tsp. of black mustard seeds
A half tsp. of turmeric powder
A 2 cm piece of fresh root ginger
Vegetable oil Shred the cabbage very finely and chop into small pieces. Finely chop the onion, chilli and ginger. Put a little (about 3 dessertspoons) vegetable oil into a frying pan and heat it until it's smoking. Add the mustard seeds and 10 seconds later, add the onion, ginger and chilli. Fry for 30 seconds then add the cabbage and turmeric. Fry at a high temperature for about ten minutes stirring all the time. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the coconut. This dish can be served on it's own but ideally should accompany a few other dishes - dhal and spicy potatoes for example, with rice, parathas or chapatties.