The teenage son of the Asian family next door has just been to my front door. Mumbled “this is from next door” in a slightly shy sort of manner and presented me with a box. I went, “oh, thank you very much!”

Got it in, and it appears to be a gift box of food; I think there’s been a birthday or something and perhaps it’s left over? Anyway. It’s a sweet thought and I really appreciate it, but.

What the hell is it, and what do I do with it?

The balls at the back look like they might be sweets or cake or similar, but they seem to have deep-fried noodles on top? I’m utterly perplexed.

Um, you eat it?

Update: fixed the image link, so the post should make a little more sense now.

I’m loathe to just tuck in because, whilst it’ll be ‘halal’ there’s no guarantee that it’s going to be vegetarian and I don’t really want to find that what looks like cake is actually some delicacy involving lamb or something.

I’m vegetarian, and a Muslim friend often hands out food at Ramadan – I’m afraid my philosophy is “well, it’s dead now so I may as well not let it go to waste” 😉

Aaah, is it Ramadan? I didn’t realise. EDIT – just looked it up, seems that was August this year?

Also, you’re an odd vegetarian. (-:

No, that was a few months ago.

Yeah, I know 😉 I’m a vegetarian because I don’t like the idea of animals suffering to feed me, but if they’ve already died and would still be dead if I didn’t eat them, may as well eat them. I’d have no problem eating roadkill, for example.

I imagine that drawing lines of demarcation would be tricky there. But, hey, it’d be boring if we were all the same.

What, you’ve never had nouilles maltéaser before?

I’d have no problem eating roadkill, for example.

Would you swerve to hit something that looked like it might be tasty?

Could you narrow down ‘Asian’ a bit?

Looks good.

Asian food is fantastic.

Why not just eat one and if it goes baaa then don’t eat the rest? 🙂

Could you narrow down ‘Asian’ a bit?

Pakistani, or descent thereof, to the best of my knowledge.

Seems Twitter has beaten STW, anyway. I’m told by my resident foodie that the balls are “Gulab Jamun” and the noodly things are sweet noodles called “Jalebi.”

Innnteresting.

What, you’ve never had nouilles maltéaser before?

That’s something that needs inventing, right now.

Would you swerve to hit something that looked like it might be tasty?

That would be going too far – but I might not swerve if something tasty happened to be in the way 😉

That would be going too far

It’s only a couple of feet, man.

Ooh yeah, you want to eat that! My step-brother gets boxes like that from his Indian neighbours all the time. Very sticky sweet things that almost certainly have no meat in them. I thought they were called “djelibas” or something, but that might just be because it sounds a bit like “jelly babies”.

ghulab jamin is a sweet flour thing not unlike a doughnut soaked in heavy syrup – if you have a sweet tooth, you’ll love it. if not, you won’t. i do, especially with the coconut on it
the spaghetti stuff( can’t remember then name, cougar may well be right) is pretty much pure sugar and is a bit much for me.

Yeh the balls are gulab jamin you may fancy something savoury like a mars bar afterwards! 😀

Get stuck in! Give the Gulab Jamun a blast in the microwave and serve with ice cream. It’s superb, even though its really sweet. Like the best donut you’ve ever tasted!

The Jalebi is best eaten just after its been cooked but can be eaten cold. Im not a fan personally.

Give the Gulab Jamun a blast in the microwave

Er, eh? Really? They’re supposed to be hot?

The Jalebi is best eaten just after its been cooked but can be eaten cold. Im not a fan personally.

The box is sealed so I’m guessing it’s shop-bought. (It’s also inordinately greasy, I put on half a pound just carrying it into the kitchen)

You can eat gulab jamun hot or cold. They always ask how you want it in a restaurant. It usually comes drenched in syrup and is alot better hot. The ice cream cuts through the intense sweetness.

Follow it with a good cup of coffee!

I’d give it back mate. It looks like a can of worms to me

So, we’ve just braved it.

The tangly jalebi stuff we’re not keen on; I think for me it’s the texture, I was expecting it to be crispy and it’s kinda chewy. I wonder if it’s past it’s best and would’ve been nicer fresh.

The gulab jamun is, basically, donut that’s been soaked in thin syrup. They’re really quite nice, but incredibly rich. After a couple, I couldn’t eat any more. But then, I guess I’m not supposed to; if someone gave me a kilo of Haribo I wouldn’t be able to eat it in a sitting. Er, probably.

Good man. Hot or cold?

I can only manage a couple aswell. My brother ate 21 on his 21st birthday night out :-). We went out for a buffet Indian with a few mates and he had 3 after his meal. He loves them and had another 3. Ended up with his pals and the staff egging him on to eat more! He didnt feel to great for a couple of hours afterwards!