DinnerTime also offers gluten-free food and recipes. Courtesy Helen Shippey
DinnerTime also offers gluten-free food and recipes. Courtesy Helen Shippey

UAE delivery service DinnerTime provides ingredients for your homemade meal



Cooking for yourself can be – let’s face it – a boring chore. If you’re not careful you could end up making the same few dishes over and over, or eating takeaway every night. This is where DinnerTime offers to improve your life. Order by Thursday and on Sunday the company will deliver a box of mostly organic ingredients to your home or office, enough for four meals for either two or four people. Currently DinnerTime is targeting its service at women who might be about to leave for part or all of the summer and are worried that their menfolk, left to fend for themselves, will end up eating beans from the tin.

The ingredients

My delivery was a little delayed but the company clearly communicated the problem and made a contingency plan if the driver couldn’t get to my Abu Dhabi office in time. The perishables were in a cool bag with ice packs, while the dry goods were all in a reasonably small box. Some of the quantities seemed a bit odd: I got enough bulghur wheat to feed an army, for instance; and I thought the inclusion of a stick of butter and a sachet of tomato purée was maybe unnecessary as these should be among the staples in any kitchen. But the amounts of fresh herbs and vegetables were just right – no shortage and no wastage. There was one lonely stalk of celery in there, but it turned out to be just enough for the dish in question.

The recipes

Each week’s supply promises a meat, a fish, a chicken and a vegetarian dish. The week I ordered, I got Italian beef stew, white fish casserole with sun-dried tomatoes and sweet potato and broccoli, a whole chicken for stuffing and roasting, and Indian vegetarian burgers (plus, as a bonus that week, the makings of chocolate crunch bars). Each dish comes with a pretty clear recipe and nothing requires cordon bleu skills. This is simple and straightforward cooking. If I had one quibble, it would be with the suggested order of the cooking of the fish dish – had I added the fish as early as the recipe seemed to suggest, it would perhaps have been overdone.

The cooking

The company says the meals are designed to be prepared from scratch in 30 minutes. I found this assumption to be not too heroic – the chicken was obviously going to take a lot longer, but not even the most clueless culinary neophyte would expect otherwise. Moreover, unlike the beef and fish, the chicken was specifically not suitable for home freezing. Only one of the other dishes took significantly longer than 30 minutes to prepare: the veg burgers. These also, despite my best efforts, never became remotely burger-ish. Delicious, yes, but never in a million years would they make a patty that cohered on a bun. The chicken did take only about 20 minutes to prepare and about 75 minutes to roast – and, if time were really tight, it would not have been difficult to prepare the tarragon butter and chickpea stuffing in advance.

The verdict

I was extremely satisfied with the results – four new, tasty and wholesome dishes that didn’t take all evening to make. There were enough leftovers for a good lunch the next day, although you may want to eat Sunday’s leftovers on Tuesday, and Monday’s on Wednesday and so on, for the sake of variety. I’ll certainly use the service again, especially during these hot months when the prospect of hefting groceries isn’t very attractive.

• DinnerTime is available in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The two-person service costs Dh300 for four meals. For more information, visit www.dinnertime.me or call 055 790 8733

kmcc@thenational.ae

The years Ramadan fell in May

1987

1954

1921

1888

If you go

Flight connections to Ulaanbaatar are available through a variety of hubs, including Seoul and Beijing, with airlines including Mongolian Airlines and Korean Air. While some nationalities, such as Americans, don’t need a tourist visa for Mongolia, others, including UAE citizens, can obtain a visa on arrival, while others including UK citizens, need to obtain a visa in advance. Contact the Mongolian Embassy in the UAE for more information.

Nomadic Road offers expedition-style trips to Mongolia in January and August, and other destinations during most other months. Its nine-day August 2020 Mongolia trip will cost from $5,250 per person based on two sharing, including airport transfers, two nights’ hotel accommodation in Ulaanbaatar, vehicle rental, fuel, third party vehicle liability insurance, the services of a guide and support team, accommodation, food and entrance fees; nomadicroad.com

A fully guided three-day, two-night itinerary at Three Camel Lodge costs from $2,420 per person based on two sharing, including airport transfers, accommodation, meals and excursions including the Yol Valley and Flaming Cliffs. A return internal flight from Ulaanbaatar to Dalanzadgad costs $300 per person and the flight takes 90 minutes each way; threecamellodge.com

Top 5 concerns globally:

1. Unemployment

2. Spread of infectious diseases

3. Fiscal crises

4. Cyber attacks

5. Profound social instability

Top 5 concerns in the Mena region

1. Energy price shock

2. Fiscal crises

3. Spread of infectious diseases

4. Unmanageable inflation

5. Cyber attacks

Source: World Economic Foundation

THE BIO

Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979

Education: UAE University, Al Ain

Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6

Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma

Favourite book: Science and geology

Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC

Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.

The essentials

What: Emirates Airline Festival of Literature

When: Friday until March 9

Where: All main sessions are held in the InterContinental Dubai Festival City

Price: Sessions range from free entry to Dh125 tickets, with the exception of special events.

Hot Tip: If waiting for your book to be signed looks like it will be timeconsuming, ask the festival’s bookstore if they have pre-signed copies of the book you’re looking for. They should have a bunch from some of the festival’s biggest guest authors.

Information: www.emirateslitfest.com
 

FIXTURES

Monday, January 28
Iran v Japan, Hazza bin Zayed Stadium (6pm)

Tuesday, January 29
UAEv Qatar, Mohamed Bin Zayed Stadium (6pm)

Friday, February 1
Final, Zayed Sports City Stadium (6pm)

Our legal consultant

Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

Sunday's fixtures
  • Bournemouth v Southampton, 5.30pm
  • Manchester City v West Ham United, 8pm
Analysis

Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more

COMPANY%20PROFILE
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MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League, semi-final result:

Liverpool 4-0 Barcelona

Liverpool win 4-3 on aggregate

Champions Legaue final: June 1, Madrid

How much of your income do you need to save?

The more you save, the sooner you can retire. Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.com, says if you save just 5 per cent of your salary, you can expect to work for another 66 years before you are able to retire without too large a drop in income.

In other words, you will not save enough to retire comfortably. If you save 15 per cent, you can forward to another 43 working years. Up that to 40 per cent of your income, and your remaining working life drops to just 22 years. (see table)

Obviously, this is only a rough guide. How much you save will depend on variables, not least your salary and how much you already have in your pension pot. But it shows what you need to do to achieve financial independence.

 

MATCH INFO

Manchester United 2
(Martial 30', McTominay 90 6')

Manchester City 0

Afcon 2019

SEMI-FINALS

Senegal v Tunisia, 8pm

Algeria v Nigeria, 11pm

Matches are live on BeIN Sports

Results:

Women:

1. Rhiannan Iffland (AUS) 322.95 points
2. Lysanne Richard (CAN) 285.75
3. Ellie Smart (USA) 277.70

Men:

1. Gary Hunt (GBR) 431.55
2. Constantin Popovici (ROU) 424.65
3. Oleksiy Prygorov (UKR) 392.30

The%20specs
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ESSENTIALS

The flights

Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.

The hotels

Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.

The tours

A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages. 

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
 
Started: 2021
 
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
 
Based: Tunisia 
 
Sector: Water technology 
 
Number of staff: 22 
 
Investment raised: $4 million 
Overview

What: The Arab Women’s Sports Tournament is a biennial multisport event exclusively for Arab women athletes.

When: From Sunday, February 2, to Wednesday, February 12.

Where: At 13 different centres across Sharjah.

Disciplines: Athletics, archery, basketball, fencing, Karate, table tennis, shooting (rifle and pistol), show jumping and volleyball.

Participating countries: Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Qatar and UAE.

Manchester City (0) v Liverpool (3)

Uefa Champions League, quarter-final, second leg

Where: Etihad Stadium
When: Tuesday, 10.45pm
Live on beIN Sports HD

The biog

Age: 32

Qualifications: Diploma in engineering from TSI Technical Institute, bachelor’s degree in accounting from Dubai’s Al Ghurair University, master’s degree in human resources from Abu Dhabi University, currently third years PHD in strategy of human resources.

Favourite mountain range: The Himalayas

Favourite experience: Two months trekking in Alaska

GROUP RESULTS

Group A
Results

Ireland beat UAE by 226 runs
West Indies beat Netherlands by 54 runs

Group B
Results

Zimbabwe tied with Scotland
Nepal beat Hong Kong by five wickets

Sunday's Super Four matches

Dubai, 3.30pm
India v Pakistan

Abu Dhabi, 3.30pm
Bangladesh v Afghanistan

At a glance

- 20,000 new jobs for Emiratis over three years

- Dh300 million set aside to train 18,000 jobseekers in new skills

- Managerial jobs in government restricted to Emiratis

- Emiratis to get priority for 160 types of job in private sector

- Portion of VAT revenues will fund more graduate programmes

- 8,000 Emirati graduates to do 6-12 month replacements in public or private sector on a Dh10,000 monthly wage - 40 per cent of which will be paid by government

SPAIN SQUAD

Goalkeepers Simon (Athletic Bilbao), De Gea (Manchester United), Sanchez (Brighton)

Defenders Gaya (Valencia), Alba (Barcelona), P Torres (Villarreal), Laporte (Manchester City), Garcia (Manchester City), D Llorente (Leeds), Azpilicueta (Chelsea)

Midfielders Busquets (Barcelona), Rodri (Manchester City), Pedri (Barcelona), Thiago (Liverpool), Koke (Atletico Madrid), Ruiz (Napoli), M Llorente (Atletico Madrid)

Forwards: Olmo (RB Leipzig), Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad), Morata (Juventus), Moreno (Villarreal), F Torres (Manchester City), Traore (Wolves), Sarabia (PSG)

Sri Lanka-India Test series schedule
  • 1st Test India won by 304 runs at Galle
  • 2nd Test India won by innings and 53 runs at Colombo
  • 3rd Test August 12-16 at Pallekele
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Company profile

Name: Tharb

Started: December 2016

Founder: Eisa Alsubousi

Based: Abu Dhabi

Sector: Luxury leather goods

Initial investment: Dh150,000 from personal savings

 

Prophets of Rage

(Fantasy Records)

88 Video's most popular rentals

Avengers 3: Infinity War: an American superhero film released in 2018 and based on the Marvel Comics story.  

Sholay: a 1975 Indian action-adventure film. It follows the adventures of two criminals hired by police to catch a vagabond. The film was panned on release but is now considered a classic.

Lucifer: is a 2019 Malayalam-language action film. It dives into the gritty world of Kerala’s politics and has become one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films of all time.

Our legal advisor

Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.

Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation. 

Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.

Brief scoreline:

Burnley 3

Barnes 63', 70', Berg Gudmundsson 75'

Southampton 3

Man of the match

Ashley Barnes (Burnley)