mayurisjikoni

Fruit or a Salad --or what? Have you ever spent your precious time and money trying to buy just the right papaya or paw paw? I have and still do. I always turn them  around to check if it will be the right one, try to weigh them in my palm to see if its heavy or light, whether it will ripen well or not etc etc.  Some say if the papaya is heavy then its good, if it is oval shape then it will be sweet. You can buy any shape and its all  like a pot luck. Some are extremely sweet and some can be unbearably spongy and bland. Now if you folks living in UK have spent pounds buying the precious tropical fruit and it turns out really bland you either have the option of eating it just the way it is or turning it into a delectable dish.... a salad. Yes, a salad, not the raw papaya thai style salad but a ripe papaya salad. PAPAYA SALAD Serves 2 1½ to 2 cups papaya cubes ¼ cup finely chopped onion, red or white 1 tbsp chopped spring onion ½ cup diced cucumber ¼ cup diced red pepper ¼ cup crumbled f

Orange and slushy 2 years ago when our club, Lions Club of Mombasa Bahari had a medical camp in Malindi, the non medical members went to a school in Watamu for a social activity. After handing over the goods and spending time with the girls, we decided to go to Watamu town. Its lunch time, we are thirsty and hungry and there are not many shops in the tiny town. An italian cafe was selling smoothies so we all thought brilliant. A smoothie will take care of the hunger pang, quench our thirst and it will be fresh and filling. Much to our disappointment, the smoothie was like a juice, watery. Smoothies are usually made of fresh fruit with milk, cream or yogurt or chunks of ice. Its thicker than a milkshake and more slushier. With an abundance of tropical fruit at the moment and the sweltering heat, its time to have a smoothie. I had oranges and mangoes and within minutes a cool thick drink. MANGO ORANGE SMOOTHIE For 2  1 cup frozen diced mango 1½ cups chilled fresh orange juice 1 tbsp suga

creamy and yummy Cowpeas or chora/choli as its called in gujarati are grown in Asia, Africa and US. The variety of cowpeas are many. Right from the black eyed cowpea to the brown kidney shaped variety. For this recipe I have used the brown or deep red  variety which is commonly grown in Kenya. I have used whole cowpeas and not the split one or dal. This curry or dal goes well with rotis, flaky parathas or with rice. I even cook them dry to have with kadhi and rice. Check out my recipe on kadhi. Cowpeas are a rich source of protein like most legumes, and  in Vitamin B and A. Rich in dietary fibres also. RED CHORA CURRY (COWPEA CURRY)  Serves 4 1 cup cowpeas 2 cups water ½ cup finely chopped onions 10 cloves of garlic finely chopped ½ cup tomato puree 2 tbsps oil or ghee ½ tsp mustard seeds (rai) 1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera) ½ tsp carom seeds (ajwain, ajmo) 1 tsp turmeric powder 1 tsp ginger paste  ½ to 1 tsp red chilli powder 1" cinnamon stick 6 cloves 8 peppercorns 1 tsp salt 1 tbsp

 Cool, yogurt snack  I can't remember my mum ever making dahi vadas at home. We usually had them when there were big community lunches or dinners mainly for weddings or we would have them at the famous Supreme Hotel. I learnt how to make dahi vadas from Nunu after my marriage. I remember when I had just got married, Nunu was preparing some dahi vadas and suddenly her friend came to pick her up. They were suppose to go for shopping or something. So bravely, I told Nunu I would finish up. Of course she asked me a hundred times if I would be fine frying the vadas and I said yes. So reluctantly she left the task to me and reminded me that they should not be raw from the inside. So there I was busy frying vadas for the first time. I had watched her doing the whole procedure. I spooned the batter into the hot oil, and fried the first batch. Just like the way she would break one to see if they are not raw inside, I did the same. Oh dear the first one was raw. So in go the rest again. By t

crunchy green emeralds    Rainy season means loads of fresh crispy vegetables. Thats what exactly hit me when I entered the famous Mombasa Vegetable market this week. Just couldn't make up my mind as to what to buy. Wanted to buy the whole market. The deep green fresh broccoli kept on beckoning me to buy her, him? I can eat raw broccoli, blanched, in soup form but I hate boiled broccoli. So it was broccoli salad for dinner on that day. The recipe is very easy to make and a nutritious one. Go on make it, you will love it. updated :05/05/2016 BROCCOLI SALAD Serves 2 1 cup broccoli florets, bite size 4-6 lettuce leaves or any greens of your choice 2-3 tbsp dried cranberries ¼ cup cheddar cheese, cubed 2 tbsp pine nuts Dressing : 2 tbsp finely chopped onion, red or white 3 tbsp olive oil 1 tbsp cider vinegar ¼ tsp salt ½ tsp coarse pepper powder 1 tsp honey Put some water to boil in a pan. Add the broccoli and let it cook just for 2-3  minutes. Drain out the broccoli into a sieve or

Very tropical   The temperatures are soaring, its just too hot to have heavy meals. I just want to make a quick salad and be out of the kitchen in a jiffy. For today's salad, I mixed avocado, mango with beans.  You would think that avocado and mango would be a weird combination but when I made this salad it actually tasted really great. If you are a lover of both avocado and mango then this salad is just right for you. I did not add any form of sweetness as the mango was sweet. This salad has to be prepared just before serving as both the avocado and mango tend to turn black if kept cut for a while. Adding fruits, seeds, nuts and herbs makes any salad appealing, tasteful and nutritious. Go on try this recipe out, its refreshing and appetizing. Adding beans make it a salad full of protein for vegetarians. updated 3/03/2016 MANGO AVOCADO AND BEAN SALAD 2 servings 1 cup diced ripe mango (peel and dice) 1 medium avocado cut into cubes (peel and dice) ½ cup cooked black or red beans a f

all gujjus should know     Kadhi is a regular feature for lunch or dinner in most Gujarati homes. Kadhi is usually made to accompany a rice dish, be it plain rice, pilau or even biryani. Yes, some Gujaratis need kadhi with biryani. The type of kadhi  will vary from area to area. But as the saying goes, no one can make kadhi and tuvar dal like the Patels. When I say Patels it includes the Amins and Desais or to be more specific Gujaratis from Charotar area of Gujarat.     There is nothing more satisfying than a bowlful of hot kadhi with a generous helping of ghee. I remember that was my grandmother's 'nuska' (remedy) for colds and coughs. And why not, isn't that an Indian version of soup. Kadhi, plain rice and dry preparation of cowpeas or green moong or even split yellow moong is my all time favorite.        Kadhi is something that my daughter Nami has not learnt how to make. Simply because she claims that she doesn't like kadhi. So, my grouse with her was that ever

all in one meal Every time dada would go to Vrindavan, he couldn't stop praising the khichdi that was served there,everyday to the devotees as breakfast. I use to think what is so special about the khichdi. Like other temples it must be just plain rice and moong khichdi. I realised the difference when Nunu started making a version of the khichdi at home either for lunch or dinner. Obviously she added a lot more variety of vegetables than the temple does. I took it a bit further and added onions and garlic to it to make it more tastier. Basically you can make it the way you want but it is definitely a filling dish. Great for post pregnancy, just recovering patients and a great comfort food on a cold rainy day. The khichdi should be a bit soft or dhili as we say in gujarati. I did eventually get to taste the khichdi when we went to Vrindavan. My version still does not taste anywhere near to the one in Vrindavan. That after all is prasadam and prasadam always tastes good. VRINDAVAN KH

   It's Feta Cheese Time                Feta cheese is a Greek cheese usually made from sheep or goats' milk. It is then brined or pickled to give the salty, tangy taste and crumbly consistency. Modern commercially made feta is made from cow's milk. However Greece and Bulgaria still prepare is mostly from sheep or goats' milk. A single serving is about 38g. If you find the feta too salty soak it in water for 5 minutes to remove the saltiness. It is very difficult to find feta cheese in the normal grocery stores in India. To make paneer taste like feta, I would usually marinate it in salt and lemon for 2 to 3 hours. Though it doesn't taste exactly like feta, its still not a bad substitute. In Kenya, I buy Browns Feta cheese as the other cheese producers still have not got it right. Their feta cheese usually tastes like paneer or its extremely smelly and slimy.It doesn't even crumble well. Browns Feta cheese comes in various flavours so use whichever you like. To