mayurisjikoni

Neel its celebration time :) Neel its celebration time. You got to make this dessert for Michelle and Sean. Double celebration. Instead of mangoes you can use any other fresh fruit of your choice. We are celebrating tonight with this dessert. This mousse recipe is originally a Tarla Dalal recipe, mousse without eggs. Since the first time I made it following the recipe, I have over the years made it with various fresh fruits and its very easy and a sure hit with the guests. Serve it with a dollop of fresh cream, chopped fresh fruits or sprinkle grated chocolate or chopped nuts. Let your imagination run wild. MANGO MOUSSE Serves 8 1 packet of mango or orange jelly (85-100g ) 2 cups fresh chopped mangoes (approximately 1 big mango) 1 tsp lemon juice 3 tbsps powdered sugar 2 cups fresh cream Heat 1 cup of water and dissolve the jelly in it. When it cools a bit, put it in the fridge. Crush the mango pieces in a processor or blender. Add the pureed fruit and lemon juice to the jelly. Let it ...

wholesome meal   There's nothing more comforting on a cold day like a bowl of some hearty wholesome soup. I love minestrone soup as it has everything in it, vegetables, pasta, beans, and cheese if you like. I usually use whatever vegetables are available in the market. Usually minestrone soup has celery, zucchini, carrot, beans, onion,tomato, basil, other herbs, pasta and some cheese. I like to use whatever is available in the market.Rainy season is a blessing as veggies are fresh and succulent. Add vegetables of your preference, this recipe is basically just a guideline. Wholesome soups make an excellent meal and I love to have it for dinner. Its a good way to get kids to have vegetables. Use fresh tomato puree and tomatoes. Tinned tomatoes tend to have citric acid which makes the soup too tangy. I prefer to chop the vegetables into slightly larger chunks, but you can dice them smaller if you prefer. Don't over cook the vegetables. Getting a bit of bite with every spoonful mak...

  yummy milk  I love milk be it plain, with chocolate, rose syrup, kesar, etc etc. The options are endless. Thandai is usually made during the Holi festival. I made thandai during Holi but didn't get a chance to blog it. Can't wait till next Holi. Anyway anytime can be thandai time. Its a healthy drink if made at home. I hate the commercially prepared one as it contains colour and essence and Not even sure if they are using almonds considering the cost of these nuts. The actual thandai is made by grinding all the ingredients to a paste and then is strained and squeeze in a muslin cloth to obtain the flavour. I think its a waste of fine and expensive ingredients. Hope you like my version of thandai, especially since you can make it in bulk and store in the fridge for further use. This a pure healthy recipe and not spiked with any substances! THANDAI  6 to 8 servings Thandai masala: 20 almonds 2 tsps aniseeds (valiyari) 2 tsps poppy seeds (khus khus) 8 big cardamom pods 2 t...

fluffy and soft  The first time I ever tasted idlis was when I was studying in Mt. Abu. We had them at a restaurant just at the beginning of the road towards the lake. Unfortunately cannot remember the name of the restaurant. My mum loved idlis and thats what she had day and night when she came to drop my sister and me to school. I never really asked her why she didn't learn how to make them if she loved idlis so much. When Vibha bhabhi came into our household, she learnt how to make them and that was fine for my mum. The first time I had home made idlis was when Nunu made them. I was flabbergasted  at that time as I thought making south indian food is rocket science. I thought wow Nunu is clever. Nunu taught me how to make idlis and dosas along with the sambhar. Her dad at one time use to own a south indian restaurant. Since its difficult to get parboiled rice which is commonly used for idlis and dosas in India, I use normal thick rice and to make them really soft add a ...

Fresh crunchy juicy cucumbers are a delight to have on its own or in a salad. Cucumbers grown locally in Mombasa seem to have disappeared. The ones from up country are fine but the skin can be a bit tough. Whenever I can, I buy English cucumber from the supermarkets. They rarely are bitter, are nice and juicy and the skin is thin and crunchy too. I used a mandolin (cheeni, slicer) to get thin slices length wise. Then I cut them into thin strips to give the salad a different look. You can just slice them into rings or semi circles, whatever you prefer. CUCUMBER SALAD 2 servings 2 cucumbers or 1 English cucumber (approximately 2 cups of sliced cucumber)  1 cup fresh mint leaves 1 cup  chopped fresh coriander 10 to 12 pistachios Dressing : ½ garlic  minced ½ tsp salt 1 tsp coarse pepper powder 1 tsp balsamic vinegar or lemon juice 1 tsp honey 1 tbsp olive oil Cut the cucumber. Tear up the mint leaves with your hands and add to the cucumber.  Add the chopped coriander. R...

  extreme cooling remedy   We all know that melons have a cooling property. No wonder they are in abundance during the summer heat. Honeydew melons have slowly started appearing on the market in Mombasa. I love the ones that come from Voi. They tend to be juicy and sweet, most of the times.  Can't say the same about the local oranges. Even if some of the fruits come from Tanzania our neighbouring country, its still labelled as local and not imported, like the  grapes, apples, oranges from South Africa. There are carts full of these oranges everywhere. The first time I bought them from a seller near the temple,  he promised me they were sweet oranges from Tanzania. I took them home, juicer and everything ready to squeeze them. Most of them turned out dry . The second time I bought them from the market, thinking yes its a more reliable place. I was told very tamu (sweet)  from Tanzania. So again I go home with a kilo of them. Squeeze them, leave the juice in ...

deliciously green   A bit of a drizzle and most of us in Mombasa presume that the cold season has begun. Its time to have hot bhajias, hot soup, any hot comfort food. On a serious note it never gets that cold in Mombasa to have those kind of urges. That does not mean we do not make soups and bhajias. We just set the air conditioner on a lower setting to feel cold! Fresh green broccoli is what I got from the market this week. Made this delicious soup with the garlic rolls. Check out the garlic roll recipe.  Updated : 12/05/2016      This post was first posted in 2012. Since then weather world wide has changed. A few days ago, we were experiencing really hot weather in Mombasa whereas the rest of Kenya was suffering from floods. In rural areas flooding is mainly due to lack of trees and in some areas where rivers are swelling. In the urban areas the flooding is largely blamed on construction and drainage system being clogged with rubbish. This week it has been rai...

comfort food on a rainy day Theme: Redo Old Posts BM#85  Week 4 Day 2      25/02/2018    When I look back at my old posts, I sometimes think 'really did I take those pictures?' Not that I'm any better now as there's still so much to learn about photography and styling. However, I do want to give myself a pat on my back as I certainly have made improvements. Some may think redoing a post is easy but seriously it is not. There are some I consciously make an effort to make again, remember to take photos and go back and re write the write up, add new photos make corrections to grammatical mistakes etc etc. And then there is the sharing bit on all social media. Most of my old posts will not have been tweeted or you wouldn't find them on Instagram. Basic recipes that I make so many times, I just forget to take the photos. When I have to share them or use them to attach to other posts, I just want to cringe and kick myself for not remember...