mayurisjikoni

a quick meal However much I love cooking, there are some days when my mind just goes blank or I don't feel like entering the kitchen or I want to make something quick and just get out of the kitchen. Eating out is an option and we are lucky to have a nice dhosa place and an egg chappati place very near to our home or we can just order a pizza. What if you don't feel like getting dressed up and going out? I occasionally feel like that and somehow my hubby dear too feels the same on that exact day. Well, the alternative is to have just fruits, cereal, bread and tea or go to bed with an empty stomach. Sunday evening was one such day.... didn't want to do any of the above but we both were hungry. No bread in the house, only bananas for fruit and empty stomach was growling. So we both decided to enter the kitchen to make our favourite quick pasta dish. Yes, go ahead and laugh, if it is a quick pasta dish why would two people be required to make it? Well the whole idea was to sha...

A nice treat for tea time I love slightly sweet breads to have with some butter or jam and a hot cup of tea. I came across this recipe in  taste of home magazine and thought what a lovely healthy combination of nuts, cranberries and maple syrup. I tried it out this weekend and don't even have a slice left over. Got to bake it again. What I love about this bread is that its an excellent in between snack treat and you don't have to feel guilty about loading too many calories. Have it without butter and it still tastes yummy.This recipe is diabetic friendly. Dunk a chunky slice into milk, coffee or tea. Enjoy your tea time. CRANBERRY WALNUT BREAD 1 big loaf or 2 small ones ½ cup dried cranberries ½ cup hot water 2¼ cup plain flour or bread flour (all purpose flour) 1 cup whole wheat flour (atta) 2¼ tsp instant active dry yeast 1½ tsp salt ½ cup milk 3 tbsp maple syrup 2 tbsp soft butter ½ cup chopped walnuts extra butter for greasing and topping Combine hot water and dried cranber...

rich and creamy  A few days ago my sister in law Rakshabhabhi sent a few pieces of the granola bars she tried out and a very tender and fresh bottle gourd. The granola bars were yummy and tasted different from mine as she had added dried apricots and dried dates (khajur) to the mixture. As for the bottle gourd, doodhi or lauki, it probably landed up at my house for a specific reason. The reason was a kofta curry. twice I had bought doodhi or lauki from the market and twice it was a bit seedy so it was used up in dangellas and theplas . This time, the lauki was really nice with no seeds and very tender. So today, I gathered rest of the ingredients and made a very delicious, rich and creamy kofta curry for lunch. Rich and creamy it was as Ajay has just informed me that he doesn't need any dinner, only fruits. An ideal dish to make when you have guests around and you need to make a vegetable with gravy. Kids will love this curry as they will never guess that its made from lauki. Upda...

picnic idea Stuffed bread with a filling of your choice and baked fresh is as good as having an appetizing sandwich. I love baking stuffed buns to go with a plain soup, or to take along when travelling. Haven't been for a picnic for ages but use to bake them when we would go with the kids  to the beach. After a whole day at the beach, kids would be hungry. Stuffed buns was a clever way to get them to have a 'sandwich' stuffed with fresh vegetables. I baked some a few days ago for tea time as we had guests over. Something different from the regular dokhras and bhajias to serve the guests. STUFFED MASALA BUNS  Makes 12 For the buns: 1½ cups wholemeal flour (atta) 1½ cups plain flour(all purpose flour) or bread flour  3 tsp dry active instant yeast 1½ tsp sugar 1 tsp salt 4 tbsps soft butter 1 to 1¼ cups warm milk 1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera) extra flour for dusting extra oil for greasing For the stuffing or filling : ½ cup peas ½ cup cooked sweet corn ¼ cup diced carrots ½ cup...

can we eat drumsticks? The scientific name for drumstick tree is moringa oleifera. The evergreen tree has a slender trunk and branches from which hang long slender triangular drumstick like pods. Many tropical countries tend to use the pods and leaves for medicinal purposes and as food. Drumsticks are very popular in India as they are widely used in sambhars in the south, cooked in coconut or other spicy gravies. Its an inexpensive product and therefore considered a poor man's vegetable. Some regions of India and South East Asian countries also tend to use the tender leaves for cooking. Fresh pods and seeds are a rich source of oleic acid, a health benefiting mono unsaturated fat. The pods are rich in several minerals like copper, zinc, manganese,calcium, magnesium, iron and vitamins like Vitamin C, Vitamin B complex. The best way to choose the pods is that they should be green, tender, not split from the ends or middle and not too fat. The fat pods are in the ripenning stage and t...

three birthdays on the same day A very happy birthday to my little sister Sapna, to my niece Pooja and nephew Sheel. So easy to remember... one day. Hope you guys had a whale of a time. This gave me an opportunity to try out my eggless coffee muffins. Sapna loves her coffee so coffee muffins it had to be. Though you 3 would have to travel all the way to Mombasa to try them out. Still a few left so hurry. They actually tasted better today, as now  we can actually  taste the coffee. Ajay made a lovely mug of coffee to go with the muffins.... typical indian style of coffee... nice and milky! I loved it. With fresh cream on top, its a wonderful dessert idea, light and yet refreshing. The recipe calls for 1 cup plus 2 tbsps of flour as I did not add cocoa powder to it. If you wish, add 2 tbsps of cocoa instead of flour but that will mask the coffee taste. Couldn't blog this recipe yesterday as we had power problems.  EGGLESS COFFEE AND CREAM MUFFINS Makes 12  1 cup + 2 tb...

Celebrating Ram Navmi I was suppose to blog yesterday, because it was Ram Navmi but power cuts made this impossible.Ram Navmi is the birthday of Lord Ram, the seventh incarnation of  Lord Vishnu. Ram Navmi is celebrated widely in India and by Hindus all over the world. Different regions of India celebrate it in different ways. Most north Indian states celebrate for 9 days with fasting, Akhand Paath followed by arti and prasad on the final day. Lord Ram is placed in a cot on these days. In the south it is celebrated as the wedding anniversary of Lord Ram and Sita. Swaminarayans celebrate this day as the birthday of Lord Swaminarayan. Whatever the reason, it a festive time for all. The temples in Mombasa celebrate Ram Navmi starting with the abhishek of Lord Ram and Sita, follwed by arti, a short discourse on the Ramayan and mahaprasad. Many hindus fast on this auspicious day and end the fast in the evening. Some break the fast by eating normal food in the evening and some fast the w...

It's salad time again I made some pani puri for dinner a few days ago. In spite of the measurement, I was left with a bit of boiled chickpeas and green grams.Decided to use it up in a salad. Delightful was the verdict and refreshing. A clever way to have your proteins if you are a total vegetarian. The following recipe is a rough guideline but add any other vegetables you want to. The idea is to have a nutritious and filling salad. I have named it an indian bean salad because chickpeas and green grams are the most commonest beans present in any indian kitchen. INDIAN BEANS SALAD For 2 or 4 ¼ cup thinly sliced red onion ½ cup carrot sticks or tiny cubes ¼ cup strips of sweet pepper ½ cup boiled moong (green grams) ½ cup boiled brown chickpeas (brown chana) ½ cup diced tomatoes ½ cup diced cucumber 1 cup lettuce pieces or mixed greens 8 to 10 mint leaves Dressing : 2 tbsp vegetable or olive oil 1 tbsp lemon juice ½ tsp salt 1 tsp sugar ½ tsp red chilli powder ½ tsp cumin powder (jeer...

Travel food Bajri dhebras (millet parathas) is a common snack for Gujaratis. Train, car, plane, bullock cart or ship, however one travelled, bajri dhebras were carried to have on the way. I remember my mum packing a pile of the dhebras for our train journey to Mombasa. We would take them along for picnics and sometimes instead of handvo had dhebras while watching a movie at the drive- in cinema. The very first time I made bajri dhebras was when I was around 14. My mum had gone to Kericho for a wedding and my grandmother insisted that she wanted to have some dhebras for dinner. I did try and convince her that she could wait till my mum got back but she was pretty adamant. 'I will teach you how to make them', she insisted. So under her watchful eye and guidance, I made horrible dhebras. They were shapeless, broken and a few got stuck on the tawa. Basically granny dear walked away with thick, thin, raw, overdone dhebras and I was left to clear the mess I had created in the kitche...