mayurisjikoni

Good music and food go hand in hand While I am blogging this recipe, I am also listening to some very soulful, soothing, upbeat music. You may say so what. But l am listening to Alexandre Desplat, Joshua Radin, Isbells -Elation on Lekha Shastry's new blog  i-heart-beat . She puts a selection of songs together to brighten your day. A while ago I was feeling really low, have had a bad day and decided to blog to take my mind away from all the worldy woos. Then I remembered that Lekha was eagerly waiting for some comment about her blog. I heard Elation by Isbells and felt uplifted instantly. I didn't realise that the music score from the movie King's Speech was so soothing and beautiful. I normally listen to bollywood music old and new and realised that I was missing out on some of the beautiful music created in the western world. So Lekha thanks for re - introducing me to that world. Music is still playing as I write. So please visit her blog. Am sure she has something that yo...

For my Manju foi My memories of our annual visit to Mombasa with my family are memorable. We would normally drive down to Mombasa at night from Nairobi with my dad's friends and their families. On the way we would get to see wildlife on near the road in abundance. Sadly, this is not the case anymore. We never had to go into the National parks to see lions, giraffes, cheetahs, elephants, zebras, buffalos and so many other animals. A journey by road or rail and one saw almost everything. During our visit to Mombasa, we would stay at my aunt's (foi) place for a few days before we would head for the cottages or hotel on the beach. My foi's family was big as my fua's brothers all lived under the same roof. Besides all the fun we would have with our cousins, I remember sitting with them on the window ledge and watching the world go by, snacking on kachri bateta , and walking to Lighthouse. The other vivid memory I have is the vegetable man coming to deliver vegetables everyda...

my three hundredth recipe Its a proud moment for me as this is my 300th recipe on my blog. There are so many more recipes to share and try out. But the feeling is great. The support from my hubby, my kids, family and friends has been overwhelming. The opening line for a conversation at a social gathering is my blog. Recently I have had other food bloggers commenting on my blog and its an appreciative feeling to know their opinion and at the same time its like making new friends without actually meeting them in person.... more like modern day penpals. So far my most memorable moment was I received an email from the grandson of the owners of Cosy Tearoom. I had mentioned the name of the restaurant in my blog on dal bhajias and he wrote to me. Its at that moment that I realised how powerful the internet can be. He wrote to me from US. Cosy Tearoom no longer exists but fond memories will live on. I look forward to your valued support and please feel free to leave comments whenever you can....

 a happy Ramadhan month Ramadhan began a few days ago and most of my Muslim friends fast for the whole month. Its really not easy, but they all say that as the days go by, the fasting becomes easier. I don't know how they do it, as I cannot stay without water. I truly respect them for the discipline and resilience they go through. Yes, I have done karva chauth but that's only for a day. To bring a bit of  sweetness into their fasting month, I want to share this yummy recipe. Its very easy to make. It took me hardly 15 minutes or so. Before I left for Nairobi during the weekend, I made paneer from the extra milk. I reckoned that paneer would stay longer in the fridge than the milk. Wanting to blog a sweet dish for my friends, I opened my recipe book looking for a recipe to use up the paneer. Chocolate kalakand seemed to fit the requirements... easy, can use up the paneer and its sweet and chocolatey. So here is the recipe and surprise you loved ones in the evening with kalakand...

healthy gujarati snack I simply love all gujarati snacks. Whenever my grandfather brought loads of doodhi (lauki) from his friend's farm or some grew in our garden, my mum would make either handvo or muthias. Muthias taste lovely with a  cup of hot spicy tea or milk. I love dunking  muthias in milk. The reason I love making muthias is because number one they are healthy as I add a lot of vegetables to it and secondly I can prepare them way ahead and just heat them up again before eating. We usually make muthias as a light dinner option. The proportions of different flours used varies from recipe to recipe and so does the amount of vegetables. I find this recipe works best for me. Its an ideal tiffin meal, carry it for lunches and picnics. Yes picnics. If mum didn't carry handvo to the drive in cinema it would be either muthias or dhebras . Yes, such a typical gujju feast, but who is complaining.  There are to types of muthias, one steamed and the other fried. The fried o...

Just too tempting A few days ago I tried out the recipe for pistachio cranberry cookies and temptation is now is at its highest. I try to have only one cookie with my tea but I get so tempted to reach out into the cookie jar for some more. I sent a few to my friend and she loved them. So I mentioned to her that I made them into small sizes so that just one is enough to satisfy the sweet tooth. She reckoned that no one can stop at one. I love cookies and muffins and all things sweet. Bake these yummy cookies for your little ones or for your friends. The green and red makes the cookies appear pretty attractive. These cookies have no baking agent as they are like shortbread. PISTACHIO CRANBERRY COOKIES Makes about 80 1½ cups soft butter (300g) 2 cups wholewheat flour (atta) 1½ cups plain flour (all purpose flour) ½ cup sugar ¼ cup maple syrup or honey 1 tsp vanilla extract or any flavour of your choice 1 cup dried cranberries, chopped 1 cup pistachio, roasted lightly and roughly chopped S...

refreshingly yummy Every time I see an interesting recipe I store it under the 'to try' section. That section is getting filled pretty fast. So I thought I better start working on them before they pile up and get lost in some part of the computer. Normally, what gets a person to check out the recipe? The most tantalizing is the picture, then if its your favourite ingredient followed by how appealing the recipe appears. I have made bruschetta very often but what caught my attention was the appealing green and red colours. I came across this recipe when I was browsing on Pinterest. The recipe is by ambitiouskitchen.com . The combination of avocado, tomato, onion and garlic was out of this world. Obviously, I made a few changes to the original recipe to suit my palate and on availability of ingredients.I bought ready tiny crispy bread from Mocha in Nyali. You may toast the slices baguette or ciabatta at home or buy ready toasted slices. Serve these little beauties as a starter or...

No one makes it like Nunu My sister in law sent me some huge arvi paan (taro, colocasia, elephant ears, arbi leaves) a few days ago. I made normal arvi paan bhajia with some and left 2 huge leaves to make a long forgotten shaak (curry). My mother in law Nunu, would make it whenever we had guests over and obviously everyone would pick out the arvi paan and leave the turia (ridge gourd). When I got married and came to Mombasa, there were endless rounds of lunches and dinners we were invited to. One such dinner was hosted by my hubby's best man's family. Since his wife (P) was a working woman, my mother in law volunteered to make one dish to help her out. So P suggested that Nunu makes some paan turia. Nunu made it, we took it to the best man's house, heated it up and put it on the table. My hubby dear takes some, and was all praises telling P that she has made the most delicious shaak. It would have been good if he had stopped at that but no he had to continue and stated that...