mayurisjikoni

any time is pasta time     I love pasta in any form.... baked, with sauce, without sauce, in a soup, indian style, any shape or size. I had been waiting for an opportunity to make pasta sauce with red pepper and tomatoes. I didn't want to make it for myself as I would still have to make another sauce for hubby dear. He is allergic to chickpeas but he thinks he is allergic to peppers. Yes any type of pepper..green, red, yellow, orange. I think he doesn't like them. The right time to make this sauce came when I was in Bangalore and my daughter Nami requested some sort of pasta for dinner. So off  I went to buy some red pepper and tomatoes. I got the biggest red pepper I could find and my things are expensive in India. Never have paid so much for pepper previously in India. I roasted the pepper and tomatoes in the oven to bring out the full flavour of the pepper. The sauce turned out absolutely delicious and the colour of the sauce was just out of this world. However, my pho...

full of fibre    After having made some red cabbage and carrot salad recently, I was still left with quite a bit of red cabbage. Didn't want to make it into a sabji. A craving for some sort of stuffed parathas was constantly playing in my brains and refused to calm down.  I had paneer in the fridge. So the options were corn, cabbage, cauliflower or spinach and paneer parathas. Looking at the red cabbage I thought why not red cabbage parathas. So there, in a matter of an hour stuffed parathas were ready. While I was making the parathas, hubby dear commented, " I am actually not hungry", and walks out of the kitchen. I continued my work, and he comes back after 10 minutes and says "Ok since you are working so hard on preparing them I will taste a small piece". He leaves again. By the time he enters the kitchen again 2 hot parathas are ready. He takes both! I remind him that, that is not a piece but 2 whole parathas. He smiles and walks away.  Basically, since he ...

ladyfingers dressed differently!     Recently there was a drastic shortage of vegetables and fruits in the markets in Mombasa. This is the result of devolution where decisions are made at a drop of a hat without discussing the consequences. Trucks, lorries etc bringing in the goods now have to pay their transportation charges before entering Mombasa and not at the wholesale market. On top of that no night transport allowed. Hawkers around the markets were removed which resulted in protests. Esther our building mama mboga (vegetable lady) comes everyday selling fruits and vegetables to regualr customers. She complained that people were fighting over the minimum supply and if she wanted to enter the market with her basket to buy vegetables she would need to pay Ksh 20! Every penny for these poor people counts and here she now has to dish out money to enter the market! So till all these problems fizzle out, yes fizzle out as they never get sorted, she buys whatever is available t...

yet another flat bread Lángos (pronounced as lang-oh-sh) is a Hungarian flat bread made from flour, yeast, salt, water or milk, mashed potato and deep fried. Traditionally the flat bread is rubbed with garlic or sprinkled with garlic water and topped with sour cream and grated cheese. However, like most flat breads, there is no fixed topping. Pile anything onto it and make it into a wholesome meal, a snack or eat it on it own with a cup of hot tea or coffee. Sprinkle some sugar or spread jam on it and it becomes a sweet treat. It is sometimes called a Hungarian pizza. The soft dough is pressed with the fingers into a round or oval shape and fried. Traditionally lángos was baked in front of the brick oven close to the flames but these days its mostly fried.  The first time I had lángos was years back during a community fair. It was made by the late Pushpa Haria, a good cook, an artist, basically an all rounder. She sold the lángos topped with cabbage salad and a sauce made from soy ...

Why is it not called purple cabbage?    The red cabbage looks purple but is called a red cabbage. Why?? Well avoiding all those scientific facts, I preferred the simple explanation that when cooked the cabbage turns red and therefore the name red cabbage. However, the pigment anthocyanin in the plant changes colour according to the pH value of the soil. The more alkaline the soil the more reddish it grows.Adding anything acidic like apples, lemon juice, vinegar etc will turn the cabbage red on cooking it otherwise it becomes blue.     Red cabbage comes with its own nutritional benefits. The red pigment anthocyanin is an antioxidant, an anti inflammatory substance thereby improving immunity. Its high in Vitamin K,E and C. This makes its an anti -ageing product. Rich in fibres it helps in digestion and cleansing the bowels. As a rich source of calcium it keeps away osteoporosis. It is also healthy for the eyes.     I make red cabbage salad very often and add ...

easily baked   Turkish flatbread  or turkish pide is a flatbread bread which is healthy and can be accompanied with practically anything. Have it with a curry, soup, make it into a sandwich, top it with your favourite topping. Let your imagination run wild. Its a chewy bread which can be shaped into a rectangle or oval shape and sprinkled with sesame and nigella seeds. Turkish flatbread is baked on a stone or clay slab but I baked it in a normal oven tray.Its also topped with cheese, vegetables, meat etc and baked much like a pizza as a quick meal.  I served this bread with soup. The left over tasted great with tea the next day. TURKISH FLATBREAD (PIDE) Serves 4 adapted from: http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/12772/turkish+pide 3⅓ cups strong plain flour (bread flour, all purpose flour) 1 tsp sugar 1 tsp salt 2 tsp dry, instant yeast ¾ cup warm milk ½ cup warm water 1 tsp olive oil for greasing the tray  little oil for rubbing over the dough extra flour for sprinkling ...

this is my version    Egg chapatti is a very famous street food of Mombasa. Come evening and many streets are lined with the jikos (sigris) and egg chapattis are made on huge tawas along with all sorts of barbarques. The most famous egg chapattis are the ones stuffed with minced meat and eggs and the other is eggs with onions, coriander and chopped chillis. The chapattis are served with cabbage or lettuce salad, hot chilli sauce and tamarind chutney. Hardly an visitor to Mombasa leaves without having sampled the chicken tikka, mishkaki, kebabs and egg chappatis. Most of these eatries are very basic, nothing fancy about them but the food is what attracts the patrons. The most famous one for years has been Abbasi. Since then many more have opened up. Everyone has his or her favourite haunt. A soft dough is not rolled out with a rolling pin. The deft fingers of these expert chefs, firstly spread out the dough and then they flip it on the table till it becomes thin. Some just spre...