mayurisjikoni

nutty flavour      I don't know how I bought carrots twice during my last visit to the market. When I was emptying the basket out, I realized I bought carrots twice from different sellers! How was that possible... don't know. So this week has been pretty carroty... carrot salad , grated carrot in dangella , carrot juice. The last few I used for making a nice tea bread. I had invited my friends over to our beach studio apartment and she said that they would have coffee with us. Initially I had planned to make some dessert but since coffee was the plan, I decided to bake a tea bread which I hadn't done in a long time. I am glad I baked this bread because it turned out delicious, nutty and the best part is that it's so easy to make.I had the last remaining slice for breakfast with some tea. You can serve the bread with tea or coffee or as a dessert serve it with some whipped fresh cream, hot custard, ice cream or ice it with cream cheese. CARROT AND APPLE NUT BREAD Makes

deliciously sweet     Mangoes eaten on its own, as dessert, in a salad, aam ras, smoothies, pickles, jams.... whichever way you have it, tastes amazingly delicious. We are so lucky as the mango season is just going on and on. Lovely juicy apple mangoes as they are called here, are sweet and aromatic. Ok, I have intentions of making all my family and friends living in the temperate and freezing zones jealous, but no amount of praises for this fruit is enough. To beat the heat I made some salad and worked around ingredients that were at home. Some people do not like fruit in their salads but I feel that it makes the salad more exotic, appealing and interesting. Textures and taste vary with each bite. So I will stop raving about the exotic fruit and share the recipe with you. MANGO PANEER SALAD 2 servings as a light lunch or 4 as an accompaniment 1 cup diced ripe mango which has been peeled 1 cup paneer cubes 1 small onion, sliced 10 to 12 cashew nuts 2 cups of lettuce leaves or baby spin

Toothache :(     Since mid January, I have been having some teeth problems. Can I blame my 50+ age, approaching menopause or genes? Since childhood I have been pretty regular with brushing, flossing, mouth washes etc. By the way after all these years of bombarding people with adverts of the benefits of mouth washes, some health gurus claim that mouth washes are actually bad for our teeth. Whatever, its just given me an excuse to stop buying those expensive, coloured, gum burning liquids and go back to the salted water gargle. So during my umpteen visit to the dentist, I came across a recipe of bread with feta,olives and basil in a home living magazine. Mentally noted what the filling was all about and went to sit on the dental chair. Yesterday, I thought I must bake the bread before I forget about it. In spite of the extremely hot weather, I kneaded the dough for  12 minutes non stop.... yes good workout for the arms (though my arms still appear as though I am a sumo wrestler!). After

It's really hot again       Suddenly, the weather has taken a turn. Its become really hot. The sea breeze too, is hot and we really don't need to switch the water geyser on as the water in the taps is warm.Coming to today's recipe, its a vegetable or sabji. I found this recipe in an old Femina magazine that I was reading while at the hairdresser. I have reduced the amount of red chilli as my family does not eat really chilli food. I have made this sabji several times and its a winner with my husband. Its a change from the normal cauliflower potato sabji that my mum and mother in law use to make. Keeping the florets a bit big means the sabji does not have overcooked mushy cauliflower. I hate mushy cauliflower. We are lucky that curry leaves or sweet limdi grows in abundance in Mombasa. Whenever I use it for cooking the aroma is heavenly. I love curry leaves. Adding curry leaves and urad dal makes this vegetable smell like sambhar. I am sure kids will also love this vegetable

is it bean cards or bean curds :)   Have you noticed how bean curds in so many Chinese restaurants and Indo - Chinese restaurants is spelt as bean cards? Bean curds or tofu is not tasty on its own but spice it up and it becomes a protein rich dish for vegetarians. During my trip to Nairobi recently, I bought some tofu (don't get it easily in Mombasa). My husband claimed that he would not eat it so I better finish all of it on my own. I love tofu so thought "that's ok by me as I can easily use it in various forms".   What is tofu? Tofu is like paneer, but not made from a dairy product. Its made from soya beans, water and a curdling agent. There are two types of tofu available, silken or soft tofu and the regular or firm tofu. Silken tofu is often used in place of dairy products for desserts,dips and smoothies. Tofu has the ability to absorb new flavours and spices through marination or sauces. Tofu is a rich source of protein, calcium and iron.    I made some delicious