mayurisjikoni

Confused?     It is stated in the Oxford food and nutrition dictionary that kipfel, kipferl (plural kipfels) were invented by  bakers in Vienna to celebrate the lifting of the siege of Vienna in 1683. They were made in the shape of a crescent. Kipfels (kip-fuhls) are rich buttery yeast pastries filled with lekvar and topped with sugar and nuts. Lekvar is usually made from prunes, peaches or apricots. Its like thick fruit jam or butter..It is claimed that Kipfel is the ancestor of the croissant. Kipfel is the German term for crescent. After that many versions of the kipfels spread around to different parts of Europe.The variations depended on what filling was used or what topping was used. From the little research available on the internet, I have come to the conclusion that kipfels are made from loads of eggs, lard, butter and yeast. The process of making kipfels is longer. Kiffles are cookie like dessert pastries, made using cream cheese, butter, and quicker to make. Kipfels and kiffl

Hard work   Esther, the lady who brings vegetables to our doorsteps daily is a petite woman, but very strong. When she started coming to our building last year, to sell vegetables, she was shy, meek and rarely smiled. As time has gone by she has become more confident, strong, smiles and even jokes with us. She will usually ring my neighbour's and my door bell at the same time. The minute I greet my neighbour with Jay Shri Krishna, Esther too will respond and immediately tells us not to start our talk as she is getting late. She wants us to buy the vegetables quickly and disappear behind our doors. This morning I wanted to buy some tomatoes and told her that Ksh 100 is too much. Immediately her response was okay then buy it for 120!!!! Today she also bought the freshest white radish with the leaves intact. I bought nearly 5 of them from her... you know I go mad when I see fresh vegetables and fruits. With three of them I made sabji and the other 2 were used to make mooli parathas. I

Life Values         Last week we went for dinner to Ajay's aunt and uncle's house. I couldn't go empty handed to their house, so I decided to try out one of the bookmarked recipes, custard cookies.I can't remember from where I must have written this recipe. I am so glad that I finally made these cookies. I loved how soft they turned out with the taste of custard. The light lemony colour made the cookies look very attractive but don't think my photos have done justice.        After dinner, we got talking about how family and friends of yesteryear valued relationships. Be it as friends, uncles, aunts, parents, grandparents, brothers or sisters, there was commitment, we helped each other without question, we took care of their children just as our own. What is happening to these values in this modern age? Have we become so self centered that we do not value relationships? Children have no time for parents, aunts and uncles don't even know the names of their nieces

A Persian bread       I recently joined the group We Knead to Bake . Komaj (#18) was the bread given by the Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen , the initiator of the group. Komaj is a Persian sweet savoury bread from south east Iran where cumin grows in abundance. No wonder this bread has cumin and turmeric as one of its main ingredients. When Aparna posted the recipe for the members to bake, I was initially intrigued by the combination of cumin, turmeric, dates and cardamom. I was wondering how the combination of all four would taste.      I baked the bread a few days ago and it was a big challenge. No don't get me wrong, the bread is pretty easy to make... the challenge was the continuous power cut that we are experiencing at the moment in Mombasa. Saturday the dough was proven twice as required by the recipe but I couldn't bake it. The dough went into the fridge. Sunday, I filled the dough with dates and the power went off. Waited impatiently, cursing the Kenya Power Lighting and

an Ekadashi sweet    Samo, moriyo or shama millet is used widely for preparing Ekadashi or fasting food. Either on its own or mixed with rajgira flour or arrowroot flour or potato flour. Samo kheer, samo khichdi, samo chila etc. Well, I want to share with you a sweet dish made using samo. Its an easy dish and satisfying. If you know how to make sooji ka halwa or sooji shiro then making this sweet will be as easy as ABC.  The texture of the shiro or halwa will entirely depend on how fine or coarse the samo is. I had no choice but to use the coarse on as that's the only one available in the shops here at the moment. Its an ideal treat for guests during fasting time.     9th June 2014 was Nirjala Ekadashi. Nirjala means without water. The legend goes that Bheem, the second Pandava son could not fast during Ekadashi (there are 24 Ekadashi days in a year) while the rest of the family did. He could not control his hunger pangs. Feeling desolate, he was advised by Maharishi Vyas that he c

down memory lane       Years back, Mombasa Club, famously known as Chini Club, served a rich cheesy baked macaroni as a main dish. The choice for vegetarians back then was limited to vegetable curry and baked macaroni. I would always look forward to having the macaroni, though they did not add any vegetables. Nowadays, the Club had managed to add more choices for vegetarians, they no longer serve cheese macaroni. A few days ago I suddenly remembered the cheese macaroni and a craving began. It ended with me making the cheese macaroni with vegetables. It had been ages since I had had the creamy rich dish. Obviously I made it according to the way hubby dear and I would like it... with a few addition of spices. Add whatever you like, vegetables, meat etc. A great meal idea for kids and with the football mania on right now, its a dish you can prepare ahead and keep. Just bake it before the match begins.  VEGETABLE CHEESE MACARONI Serves 4 to 6 2 cups macaroni ½ cup diced carrot ½ cup peas ½