mayurisjikoni

Where are all the vegetables?       Our Shhh Cooking Secretly group (started by Priya Suresh ) decided on #Summer Salads as the theme for the month of April. Summer has come early in India. Here in Kenya we are suppose to have the long rains. However, due to drought conditions, vegetables are scarce and forget about getting exotic herbs, mixed salad leaves and all that. I was partnered with Shobana Vijay of Shoba's Delights . I gave her pasta and mango to come up with a summer salad.She prepared a mango avocado pasta salad. Check it out here .       She gave me potatoes and herbs like basil or thyme as my secret ingredients. I couldn't find any fresh basil or thyme at the shops in Mombasa and I didn't want to use the dried ones for the salad. So I decided to use another herb that we get plenty of and that is coriander (cilantro). I was thankful to Shobana for not giving me exotic vegetables or fruits to use as it would have been difficult to source th...

Guest No.9        My guest this week is my sister in law Arti. She is my hubby's sister and the youngest.Yes we have two Arti's in the family... my brother's wife and my hubby's sister. When I got married, Arti was very thin.I thought that if somebody huffed and puffed and blew her away, she would probably fly away.  Her friends became my friends as I didn't know anyone in Mombasa(except for my aunt's family). At social gatherings she would make sure that I was not left alone. We didn't spend that many years together as after my marriage she went off to UK to complete her beautician course. She came back and that's when her training in the kitchen began under my mother in law. At breakfast time Nunu would explain to her how the dish she was supposed to cook is prepared. I too would have my ears open.               When I had my twins, she was a great help to me. My daughter Nami would cry in the evenings and the only perso...

A Healthy Snack    Its Monday and that means the #FoodieMonday #Bloghop group will have a theme decided on last week and the recipes are live on Mondays. For our #89th theme ,our group decided on #raw bananas which was suggested by Kriti, food blogger at Krispy Kadhai .    I'm not new to raw bananas, plantains or matoke as its called in East Africa. Matoke is a part of the staple diet for many Ugandans. They add it to stew, mash it, fry it, grill it in charcoal fire or boil it. Lets not confuse the normal sweet banana with the raw banana or plantain. Plantain is the cousin of the sweet banana. It has many nutritional values just like the sweet banana. However, you cannot consume plantains in the raw form. Many diet plans replace plantains to make tortillas, cakes, cookies, mash, pizza base etc.The charming thing about plantains is that they are available throughout the year.The reason plantains is a part of the staple diet for many African countries is because its h...

Healthy and filling Salads Salads don't have to be boring. You can make a wholesome and filling meal by adding your choice of vegetables, fruits, nuts, rice, pasta, quinoa, bulgur wheat or whatever you like. The final combination should look colourful and appetizing.  Here are a few salads you can make as a light meal for dinner or even as packed lunch. Just pack the dressing separately in a little jar or bottle. Click on the salad names for the recipe In order from top left to right : Sweet Potato and Pasta Salad Peanut and Fruit Salad Rice Salad Mango and Curried Chickpea Salad In order from bottom left to right: Moroccan Couscous Salad Burrito Bowl Salad Cucumber and Orange Salad Mango Avocado Salad

Antipasti          Italian meals are usually served with a starter. Starters or antipasti (singular antipasto) usually consist of cured meat, pickled vegetables, mushrooms, cheeses, olives, peperocini, pickled meats etc. These are suppose to be colourful, attractive and usually should be able to change the mood of  people or gathering who will dine together. Anti means before and pastus means meal. Therefore its the starter or appetizer. Antipasti is usually served in individual plates or as bite size where diners pick it and enjoy it. It can be cold or warm or hot.                  There is much confusion between the crostini and the bruschetta. Crostini are usually made from small bread slices like an Italian baguette.The bread is toasted and the topping are more rich.                 Bruschetta is usually served on more rustic Italian bread slices that are slightly ...

GUEST NO.8 ON THE BLOG     My 8th Guest on the blog is Mehwaesh Islam. Now you may be wondering how did an Islam enter the Patel family. Let me clear up the air for you. Mehwaesh is originally from Bangladesh, married to my best friend Daxa's son. Daxa and family are more like family than friends to me.Paras, her son is like my son. So technically that makes Mehwaesh my daughter in law. I first met Mehwaesh during their wedding in Bangladesh. At first sight she appeared to me as a very sophisticated lady. On getting to know her, she is a very intelligent, caring, quiet and a friendly person. I had the opportunity to lunch with them at their quaint little home in London. From her little little kitchen she was able to put out quite a fare from chaat as a starter to egg biryani and sabji followed by dessert. What I loved about her cooking was that little Bangladeshi touch and flavour to most of her dishes. As I follow them on social media both husband and wife team practically ev...

My favourite Country   When Anshie, blogger at Spice Roots  asked members of Bread Bakers  group to bake breads from Italy as the April theme, I was really excited. I love the country and Italian breads with all that olive oil, roasted tomatoes, cheese, bell peppers. I've been wanting to try out panettone for such a long time, so I got the opportunity to bake it for this theme.          Panettone bread is usually baked as a Christmas breakfast or dessert treat in Italy. Full of fruit and wonderful aroma of orange, its suppose to like a cake but with yeast. Panettone means pane de tono--- bread of luxury.Its believed that this rich Italian bread has originated from Milan. When yeast was considered a luxury item, this bread was baked only during important religious events.          Original panettone making process is long where the dough is allowed to proof for several days which adds to the fluffy texture. Fruits added to ...

Summer time   It was in year 1 that I learnt that there were different seasons. Growing up in Nairobi, for us it was always hot during the day, cold at night and the occasional showers in April and October. That was pretty much what the weather was back then. Words like Summer, Winter, Spring and Autumn were all new to me, seasons not experienced as yet. Postcards and pictures in books made them all seem like such refreshing and exotic seasons. When my aunt and cousins went off to UK in the 70s its then we would hear from them how windy the autumns were, umbrellas flying away and how their hands would get ice cold shovelling the snow. Mombasa's hot weather was the hottest we would ever experience when we went there for our holidays in December.    My first experience of a really scorching hot Indian Summer was when I was 12. That too in the really hot city of Ahmedabad and in May! It was unbearably hot for a girl who comes from a cool climate of Nairobi. My skin would bur...