mayurisjikoni

A tribute to Tarla Dalal           I was busy watching one of Indian series on telly on 6th Novemeber when I got a message from my friend informing me about the passing away of  Tarla Dalal. The rest of the evening I felt very sad and my heart was heavy. If there has been anyone else besides my mum, Nunu and kaki who has influenced my cooking it is Tarla Dalal. When I was growing up there were no cookery shows on telly or recipes on the internet. We totally relied on cookery books and recipes handed down by family and friends. My first cookery book was The Pleasures of Vegetarian Cooking by Tarla Dalal. It was one of the first Indian cookery books available in Kenya. Over the years I not collected quite a few of Tarla Dalal's books but have tried so many of her recipes and gained a lot of tips and knowledge from her. My kaki and I would open up her books and select a recipe to try out on Saturdays in the afternoon after my mum has gone off to her room for a...

rich and creamy  A few days ago my sister in law Rakshabhabhi sent a few pieces of the granola bars she tried out and a very tender and fresh bottle gourd. The granola bars were yummy and tasted different from mine as she had added dried apricots and dried dates (khajur) to the mixture. As for the bottle gourd, doodhi or lauki, it probably landed up at my house for a specific reason. The reason was a kofta curry. twice I had bought doodhi or lauki from the market and twice it was a bit seedy so it was used up in dangellas and theplas . This time, the lauki was really nice with no seeds and very tender. So today, I gathered rest of the ingredients and made a very delicious, rich and creamy kofta curry for lunch. Rich and creamy it was as Ajay has just informed me that he doesn't need any dinner, only fruits. An ideal dish to make when you have guests around and you need to make a vegetable with gravy. Kids will love this curry as they will never guess that its made from lauki. Upda...

Peas in a pod About a month ago or so, we were talking to Nami over the phone and she mentioned that Arti foi had made some kofta curry for her. That prompted Niku who at that time was home on vacation, to ask for some too. While their foi (aunt) couldn't be present at both places to make kofta for her niece and nephew, I did the honour. Arti K. my sister in law makes lovely pea kofta curry and every time she would visit us from Nakuru, she had to make them for us before she went back. Now that she lives in Florida, whenever we feel like having pea kofta curry, I have to make it on my own. I think this is her signature dish and I have been fortunate enough to learn this dish from her. Thank you Arti for teaching me a yummy yummy kofta curry.  ARTI'S PEA KOFTA CURRY 6 to 8 servings For the kofta : 3 cups fresh peas 1½ tsps salt 1 tsp sugar pinch of asafoetida (hing) generous pinch of citric acid (limbu na phool) ¼ tsp cinnamon powder ¼ tsp clove powder generous pinch of soda bic...