mayurisjikoni

Light and yet creamy        I find making pannacotta one of the most easiest desserts. I love the creamy texture and the most charming thing about this dessert is that it can be served with fresh fruit, coulis, fruit sauces, pureed fruit, chocolate sauce etc. The options are endless. Pannacotta can be made using gelatine or agar agar. I made this dessert for a post diwali party using agar agar. I made it a day ahead to save on time and since getting a suitable fresh fruit to go with it was difficult, I added some semi frozen concentrated passion juice on top. My husband had the remaining one the following day without any topping and enjoyed the rich vanilla flavour. The vanilla and passion fruit combination was lovely and adding chia seeds made it special. I felt great when guests commented on the brilliant idea. VANILLA CHIA PANNACOTTA Serves 6 to 8 3 cups whole milk 1 cup fresh double cream 4 tbsp agar agar flakes or 4 tsp agar agar powder 6 tbsp sugar 2 tsp vanill...

beat the heat        Salads are much welcome as a light meal or for lunch during the hot season. Hot weather means yummy sweet watermelons and cooling cucumbers. I love combining both cooling agents to create a delicious, filling and friendly on the tummy salad. Balsamic vinegar brings out the flavour of the watermelon and the feta cheese compliments the cucumber perfectly. I read in one of those health blogs that when one eats watermelon after a meal, it makes you burp but eaten on an empty stomach it prevents burps. The reason given is that other foods and fruit in the stomach is a bad idea as it creates gas. Well, how true this is I don't know, but having this salad as a light dinner was perfect for me. Ideal for hot humid days. Go on try this recipe out. updated 8/12/2015 WATERMELON CUCUMBER SALAD For 2 as a light meal otherwise for 4 1 cup watermelon cubes 1 cup slices of cucumber ¼ cup thin slices of white onion 10 to 12 olives, slice them ½ cup feta cheese c...

Rich, soft and delectable    When I made egg curry a few days ago, I wanted to make some different parathas from the normal ones that I make usually. Yes, as I mentioned before, I am going through my recipe book and trying to cook recipes that I have not made even once. Some of those pages are stained and have yellowed but I feel sad that I haven't bothered to try them for so many years. Amritsari paratha was the target. The amritsari parathas I have tasted in India are dripping with ghee and very rich. I am glad I made the parathas as they came out really delectable. I love that the ingredient was wheat flour and not plain flour. Simple flaky parathas are scrumptious with any curry. Have the leftover parathas with a cup of masala tea. WHEAT FLOUR AMRITSARI PARATHAS Makes 10 3 cups wheat flour 3 tbsp melted ghee (clarified butter) or butter 1 tsp salt 1tsp cumin seeds (jeera) 1 tsp ghee for kneading the dough 1 tsp baking powder ¾ cup water For the paste: 4 tbsp plain flour 3 ...

My first jam making session      I have over the years accumulated many jam recipes but have never tried making jam. I don't know, is it because I feel it might be difficult or I get scared to sterilise the jars. Don't know why. However, today Julius my househelp, walks in with a whole bag of green tomatoes from his farm. I got excited and instantly the recipe for the green tomato jam came out my recipe book. I was a bit hesitant as I had no idea how the jam would turn out. It tastes yummy and I had some with plain paratha as a snack in the afternoon. The jam is sweet and tangy at the same time. It didn't take long at all and I think now the jam bug is slowly creeping into my bones. Its funny how I get stuck onto certain things for a period of time, first it was salads, then bread, followed by muffins then the cookie bug took over and now it seems its jams. Planning to make some to take for my Nunu and my daughter, Nami as I am travelling very soon to India. Will try out ...

Hot weather, cool salads   The sun is beating down on us. It is very hot in Mombasa and this is just the beginning of the hot season. Dinners these days tend to be either fruits, salads or something very light. Having a heavy dressing on a salad in this hot weather is not very appealing so I stick to my famous vinaigrette dressing made at home. Red crunchy and juicy apple, slightly tart is a perfect compliment to the refreshing cucumber and to add a bit of the sharp taste I added an onion. Quick,easy and filling. I once made this salad to go with pizzas and my guests loved it. Go on, get that apple and cucumber out to make a healthy salad. RED APPLE CUCUMBER ONION SALAD For 2 as a light meal or 4  1 cup sliced red apple 1 cup sliced cucumber ½ cup diced onion, red or white 1 cup torn salad pieces or baby spinach Dressing: 2 tbsp olive oil 1 tbsp cider vinegar 1 tbsp fresh orange juice ¼-½ tsp salt ½-1 tsp pepper powder Mix the salad ingredients in a bowl.  Whisk the dres...

time to bake           I haven't baked a bread in a long time so decided must bake one before I forget how to knead the dough and bake a bread. Really does one forget certain skills? I don't know, yes my language skills are bad so no wonder there are so many french verbs and words I have forgotten. During our visit to Montreal, reading the language everywhere was not so much a problem as speaking it. The right words would not come to my mind at the right moment. They had a knack of appearing in my mind when least wanted, like at night! However other skills like cooking, driving a car, teaching etc, I will not forget.Maybe it is because I really enjoy those skills.          Anyway,coming back to breads, I was tempted to bake one from my recipes already posted and then went through my "to try" list and thought, gosh I need to shorten this! I still haven't managed to try all the recipes I have collected from magazines, newspapers and tv sho...

heavenly    The word heavenly can be used to describe both the cake I am about to post and also our stay in Montreal. We absolutely fell in love with the city with all its colours, culture, art and the french influence. People can be passionate and proud about their city and it was so apparent in Montreal. Clean, crisp air and all shades of orange, yellow, red and green were visible everywhere we went. Now I can understand why Canadian rave so much about autumn. The botanical garden was one of the most amazing gardens I have ever seen. Usually whenever we visit any place in India and one of the tourist sights is a botanical garden, we tend to just skip it. Take it from me, don't miss any botanical site in Canada. We saw the most amazing mosaic culture pieces at the botanical garden. A tree full of different species of birds, a gorilla, chimpanzees, a man planting with his dog, butterfly, ladybirds, Japanese woman with a swan, etc etc. All these are created with patience, lots ...