mayurisjikoni

GUEST NO.7 ON THE BLOG         My 7th guest is my dear little sister Sapna.  Sapna is one of those type of people who does not like to take sides when two people fight. She never sided with either of us when my brother and I used to fight. She is a very dependable person and can juggle a series of chores in a jiffy. I have not spent that much time with my sister but whatever time I have spent with her is memorable. I'm so lucky to have a sister with whom I can share all my joys and sadness, distance makes no difference. She immediately will know how I will feel and I will get a comforting message from her. She is a true friend, to whom I can open my soul and she will not judge me. I cannot imagine how people who do not have sisters get by. She's always got a smile on her face, is very sensitive and very humble. My brother and I tease her that she owns a water work company... she can cry at a drop of a hat! Though she is my younger sister, I can depend on her for...

Sea, sand and Pina Colada      Ok, its not the drink Pina Colada that I'm going to blog about. However, the name Pina Colada makes one think of sunny sandy beaches, blue seas and lazing on the sunbed with a Pina Colada to keep you cool.       The #FoodieMonday #Bloghop group decided on #Coconutmilk as the #86th theme . I was happy as I could just think of pina colada muffins (which has been on my 'to do' list for ages). However, hubby dear dashed all my hopes of baking muffins as he just said pretty adamantly 'no baking muffins in this house, there's been too many muffins.' Truthfully, haven't blogged a new muffin recipe in a long time, but how do I explain to hubby dear that the ones I baked last week were for friends and neighbours as they had requested for them. Anyway,will bake them pretty soon.     So, now had to think of a healthy way to use coconut milk. I've already blogged quite a few Kenyan coastal dishes using coconut milk so wha...

It's sooo cooling   For the month of March, the Shhh Cooking Secretly group decided to make #SummerCoolers as summer is already here. I hear its really really hot in India. It's hot in Mombasa too and slaving over a hot stove is becoming a very sweaty task.     I am grateful that my partner Shobana Vijay gave me such cool ingredients, watermelon and mint. So no boiling milk or making custard or anything of that sort on the stove. All I needed was a blender and the cold fridge. Years back when I had gone for a movie in Ahmedabad with my guardians I had tasted a soda float for the first time. It was ice cream served in what was then available Gold Spot. Remember the so orangy and sickly sweet drink! Well, back then I loved it perhaps because I tasted it for the first time, or because it was a cool satisfying drink for the really hot May month... I don't know. After that I tasted a coke float, which my kaki loved and I wasn't too huge a fan of.      ...

GUEST NO.6 ON THE BLOG     This week my guest on the blog is my sister in law (hubby's sister) Varaharupa. When I got married, she was a vision of a modern ISKCON devotee with short hair cut, loved dressing up and never saw her without any jewellery. Things changed when she got married, it was only saris and her jewellery. After my marriage, obviously friends and families of my in laws would invite us for dinner or lunch to their place. As most newly weds would want to, I'd want to wear my saris but didn't know how to drape them well. Varaha would help me to drape them.             Her stay in Canada and Vrindavan temples meant that she would meet a lot of foreign devotees who brought with them foreign cuisine, the vegetarian version. When she would come home to visit, she'd want to try some of the dishes and some of them we had tasted for the first time.One such variety she had made was piroshki but with a veg filling. It was so yummy and we...

Healthy Seeds    Our 85th theme for #FoodieMonday#Bloghop group is #Nigellaseeds . Nigella seeds, kalonji, black cumin, balck caraway,fennel flower,charnushka, onion seeds, Roman Coriander as they are called taste like a cross between onion, oregano and black pepper. It however has no relation to onion, cumin, fennel or caraway. They are seeds from the plant Nigella Sativa.Its widely used by the Indian Subcontinent and the Middle East including Turkey. Nigella seeds are roasted and ground and used in curries, vegetable preparations. As whole seeds they are used in pickles, flat breads and  other breads. Use the roasted seeds in salads, sprinkle them on egg dishes, add a few seeds to relishes or chutneys. The famous panch phoran spice mixture from Bengal is a mixture of kalonji, fennel, cumin, fenugreek and mustard. Goes well with cheese dishes or cheese breads. I have tasted a cheese and nigella bagel and the earthy, slightly pungent taste complimented the cheese taste p...

Drought--A national disaster          2016 did not bring enough rains to many parts of Kenya. Fast forward to 2017 and out of 47 counties 23 which are arid or semi arid parts of Kenya are facing drought. Rivers have dried up, animals and humans are dying without food. A National and International appeal has been sent out to help these areas with food and water. NGOs, Charity organisations, Private companies all have sent out foodstuff, but that is not enough. If the long rains do not arrive by April, then many more will die without food.                   Nakumatt has put a huge box near its exit if anyone would wish to buy some foodstuff to be donated. Every time I pass the box its empty! People cannot afford to buy foodstuff to give away as they themselves are barely making ends meet with the high cost of basic food stuff. The basic 2 kg maizemeal packet which is required to make the staple food ugali or sima is sel...