ABOUT

A Mission To Accomplish

About Me

Welcome to Mayuri’s Jikoni. My name is Mayuri Patel. I was born and brought up in Nairobi, Kenya. After marriage, I lived in the beautiful coastal town of Mombasa for 38 years. I trained as a Medical Lab Technician but gave up my job when I my first born arrived into this world. At that time, HIV had hit the world and not much was known about it. When my kids were nursery school I got invited to teach in their school. Taught for nearly 15 years before I retired. At present I live in a beautiful small town Magog, Canada. I studied in India and make frequent trips to India. Married with 3 children, when they were young I endeavoured to make their meals more appealing and sneaked in vegetables that they didn’t like. Eggplants in their favourite Pav Bhaji, spinach in palak paneer paratha, bottle gourd in theplas, etc. Now that the kids have flown the nest, my husband Ajay is the main taster, critic and supporter for all the meals that I prepare. A Dermatologist by profession, he doesn’t cook much but definitely loves food.

About My Recipes

With the influence from Kenya, India and the West, it is not surprising that my recipes are influenced by both Kenya, India and the Western Countries. . I try to keep my recipes as simple as possible. In reality, I have learnt how to cook from many women whom I have met, come across or even stayed with. In fact, I didn’t want some of the traditional Gujarati and Indian recipes to get lost in this ever changing fast world but at the same time have included more modern versions of certain recipes. My passion for food has led to me trying out recipes from so many different cuisines. All my recipes have been tried and tasted before blogging.

Why Did I Start Blogging?

2012, my 50th year on this Earth and all thanks to my loving parents. Emotions were at the peak, missing my mum who passed on in Oct 2011. I had been thinking how to honour her memory. My mum was a simple woman who spent a lot of time in the kitchen cooking simple but nutritious meals for our large family. From a very young age, I helped my mum as much as I could in the kitchen. helping her scrub potatoes for chevdo, baking cookies, helping her fill ghogras, preparing salads for the family. The only thing I could think of was writing out the recipes I learnt from her. She made the best handvo,kachoris, would cook eggs for us even though she never ate them, made the yummiest Buitoni as she use to call it – pasta cooked in a simple Indian style. She wasn’t the type who would make Western desserts or pizzas. But her basic Gujarati cooking was the best.

When Did I Write The First Post?

With this in mind I started the blog on 02/01/2012 with the simplest and my favourite beetroot orange salad. I had first seen the recipe on the Sainsbury Recipe Cards that one could pick up for free at the checkout counter. At the time of writing my first post, I really had no concept of good photography, food presentation, natural light, etc. I took a photo with my iPhone and the first post was live. Before 2012, I didn’t even know what a blog was. My cousin Shreena enlightened me and how I could start one.

Cooking And Me

Cooking has always been my passion. Before I got married, my dad gave me this huge diary to write all my recipes in. My passion for cooking probably began when I was just 8 or so..Over the weekends when I would go to my dad’s shop, I would browse through some of the cookery books. Every Saturday, my kaki (aunt) and I would open up Tarla Dalal recipe books and try out a recipe. Most were successful, a few disasters. I remember we would clear up and throw away messed up food before my mum got up from her afternoon siesta.

Baking Is What I Learnt First

Before I learnt how to make roti I got engrossed in baking. Cakes and cookies were baked often for the large family. And my efforts were always reciprocated with praises. My main teachers besides the famous Indian Chef Tarla Dalal, were my mum, kaki and my mother in law whom everyone lovely called Nunu. First time to make something in the kitchen on own was when I was just 12 years old. I remember my mum had gone to Kericho for a wedding. She had kept food ready for us. But my grandmother didn’t want to have that. She insisted that I make bajri na dhebra for her. I didn’t know how to ! But she guided me and I made shapeless, thick and thin small dhebras for my grandmother.

My Mission

Sometime back I watched the movie Julie Julia and just loved the way Julie diligently tried out every recipe in Julia Child’s recipe book. Well, I personally am not on a mission to follow any famous chef’s recipe book but have quite a different mission to accomplish daily. So coming back to the mission, one recipe a day to try out. To write down the recipes of all the dishes I learnt from my late mum, Nunu and Kaki. Secondly, it an easy accessible place for my kids, cousins, friends and family to look up and try out recipes. No more telling recipes over the phone, jotting them down on a paper, or typing out on emails. Thirdly, I wanted to represent Vegetarianism in a whole new way. Vegetarian food is not boring at all. It is not rabbit food as so many call it. Any cuisine and it can have a vegetarian version.

How Did I Think Of My Blog Name – Mayuri’s Jikoni?

Before I started blogging my daughter Namrata suggested that I check out food blogs that were online to get an idea how to write the post, etc. I browsed so many and initially was getting put off as the photos were exceptionally good. I had no idea how to take photos. But my daughter encouraged me to write the post and not to worry too much about the photos. But before I could do that, I had to think for a name for the blog. Several names were suggested by my hubby and kids. They weren’t too happy with my suggestion Mayuri’s Jikoni.

My thought behind the name was it had to have a Kenyan touch, thus the name Jikoni which in Kiswahili means kitchen. And then I thought whose kitchen, as Jikoni on its own was too vague. Added my name as I am the main cook, writer , photographer, etc. I am glad I did not bow down to other names suggested to me as now Mayuri’s Jikoni has gained quite a bit of fame among the Indian Communities world over.

The Journey So Far

Initially, my family didn’t take my blogging phase too seriously. But I persevered. Having left my teaching job, I wasn’t the type who would have been happy with kitty parties and 10 o’ clock coffee sessions with friends. I wanted to spend my time in a more meaningful way. I have been able to write down recipes that were passed on to me by my Mum, Nunu and Kaki. In addition I have added quite a few baking and dessert recipes. Both of which I love.

As I write, my blog has over a 1000 recipes, both traditional and new, spanning from Gujarati to Finnish recipes. It has opened up a whole new world of different cuisines for me. I joined several food blogger groups and that opened up a whole new world of different recipes. Along the way I have made many friends online. I may not have met them personally, but we connect through one common passion and that is food.

My Posts Now

Over time, my daughter opened up the social media world to me. I started getting attention for my blog not only from friends and family but people that I didn’t know. Till date I get most traffic from Pinterest. Progressively, my writing style, photography has changed. I now also have a You Tube Channel – Mayuri’s Jikoni which till date has 300 videos. One can easily find recipes from Starters to Desserts.