EVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #249 MONSOON MUNCHIES For India, the hype of summer with people going on holidays, enjoying late nights out, street food, ice creams, mango delights all passed by without much celebration this year with the lockdown because of Covid 19. Some states are already experiencing rains while others are waiting for the Monsoon. Monsoon in India equates to hot hot bhajias (pakoras), steaming or roasted corn and garam garam (hot) chai. Theme this week on FoodieMonday/Bloghop Archana who blogs at The Mad Scientist’s Kitchen suggested Monsoon food and I was thinking like I really don’t want to fry anything or even make a hot soup as it has been just too hot for the past week or so in Mombasa. We are suppose…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: UDUPI CUISINE My dish for the theme: SOREKAI MAJJIGE HULI/BOTTLE GOURD IN COCONUT YOGURT CURRY A bit about the group: Members of this group give their partners two secret ingredients according to the theme decided and prepare a dish. Once the dish is ready we add the photo only and other members try and guess the secret ingredients. Towards the end of the month the secret is revealed when we share the recipe link. This month’s theme UDUPI CUISINE was suggested by Jayashree who blogs at Evergreen Dishes. Visit her blog some awesome South Indian Dishes like Drumstick Rasam. Making Instant Neer Dosa is on my list. My partner for this theme was Shobha who blogs at Shobha’s Food Mazaa.…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #247 IT’S CHAAT TIME Summer time in India equates to not only mangoes but also Chaats and loads of it. This is the time when most kitchens are closed especially in the evenings and families venture out to sample lip smacking street food and chaats. However, this year I’m sure its a totally different scenario with everyone cooped up at home. However, that doesn’t mean that one cannot enjoy Chaats from the comforts of their homes. FoodieMonday/Bloghop Theme Here in Kenya, we don’t get Chaats as street food, as it has its own street food specials like Mahamari, Fried Mogo, Kebabs, Chicken Tikka, Kachri Bateta, Viazi Karai, etc. If we want to enjoy some Chaats we either have to make them at…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #242 MASALA DABBA What is a Masala Dabba? Masala is the word that refers to spice in the Indian Subcontinent and dabba is a tin. Every Indian household wherever they may live, be it in India, US, UK, Australia, Europe, Africa, etc will have a tin where spices that are used regularly are kept. Just spooning them out from the masala dabba or tin is so much easier than opening and closing individual spice jars or bottles. What my Masala Dabba contains Depending on which part of India you come from or which community you belong to, the spices in the dabba will vary. For example my sister in law is married to a Kashmiri Brahmin so her masala tin has Kashmiri…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #241 FLATBREAD FIESTA What is a Flatbread? Generally, flatbreads are made with flour, salt or no salt and water. The dough is either rolled out and then roasted or grilled or its spread out with a ladle like as in crepes, dosa, chila or its patted onto the griddle pan or tawa using your hands like as in a thalipeeth. Mostly, they are unleavened but some like pita bread or pizza will contain a leavening agent. FoodieMonday/Bloghop Theme This week keeping in mind that majority of us are under lockdown, Poonam suggested Flatbreads as our theme using whatever flour we have in our pantries. Though Kenya is not as yet under lockdown, we have curfews and hubby and I are trying…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #237 HOLI ON MY PLATE What is Holi? Like most festivals in India, Holi, the festival of colours too celebrates good over evil like other Indian festivals and also makes the beginning of spring. There are other reasons that Holi is celebrated. To read the traditional story as to why Holi is celebrated, click here. Modern day celebrates are more now as fun festival rather than the religious implication. How did colours become such an intrical part of Holi Celebrations? It is believed that the use of colour was started by Lord Krishna. Lord Krishna and Holi When the mischievous and playful Lord Krishna was young, he was very jealous of Radha’s very fair complexion as he was very dark. Complaining to…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: A- Z RECIPE CHALLENGE THEME : A DISH BEGINNING WITH THE LETTER M My Choice is Mangalore Cucumber The vegetable vendor who comes to our Bangalore apartment complex thrice a week does not fail to bring Mangalore Cucumber. I would look at it, pick it up and then put it back. One day decided to buy and try out a dish with it. Asked the vegetable vendor how to use it and he replied curry. Just as well there are so many recipes on the internet and I chose to follow Cherie’s recipe. Also known as Thouthe Kodel, the curry turned out so delicious that I was wondering why I’d not used this fruit as yet. What is Mangalore Cucumber? Known as Mogem in…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: WEST BENGAL CUISINE/BENGALI CUISINE Like many other Indian states, West Bengal cuisine is a popular cuisine all over India. Think of Bengali Cuisine and Rasmalai, Rasgulla comes to ones mind. Who can resist those sweet succulent juicy paneer balls? However there is so much more to Bengali Cuisine that those two sweet dishes I’ve mentioned. Patiently waited for the Bengali Cuisine to come as I so wanted to make the popular poppy seed curry or posto/poshto as its called in West Bengal. Thus, the recipe Aloo Posto. First Trip to West Bengal My first visit to this state was years back when hubby and travelled from Nepal to Siliguri and from there to Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Mirik. Memories of our…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: UTTARAKHAND/PAHADI CUISINE Where is Uttarakhand? Known as the Land of Gods, Uttarakhand is situated in North India. Uttara is northern and khand is region, therefore the northern region. Separated from Uttar Pradesh in 2000, its an amalgamation of 13 hilly districts of Northern India. In fact, this scenic state is has various outdoor activities, many religious shrines, abundant in wildlife and home to the Valley of Flowers. Uttarakhand is divided into two regions Kumoan and Garhwal. Its neighbors are China (Tibet) in the north, Nepal to the East, Himachal Pradesh to the North West and Uttar Pradesh to the south. Some interesting facts about Uttarakhand The ancient language Sanskrit is its official language Known as DeviBhoomi or Land of Gods…
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Continue ReadingMY BEST, MY WORST AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN – 8 YEARS AS A FOOD BLOGGER Since I began my journey as a Food Blogger, my Blogging Anniversaries have come and gone without much celebration or pomp as it usually gets shadowed by new Year Celebrations. As a matter of fact, I started blogging on 2nd January 2012. As some of you may know, there were a couple of reasons I began the blog: A place where family and friends could access recipes world over To create recipes and jot them somewhere, recipes that I learnt from my dear mum, my mother in law who we fondly call Nunu and my aunt, my kaki to me. Having stopped working as a teacher, I had to put…
