EVENT: A- Z RECIPE CHALLENGE THEME : AN INGREDIENT BEGINNING WITH THE LETTER P Persimmon Salsa A different flavored salsa that can be enjoyed with some tortilla chips or simply relish it as a refreshing salad. What is Persimmon? Persimmon also known as Sharon Fruit, this tomato shaped fruit is actually a berry. Yes, a huge berry. Mostly persimmon is an autumn fruit. There are two varieties of persimmon – the more astringent one hachiya variety and the non astringent fuyu. The hachiya variety you need to wait till it ripens fully to enjoy the sweetness of the pulp or jelly like flesh. The fuyu one can be eaten like an apple and the flesh is a bit more firm. What is a Salsa?…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #263 HERBAL AND HEALTH RECIPE: LAVENDER & FENNEL HERBAL TEA What is Lavender &Fennel Herbal Tea? Its a home made infused herbal tea whereby I’ve added culinary lavender buds, some fennel seeds, organic rose petals and mint to create a comforting and sleep inducing herbal tea. What is a Herbal Tea? Also known as tisane (pronounces as tee- zaen), herbal teas are beverages. The concoction or infusion is prepared by adding natural ingredients to hot water. In reality, Herbal Teas are not ‘true’ teas as no tea leaves, black, green or white are used to prepare it. However, these days we find that natural ingredients like flowers, herbs, spices, etc are paired with green tea and they are labelled as herbal tea.…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: CHOCOLATE Chilli Avocado Chocolate Cake: Vegan, fudgy, eggless and delicious, are the words to describe this incredibly easy to bake chilli avocado chocolate cake. If you’re a lover of avocado and chocolate like me then you’ll love this cake. Since I love the combination of chocolate and chilli, I decided to add a bit in the cake batter. The subtle taste of chilli, felt at the back of the throat is simply awesome. I followed the recipe for this from the blog I’m A Baker. Obviously, I halved the recipe (Amanda’s bake is huge!) and added chilli powder. I also used avocado chocolate frosting. A bit about the group: Members of this group give their partners two secret ingredients according…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: STEAMED FOOD VEGETARIAN BAO BUNS What are Bao Buns? The first time I saw the Bao Buns was at the lounge of the Taiwan International Airport. Hubby and I were in transit and it was lunch time. A huge buffet was spread out and bao buns were among them. However, all the fillings were non veg. I took one plain one to taste and liked it. These steamed treats are super healthy and the best part is that one can use any filling. Traditionally a Chinese dish, the popular filling is pork belly. I searched several recipes to find what would work for me. Finally, I decided to use mushrooms as my main filling. A bit about the group: Members…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #253 MUNCHKIN MEALS DISH: BEETROOT BLUEBERRY POPS This Week’s Theme on FoodieMonday/Bloghop Group: This week’s theme was suggested by Narmadha who blogs at Nams Corner. Her blog is a treasure trove of kids friendly recipes, bakes and Indian Cuisine recipes. Do check out her blog. Narmadha’s suggestion for the munchkin meals was to try and make them as healthy as possible. Desserts are always difficult to make them kids friendly with no sugar. That’s when I thought of Beetroot Blueberry Pops. Kids Friendly Meals When my kids were growing up making meals for them was never stressful. Back then we didn’t have restrictions, no don’t give that and don’t give this. When my kids started pureed food it was always made at…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #251 RAVA RAAGA DISH: SEMOLINA SESAME SEED BREAD Theme this week on FoodieMonday/Bloghop After all the celebration, for the 250th theme by members of this awesome group, we are back to suggesting themes whereby all members have easy access to ingredients. Though many countries are trying to get back to some sort of normal life…which by the way is never going to be the same for anyone, some ingredients are still difficult to source. Keeping this in mind, Aruna who blogs at Vasus Veg Kitchen suggested that we use Semolina to prepare a dish. What is Semolina? Also known as Suji, sooji, rava, rawa, it is actually the middle part or endosperm of the hardy durum wheat. While milling the bran and…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: 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: 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: #244 SNACKMANIA FoodieMonday/Bloghop Theme Many countries are still under lockdown or curfew while some are planning to open up malls, restaurants, shops but with limited people allowed in these places. This week Renu who blogs at Cook with Renu, suggested that we make snacks which can be stored at least for two weeks if not less. Truthfully, most snacks in my home don’t last beyond two weeks besides chevdo. Snacks With families at home with this Stay Home Be Safe that everyone in the world is practicing, more food is consumed. Especially when you have kids at home, they constantly need something to snack on. For many its not easy to get fresh fruits and vegetables all the time. So most of…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #243 LITTLE CHEFS FoodieMonday/Bloghop Theme As many parents find themselves and their kids at home because of the worldwide spread of Corona Virus, parents are taking this opportunity to introduce their kids to other skills than those learnt in the classroom. Cooking and helping around the house are some of them. Bearing this in mind this week’s theme suggested by Priya is recipes that kids can put together either partly or entirely by themselves. For this theme I’ve chosen to make the ever so easy Pineapple Slush. Memories….. While I don’t have little kids in the house and didn’t want to ‘borrow’ neighbors kids because of the social distancing, I had to think about 25 year back! Why, well I had to…
