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Cooking, Recipes, Videos

HOW TO MAKE MUKIMO WA NJUGU WITH A TWIST…

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Mukimo is a traditional Kenyan food mostly eaten in Central part of Kenya,Kima means Mashing. And so Mukimo came from the word to mash.

All the ingredients are listed on the video if you would like to give this recipe a try, please do and don’t forget to leave your feedback.

Cooking, Recipes

Pilau ( Chicken Pilau).

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Hello, In this post I’ll share how I made this simple yet delicious Chicken Pilau. This is one of my favourite rice dishes to cook when I have time and really wanting aromatic dish like this. Widely eaten all over the world, but made totally different,well it’s mostly eaten in the coastal part of Kenya in Mombasa. I hadn’t eaten pilau for years when I lived in Kenyan,as I left Mombasa when I was a little girl,after years of living in Ireland I started craving Kenyan dishes not really sure where to get the ingredients, but when I laid hands on different spices, I was ready to explore with my cooking, I prefer to use whole spice rather than  powder spices, I find there is more flavour from them, but feel free to use powder Pilau Masala if you like.

INGREDIENTS:

  • Basmati Rice
  • Free range chicken
  • Fresh garlic
  • Fresh ginger
  • Tomato puree/paste
  • Green cardamom
  • Cloves
  • Cinnamon ground/ stick
  • Black peppercorn
  • Cumin seeds
  • Chicken stock
  • Cooking oil, sunflower/ vegetable oil
  • Salt.

Prepare all your ingredients, first start with garlic and ginger, peel wash, am using pestle and mortar as I find it brings out nice and strong flavour from both ingredients.On a medium heat, start by warming up your sauce pan, add 2-3 tbsp of oil of your choice, add in the minced ginger,garlic and stir immediately, you don’t want them to burn as they will very quickly, or stick to the bottom of the pan.….  As the ginger, garlic paste start to bring out the aroma, then add all your dry spices to the sauce pan and immediately your will smell each and every spice, I can nearly smell it while here writing this post, well it is divine. Mix them in well with all the rest.…… Add tomato paste/puree mix and let it cook 3-4 minutes stirring continuously.… It’s time to add chicken thighs or any chicken of your choice, mix them with aromatic spices, cover and let the chicken cook 10 minutes or so, don’t forget to stir it occasionally.The rice is ready to be added in, mix it with everything.…..  Add chicken stock or 2 cups of water and salt and cover and simmer and let the liquid reduce.Stir the rice with a fork not wooden spoon, not to break or mash the rice, you can always add more water if the rice isn’t cooked fully.The Chicken Pilau is now ready, I served with some Kachumbari,  check out my YouTube channel Dine With Jane to see how I make it. Trust me you will come for more. Enjoy while still hot 🙂

 

Thank you for stopping by, hope you find this recipe helpful and useful. I hope you try and will enjoy.Please let me know how it goes when you give it a try.

 

Cooking, Recipes

Mango,Pineapple & Strawberry Smoothie

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Ingredients

  • Strawberry frozen/fresh
  • Banana
  • Pineapple frozen/fresh
  • Lemon
  • Orange

Method:

Clean all your fresh fruits, squeeze juice of one lemon and orange.

Add all the ingredients in a blender and blend for a minute until all is smooth.

Serve and enjoy.

 

Cooking, Recipes

Spinach And Mackerel With Ugali.

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Ingredients for Ugali

  • 2 cups maize flour/corn meal.
  • 2 cups boiling water.
  • pinch of sugar.
  • Drop of cooking oil of your choice.

Method

  • In a sauce pan bring 2 cups of water to boil, add a pinch of sugar and a drop of cooking oil.
  • Using a small jug take out a 1 1/3 of boiling water, on a low heat slowly add the maize flour into the sauce pan stir/mashing it continuously with a wooden spoon, or a mwiko to avoid lumps from forming, gradually add boiling water that you had taken out.
  • Then a small bit of flour and mix it in well until it starts to thicken like dough, continue to do this 5 minutes, on a low heat, cover and let it cook for 5-8 minutes without touching it. After couple of minutes or so you should smell a difference when the Ugali is cooked.
  • Mold it nicely with a wooden spoon/mwiko while still in the pan like a pyramid, it doesn’t have to be perfect.
  • Set a side covered until ready to eat.

Ingredients for Spinach and mackerel

  • Fresh mackerel
  • Frozen spinach or fresh if available
  • Palm oil ( optional) Any oil of your choice
  • Fresh tomatoes
  • Onion
  • Chillies ( optional)
  • Maggie cube/Stock
  • Mackerel
  • Start by cleaning the fish or you can ask your fishmonger to do that for you.
  • Pat dry with a kitchen towel to remove excess water, cut the fish into bigger pieces.
  • Turn on the deep fat fryer to 190 c until very hot, transfer the Mackerel into the fryer for 4-5 Minutes until  crispy golden brown,you can transfer into a plate on a paper towel until ready to cook.

Method

  • Start by warming up your pan to a medium heat, with a dash of palm oil. Add onions cook until translucent 2-3 minutes.
  • Add tomatoes,chillies, Maggie cube/stock and pinch of salt and cover till the tomatoes are soft 5 minutes or so, uncover the pan give a stir to the tomatoes and everything together untill well coated, add in the fried Mackl mix it well the other ingredient.
  • Next simply add chopped spinach mix all together gently not to break the Mackerel, until all is well mix, put the lid on for 5-10 minutes or till well cooked and the flavours have all been well mixed in.
  • Remove the pan from the gas cooker and set aside for few minutes before serving with Ugali. Enjoy

 

 

 

Cooking, Recipes

Black Beans, kenyan (Njahi) Stew With Basmati Rice.

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Kenyan black beans ( Njahi), have different names to it, mostly eaten in Kenya by prenant women, and after birth because of the high levels of iron, phosphorous, calcium, magnesium, manganese, copper and zinc in black beans all contribute to building and maintaining bone structure and strength.

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This beautiful yet healthy bean recipe is one of my favourites, love the texture of the black bean (Njahi)With a rich flavor that has been compared to mushrooms, black beans have a velvety texture while holding their shape well during cooking. The health benefit is key for me, so check out the step by step way of preparing this lovely dish, you can substitute anything to your liking, the beans need to be soaked over night before boiling them to make them soft.

This is how the beans turns out after boiling them to this lovely brown colour, soft and velvety. Then prepare all your fresh vegetables by washing, chopping and ready for cooking.

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Start by adding 2-3 tbsp of olive oil,then add onions sautee until just translucent, toss in chopped fresh tomatoes, coriander, tomatoe paste/puree and cover for few minutes untill the tomatoes have soften.

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When tomatoes have soften add carrots and cover for 2-3 minutes then add potatoes let them cook for 10 minutes with a lid on. Don’t forget to add some water or if using vegetables stock.

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Add zucchini cook for few minutes until just soft not too soft …

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Time to add Black beans ( Njahi) mix them well with the other ingredients, add more water or stock just enough to cover the food, then put the lid on and let it cook for 10-20 minutes, you may add salt if not using stock.

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What can I say it looks inviting, am so ready to manch. Enjoy

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Ingredients

  • Black bean kenyan(njahi)
  • Onion
  • Fresh garlic
  • Fresh tomatoes
  • Chilly
  • Carrots
  • Zucchini
  • Potatoes
  • Coriander
  • Olive oil
  • Curry/coriander powder
  • Tomatoe paste/puree
  • Vegetable stock/ water
  • Basmati rice.

All that’s left to do Enjoy!

 

Cooking, Videos

Kenyan Style Fragrant Beef Pilau With Kachumbari(Salsa)

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Pilau is a widely eaten in the coastal part of Kenya, it’s one of those dish that is enjoyed by all, the spices are Indian influence, pilau has become one of Kenyans favourite dish especially with a big gathering, their is different variation of making pilau, but this is my take on how to make it. Thanks for watching. Enjoy

  • Ingredients.
  • Pilau Masala, whole spices are, Cummin seeds,Black pepper corns,
  • Cloves, Cinnamon sticks, Cardamon.
  • Beef/ chicken
  • Fresh garlic/ ginger minced
  • Onion
  • Potatoes
  • Salt
  • Cooking oil
  • Basmati rice
  • Tomatoe puree/paste
  • Fresh tomatoes
  • Red onion
  • Fresh chillies
  • Fresh coriander
  • Fresh lemon juice

Please follow the video and you will be guranteed to cook your pilau as delicious as mine. Definately worth trying.

Cooking

Visited Thailand, well I didn’t have to travel far, rooted through my cupboards, fridge.

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I have been longing for a nice bowl of green curry which definately I know I can’t find anywhere around in the restaurants where i live, so thought why not root through the cupboards for ingredient, with the help of my Mum sending me some ingredients that i couldn’t get around. Definately alot of effort but i tell you what, it was all worth it at the end. Super delicious. 🙂

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Cooking

Sunny weekend spent at the beach, enjoying BBQ

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BBQPollGorm2016First BBQ of the year, and what a lovely way to have friends gather up for a nice BBQ and enjoy the beautiful sunny day, well we couldn’t just head home without watching the sun set, the lovely warm colours and the brightness of the sun brings smiles on everyone’s face.DSC_1409[1]DSC_1407[1]DSC_1410[1]Feet in Sandy WaterShore-sideDSC_1424[1]