Category Archives: Recipes
HOW TO MAKE MUKIMO WA NJUGU WITH A TWIST…
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.
Pilau ( Chicken Pilau).
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.
Mango,Pineapple & Strawberry Smoothie
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.
Spinach And Mackerel With Ugali.
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
Black Beans, kenyan (Njahi) Stew With Basmati Rice.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Add zucchini cook for few minutes until just soft not too soft …
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.
What can I say it looks inviting, am so ready to manch. Enjoy
.
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!
Spicy Cajun Chicken, Healthy and Definitely Delicious
So summer is here, time to eat light while still enjoying the dish. It is spicy but not like crazy spice, just enough to get a kick in your mouth.
Ingredients:
- Chicken breast x2
- Wholemeal wraps
- Fresh Tomatoes x2
- Fresh Coriander
- Red Onion
- Fresh Chillies x2
- Avocado
- Fresh Lemon
- Olive Oil
- Cajun Spice
- Salt
Method:
Start by cutting the chicken breast into thin strips, in a clean bowl put the Cajun spice then add the chicken strips and coat with spices and some olive oil, cover with cling film and leave to marinade in the fridge the longer the better, it helps to get the flavour in.
Wash all your fresh ingredients, start by dicing the onions, tomatoes, chillies, coriander set them aside, peel of one avocado and mash it into a bowl then add freshly squeezed lemon juice, salt and then add tomatoes, chillies and coriander mix well and cover with a cling film and set aside that’s your guacamole done!
Now for the salsa take some onion, fresh tomatoes that are diced in small cubes with coriander and chilli mix well in a clean bowl then add a squeeze of lemon juice.
In a warm pan add some olive oil, warm it up nicely, then add the marinated chicken and cook until well cooked.
Warm up the wholemeal wraps then serve the chicken, guacamole and salsa with lettuce. Enjoy the simple healthy dinner. Enjoy x
Pan Fried Salmon on a Bed of Smooth Mashed Potatoes, with Pan Seared Carrots, Green Beans & Dill Sauce.
I’ve always loved salmon, there is something about a well cooked fish that just makes me happy, well I knew going to a resturant wasn’t that easy, so thought why not bring the restuarant in my house. The flavour, presentation definately makes it all worth while. Well with this recipe you need to be able to multi-task.
Ingredients:
- Salmon fillet
- Irish potatoes
- Carrots cut lenght wise
- Green beans
- Fresh dill
- Clove of garlic
- Butter
- Salt/pepper
- Olive oil
- 2 Tbsp milk
- 2 Tbsp flour
- Chicken stock
Method:
- Start by peeling the potatoes and carrots, in a medium size pot add the potatoes and carrots and boil in salted water until well cooked, and just before you drain of the water add the green beans and cook for 2-3 minutes, then drain of the water. Take out the carrots and green beans and set them aside. When water has been drained of from the potatoes add a good bit of butter and milk and mash till smooth, taste for salt and set aside in a bowl under war bath.
- Now you can start on the dill sauce, by diluting a little bit of chicken stock add it to the small pot, and bring to a gentle simmer, the add diluted flour in cold water and stir well and make sure no lumps are formed, cook till the sauce has thickened, then add fresh dill to finish.
- For the salmon dab of excess moisture with a kitchen paper, salt and pepper while the pan is warming up, when hot enough drizzle some olive oil till just smoking, then add salmon skin side down, press down for a few seconds, to avoid it raising on the sides. Please don’t touch the fish for few minutes till the colour of the fish starts changing, then turn and wait till done.
- While the salmon is cooking on a separate pan add a tablespoon of olive oil and crushed garlic, cooking for few seconds, then add carrots and green beans and cook for a 2 minutes.
- Assemble the dish when ready. Starting with smooth mash potatoes, carrots, green beans the salmon, sauce on the side or on the food. Enjoy.