Category: Main (Page 34 of 37)

Turmeric and Garlic Viazi Karai

December 16, 2014 / Kaluhi / 11 Comments

December holidays are in full force and many Kenyans are making their way down to the coast. Besides the amazing weather, the picturesque beaches, the hospitable people, rich history and the electric atmosphere, people also travel down to the coast to sample some of the hearty food of the coastal people. They really tale food and its preparation really seriously, which is something I personally admire because eating, in my opinion should be an experience.

One of the foods associated with the Kenyan coast is Viazi Karai. It is sold in little kiosks all over our coastal towns and by hotels too. I decided to add my own twist to the traditional recipe and added several more ingredients which made this already delectable meal even more spectacular.

Today, sample my Tumeric and Garlic Viazi Karai.

Pesto Chicken Penne

December 9, 2014 / Kaluhi / 0 Comments

All of my very close friends, those who know me really well and whom I am most free around, are those I was in High school with. We have maintained friendship ever since and often when we hang out, we indulge in each other’s hobby’s. My friend, Gakii, is one of those pals who I have been with since high school, through university and I am sure, through the times ahead. She enjoys cooking just as I do and she is also one fierce fashionista, refer to her blog for more details. We decided to have a small cooking session as we spent our afternoon together, coz that’s the best way to spend any afternoon :). Our good and talented friend, Frank, was also generous enough to take photos for us as we cooked. It was a day well spent!

Remember when we talked about simple meals with sophisticated names? This one fits the bill. This is a quick and easy dish in which penne pasta is tossed with marinated chicken in a simple but outrageously delicious pesto. You will love my chicken pesto penne!

Carrot Kari

November 28, 2014 / Kaluhi / 0 Comments

In our house, it is very uncommon for us to have a meal without vegetable serving. Regardless of which vegetable it is, there has to be something served together with our protein and carbohydrates. Sometimes, we play around with various vegetables and in the process come up with new vegetable side dishes in the process.
Carrots are usually part of many dishes, but rarely are they the star of the dish. Today I let my amazing carrots be the star of the dish as I made this Indian inspired Carrot Kari . This one goes really well with ugali, but I felt it went best with rice dishes. Here is this unique,easy to make and delicious Carrot Kari.

Veggie Jollof Rice

November 25, 2014 / Kaluhi / 10 Comments

Some few weeks back on my twitter, one of my followers shared a link I found rather interesting. It was about Jamie Oliver, a world renowned chef, who was being sued by Ghanaian and Nigerians for cooking, Jollof Rice, whose origin was from west Africa, but failing to use maggi cubes while cooking it. I found this very amusing, and a bit unfair, because in my opinion, what makes cooking exciting is having your own take on an already delicious meal and not always following the original recipes to the letter. Read the full article here. Hoping that I do not also get a law suit slapped my way 😀

Today I added my own twist to this controversial meal- Jollof rice. It has the right amount of spice, heat and has the perfect blend between moisture and starchiness. It is often cooked with meat (goat meat, chicken etc) but I decided to use what I had ready with me. Its easy to make, and different from what we are used to and that makes it even more exciting! You must give this a try :).

Potato Latkes and Salsa Verde

November 21, 2014 / Kaluhi / 6 Comments

Have you ever read the name of a dish and the sound of it makes it a little bit intimidating to try, but then upon reading through, you realise it really is easy to make? The sound of this post may evoke such emotions. All I can guarantee you is that this is one of the simplest and speedy recipes yet that you can unleash on short notice. And there is nothing better than something that sounds so sophisticated, but is so easy to prepare.

I think it is becoming apparently clear that one of my favorite ingredients to cook with are potatoes. I like them because there are infinite things to do with them. We have made several potato dishes like this one, and this, and this, each of which have their own character. Today we are going to make the easiest, crispiest potato latkes, that you can make blindfolded and the juiciest salsa verde that really compliments them. The best part is, you can get all these ingredients readily 🙂

Here we go:

Beef Pilau

November 18, 2014 / Kaluhi / 31 Comments

Pilau is one of the meals that define Kenyan cuisine. Just like chapati, pilau is one of those meals that is ever present at any major ceremony in this country. Pilau is a rice dish that is cooked in a seasoned broth, with some pieces of beef, chicken and sometimes peas, nuts and raisins, and whose brown color is obtained from being fried in caramelized onions and a blend of spices. Global variations of pilau are pilaf/pilav of Turkey, Pulao of south-central Asia and Palaw of Iraq.

Pilau is associated with the people of the Kenyan coast, and I must admit, they make the meanest pilau but we are slowly catching up :). There are many variations to the recipe but today I will give you my take. You cannot have a Kenyan food blog without the most cherished Kenyan recipe!

Savory Crepe with Garted Red Bell Pepper

November 14, 2014 / Kaluhi / 0 Comments

I bumped into my former university classmate during rush hour some weeks back. It was pleasant to see him again and we talked a little bit about life after school. One thing he spoke of most was how he feels so tired after work, so much so he does not bother to prepare supper for himself but takes exactly what he had for breakfast. Besides that, he absolutely enjoys life after school.

This inspired me to recreate breakfast meals for supper. You can do this with nearly every dish, the only thing is to transform the sweet into savory. I chose crepes, whose sweet breakfast version we did here by adding vanilla essence, mango and cinnamon, and today,s savory version has green onion, red bell pepper and cumin.