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Butternut Soup with Crispy Toasted Seeds

June 12, 2015 / Kaluhi / 16 Comments

I could hear the rumble of thunder from a distance, and I knew that particular weekend would be a cold, rainy one. The house grew dark & cold, so I went upstairs to grab myself a pair of socks. No sooner had I come back down than the rain began aggressively beating on the roof. Huge, angry drops of May Nairobi Rain. A bright flash of lightning lit the entire sky and with it, power was gone. Typical! Since I could not go anywhere outside, nor watch anything I decided to retreat to my favorite place: the Kitchen. That day, I decided to prepare some soup to warm myself up as I waited for electricity to return and keep myself busy.

This butternut soup is so beautiful I literally stared at it for so long. I took so many pics of it and it is one of my most visually appealing dishes yet. It is so filling, very nutritious and very warming. While it is currently not as rainy in Nairobi right now as it was a week ago, it is still rather cold especially in the evenings (22° C / 72F qualifies as cold in this equatorial country). This is the best soup for you to have. Whether as a the perfect prelude to a magnificent meal or just to warm you up, this butternut soup will still make you happy!

Chili and Ginger Githeri

June 9, 2015 / Kaluhi / 19 Comments

I am one of those people who can never EVER miss githeri when it is cooked. It’s almost an obsession. Ask my sisters, I absolutely love githeri. When I tell this to people, I get that look as though I just said I love eating kittens, live ones, in a graveyard, while chanting sacrilegious hymns of an extinct tribe . This may be because majority are yet to have that deliciously celestial githeri-eating experience. But I will give you one..

One of my earliest recipes on this blog was that of githeri, where I prepared it with coconut cream and curry which brought our its softer elements. You can get that recipe here. This time, I am using stronger flavors of chilli and ginger which brings out its more savory side. There is more than one way of preparing anything. And that is what makes cooking very exciting and a constant adventure. Do not allow your self to cook one meal the exact same way for all the days of your life. You will be missing out!

To warm you up as days get colder: Chilli and Ginger Githeri

Cake Festival 2015 – How it went down…

June 7, 2015 / Kaluhi / 14 Comments

When the event organizers for the Cake Festival 2015 say come and eat as much cake as you can, they are actually very very serious about that. This event had about 200 bakers showcasing their skill. It was a day of pure indulgence. We ate so much cake and I feel I will not have any more cake in a long long time. The bakers were very engaging and warm and majority of them had really high quality cake. And the best part is that all funds raised from this event shall be used to further education for students who come from needy backgrounds. It was all for a worthy cause.

This is how it went down.

Fried Nduma with Crunchy Bread Crumb Crust

June 5, 2015 / Kaluhi / 14 Comments

Have you ever eaten something after years of resistance and wondering why it took you too long to try it? That was me with nduma. Just like I did matumbo, I would avoid putting it in my mouth at all costs for reasons unbeknown to me. But when I finally did, I can not have enough. Nduma are what we Kenyans refer to arrow roots. They are super duper nutritious and taste so good. Thank God I got over my senseless fear,LOL.

At home we usually just have them boiled. But I have been encouraged by numerous people to try them fried. Everything fried is tastier after all, so I decided to give this a try. To add to the texture, I coated the nduma with breadcrumbs, seasoned lightly with nutmeg which transformed this to the most glorious breakfast meal. My tongue has never been as delighted! Yours will be too, promise!

Cayenne and Red Onion Nyama Choma Dry-fry

June 2, 2015 / Kaluhi / 9 Comments

In my country it is almost an abomination to throw away left overs of any meal. In the Kenyan spirit of resourcefulness, all meals that are left over from the current meal are set aside to be eaten as part of or for the next meal. Wastefulness is totally discouraged in our culture. And I believe that is a totally fantastic thing.

But lets be honest, at times having left-overs over and over can sometimes be monotonous. Hence it is always advisable to change things up and add new flavors to and transform an already awesome meal. Following the Madaraka day celebrations, we had some left over nyama-choma. To make this richer and tastier, we usually turn this into a dry fry. The process of frying it tenderizes the meat further but it still retains that smokey flavor. The onions and the chilli enhance the flavor of the nyama choma meat so well. It is soo good, just typing this made me salivate.

Grilled Cheese Chicken Sandwich

May 29, 2015 / Kaluhi / 6 Comments

Have you ever tried out a new recipe with so much excitement but it turned out way below average? That happens to me too sometimes. I was so excited to make some crunchy drumsticks sometime back but they were not as good as I anticipated. My first and most honest critics, my family ,thought they really could have tasted better. And I agreed. Even though they looked really good, they were grossly under-seasoned. I could not bring myself to post a recipe that I myself don’t stand confidently by. Quality of content trumps quantity of content any day.

So the next day, I decided to use the left overs from the remaining drumsticks and make something else. I decided to make grilled cheese chicken sandwich which was so indulgent and so so sooo perfect. This brought back my confidence after that no-so-good drumstick kitchen experience. And this was one of the tastiest recreation of left overs I have made to date!

I encourage you too to try new things. You will fail…numerous times, just as I do. But do not run away from the kitchen forever. Take it as a learning experience and up your game each time. You will become even better as a result 🙂

Peppery Carrot and Garlic Ndengu

May 26, 2015 / Kaluhi / 28 Comments

You know those times when you are just chilling at home then guest come knocking? I know all Kenyans can relate to this since in our culture, it is quite normal to show up/visit unannounced. While it is a good thing as it preserves the sense of community, ~~most of the time~~ sometimes , you really are not prepared for them. And it is considered rude not to serve guests something small to eat while they are in your home. So we resolve to offering whatever is there to make them feel at home.

We once received unexpected guests some Sunday ago. We had nothing flamboyant to prepare, so we gave them exactly what we were having for lunch that afternoon- Coconut Rice and this Peppery Carrot and Garlic Ndengu. While this is a very normal meal to us, the guests were so impressed with what we served them that they could have sworn we knew they were coming :D. This is not to show off, but to encourage you too to strive to make each meal a memorable banquet. So much so that eating fantastic food becomes part of your everyday life. After all, life is too short to wait for only special occasions to eat great tasting food. Have nice food as often as you can.

So for today: Peppery Carrot and Garlic Ndengu. Hope you try this out