I look forward to the day we shall truly live as a borderless world. Where we shall celebrate what makes us different instead is making it divide us. If it shall happen in my lifetime, that would be really dope! I love discovering new cultures, it opens up your mind to so much more and I get to actually realize we have a lot more in common than that we have otherwise. That is what African culture is all about in particular. We have so much in common. And when it comes to food, this becomes even more glaring. Sometimes, a certain food we think belongs to just one country may also be popular in another, just prepared in a different way. And that is what I discovered about chicken suya. It is a dish that is thought to be primarily Nigerian, but also quite popular in northern Cameroon. This is the final of my fusion recipes, with this one having a mix of Cameroon, Senegal (a largely Islamic country that does not eat pork hence I chose chicken for this recipe), Congo and Ivory coast.

I gave this my own twist and I have to say, this is one of my favorite chicken dishes this year and one I hope to have more of. I gave you a sneak peak in my Instastory on Sunday, and I am not exaggerating when I say this is the best suya recipe you will ever have.

PREP TIME; 10 MIN     COOK TIME 10 MIN     MAKES:4

Ingredients

200 g chicken breast

1/2 a teaspoon of curry powder

1/2 a teaspoon of turmeric

1 birds eye chili

1 tablespoon of fresh rosemary

1/2 a teaspoon of dried thyme

1/2 a lemon

4 cloves of garlic

1/4 cup of plain yoghurt

2 maggi cubes

Method

Cube your chicken and place them in a container. To this, add your turmeric, curry, maggi cubes, garlic, and finely chopped chillies,rosemary, thyme and rosemary. Add the plain yoghurt and a splash of fresh lemon juice. Mix this all together and let it marinate for about two hours. If you shall be making whole chicken pieces (wings/drumsticks), the marination should take longer so that all the flavors can sink in. So 24 hours or more should be ideal. But for skewers, since the meat is in pieces and plenty of the surface area is exposed, 2 hours is adequate.

The maggi cubes have salt in them already, so if you have to add some salt, go easy. For me, I did not add any more as I felt it was adequate.

After the marination time has lapsed, skewer the chicken cubes on your skewers alternating this with red onion slices. You can add tomatoes of you please. I got my metal skewers form Carre Four but normally I use wooden skeweres which are in Nakumatt’s party/outdoor section. If you use wooden skewers, be sure to soak them in some water before grilling so that they do not catch fire while cooking.

The chicken suya skewers look exactly like East African Mshikaki; only difference being suya is better seasoned and quite spicy, which I really love! I love how West African countries do not shy away from their spices. Let this cook on your grill for about 10 minutes 3 minutes on each side then remove from the heat.

Serve with your favorite side or just indulge and have this on your own. When I say I ate these all by myself , I was not joking. That’s what good food does to you; it turn you into a complete hog :DD

This garlic chicken suya would make a perfect dish to be prepared during your outdoor grilling parties. The chicken suya will be the star meal of your day, and compliments will not stop flowing in. And when guys ask you where you got the recipe from, be sure to lead them my way

The plain yoghurt and the lemon tenderized the chicken perfectly. The garlic, rosemary and thyme come through very assertively and are complimented really well with the taste of the fresh chili, curry, red onion and pepper. Simply outstanding!

Now that the sun is out, get your grills ready, gather your friends and whip up some garlic chicken suya!

Happy Wednesday!

-K

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Him: Potatoes are not meant to be sweet

Me: Yes they aren’t. But they are not potatoes, but sweet potatoes.

Him: Exactly! SWEET potatoes. I don’t think that should even exist in nature. Nduma any day.

Me: Nduma is delicious,totally agree, but so are sweet potatoes. If I was a sweet potato would you still like me?

Him: I would. You would be a delicious one too! In fact, I would change into a sweet potato too, just to live with my sweet potato girl.

Me: And we’d make beautiful sweet potato spawn (laughs). So that means you like sweet potatoes?

Him: No, I like you. Even if you turned into a sweet potato, i’d still like you.

My boyfriend finds it fascinating that I remember the tiniest of moments and conversations between us. The above was one of our sweet potato arguments, which I always remember when I make sweet potatoes. Today’s recipe plays up the beautiful sweetness of this root vegetable and I hope you will like is as well :))

PREP TIME: 10 MIN          COOK TIME:  25 MIN                  SERVES:     2

Ingredients:

2 sweet potatoes

4 cardamom seeds

1/2 a teaspoon of ginger

1/2 a cup of coconut cream

2 passion fruit

1 tablespoon of orange zest

Method

Peel your sweet potatoes and put them to boil. Slice them into pieces that are 1/2 an inch thick and set them aside.

IN  a pan, add your coconut cream and let it simmer on low heat. Add the freshly crushed cardamom, orange zest and the ginger  and mix them in.

Add the thinly sliced sweet potatoes and let this simmer for about 5-10 minutes on low heat.

Drizzle your passion fruit over it then  serve.

This is one of my healthy guilty pleasures nowadays. The sweet potato’s inherent sweetness is beautifully brought out by the coconut cream and complimented by the ginger. The passion fruit’s acidity balances everything out and also adds a pleasant crunch to it all.

Maybe this is one recipe that will make my beau cross over to sweet potato goodness. Maybe :DD. I will make this for him soon and tell you guys about it, and I have a feeling this will finally win him over :DD

Be it for fussy children or picky adults, this is one recipe that will always be a star at you breakfast table or brunch banquet. Do give it a try!

To great food!

-K

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One of the things I will eternally love about December is that it marks the commencement of my favorite fruit season: mango season. And by this poll, Mango season is definitely your favorite fruit season too! I think if there is one fruit I can live on for the rest of my life, it would be mango. I love this fruit, not only because of its ability to take up other flavors so well, but also because of it’s versatility. My sisters call me ‘mama maembe’ (mother of mangoes) because of my absolute love for this fruit. And quite frankly, I do not mind that moniker :DD

To kick off the  mango season this time round, I have made an absolutely luxurious mango lassi with warmth of whole cardamom and a hint of sweet malt. As fully get into hot afternoons, clear skies and sunglasses weather, my mango and cardamom lassi is just perfect for every occasion and every mood!

PREP TIME: 5 MIN       MAKE TIME: 20 MIN       SERVES:2

Ingredients

1 large apple-mango

250 ml of plain yogurt

2 tablespoons of honey

1 teaspoon of whole cardamom

1 teaspoon of freshly grated ginger

1 tablespoon of finely chopped mint

Mint leaves for garnish

3 tablespoons of Guinness stout

Method

Wash your mango and peel it Slice it into small pieces. Set aside. Finely chop your must, grate your ginger and set all those aside too. Crush the cardamom pod and grind the black seed into a powder using a pestle and mortar.

In a blender, add the plain yogurt, followed by the mango, and the rest of the other ingredients.

For this lassi, we want a HINT of booziness (clear emphasis on hint). It is for that reason that we added 3 tablespoons of Guinness stout. Remember, with beer, depending on the other ingredients used in the recipe, it could either bring out it’s sweetness or it’s bitterness. For this sweet drink, the sweetness of the malt was really brought out. Do not add too much beer as it will overpower the taste of the other ingredients and greatly change the consistency. A few tablespoons is enough.

Blend until they are all combined. Do not blend it for too long since it will become much lighter. Just blend until they are just combined. Ensure you slice your mango as small as possible so that it does not blitz for too long.

Ladle this into your goblet and enjoy. The aroma that emanated from my blender was just so inviting and out of this world!!

When people talk about edible sunshine, this is definitely it! A truly mellow drink perfect for an outdoor picnic with friends, or a cozy indoor brunch. You can also have this together with your meals if you are looking to feeling really full. We are in the holidays so that should be the agenda anyway :DD. I would have my mango and cardamom lassi with my meatball tikka masala and chapati, since the sweetness of the lassi would temper the heat of the meatballs.

Mango and ginger are always a beautiful match. Always! The sweetness of Guinness stout is brought out in this lassi because of the fruit and the honey. The mint balances the sweetness out and the cardamom provides a pleasant aroma and  gives it more character and depth. This is one drink you must have as often as possible this holiday season because it is simply worth it!

TGIF and Cheers to the weekend!

-K

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Another beautiful year down and I cannot be more thankful for the glorious 365 days that are now history. Thank you for all the memories made, new friendships formed, goals achieved and fun had. This is my final post of the year and I would like to give you lessons and musings I have had this year. I would also like to know what you guys have learnt this year in the comment section. But first, read through mine :))

Know your *expletive* worth

I am one of those people who gets soooo motivated when people tell me I cannot do something/achieve something. Instead of letting negative comments bog me down, I use them as fuel to power me to even greater heights. Earlier this year, I was in a meeting where the person chairing the meeting literally told us we would never amount to anything without completely tying our individual brands to his. I thought about that statement on my way home, and I decided to cut ties with them. Why would I want to work with someone who does not believe in my potential? One who only wants to use me and not grow me? People will gas light you into thinking you are nothing without them, and if you do not know your potential, you will believe them and be at their mercy. I knew then my work was amazing, and my potential limitless and I refused to let anyone make me believe otherwise. When you want to work with someone  coz of the brilliant expression of their gift, gas lighting them to get them to work with you is the wrong way to go about it.

Here is what I learnt:

1. You have no business working with and for someone who does not believe you will amount to anything. Do not surround yourself with negative people. It rubs off on you. Cut ties and go your way, you will be fine! If not, enormously better!
2. Do not let anyone manipulate you into thinking they are the ones who put fire to your God given gift. You had that gift before them and you will still have it after them.
3. Do not be too dependent on anyone as you grow in your career. Granted, we all benefit from knowing someone who knows someone, but also, make sure you can stand on your own two feet and grow your brand/business/career by your own hard work and not just waiting for hand outs from connected people. It refines your work ethic.
4. Not everyone will be happy to see you win, unless they are direct beneficiaries of your victories. It is just how this world works. Surround yourself with those who clap when you win, and if you don’t have those people around , honey celebrate your own victories! Pop that champagne when you achieve your goals. It is not stuck up, it is just giving yourself a beautiful pat on the back for your hard work!
5. Take risks. Remove the training wheels. Cut the cord. Dive in the deep end all on your own. More often than not, the risk leads to more and more victories. As I always say, If God placed that dream in your heart, He has also given you the ability to bring it to life. Do not worry, utakuwa sawa!
6. As a creative especially,do not allow anyone to exploit you. Know your worth. Pray for wisdom to know what to do pro bono and what you deserve to be paid for. Know your worth!!!

Beauty of Solitude

I love being around people. I love meeting new people. But I also find it draining at times and after all that, I like retreating into my space and just being alone. To recharge. Being an ambivert, time with other people is just as important as time alone. I have come to really really reaaalllyyyy love solitude. Solitude is not loneliness. The former is calming and the latter is unnerving and negative. Solitude is being able to enjoy your own company. Solitude is  being able to have as much fun on your own as you would in the company of others. Solitude is golden. It allows me to listen to myself, center my plans, take stock of myself and turn on my weird unapologetically. I am looking forward to more dates by myself, being my own wing woman, conversations with myself, cracking myself up, shopping alone, actually shutting the world out (which is actually hard nowadays) and being one with myself.

#KupikaNaKaluhi

I would like to thank everyone who tried out my recipes and took pics as they cooked. Most importantly I am soooooo happy you and your families enjoy great food and that your mealtimes have become an experience and not just something you need to do. I shared some of your masterpieces on twitter using the hash tag #KupikaNaKaluhi, which is swahili for cooking with Kaluhi. Do log onto twitter and check out what everyone has been up to in the kitchen via that hashtag. In case I forgot to share your picture (sorry!!), you can just tweet the same and use the hashtag #KupikaNaKaluhi so that we can all see your dopeness! Thank you so so much for your support through my 2 and a half years of blogging! I couldn’t ask for a better readership <3

Also, when you see an ingredient you may not be familiar with in my recipes, I am always a tweet /a DM away. Instead of letting a new ingredient intimidate you into not trying a recipe, just ask what it is and where you can find it. I don’t bite :))

Taking stock

I know I stopped doing taking stock posts since I found them too truncated for someone like me who writes a lot. But let me throw in some of the key points just because :))

Taking: myself a lot less seriously especially as a brand on social media. I want to tweet and post as me and not as rigid as a business would. I want people to talk to me, and not to the brand. I want to be silly, to be strange, to be me, because I am a person before I am a brand and even after my brand is long gone.

Wondering: how on earth people on twitter think I am a kitchen LOL LOL LOL! To those who think kitchens have names, can type and can cook, please reassess your state of mind. lol! Just to be clear, I am a person.

Loving: My boyfriend so much right now. The longer you stay with someone, the more you know them and the more apparent their faults become. And that’s when it gets hard. But is is also a time where you see how your short comings are complimented by their strengths and how each day is work towards making each other the best version of themselves. It is hard. Relationships are not easy, and ours, like any other is not perfect, but after we overcome each trial, I know I cant really be with anyone else but him.

Knowing: the grade one gets in just one exam does not determine in finality the direction their life will take or who they will end up being. This is in light of the freshly released KCSE results and the Kenyan obsession with grades. One exam does not determine your future, and trust me, in two years, no one will care about or remember those grades LOL.

Smelling: a tester of my current favorite scent ‘Si’ by Giorgio Armani!! I hope to finally get a full bottle early next year because new year, new scent. I am finally (slowly) outgrowing Midnight Fantasy, but I am so stoked that the scent I am going for is still very feminine and delicate but mature compared to my other scent (which I still won’t completely let go of HA!)

Wearing: Lots of off shoulder tops and dresses. I love the romantic,girly  feel of anything off shoulder!

Obsessed: With the McClure twins!!! Like OBSESSED!!!!! My uterus has been whispering things into my ears ever since I started watching their cuteness <3

Wishing: I could wear my big girl pants already and just get over my fear of deep water. I can’t swim guys *hides face in shame* On a serious note, this hot season (we don’t have summers in Kenya, just hot cool and rainy seasons but our weather is pleasantly warm all year round) I must learn. So I have about three months to go. Who wants to help me? *sobs*

Feeling: Lazy. Sluggish. Like taking a 12 month holiday So relaxed that I want the holidays to extend a bit longer

My 2016 highlights

For me, 2016 has been one brilliant year! I have seen the hand of God in everything I touched and embarked upon. For me, it has been a year of great leaps and I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful year . Each month this past year, I was recording the moments that I truly loved and how they made me feel. This list made me feel better, even motivated, during those times when I felt I had nothing going on. I will share some of my favorite 2016 moments with you :))

1. Winning best food blog in Kenya for 2016. Thankful to everyone who has been part of my journey since the inception of my blog in 2014 and believed in me. Cheers to many more victories to come :))

2. My trip to Liverpool, United Kingdom. I watched my first live match, Liverpool vs Manchester United. I must admit, I know very little about football *bows head in shame*, but it was a once in a life time, exhilarating experience that I will live to remember!

3. And Dublin, Ireland; which is now one of my favorite cities in the world <3. Our visit to the Guinness Storehouse was mad fun and very insightful. Have you tried out any of my Guinness recipes? If not, you can try out my Triple D Drumsticks, which also happened to be the most popular #Krecipe of the year 2016!

4. And my favorite one yet, Johannesburg with Google.

5. Being featured on CNN International, I mean…. !!!! And I also recently took over the Instagram account of CNN Africa!

6. That moment when Ted Allen, host of Food Network’s Chopped, personally answered MY question. I was literally screaming when I saw this video on Instagram. So dope!

7. Omg guys!!!! The day I met SIBAAAAAAAAA! I will never ever ever forget. If you know me personally, you know just how much I am obsessed with Siba Mtongana! This was a dream come true to meet my ULTIMATE role model here in Nairobi and have a one on one interview with her! She is such a trail blazer! You can read about my interview with her here.

8. My eBook launch. My little baby, which I am very very proud of. It is not a joke making an eBook, let alone a physical one. But this happened and I am continually humbled and grateful of the support you have shown, especially my international readers! Asanteni sana! Details about how you can get a copy can be found  HERE

9. Attending my first ever Lamu food festival. I cannot wait to go back to Lamu, but this time without the pressure of work. I just want to soak in the beauty of the island paradise and do things at the pace of the island.

beef mshikaki roasted over embers of charcoal

My plans for 2017

Just two:

1. To be a better human, who contributes to society and to individual lives in a positive way. To be a better sister, daughter, girlfriend, a better friend and acquaintance.

2. Professionally, I am going for GLOBAL DOMINATION. I am not saying that for the sake of saying, I am actually going to take over the world. Here is to more risks, casting my nets wider, doing things that terrify me but deep down exhilarate me and pushing boundaries. After all, success does not follow the timid :)).

Cheers to greatness and to 2017!!

-K

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I did a post on 30 random things about me just over a year ago. One of the things I revealed about myself that very few of you may know is that my first name is Diana. Yes, Kaluhi is my (middle) name too, and the one my readers know me by since I wanted my brand to strongly identify as African from the very beginning. It was just a matter of time before I named one of my recipes after myself; and this cocktail was just too good to name it after it’s ingredients. Dirty Diana. Sounds a bit risque to some, yet peaks one’s interest a little bit. Mystery. Assertion. Power. Does it have anything to do with me? I don’t know Let those who know me well decide that *evil grin*

I was home with my youngest sister chatting away about the things we just cannot wait to accomplish this year. And the perfect conversation starter was my Dirty Diana cocktail.  Food is simply a lot more delicious when you can share it with people you love, is it not? Today, I give you this recipe, which I hope to bring you just as much joy and keep you cool as we get into sweltering January. My Dirty Diana Cocktail will take you to the moon and back!

PREP TIME: 20 MIN   MAKE TIME: 30 MIN    SERVES:2

Ingredients:

1 cup of strawberries

1 cup of pineapples

1 tablespoon of honey

1/4 cup of whiskey

3 tablespoons of finely chopped mint leaves

2 whole cloves

2 cardamom seeds

Soda water

METHOD

Puree your strawberries and pineapple. You can blend them together into a puree or separately, whichever way, you will still reach the destination. Put these in a sufuria together with 1/2 a cup of water, the honey, the cloves, cardamom and the finely chopped mint leaves. Allow this to simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes. It should thicken and all the flavors should come together.

Once done, remove from the heat and strain the mixture. Allow ti to cool down to room temperature.

Once cool, mix the fruit syrup with the whiskey until completely combined. Fill your glass with some ice and scatter some fresh mint leaves.

Pour the whiskey fruit mixture in your glasses and top with some soda water.

Enjoy!

For me, what makes a drink phenomenal, is how each note unfolds as you sip and the general complexity of the flavor. My dirty Diana cocktail fulfills both! You can taste the sweetness of the honey and the strawberry then this opens up to the warmth of the clove and cardamon and finally the coolness of the mint. Each sip is like an exotic ride through sun bathed East African plains!

My dirty Diana cocktail is so easy to make at home and perfect for outdoor meals. Now that it is brilliantly sunny and hot in most parts of our continent, enjoy every single one of these days while downing a drink you will son get addicted to. You can add your own twist to this; try a different herb, a different berry/succulent fruit, a different spice. If you are not sure about a combination you want to go for, tweet me and we will make something bomb, and heck, you can even name it after yourself too!

In the mean time, look at the picture below, and imagine yourself reaching our for a glass, taking a huge gulp and the perfectly chilled, uniquely flavored cocktail trickling down your throat.

Have a spectacular Friday and a glorious year ahead!

-K

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One of the things I love about Christmas period besides precious family time is the food (duh!!). In my family, we all love to cook, and when we come together, it is one hell of a feast! During the past Christmas, my uncle Odemu brought over some goat meat to roast specifically for dinner. Since we were the hosts, we prepared the lunch banquet, but for the goat meat choma dinner, Uncle Odemu wanted to handle it himself. And we  were not complaining, because we knew he could throw down one hell of a choma! As the sun set, the charcoal grill was lit and soon the delicious sizzle of tender meat filled the air. As my sisters and I prepared the kachumbari, my aunt made some ugali and my cousin and namesake basted the done nyama choma as it came hot off the grill in a sweet chili garlic jerk sauce. After everything was ready, we all sat outside, enjoying the warm December night and hearty conversations. I ate like a pig LOL! The meat that was left over was frozen to be eaten at later dates and those who could carried some home with them. For the final piece of meat that we had, I decided to revamp it and incorporate it into my delicious pasta dish: my goat meat garlic penne pasta. Leftovers are never boring afterall!

PREP TIME: 10 MIN        COOK TIME: 20 MIN        SERVES:4

Ingredients

400g penne pasta

1 red onion, finely diced

1 tablespoon of pilau masala

1 1/2 cup of chopped goat meat

2 carrots, thinly chopped

5 cloves of garlic, minced

Fresh coriander, garnish

Salt to taste

Vegetable oil for frying

Method

In a sufuria with boiling water, add your penne pasta to cook. Once done, drain the excess liquid into a cup and set aside. Run the pasta through cold water so that they do not clump together while you prepare your meat.

The pasta water is an important component while making any saucy pasta dish because it is very starchy. It aids in the thickening of the meat we are going to prepare and any sauce that you may wish prepare.

For your meat, add your thinly chopped red onion. Let them stay on the heat until softened. Add your carrots, and after two minutes, add the meat. Add the pilau masala and the garlic and 1/2 a cup of the pasta water and allow all this to simmer down for about 5 minutes.

Yes, you can use pilau masala in several other dishes besides just pilau :)). I used just one spice for this dish since the meat I was using was already seasoned and basted so it was already packed with flavor and I did not want to overdo it. If your left over nyama choma is not seasoned before hand, you can add any spice(s) of your choice to give it a kick.

Once your masala is mixed in, add the pasta water bit by bit and let this simmer for about 5 minutes. Because the water is very starchy, thickening of the sauce will not take too much time.

Add the penne pasta to it and toss it all together. I chose penne pasta since they tend not to be as chewy in comparison to other shaped pasta. However, you can experiment with any other pasta shape and let me know how it all goes ;))

After a minute, remove form the heat and garnish with fresh coriander. Who says leftovers are boring???!

This was beautifully meaty, and the contrast between the slight crunch of the carrots and the tenderness of the pasta made the eating experience even better. Simple flavors yet quite complex ones and to think that this was developed in such a short period of time makes it even better.

If you have left over rice, why not make my raisin and carrot fried rice. If you have some left over chicken, maybe you should make my grilled chicken sandwich. Left over minced beef? Then this dish is for you! How do you guys revamp your left overs? Which is your favorite left over to upgrade? Let me know in the comments below or join the #Konversation on twitter. I would love to learn a thing or two from you :))

Cheers!

-K

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You know, I do not believe in the concept of ‘Njaanuary‘. Njaanuary is a Kenyan term (that directly translates to ‘Hunger January) used to describe apparent financial strain and destitute brokenness that people seem to undergo every January, and funny enough, will experience it every first month of every year as long as they live . For me, if you spend frugally in December, you just can’t be dead broke and struggling in January. Yes, you can enjoy your December holidays, but with prudence, good planning and with the future in mind. Please dear readers, don’t make finishing all your money in December a habit, pretty please <3.  One thing I agree however, is after the holidays, our fridges are packed with left overs from the festivities. I shared one left over recipe with you last week that you can check out here. Left overs too do not indicate brokenness nor are they bad to have, but just encourage a culture that is not one of wastefulness. I love the prospect of revamping left overs since you can literally make anything! And the aspect of developing a new dish from one that was already complete is pretty exciting! I made this rosemary and eggplant fried rice a couple of weeks ago for my younger sisters before they reported back to college life. They loved it! It was soooo easy to make, very light and delicious too. Have some left over rice in your fridge? Let’s go on a kitchen adventure :))

PREP TIME: 10 MIN      MAKE TIME: 30 MIN     SERVES: 4

Ingredients:

2 cups of left over rice

1 courgette

1 small egg plant

3/4 tablespoon of black pepper

1/2 a teaspoon of turmeric

1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon of fresh rosemary

2 tablespoons of coriander stalks

1 red onion, finely chopped

1 tablespoon of soy sauce

Fresh coriander for garnish

Method.

In a pan, add your red onion, minced garlic, minced ginger rosemary and coriander stalks. Coriander stalks have a ton of flavor and I love including them in my fried rice, samosa fillings and sometimes githeri too! The flavor is more concentrated in the stalks and elevates the flavors to a great extent. Don’t throw the stalks and always save them for some magic! Let this simmer for about a minute then add all the spices. Allow these to cook down for about 4-5 minutes  or until the onions have softened. The spices need to totally cook down before adding anything else so that they are not grainy.

Add your courgette and egg plant and toss these with the other veggies on high heat until they are just cooked. Ain’t no body got time for soggy lifeless vegetables. Cook them until they are *just* cooked. This will take about two to three minutes. Do not let them get soggy and chewy please please, i beg! Also, chopping them smaller will make them spend less time on the heat and look much appealing overall. So always opt for the smaller, thinner pieces.

Add your left over rice and toss it along with your sautee vegetables. Add the soy sauce and toss this until combined. Allow this to stay on the heat for about two minutes, there after, garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve.

This was so easy to prepare and is perfect for a week night; when you want something delicious to have, but one that will not take an eternity to put together. It is also a really fun way to get your children to eat vegetables they would on other days literally run away from LOL!

You can also check out my sweet corn fried rice and my raisin and carrot fried rice . Try out all three ;)), and let me know which one you and your fam like best. <3

This would be absolutely splendid with my goat dry fry or meatball tikka masala or kuku kienyeji and a side of deliciously chilled coleslaw. Do not let your left over rice sulk in the fridge. Revamp it and you’ll see good food is not beyond your reach!

Much love!

-K

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If you love potatoes, you know very well when that craving (or should I say Kraving;))) kicks in, you just cannot shut it down! It is like that itch that you just cannot ignore, or satisfy by scratching indirectly. You have to go all in and satisfy it. When I had one of such kravings a few weeks ago, I decided to make fries. I rarely eat fries, but when I do, especially at home, I like to make it worth while and usually, that involves making masala fries. I made this first masala fries recipe in 2015 (check it out if you have not and please forgive my photography skills back then :DD) and today’s recipe takes it all to a stratospheric level!! No mediocre! Because as you know you know, with K, things are always FIRE!!

Today we have the most perfect Friday/ weekend recipe: Honey Whiskey Masala Fries

PREP TIME: 10 MIN MAKE TIME:25 MIN SERVES: 1

Ingredients

4 potatoes, peeled and chopped

1/4 cup of whiskey

1/2 a red onion, finely chopped

2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tomato, grated

1 tablespoon of tomato paste

1 tablespoon of honey

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 of green bell pepper (or coriander), finely chopped for garnish

1/2 a 1/2 a teaspoon of black pepper

1/4 teaspoon of turmeric

1/4 teaspoon of paprika

Vegetable oil for frying

Salt to taste

Method
In a pan, add your vegetable oil and heat it. Add your peeled and chopped potatoes and allow them to cook until done. Once that is done, remove your fries from the heat, drain any excess oil and add them to a bowl. After that is done, begin working on your sauce.

In a sufuria, add your red onion, garlic, the spices and allow this to cook down until the onions have softened and the garlic is fragrant.

Add your tomatoes,finely chopped chillies, lemon juice and the tomato paste and honey. Add the honey a table spoon at a time. Taste your tomatoes and if need be add more. If you add too much at a time, this will throw off the taste of everything. Be very careful at this stage; you want mildly sweet spicy fries, not honey fries.

Let this simmer down for about 5 minutes. Add your whiskey and allow this to simmer for 5-9 minutes for all the alcohol to cook off. Remember, we only need 1/4 cup for the quantities I have used. The sauce needs to have **a hint** of booziness, not taste like a shot. A little goes a long way.

Besides whiskey, I would recommend brandy, a dry white wine or rum. If you choose not to use any alcohol for one reason or another, feel free to leave it out, but your fries will not have the (amazing!!!) boozy kick as a result.

I know one of you is thinking: “So, will I get drunk when I cook with Whiskey (or any alcoholic drink)? “

The answer: NO

Cooking is very much a science as it is an art. Do you guys remember when we were learning about various liquid boiling points during Chemistry class in high school? We learnt that alcohol has a very low boiling point. Meaning, it evaporates very fast when heat is applied. Now, when you cook with an alcoholic beverage, the alcohol evaporates in the very early stages of cooking. It is cooked off. What is left behind is the other ingredients and flavors that were used to make the alcoholic beverage; and that is EXACTLY what we are after. We cook with alcohol not to get high (which doesn’t even happen), but to get to the other layered flavors there in. Please please remember this! When someone tells you they got high after eating food cooked with alcohol, just know they are lying because you know and understand the science behind what happens when you cook with alcohol.

After about 10 more minutes, the sauce will have thickened and the flavors completely melded, remove the sauce from the heat and pour it onto the fries.

Toss them until completely coated. The sauce needs to be thick so that it coats the fries well. You want juicy looking fries, not fries that look like they have been soaked in watery stew.

Once done, sit on the kitchen floor, eat from the damn bowl like a hungry demon and lick it clean serve. Garnish with your bell pepper (or coriander) then serve!

I think I do not need to go deep into convincing you how delicious my honey whiskey masala fries are! I gave you a teaser on twitter and you guys said thought end of January was too far to have the recipe. Thank God, the wait is over!! This is simply a MUST TRY recipe for all.

Enjoy this with something meaty like my thyme and garlic goat meat dry fry along with a light kachumbari or a fruity salad for balance. Or if you please, have it on their own, with a tall glass of your fave juice.

The beauty about these masala fries is of course the hint of booziness. Make sure your sauce it thick so that it coats the fries well. The fries are still dominantly hot, but the sweetness of the honey peeks through balancing everything out. These were so delicious I had to  hold myself back as I was about to fix myself another plate.

Can we please make 2017 the year that food pics become downloadable onto your table, hot and ready!? But as we wait for that, give this recipe a try :))

To fantastic food!

-K

Get your downloadable recipe here :))

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” Lazima tumake hii tena on Saturday!!!” (We must make this again this Saturday!!!) My youngest sister said after she saw the  sneak peak I shared of this recipe on my Instagram Story on Monday. You guys were equally as excited and looked forward to having this recipe on the blog. I revealed that I had added a little twist to my usual chicken marinade ingredients that my mom taught me and the results were explosively delicious. Since I had some Ukwaju (tamarind) sitting pretty in the fridge, I decided to incorporate it into the marinade; and that has been one of the best cooking decisions I have made in a long time! Supper this past Monday was spectacular!!! And for the sake of my youngest sister, I shall make this once again this coming weekend and have her enjoy the same deliciousness! You should too ;))

For my first recipe this glorious month, I bring you my ukwaju marinated spicy chicken thighs.

PREP TIME: 15 MIN      COOK TIME:45 MIN        SERVES:4

Ingredients:

4 chicken thighs

5 cloves of garlic

1 tablespoon of fresh rosemary

5 tablespoons of balsamic (or apple cider) vinegar

1 teaspoon of paprika

1/2 a teaspoon of turmeric

1 teaspoon of black pepper

1/4 teaspoon of chilli flakes

1/4 cup of ukwaju (tamarind) paste

Shalimar chicken tikka spice blend

Salt to taste

Vegetable oil for frying

Method

Remove your ukwaju from the pod if you purchase them unpeeled. Mine came already peeled.

In Nairobi, you can get Ukwaju from Zucchini, Food Plus, Ngara food market and the vegetable vendors at City Market. Place them in a pan with some water and let this simmer on low heat. After about 10 minutes, turn down the heat and let the ukwaju soak for another 10 minutes. They will swell up and make it easier to separate the pulp from the seeds. I learnt this from Pendo La Mama (check out this post where she makes tamarind paste too <3). You can do the extraction overnight too, but if you are in a rush, this method works.

Remove the pulp and then discard the fibers and the seeds.

Place your chicken in a bowl. Add the vinegar, rosemary, garlic and ukwaju. Mix it lightly then add all the spiced and mix well until completely combined. I usually use apple cider vinegar for my chicken marination, however lately I have been enjoying the flavor that balsamic vinegar has to offer. You can alternate between both vinegars and settle on the one you feel works best. Both kinds are sold in our local supermarkets at about 200 bob a bottle.

Once ingredients are fully combined, cover with a lid and let this marinate refrigerated for 8 hours or up to 3 days. Remember, the longer it marinated, the more intense the flavors shall be.

After the marination is done, some fluid will have collected in the bowl. Pour all this into a sufuria and boil your chicken. I boil my chicken with all the marinade contents before seasoning because I feel it intensifies the flavor. You have to boil it until all the liquid dries up; that will intensify the flavor by concentrating it as opposed to having it watery and less concentrated. If you prefer not to boil before seasoning, you can skip this step.

Once  done, dip it in  a paste of shalimar + black pepper; the same thing we did here. I bought my shalimar from Nakumatt at 100 bob a pack. Make sure to ALWAYS season your chicken before frying!!!

Once coated in your seasoning paste, we are ready to fry. This thighs look so delicious even before we are done cooking!!

Shallow fry the chicken until completely done and crispy. You will only need to flash fry so make sure your oil is hot enough so that your skin becomes crispy. Using cold oil will make the chicken soggy as it will soak up too much of it.

Remove from heat and serve. My ukwaju marinated spicy chicken thighs are the best thing you will ever sink your teeth into without doubt!

The spicy tikka-peppery seasoning beautifully compliments the tender marinated chicken flesh; which has the warm flavors of the garlic, herby taste of the rosemary and the bold flavor of our ukwaju. Layer after layer of absolute taste bud euphoria!!!

Whether with fries, potato wedges or ugali, my ukwaju marinated spicy chicken thighs will be a major hit on your dinner table! So for this new month, step out of what you are used to and try out some big, bold flavors!

This recipe was part of Black History Month virtual potluck where black bloggers from all over the world (Africa, North America, South America, The Carribean) made their (delicious!!) contributions. Do check  out their delicious creations and get inspired to create that good food with a sprinkle of black magic ;)) !!!!!! These are 27 recipes, so for each day this month, try out one :)). They include :

Meiko and the Dish | Crispy Fried Chicken with Pepper Jelly Molasses

Whisk It Real Gud | Trinidad Oxtail Pelau

Raised on Ramen | Caramelized Plantain Tacos with Pecan-Honey Butter

Dash of Jazz | Aunt Georgia’s Peach Cobbler

Foodie In New York | Twice Baked Yams

The Seasoning Bottle | Jamaican Sorrel/Senegalese Bissap

Chef Kenneth | Smothered Okra with Shrimp

Savory Spicerack | Po’ Boys with Cajun Tempura Shrimp

Chocolate For Basil | Groundnut Stew (Peanut Stew)

Simply LaKita | Banana Pudding

My Forking Life | Callaloo and Saltfish

Gucci Belly | Swamp Water

Kaluhi’s Kitchen | Ukwaju (Tamarind) Marinated Spicy Chicken Thighs

Sweet Savant | Coffee-Rubbed Lamb Ribs

Salty Sweet Life | Southern Greens Shakshuka

Eat.Drink.Frolic. | Maple Roasted Brussels Sprouts

I Heart Recipes | Southern Fried Cabbage

Jehan Can Cook | Mango Turmeric Smoothie

Margarita’s On The Rocks | Lemon Pepper Fish Tacos with Collard Green Slaw

A Soulful Twist | Slow-Cooker Gumbo (Gluten Free)

The Kitchenista Diaries | Coconut Milk Braised Collard Greens

My Life Runs On Food | Orange Chocolate Smoothie

Butter Be Ready | Skillet Cornbread

Domestic Dee | Shrimp Creole

D.M.R. Fine Foods | Curry Chicken Pot Pie

The Inner Gourmet | Lamb Fried Rice

Marisa Moore Nutrition | Hoppin’ John Patties with Warm Tomato Salsa

The Hungry Hutch | Blood Orange Cornmeal Cake

To fantastic food,

-K

Get your downloadable recipe here :))

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One of the things I enjoyed most in Lamu was immersing myself in the culture of the local people. I loved sampling their food (like, duh!!!) and enjoyed even more learning how they prepare things that are typically not as common in inland regions of the country. During our last day of the Lamu Food Festival, we were treated to a hands on swahili cooking class. This was at a local restaurant on Shela beach, overlooking the sea and enjoying the breeze coming in during that hot mid morning. Making Faluda was one of my favorites! It was so easy to make, and as usual, very very tasty to have. You can check out how Umma took as through here. This time I try it out, and of course with my own twist :)). Considering mango season is coming to and end, lets wind it down in style with my chilled mango coconut faluda <3.

PREP TIME: 20 MIN            MAKE TIME: 30 MIN        MAKES:2

Ingredients

1 apple mango

1 tablespoon of cardamom seeds

1/2 a cup of coconut milk

1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar

1 teaspoon of gelatin

1 cup of milk

Pumpkin seeds (for garnish)

Raisins (for garnish)

Method

Peel your mango place this in a blender together with your coconut milk. Set aside.

In a sufuria add the milk, cardamom seeds and the sugar. Slightly split the cardamom seeds so that the flavors seep to the milk with ease. Let your milk simmer on low heat until its just about to boil. Do not do this step on high heat since you need to allow the cardamom to really infuse into the milk. After you are done, turn off the heat, discard the cardamom seeds and allow the milk to slightly cool down.

After the milk has cooled down, add the mango-coconut milk puree and mix it in. If it does not mix together that smoothly, pop this into a blender and run it for about a minute so that everything mixes perfectly.

Pour this into a jug. In a small bowl. Add the gelatin and 6 tablespoons of water and mix it all up. Pour the gelatin into the jug that has the mango coconut milk and mix it all up. The gelatin is what makes your faluda have a jelly-like consistency. I bought my gelatin from carrefour and you can also get some from Walibhai on Biashara Street. It is not of your reach :))

Ladle this to your bowls and allow them to solidify and cool. I put mine into a freezer just to speed up the solidifying process and ensure my dessert was cold and not at room temperature.

After all, sweltering March deserves this sunny, chilled dessert <3. Dig in!

This dessert not only has those warm inviting flavor of the coast, but it also has all the flavors that I love most and the fruit I love out of all: Mango. The nuttiness of the coconut, the aromatic cardamom flavor and the sweet luxurious mango all in one bite is something you will never forget!

As we bid mango season farewell, why not do it the right way? Once you try this out, maybe you can play around with other fruits and flavors even after mango season is long behind us. But for now, let’s enjoy it while it lasts <3. Give my other mango recipes a try too :)) : Like my mango posset, mango mint salad with passion fruit syrup, mango lassi and mango ginger pancakes.

To everything sunny and delicious!

-K

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Nothing excites me more than having fantastic food with great company. My last week Thursday at Radisson Blu, Upper Hill Nairobi, was just that! Several food bloggers including myself and other media journalists had been invited for a media tasting and all I can say is that I was blown away by everything. We were asked to give our opinion about everything and this is what the review is all about. I would like to take you through what we had and I hope you make a visit there and experience everything for yourself. The rating of each dish is out of 5 stars, which i’d like to call K-stars, because this is a rating by me :DD. From all the questions and comments I received from my Instagram story on the afternoon I walked you through the tasting, I am sure this is something you will love <3.

Restaurant Ambiance

Chop House is located right at the ground floor, on your left when you enter. It has a very modern clean, crisp feel, with most of its tones consisting of greys and blacks. It is very cosy, romantic even, especially at night when it is dark. It really is a place I would enjoy having a dinner date at or maybe even taking colleagues for a business meeting.

Service:

The staff at chop house are very very professional and warm. They are the kind of staff who make you feel at home and genuinely seek to make your visit memorable and comfortable. They check in from time to time to see how your meal is going and if you require anything but without being intrusive. You know how sometimes you visit a restaurant and the waiters check in on you every 3 minutes till you feel uncomfortable LOL? Chop house is not like that. Service is A1.

Price:

For the entire course, which we are about to get into in the next section, you would pay only KES. 5000, which to me is quite fair considering the standard of meals you shall be served, the number of courses and the calibre of the restaurant you will be dining in.

Food

Now, to what we are all here to read about, The food!!

Starters:

The first starter consisted of hot oak smoked salmon, blistered scallops with scallops with caper berry sauce and langoustine in parmesan and cointreau foam. The salmon was moist and yes you could taste the smokiness of the oak as the name of the dish indicates. The lemon and radish balm that was served with it perfectly complimented the smokey fish flavor. And as we know, lemon flavors and fish flavors are always a match made in heaven! I really really love my salmon as I told you in this post and it was to my delight that this love affair was reignited! The scallops were delicately sweet,tender and perfectly seared and went so so well with the caper berry sauce. I am very particular with how my scallops are cooked and I have say, this is one of the very best I have ever had. Everything simply complimented each other and this was my favorite dish to have during the entire tasting! We also had langoustine in parmesan and cointreau foam which is lobster dish, that went perfectly with the creaminess of the  parmesan foam and contrasted so well with the crunch of the roasted butternut.  Our starter was served with a chardonnay, which is my favorite white wine, and almost always compliments fish flavors. This was no exception. Our Casillero Del Diablo Chardonnay in particular went really really well with the oak smoked salmon.

Final verdict for the first starter is the full score of 5 K-stars. They hit the ball right out of the park with this one!

The second starter:

Photo credit: Joy Opiyo

Our second starter was a very delicious beef wellington coated in a brioche crust served with crispy potatoes and a tarragon hollandaise dripping all over it together with a red wine beet root  sauce at its base. How delicious does this sound?! This starter in particular tuned in to all our senses: It looked so beautiful and the colors contrasted so well that we dis not even know how to eat it. The aroma was so very inviting. I loved how well the beetroot sauce infused with red wine went with the beef, again, a combination you can never go wrong with and incorporating beets was really ingenious! The beef was super tender and very very moist. The crispiness and crunch of the potatoes added an excellent textural component and went well with the hollandaise sauce. Everything blended well and the taste of the dish overall was explosive. My only dislike was the thickness of the brioche crust. I found it too heavy for the beef and a little overwhelming. Were it a little bit thinner, it would have been perfect for me. All in all, the plates were wiped clean by everyone on the table. And that is always a fantastic sign :))

The K rating for this is 4.5

To clear our pallete:

photo credit: Joy Opiyo

We had a small serving of a raspberry and ginger sherbet with gin and tonic foam. The reason we needed to clear our pallete is so that the flavors of the previous dish,the beef wellington, do not mix with those of the next beef dish so that we enjoyed it to the max. One of the key ingredients that were listed, ginger, was however not detected in the sherbet. It had some dill though and that provided some fresh balance from the sweetness of the raspberry. However, I think a more assertive ginger taste would do a much better job complimenting the sweet raspberry and clearing our pallete.

My rating:

Main:

This was named “Art of the Josper”. So fancy, I know! *sips wine and flips braids* This consisted of a charred New York sirloin steak, with a homemade devils sauce, some garlicky green beans and a very generous serving of fries. This looks like a small serving, but it is actually very filling especially considering the starters that came before this. The flavors of the steak were spot on! It was cooked medium rare, hence it was very juicy. The mild spice seasoning together with the fresh thyme and rosemary sprigs that were served with the steak were perfect with the meat. Ironically, the steak was more on the tough and chewy side, and I feel to enjoy your steak to the max, you do not need to spend most of the time chewing with so much effort. For this dish, the devils sauce was said to have a sweet and spicy flavor, but my palate took up only spicy notes and no sweet. A sweet-spicy flavor would have tied everything together so well. My favorite thing on the plate, to my surprise, were the garlicky French beans. They were so crunchy, cooked really simply but the flavors really worked! The freshness they brought to the dish was very much welcome. This was served with Kumala Pinotage Red Wine, another perfect food-drink pairing.

My verdict for the entree: 4 K-stars

Dessert:

photo credit: Joy Opiyo

We had a chocolate fondant cake with burnt orange ice cream and a butter scotch sauce. How delicious does that sound?!! I usually am not a chocolate cake person as I find most of them a bit too rich, however this one was moderately sweet and you could still appreciate the taste and warmth of the chocolate which I loved. On its own, the burn orange ice cream was cloyingly sweet and for me, the orange notes, which I was dying to taste not as strong or as prominent as I would have loved them to be. It would be my perfect ice cream were the sugar a little less and the tang of the orange more prominent. Sweetness of desserts is usually perfectly balanced out with tang of citrus fruits and I feel the ice cream needed the orange note to really come out. However, when you have some of the ice cream and some of the cake in one bite, everything balanced out. That is because the very very sweet ice cream is tempered by the moderately sweet chocolate cake. And you know chocolate and orange flavors go so well together. The butterscotch sauce was nice and creamy but again, a bit too sweet for me. I would like to point out that I do not have much of a sweet tooth. But those who love dessert more than life itself (LOL) licked clean their plates and enjoyed each bite.

K stars:

***

I rarely eat out, but this is one of the restaurants I would recommend to anyone! It is one of two restaurants in Nairobi that I would visit over and over and over again. Be it for date night, or a business meeting or some solo-meal time, Chop House will ignite all your senses!

OVERALL K-RATING:

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I always tell you guys not to get discouraged when you encounter kitchen blunders while cooking. Instead, you should learn from your mistakes, pick your self up, and try again util you get it right. Our mamas did not raise quitters :DD. As someone who cooks all the time, kitchen blunders and horrific recipe disasters happen from time to time. But with time, the frequency of the mistakes lessen since you get to know what works and what doesn’t. Your mistakes only aid in making you better if you choose to learn from them. Let no one lie to you that they never make mistakes in the kitchen. We all do! I showed you some of my massive fails in this post (read it if you haven’t). I stumbled a little bit while making my mahamri too. My first try had me create the hardest, flattest and most hideous mahamri LOL! I then sat down, thought hard and figured out where I went wrong and got it right in my next try. I will take you through how to make bomb mahamri, tell you exactly where I went wrong the first round and make sure you get it right on your first try <3

PREP TIME:  2 HOURS            COOK TIME: 30 MIN        MAKES:12

Ingredients

2 1/ 2 cups of all purpose flour

1 cup of coconut powder

1 tablespoon of freshly ground cardamom

6 tablespoons of sugar

2 tablespoons of ghee

1 tablespoon of instant yeast

1/2 a cup of warm milk

1/2 a cup of hot water

Method

In a bowl, mix your dry ingredients: the flour, crushed cardamom, yeast and sugar. Mix everything until well combined.

Add the water while mixing the content, followed by the milk. When all the content are roughly mixed together, melt the ghee and rub it all in. Knead the dough for a minimum of 15 minutes until it is no longer sticking to your hands and it soft and elastic. It is one hell of an arm workout LOL, but trust me, your tongue and tummy will thank you later. Allow it to rest and rise for a minimum of 40 minutes until it has doubled in size. Mine rested for 2 hours and sometimes my mom lets it rest overnight.

***

Mistake I made the first time:

1. I kneaded for less than 10 minutes. I mean,LOL at my self for this supreme laziness. And this manifested itself in the result.

2. I did not give my dough ample time to rest and rise. After kneading for less than ten minutes, i had the audacity to proceed to cook after letting my dough rest for just 10 minutes. Fail Kaluhi! Fail!

***

Once that is done. divide your dough into four balls, each about the size of an orange. Roll each one out and divide it into quarters.

Heat your oil  and proceed to fry until each side is golden brown. Your oil should be moderately hot and not too too hot or cold. As soon as the mahamri turns golden brown flip it. If it stays too long on the heat, especially on the inflated side, it will burst and oil will seep in, and for sure we do not want that.

***

Mistake I made first time:

3.  The oil I used was extremely hot. This made the surface of the mahamri attain a blistered appearance, or as the coastal people call them, vipelepele.

4. I did not use enough yeast, neither did my dough rest and rise, so the end result was nothing short of flat blistery burnt mahamri. But thank God I found my mistakes and aced it the next time.

***

Below is the end result of my failed mahamri attempt. But now that I have explained where I went wrong, and what you should do to get it right, I am sure you will ace it at first try.

Once you are done making your mahamri the right way ;)), remove form the heat and serve with your favorite savory meaty dish or mbaazi. I personally LOVE having my mahamri with good ol’ tea!

Perfectly airy, perfectly flavored and perfectly soft and smooth!

Having this made me reminice about the slow, relaxed, humid mornings of Lamu. Having mahamri every single morning was one of my highlights. And now that I can make my own right at home, this will be one of my favorite indulgence.

The soft sweet dough with the nutty flavor of the coconut perfectly complimented by the warm taste of freshly crushed cardamom is one of those things that will make any one of your mornings your best one yet! Now that you have the best recipe, along with do’s and don’ts, you really have to give this a try!

Cheers!

-K

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I have said this before, and I will say it again: Nairobi traffic can send you to the brink of insanity. Lord forbid it rains or a trailer overturns on Mombasa road. Everything comes to a stand still. Meetings get canceled, dates get postpone and flights get missed. All this can simply be fixed and avoided by being at the right place at the right time. I remember the time my cousin Khetiwe came home for her holiday visit, she nearly missed her flight because of on going construction of the Southern bypass at that time. We all wished we would have left earlier and had lunch at a nearby hotel then see her off at the airport without stress, running people over like mad race horses rushing and anxiety. Next time she is in the country, I will for sure recommend Lazizi Premier Hotel for lunch, which is right inside our airport, and will save us the hustle of crossing the through monstrous Nairobi traffic. Here is a full review of my stay there:

Ambiance

Lazizi Premier has a very warm yet modern ambiance that makes you feel right at home. There are plenty of beige and grey tones which are offset by reds and mustards. I initially thought that since the hotel is right at the airport, the noise level would be a bit on the higher side, but to my surprise, it was really serene. That was because the rooms have a vacuum sealed double layer of glass which locks out all the airport noise.

That makes sure your stay is cosy and your nights very peaceful. One thing they have to improve on is the strength of the Wi-Fi signal and its coverage too so that those who may need to get work done before embarking on their journey do not struggle.

Service

The service was pretty good. The staff were very professional and very chatty with all the guests that were staying there along with us. They were ready to help out whenever need arose all round the clock with the duty manager just a call away.

Price

Prices of the coffee shop and the restaurant range more or less the same as that of any other restaurant in Nairobi. Their cakes and pastries prices range between 400-600 shillings while having a buffet meal at the restaurant either at lunchtime or in the evening, inclusive of drinks may be about KES.3000, which is pretty awesome for a buffet meal. The restaurant, coffee shop and bar are open to everyone, so if you are in the airport vicinity you can definitely drop by and treat your tummy to something delicious.

In case you may be planning to make a longer stay and not just have a meal, the room rates range between 280-400 USD.

The food

The food at Lazizi is nice.  Kitchen 9 is their restaurant that offers buffet meals from breakfast to dinner. It echos more of a comforting meal you would have at the comfort of your home as opposed to your regular hotel food.

The buffet does have plenty of variety, with the dishes served over lunch different from those served during dinner. The cuisine that is mostly served is Kenyan, but with a modern eclectic twist to everything and some Indian dishes too. I personally could do with more defined flavors, more unexpected combinations and more character to the Kenyan dishes in particular. I was informed that they are still in the process of improving their menu with focus on having a banquet that will suit various palettes since they receive guests from such diverse backgrounds. Nevertheless, that is not an excuse for compromising on flavor. They should go bold with their flavors regardless of cuisine and adding more flavor to their food will take their menu from really nice to absolutely fantastic.

One of the dishes I enjoyed most during our stay was the coconut milk baked snapper and the mustard and mushroom lamb stew. Those two are memorable to me because they had such full flavor especially the coconut milk baked snapper. Everything else, unfortunately, was forgettable but I would eat for the sake of having something in my tummy but not for the experience. Out of 5, I would rate the food 2.9.

The fish was moist and the lamb was tender.  The variety is fantastic, but plenty of work needs to be done on ensuring all dishes deliver on flavor and not just a select few.

The coffee shop: Aroma is open 24 hours a day. So it does not matter if you are are going to receive your guest at 3 a.m or you are waiting for your flight at 11 p.m, you can always pass by Aroma and have some coffee and their delicious pastries. After all, we just can’t all fit in the airport Java, so why not come down to the more relaxed, more spacious Aroma Coffee Shop.

In comparison to the food at Kitchen 9, the pastries were very delicious, had as much variety but delivered better in terms of flavor. The pastries and cakes are made fresh each day, so you do not need to worry about getting sub par pastries.

In case you may not have much of a sweet tooth and want something more filling, they make pizzas in their custom stone oven as you watch. It is such small things that really excite me!

If you would like to enjoy a little drink while waiting to travel or just after receiving your guest, then Velocity bar is for you.  The bar has a clean modern and sophisticated feel and they serve a wide range of cocktails, mocktails for those who do not consume alcohol, draught beers and a variety of international wines.

I could always use some wine, honey! *Olivia Pope glass swirl*.

***

What else can you do at Lazizi Premier hotel in between meals and especially if you are staying over for 12 hours or more? Well, you can treat yourself to a full body massage or a sauna session at Euphoria Spa. Better yet, you could have a swim at their roof top infinity pool overlooking our national park. No better way to relax before embarking on your journey!

Next time you are making a trip out of the country, or receiving guests or family, do it the right way! Avoid the Nairobi rush and treat yourself to all Lazizi Premier Hotel has to offer :))

Cheers!

KALUHI <3

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“Absolutely delicious!!!” Those were the first words that popped into my mind after having my first bite of this creation! My eyes widened and my heart raced as I savored the flavors of my coconut crepes with passion fruit curd. I pushed my camera aside and sat on the floor and just finished the first crepe before I got up to get some tea and eat some more. That morning, I had woken up with  a severe Kraving for something sweet after enjoying lots of nyama-choma the past weekend. I just wanted something sweet so my mind went to work. I remembered taste a lemon curd I had at my friend’s place and I decided to make one but with passion fruit. To make my breakfast even more delicious, I decided to make crepes and add some desiccated coconut which I have lately been loving as an ingredient of late.Also, I am more of a crepe girl than a pancake girl :)). Have you ever made something for the very first time from the top of your head and shocked yourself with the amazing outcome? This was one of those days for me! I am sooooo excited to share this recipe with you, since you too can make this masterpiece and experience fantastic flavor with ingredients that are readily available to you.

PREP TIME: 10  MIN            COOK TIME: 30 MIN            SERVES:2

Ingredients

For the crepes

1 cup of all purpose flour

1 egg

3 tabespoons of sugar

3/4 cup of milk

2 tablespoons of dessicated coconut

For the curd

1 egg yolk

6 passion fruit

3 tablespoons of caster sugar/icing sugar

1 tablespoon of unsalted butter

Method.

First, begin working on your curd. In a bowl, add your egg yolk and the granulated sugar. Whisk those together until combined.

 It is a crucial ingredient since it makes the curd thick as it would a custard. To this core your passion fruit and whisk it all until completely combined. DO NOT use carton passion juice. You need the actual fruit in order to keep ingredient balance.

Take a sufuria and put some water to boil and place the bowl with the curd mixture over the sufuria. The steam from the water is what will be used to make the curd. I did not use direct heat while making this curd because the egg yolk will likely curdle, and no one has time to watch scramble eggs form among passion fruit (yuck!)

For your curd, you need to constantly stir for about 10 minutes until it had thickened and coats the back of your mwiko the same way uji (porridge) would when it is ready. At the 5 minute mark, add your butter. Once done, take form the heat and sieve.  Place this in your fridge for it to cool. You can make this in advance and just have it in your fridge so that when you need some, you can just get it without going through the whole process.

Now, for the crepes!

Place your egg and your sugar in a bowl and whisk until frothy and pale yellow. In another bowl, combine your flour and the desiccated coconut until well mixed. Add the frothy egg mixture and fold it in. Once roughly combined, add your milk bit by bit until the batter had the consistency of a light yoghurt. The lighter your batter, the thinner your crepes.

Proceed to cook your crepes by ladling your batter onto a greased pan, allowing each side to get about a minute on its surface or until golden brown. Look at how beautiful the coconut looks <3!

Fold your pancakes on your plate, drizzle some passion fruit curd over them, unleash your inner glutton and tear this down like the food beast you are ;))

The coconut crepes brought out the amazing taste of this nutty ingredient and goes so well in nearly everything sweet. It is an ingredient I have been really loving lately and I was so stoked it’s beauty shone through in this recipe. It was beautifully complimented by the sweet and mildly tang taste of the passion fruit curd. Besides passion fruit, you can use lemon, oranges or tangerines to make the curd. Citrus season is around the corner so book mark this recipe and fill your fridge with all kinds of delicious curds.

The beauty about this curd is, you can have it with both crepes and pancakes, as a drizzle over fresh maandazi or over freshly baked cake! Either way, you will love it <3

Ready to make your breakfast and brunch is unforgettable! Your first stop has to be this recipe!

To all things delicious!

-K

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I absolutely love mushrooms!!! I can have them during all mealtime and I enjoy how easily they can be incorporated into nearly any dish you want!! I was deep in my love affair with mushrooms as I told you on twitter when I decided to make this recipe. It turned out way better than I had imagined and my mom really really enjoyed my cumin chicken and mushroom fried rice. And in my book, if mom  loves it, you know it is really good!!

Before we get into it, I would like to thank each one of you from the bottom of my heart for your support and encouragement through the years up until my being part of “Beyond The Plate: Best Food Blogs From Around The World”.  You are appreciated and I am where I am because of you! Thank you for all the warm comments and good vibes you all sent my way!  {{{*HUG*}}}

Now, let’s get into this bomb recipe!!

PREP TIME: 15 MIN         COOK TIME: 20 MINUTES             SERVES: 4

Ingredients:

1 cup of basmati rice

400g of chicken breast, cubed

1 cup of button mushrooms, sliced

1 red onion, finely chopped

Coriander (Both stalks and leaves), chopped

5 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tablespoon of fresh rosemary

1/2 a teaspoon of cumin seeds

3 cinnamon sticks

1/2 a teaspoon of paprika

1 tablespoon of soy sauce

1 carrot, very finely cubed

Salt and pepper to taste

Vegetable oil for frying

Method

Put your rice to cook. Once the rice is done, set aside. As that is going, prepare the other ingredients. I used button mushrooms for this recipe, which I bought at 150 bob a pack, and I cooked three other dishes with. How gorgeous do these look!!

In a pan, heat some vegetable oil and add your red onion, coriander stalks, cumin seeds and cinnamon sticks. Cook these until fragrant. And let e tell you, your kitchen will smell like paradise!!! I purchased both my cumin seeds and cinnamon sticks from Tuskys at  60 shillings and 120 shillings a pack. If you do not get the whole spices, the already ground cumin and cinnamon will do.

Add your chicken strips, which should be cut into strips or cubes , together with the paprika, pepper, rosemary, finely cubed carrots and garlic.Because the chicken is cut into thin strips, it will cook through really fast. Once the chicken has just started to turn white, add the mushrooms and cook everything until the chicken is completely cooked through. This will take 8-10 minutes.

Add your cooked rice into the pan and a tablespoon of dark mushroom soy sauce soy sauce. I bought my soy sauce from Tuskys at 110 bob.  Toss this with a fork until everything is completely combined. If you use a mwiko you may end up mashing the rice even without intending to, so a fork is best for this.

You can also use left over rice for this recipe, you do not have to make fresh and that’s what makes fried rice my go-to mid-week meal! It transforms plain rice into the tastiest meal ever!! Make sure your rice is nice and singular ,or ‘moja moja’ as Kenyans may say, so that your cumin chicken and mushroom fried rice looks attractive and not like a lumpy broken-up mass.

Once done discard your cinnamon sticks (if you used them), add your coriander leaved and serve hot!

It is meaty, mushroomy, fragrant, spicy and herby! All good things set in perfect balance that come together and unleash such an unforgettable feast!! The warm taste of the cinnamon and cumin awakens all the flavor and the herby rosemary and coriander keeps everything fresh! The garlic beautifully compliments the chicken and the mushroom tied everything together. Who knew such deep flavors could be developed in 20 minutes!??!

How gorgeous does this plate look?? You can check out my other fried rice recipes here, here and here, but before you do please please give my cumin chicken and mushroom fried rice a go <3.

Happy Friday!

-K

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My mom and I have quite a number of likes we have in common when it comes to kitchen ingredients. Lately, we have been obsessed with a habanero dip we got from Kez Organics. I did an Instagram story (If you do not follow me in Instagram, you’re wasting your life!!) sometime back when I was making matumbo step-by step with this dip instead of regular pili pili, since this is how mum and I love it. We have been hooked since and everyone else at home is now almost as obsessed!

And you know what makes it even better? It is made by Kenyans, In Kenya, for Kenyans!!! It fills my heart with joy when we make such quality products and buy from our own. This is one of many Kez organics chili recipes I will be making because I just want you guys too to experience quality products that are readily available and deserve to be known by everyone. Now, lets get down to business!!! For today: Garlic Potato Wedges with Pineapple Habanero dip.

PREP TIME:        MAKE TIME:        SERVES: 6

Ingredients:

For the potatoes

15 new potatoes

1 large red onion, finely diced

1 bulb of garlic, minced

3 tablespoons of fresh rosemary

3/4 tablespoon of turmeric

3/4 tablespoon of paprika

Salt  and pepper to taste

Vegetable oil

For the dip

1 cup of mayonnaise

1/2 a cup of fresh pineapple

3 tablespoons of very finely chopped onion

1/2 a teaspoon of Kez Organics Habanero dip

1/2 a tablespoon of honey

1/2 a teaspoon of finely chopped rosemary

Method:

Wash and peel your potatoes. Slice them up into wedges and place them in a large bowl. Add the red onion, garlic, rosemary, paprika, turmeric, salt, pepper and some vegetable oil enough to just coat them.

Mix everything up until combined. Spread them on your tray and put them to bake at 200 degrees for about 40 minutes or until completely cooked and soft.

You may be wondering ” What if I do not have an oven, does that mean i’ll miss out on this recipe :((?” Well, worry not, I have you covered <3. If you do not have an oven, you can boil your potatoes together with the spices, rosemary, garlic and red onion. Once they are done, proceed to fry them in very hot oil to get the exterior nice and crunchy. Do not use tepid oil as you will get a soggy result.

As that is going, work on your sauce. I used my Kez organics Habanero dip in this sauce. A jar costs KES.400 and lasts a lifetime since it is very potent in my opinion. Check out their Instagram page for more deets.

In a blender, add your mayo, followed by your pineapples, and the honey. Your pineapple MUST be sweet. Blitz it until everything is completely combined.

Be careful not to make it too runny. If you do not have/do not like pineapples, you can use mangoes/sweet plums.  Ladle onto a small bowl add your habanero chili, very finely chopped onion and rosemary. Add the chili bit by bit and taste then adjust upwards if need be to suit your taste. Allow to chill for a few minutes.

Once everything is ready, serve.

One of my favorite contrasts is that between hot and cold; and you can be sure that the hot garlic potato wedges and the slightly chilled pineapple habanero dip delivered just that!

Not only was that hot-cold contrast so good, but the flavor definitely delivered! The garlicky-rosemary flavor of the potatoes wend well with the mild sweetness of the creamy habanero dip which had the same notes too.

The Potatoes that were crispy on the outside and nice and soft on the inside were the perfect accompaniment to this pineapple habanero dip. This pineapple habanero dip, with it’s sweet spicy herby kick, would also be so perfect with roast chicken or really spicy fish fingers.

So easy to make and such explosive flavors! I hope you enjoy this as much as I did!

Much love!

-K

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The school holidays are upon us and that means, those of us with siblings, the house is fuller, warmer and of course, noisier LOL! And as expected, one of the highlights of being back home is enjoying all the fantastic home food that cannot be recreated anywhere else. Remember how that was the ultimate joy of being home back during our boarding school days?? For my younger sisters who are home for the holidays, that is their MAIN joy of being home. I can’t blame them! They literally have a mental list of the things we (read my mum and/or me) need to make! One of my younger sisters was doing her rounds on Instagram and saw some pork ribs and decided that is what we MUST make during the weekend. Being the sweet, nice (sometimes overbearing, controlling, bossy) elder sister, I decided that Easter Sunday would be pork Sunday. Boy! Wasn’t I glad that my sister’s Kraving pushed me that direction! I gave you a sneak peek on my Twitter and Instagram and decided to give you this recipe today as opposed to next week because it is too bomb to hold on to any longer! For this glorious Friday: Some pork ribs choma with mango BBQ sauce.

PREP TIME: 48 HOURS (Relax fam! Includes marination time :DD)

COOK TIME: 20 MIN              SERVES: 3

Ingredients

For the marinade

3 tablespoons of honey

2 tablespoons of dark mushroom soy sauce

2 tablespoons of minced ginger

7 cloves of minced garlic

1/2 a tablespoon of habanero dip

For the Mango bbq sauce:

1 red onion, finely chopped

4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 cup of ketchup

3/4 cup of mango pulp

3 tablespoons of brown sugar

1/2 a teaspoon of cayenne pepper

1/2 a tablespoon of black pepper

1 tablespoon of worcestershire sauce

Salt to taste

1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar

Method

Prepare all your marinade ingredients. In a bowl, add all of them and mix until evenly distributed. Pour this over your pork ribs and ensure it covers every inch. Allow it to  marinate for not less than 24 hours (I let mine marinate for 48 hours, refrigerated). Remember, the longer it marinates, the deeper and more intense the flavors. Totally worth the wait!

Once done, proceed to choma (roast) or if you do not have an outdoor grill, or the weather is not conducive for outdoor grilling, you can use your oven. I opted for a flame roast since I know each one of you can use that option plus I was going for that smoky flavor that would otherwise be missing were I to use an oven.

Pork roasts really fast, so depending on the thickness of your ribs, you will need about 20 minutes. Once done, slice and set aside.

For the sauce, add the red onions and garlic into a sauce pan and let them cook until fragrant. Be careful not to burn the garlic. Then, add the ketchup,sugar, vinegar, cayenne pepper, worcestershire sauce, black pepper and the star of the dish, mango pulp. This is similar to the triple D sauce we made here, which I modified slightly and used for this recipe since its tried and tested. As for the mango make sure it is sweet and blended completely into a pulp so that it gets incorporated well into the sauce. You can use any other fruit for your bbq sauce if you want that unique sweet kick and fuller flavor.

Cook this down for about 10-15 minutes until the sauce thickens and all the flavors come together. You can adjust the chili-sugar ratio to suit your taste and personal preferences.

After the sauce is ready, take your pork ribs and baste the sauce all over them. Be generous with the sauce, don’t hold back :)). Once done, dig right in!!!!

Look at the these perfect beauties!!! Care for one?

You can never ever go wrong with sweet-spicy flavors when it comes to pork. The marinade sunk in to the meat so beautifully and so intensely that the meat had such amazing flavor on its own. Add the mango bbq sauce into the mix and you have pork ribs choma that you will be thinking off every night before you fall asleep!

The slight char and smoky flavor which I LOVE was also a plus for me! Tender smokey pork, with a fruity spicy bbq sauce which you can all make right at home…doesn’t get better than this!!! One of my twitter followers @mikefromruai always says, Friday is meant for pork, but after having these pork ribs choma with mango bbq sauce, I say, everyday is meant for pork!

You MUST MUST MUST try out this recipe!

To great food,

-Miss K

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One of my highlights of 2016 that I told you of in this post was my visit to Johannesburg with Google Africa. I had always wanted to visit South Africa, and having this chance to experience Johannesburg was one week I will live to remember. Besides their absolutely rich culture, vibrant people and amazing weather (just like Nairobi’s <3), I totally loved their food! From the familiar like moqhoudu, which is known as matumbo to Kenyans, I absolutely loved bobotie, sosaties, milk tarts and everything else. I loved eating salmon and litchi every morning. We also had lots of lamb and oxtail while down south. My favorite dish was a lamb stew we had at Vuyo’s; it was stewed with rosemary and I loved it!!! I ate the most that day (as usual LOL!) but I couldn’t help myself.  With inspiration from that unforgettable week in the Rainbow Nation,I decided to recreate this dish based on the flavor notes my palate could remember, the ingredients I had and of course with a twist of my own. I was more than satisfied by the outcome and I hope you enjoy my rosemary mint marinated lamb stew as well :))

PREP TIME: 24 HOURS        COOK TIME: 40 MIN        SERVES:3

**Prep time is inclusive of marination time

Ingredeints

For the marinade

1/2 a kg of lamb

5 cloves of garlic

1 cup of plain yogurt

1 tablespoon of seasalt

2 tablespoons of fresh rosemary

2 tablespoons of finely chopped mint

1/2 a cup of fresh coriander, chopped

1/2 a teaspoon of chili paste (regular bird’s eye chilli will work as well)

For the stew

4 new potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 carrots, cubed

1 tablespoon of black pepper

4 cloves of garlic, minced

Bay leaves (1, dried)

1/2 a tablespoon of fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon of tomato paste

1 red onion, finely chopped

1 large tomato, finely chopped

Fresh coriander, finely chopped

Salt to taste

Vegetable oil for frying

Method

In a container, add your cubed lamb, together with your marinade ingredients. Mix it all up until completely combined and allow it to sit refrigerated for 24 hours or up to 48 hours. Remember, the longer you marinate, the more intense the flavors shall be.

***

For other meat stews, check out my go to marinades:

*For beef: Chili, minced red onion and green bell pepper, minced garlic,

*For goat meat: check out what I used from this recipe.

*For chicken: Rosemary, Garlic, ACV or balsamic vinegar, turmeric

*For a bomb pork roast: check out this other post I did

***

Once done, put the lamb to boil, along with all the contents of the marinade until tender. Drain any excess water and set aside.

In a pan, add your chopped red onion and garlic and sautee until softened. Add the tomatoes, bay leaves, finely chopped rosemary, pepper and tomato paste along with 1/4 cup of hot water and let this simmer for about 5 minutes until all the ingredients meld. I bought my dried bay leaves from Tuskys at about 120 bob and it goes really really well with all kinds of stews. You can of course adjust the spices and use the ones you have at hand/prefer <3. I like my lamb really herby so that the distinct flavor of the meat stands out.

Add the potatoes and after 5 minutes, add your lamb and let these cook down together slowly until the potatoes are cooked through.

Cover with a lid and let this simmer on medium high heat for about 10-15 minutes. Three minutes before serving, add your carrots. I add my carrots towards the end so that the cook but retain some texture which adds more body to any stew. Once the time has lapsed, garnish with your freshly chopped coriander and serve.

My lamb stew was so beautifully tender, very richly seasoned and so hearty! I had it for all mealtimes, except breakfast until it was finished. You could taste the rosemary, feel the kick of the chili and savor the very delicious and distinct taste of the lamb.

Like any other red meat, you can enjoy your lamb with a starch of choice. Be it rice, chapati, potato wedges or ugali, this will not disappoint you!

Keep it K!

xx

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I had wanted to type out this blog Wednesday last week so that it could be ready and scheduled for you guys by Friday last week. However my Wednesday was at the mercy of someone who could not keep time and just like that my whole day was wasted and ruined (and they did not apologize for keeping me waiting for 3 hours!! *flips table*). If you know me well, you know ‘African Timing’ in one of my top pet peeves and just like that my mood was severely dampened. I got home so tired, and quite disappointed, but decided to get my mood up by talking to you guys <3.I did that by holding an ‘ASK ME ANYTHING’ on all my social media platforms. My Facebook and Instagram audience are a bit more reserved and I think scared to actually ask me anything (why are you scared of me guys? I don’t bite) But my twitter fam went all out! That is where the party was! I laughed non-stop from 6 p.m to 11 p.m! When I told them to ask me anything, Lord, I opened Pandora’s Box and funny enough, I thoroughly enjoyed it! You can check it out here!

I finally got time later last week to type this blog and three other recipes I am looking forward to sharing with you in the coming weeks. So first, allow me to share something really sweet and delicious that my two younger sisters enjoyed and I know you will too!

PREP TIME: 20 MIN     MAKE TIME: 20      MIN MAKES: 2

Ingredients

400g of raspberries

3 tablespoons of cognac

1 teaspoon of orange zest

1/2 a tablespoon of finely chopped mint

1 cup of plain yogurt

2 sweet bananas

1/2 a cup of roughly chopped milk chocolate

1 tablespoon of caster sugar

Method
In a pan, add your raspberries and caster sugar. On medium low heat, let these cook down until the raspberries have just started to seep. I bought my raspberries from CarreFour where they were going for 89 shillings a pack, which I think was pretty fair! My mint cost 20 bob.Besides raspberries, you can use plums, grapes, strawberries, mango; any sweet fruit.

Add the mint, orange zest and cognac and let this simmer down for about 5-7 minutes. When I say orange zest, I mean the grated rind of an orange. You can use any other citrus fruit, preferably limes or tangerine. Be careful to only grate the colored part as the white part will introduce  bitterness to your sauce that is totally not needed.

I used cognac because that is what I had at hand. For this dessert, whiskey, brandy or rum would make perfect substitutes for cognac. If you do not take alcohol, you can remove it entirely from this recipe but note it will not taste the same as mine did.

You can use this sauce over your crepes, pancakes  and fresh cakes to add a little kick to your brunch sessions. So easy to make yet adds a lot of character to almost anything it is added to!

The alcohol will burn off as the sauce simmers and the sauce flavors to completely meld. You will not get drunk when you have this dessert, but what we are going after is the deeper flavors and notes of the beverage sans the alcohol. It will look like this once you are done:

Once done, remove from the heat and allow to cool.

Begin layering your parfait, starting with the yogurt at the bottom, then your bananas, then the boozy raspberry syrup, some chocolate. There is no rule for the order of layering, this is just what I went by when I was layering mine. :))

Repeat the same till the top of your tumbler than garnish with some fresh raspberries and serve.

For me, this boozy banana and raspberry parfait was the perfect dessert or snack if you may! It had the perfect balance of fresh raspberry, tang flavor or the orange zest that balanced out the sweetness of the syrup. The chocolate went really well with both the mint and the zest. The dairy of the yogurt and the taste of the sweet bananas was soft to the palate and complimented all the sweet notes there in. The booziness of the cognac ties everything together and adds character to what would otherwise be an ordinary dessert.

You can try this out with any sweet fruit you have at hand and any other alcoholic drink as I have recommended above. Play around with this recipe and let me know how it goes and which bomb [insert fire emoji] flavors you develop.

And the beauty about this is, you can have it slightly chilled on a hot afternoon, or at room temperature on a cooler day indoors. Either way, your tummy will thank you!

To all things delicious!

-K

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I have always loved the hotter months of the year. I love that I do not have to plan on carrying a coat in case it rains. I love that it is the time I can wear my short dresses and flirty skirts to my satisfaction. I love that I eat plenty of my favorite fruit,mangoes, and the weather forces me to drink more water than I usually would. I live for December-March! We have just entered our rainy season and I am actually really digging the cooler weather which is a bit out of character for me. I love my boots and sweaters. I love my hot chai masala and biscuits as I watch Scandal (My current favorite character is Eli Pope!) I love the pitter-patter of rain on the roof top as I drift to sleep. I find dark clouds so pretty! I love the indulgent food this weather compels me to have! One of them, which is quite warming and filling is this cumin and clove viazi vya rojo, which I am happy to share with you and hope you will enjoy as much as I do!

PREP TIME: 20 MIN     COOK TIME:20 MIN      SERVES: 3

Ingredients

7 potatoes

1 sprig of rosemary

4 cloves of garlic

1 table spoon of tamarind paste (or lemon juice)

1 onion diced

4 tomatoes, blended

1 clove

1/4 teaspoon of whole cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon of paprika

1/2 teaspoon of royco

1/4 tablespoon of chili flakes (or fresh chili)

Salt

Method

Peel the potatoes and slice them into wedges and place them to boil together with the rosemary, cumin, clove and garlic until 3/4 way cooked. The flavors will sink into the potatoes and that is exactly what we want. Once done, remove from the heat and set aside.

In a pan, add some vegetable oil, together with the red onion and garlic. Let this cook until it is fragrant. Add the tomatoes, the ukwaju paste (or 3 tablespoons of lemon juice), paprika, chili flakes and royco. Check out how you can extract your Ukwaju (tamarind) from this post. I used Royco Sundried because it has a deeper color and added paprika to enhance this amazing quality.

You can also use the original Royco if that is what you prefer, however, you will need to add some turmeric too to make the color pop! Regardless of the Royco variation you choose to use, the outcome will be bomb! Let this simmer down for about 5-7 minutes so that all the flavors really meld and come together.

Once the time had lapsed, add the potato wedges and allow them to finish cooking through in the sauce so that they absorb all the flavors.

Once done, garnish with some fresh rosemary/basil/dhania and serve. Look at this amazing beauty! **licks screen**

Not only did the potatoes have such a beautiful abundance of flavors due to the herbs and spices they were cooked with, but the rojo also had such fullness which perfectly complimented the potatoes. The warming qualities of the clove and garlic make this meal even more comforting as we set into the rainy season.

You can serve this with a fish dish such as my chili coconut tilapia masala or my meatball tikka masala and I can guarantee you that this will be a feast you will live to remember! So so soooo delicious yet also very very simple to prepare!

To bomb recipes!

-K

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