We simply love chicken! Growing up in Kenya, I learned from a tender age that chicken was cooked for special occasions or special, respected visitors. When we visited my grandparents, they would immediately send for one to be slaughtered. So in celebration of this bird, we will cook fried chicken doused in coconut cream!

Ingredients

1 whole chicken (pieced)

2 medium sized red onions

1 cm long piece of ginger

2 cloves of garlic

2 tomatoes

Tomato paste

Dark soy sauce

Coconut cream

Parsley

Turmeric

Let’s Cook!

Chop the onions, tomatoes, ginger and garlic. Pour some vegetable oil into a saucepan and let it get hot before putting the onions in. Let the onions sauté or cook until they are soft. Do not wait for them to brown as they will continue cooking as you add the other ingredients. Pour in the garlic and let it cook for about 1 minute as you continue stirring, then add half a teaspoon of turmeric and then the ginger. Continue stirring for another 30-40 seconds or so before adding the chicken. Be careful will the ginger because it burns easily, leaving a bitter taste.

Stir the mixture well, cover the saucepan, lower the heat and let it simmer for about 1-2 minutes, depending on how lean or fat the chicken is. If the chicken fatty, you may allow for the longer simmer as its own fat will break down and ensure it doesn’t stick to the pan.

Now take the dark soy sauce and dribble 1-1.5 table spoons on the chicken and stir well. Add the tomatoes and salt to taste, stir again, cover the pan and leave to simmer for 10 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon of tomato paste, ¾ cup of chicken stock or water and leave to simmer for 20 minutes.

As the chicken simmers, chop your parsley. Take 3 table spoons of coconut cream powder and mix with 5 table spoons of water. When the 20 minutes are up, pour in the coconut cream and let it cook for 2 minutes. Take the parsley and add it to the chicken, leaving it to cook for no more than 5 minutes.

Your delicious meal is now ready to serve. You may garnish with additional fresh parsley as required. The coconut cream will give the chicken a sweet taste so this would go very well with the contrasting woody flavor of rosemary fried rice or the fresh flavor of mint or thyme rice.

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Unknown

01:48:00

      There are many ways to prepare rice. You may steam, boil or fry it. This recipe infuses the strong aromatic flavor of the rosemary herb to basmati rice, making it pleasing to the eye and tantalizing to the taste buds.

Ingredients.

2 cups of Basmati Rice

4 ½ cups of water

1 Red Onion

Vegetable oil

½ teaspoon of salt

5-10 rosemary leaves

Let’s Cook!

 In a kettle, boil 5 cups of water. Measure two cups of Basmati rice into a clean bowl and wash the rice. It is sufficient to give the rice at least two thorough washes. Slice the onion by cutting it in half, placing the flat side on the chopping board and slicing from the top side of the onion to the bottom, lengthwise. This will give you nice long half rings that will make the dish look pleasant too. Pluck a few rosemary leaves (not too many as rosemary is strong in both aroma and flavor) and clean. If the leaves are small, I prefer to use them whole but if they are large, I reduce their number and cut them in half. Again this is just to ensure that the rosemary doesn’t overpower your meal.

In a large saucepan, heat your vegetable oil until hot. Ensuring that the oil is hot helps to seal in the flavor of the onion. Put the onion in the saucepan and stir gently, separating the rings of the onion. Sprinkle the ½ teaspoon of salt over the onion and stir. Reduce the heat and watch closely because we want the onions to be golden brown and it very easy to go from golden brown to burnt! When the onion is golden brown you will detect a delicious sweet unique aroma that will also infuse into the rice. You may now pour the rice into the saucepan and stir. Ensure that the rice is completely coated in the oil and onion until you begin to feel it begin to stick to the pan. When you see this, measure and pour in the 4 ½ cups of hot water. Continue stirring to ensure that the rice is no longer sticking to the pan. Take the rosemary and drop into the water in the saucepan with the rice. Let the water boil for about five minutes and then cover the saucepan.

Depending on the amount of rice and the preparation, rice takes about twenty to thirty minutes to cook. However, I find that the best way is to observe. This is largely because there are different types of rice grain too. Once you can no longer see water on top of the rice, reduce the heat. This should be after about 15 minutes or so. When you next lift the lid (8-10 minutes after reducing the heat) and begin to hear popping sounds, you are almost done. At this point, do not cover the saucepan again. Leave to cook for another five minutes or so to allow any excess steam to get out. This ensures that the rice does not become sticky but instead separates grain from grain.

By this time your kitchen will be filled with the lovely aroma of rosemary and fried onion. The rice in the saucepan with have a slight brown tinge caused by the golden brown onions. The rosemary and onions will be resting on top of the saucepan, looking splendid! Your rosemary fried rice is ready to serve. You will love it!

1

Unknown

23:34:00

 Growing up in Kenya, beans are an almost near staple food. They form an integral part of most of our meals, each one prepared differently from the other. This is one way of preparing a bean curry using Yellow Beans, one of over a dozen varieties of beans available in Kenya.

Ingredients

2 cups of yellow beans

3 medium sized carrots

1 red onion

1 clove of garlic

½ teaspoon of ginger

Ground Garam Masala

2 tomatoes

Green capsicum

Coriander

Preparation

Boil the beans until they are ready and drain the excess water. Dice the onion. Crush the clove of garlic. Dice the tomatoes. Cut the capsicum into size-able cubes. Grate the carrots. Dice the coriander ensuring that you include at least half of the stalk too. They not only add to the beauty of the dish but are full of the coriander flavor!

Let’s cook!

Pour some cooking oil in a pan. When the oil is hot put the onions in the pan. Cook until the onions have softened. Add garlic and stir. Add ginger and stir. After about a minute, add the capsicum. Follow this shortly with the tomatoes and stir.

Take half a teaspoon of garam masala and sprinkle into the mixture. Add salt to taste. Take the grated carrots and add. Pour half a cup of water and mix well. Add one knob of Knorr beef cube, stir and leave to simmer for 3-5 minutes.

Add the beans and mix well. Add another half cup of water. If you prefer, you may use vegetable stock in place of water.

Take the coriander and mix it in at this point. Leave the food to simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Serve hot. When you are plating, garnish with fresh tomatoes, parsley and enjoy!

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Unknown

19:04:00