Nairobi Kitchen

Are you tired of bland and uninspiring meals? Do you long for an easy way to add a burst of flavor to your dishes? Look no further! In this blog post, we're diving into the world of homemade peri-peri seasoning, a versatile spice blend that will elevate your culinary creations to a whole new level. Whether you're a seasoned chef or a novice cook, this recipe is for everyone who appreciates the magic of spices in the kitchen. This peri-peri spice mix is perfect for a wide range of food lovers: Spice Enthusiasts. If you're someone who enjoys a bit of heat and a medley of aromatic spices, you're in for a treat.

Marinades are made to up the flavour of whichever meats they are rubbed on. This aromatic blend of spices and yogurt creates a symphony of tastes that will leave you craving more. Whether you're a seasoned chef or a novice in the kitchen, this recipe is designed to impress and delight. Embark on a culinary adventure with our Chicken Biryani Marinade, a recipe that transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary. Using chicken marinade is a simple yet crucial step to infuse your poultry with flavor and tenderness. Whether you're grilling, baking, or sautéing, here's a step-by-step guide on how to use chicken marinade effectively:

I am always looking for sauces to add to my pantry since they add that extra flavour to my dishes. I have fish sauce and worcestshire sauce so adding Oyster sauce to my collection seemed like the natural thing to do. Oyster sauce is made from boiled oysters and seasoning. Despite the name, the savoury taste does not have a fishy taste to it. This is because the sauce undergoes a boiling process that retains all the flavour and removes most of the fishy taste that you might think it has.

When it comes to versatile kitchen staples, soy sauce is one of the most powerful yet understated condiments sitting in your pantry. A dark, salty liquid with a rich umami depth, soy sauce has been a cornerstone of Asian cuisines for centuries, yet its uses extend far beyond stir-fries or sushi dipping. With just a splash, you can completely transform a dish, turning something bland into bold, savory, and memorable. This week, let’s celebrate soy sauce as our “Sauce Seasoning of the Week” and explore the many creative ways you can use it in your everyday cooking. Soy sauce is more than just a salty condiment. It has layers of flavor: salty, slightly sweet, earthy, and packed with umami, that “fifth taste” that makes food deeply satisfying. Due to its complexity, soy sauce can serve as a flavor enhancer in dishes far beyond its traditional Asian context.

I love spices and as much as I love dried spices, nothing beats the fresh ones that have wholesome nutrients and benefits. There are so many varieties of peppers that sometimes its hard to kerp up with the names or even types. Peppers come in the sweet and hot kinds, some you can eat raw and include in salads but today's variety has a different story all together. Green Bullet Peppers are usually a hot peppers variety that is too hot to eat raw. 

Homemade spice mix are the best! Whether you want to bake, grill or fry, spice mixes give your food that much more deliciousness. Spice mix can be either sweet like pumpkin spice or savoury like piri piri spice mix. I made some delicious Cajun Chicken Drumsticks that were so yummy, there was no left over. Simple to make and takes little time to make, all the ingredients are readily available in your local market!

Worcestershire Sauce, I never really know how to pronouce that name. But this sauce is very much a part of my kitchen pantry. This is because it is a staple used for marinades and as a condiment. The sauce is also a key ingredient in making bloody mary cocktail. Worcestershire sauce is made from vinegar and flavored with onions, anchovies, garlic, molasses, tamarind plus other seasonings. There are three types of Worcestershire sauce, they include gluten free worcestershire sauce, vegetarian or vegan worcestershire sauce and low sodium worcestershire sauce

Bell peppers are also known as sweet peppers or capsicum. They come in various colors like red, yellow, green, orange, white, purple and even mixed colored peppers which exist during parts of the ripening process. Green peppers are less sweet and slightly more bitter than yellow, orange or red peppers. Bell peppers are made up of water which is 94% and carbs like fructose, sugars and glucose. They also contain nutrients like vitamins, minerals like calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc and sodium. You can cook bell peppers in so many ways. You can skewer with meats or veggies to make kabobs, you can shred into thin strips and add to your coleslaw.

My first memories of coconut oil is when we were really young and mum used to apply it to our hair immediately the braids were off so we can go off to the salon. There was no need for our hairs to be straightened out or blow dried because the coconut oil was instant in softening the hair for it to be combed. Us and our kinky hair needed that coconut oil on our hairs lest it be hell! combing it out. Fast forward to now and I know about coconut oil for cooking with. So far mu most used coconut products are coconut cream, coconut milk and desiccated coconut. I love the taste, flavor and aroma of coconut in food. I have used coconut in my rice dish, I have made coconut french toast that was totally delish! Coconut oil has plenty of benefits that you will be glad you have been using it or if you have not then welcome onboard.

As you all know I love spices, both savoury and sweet. They just give food that EXTRA! vibe. Whether is is sweet dessert or spicy curries, you will never go wrong when it comes to adding them to your dishes. My spice for the week is Pilau Masala Whole spice mix. This spice mix contains cumin seeds, black pepper, cinnamon sticks, cardamom and cloves. Using whole spices adds that authentic natural aroma and taste. When using whole spices you can ground them in a mortar or electric grinder. I like using them whole especially when making Korma. I have cooked pilau with ground spices so this month look forward to a whole spice pilau affair.

Peeling raw or green bananas has always been a hustle for me, probably why I haven't been cooking them. Whenever you peel green raw bananas, there is that sticky stuff that gets left behind on your fingers and hands. Plus there is a dark purplelish stain that also sticks to your palms. You need to thoroughly wash your hands after with something rough in order to remove thr stain and stickiness. I have heard of tips like smearing your hands with oil before chopping raw green bananas, soaking the bananas in salty water first before chopping or even covering or wrapping your hands with plastic paperbags and the chopping. Well apart from being such a hustle, paperbags were banned in Kenya so that is scrapped off. The method that I have seen is fast and though it does not scrape off all the stain, at least the stickiness is reduced and you do finish much faster. Another advantage is that you will not be chopping off too much flesh from the green raw bananas. So here is how I peel green raw bananas that I used for my matoke recipe.

Happy New Month Loves! Let's kick of this month with one of my favorite ingredients I use in the kitchen many times. Eggs! I love eggs, if I could I would eat everyday which really is not recommended by nutritionists or dieticians. Every other day is cool though. I have cooked with eggs very many times, whether it is on their own like my tomato scrambled eggs and bacon cilantro scrambled eggs, my ugandan rolex which had fried eggs and used the eggs in pancakes or even baked goods. I just realized I haven't cooked with boiled eggs, coming soon later on this month. Eggs are the most nutritious good since they contain so many essential nutrients like Vitamin A B2 B5 B6 B12 E, Calcium and Zinc. They contain anti oxidants that help prevent mascular degenaration and cataracts. The high protein in eggs helps reduce calorie intake in the day because they are satiating.

Making your own spice mixes is the best decision you can ever make for yourself and your family. Homemade is the best because you know what exactly you have in the mix and to what quantities you like. Pumpkin spice mix is a mixture of some of the warm spices that are readily available anywhere in the market. Spices bring life and flavor to food, whether you are using a single spice or mixing it up to ump the flavor and intensity, spices should be an integral part of your pantry. Spices not only add these wonderful memory invoking taste, they are healthy as well, and combining the spices gives you the added benefit of getting the most out of the nutrients the spices provide. It really takes  few second to make this awesome spice blend and will keep for several weeks if you do not use it regularly. Use pumpkin spice mix for several recipes like pumpkin pie, pumpkin latee or even to flavour teas. I love how fragrant and warm this mix is, gives you the feeling of seeping a warm cuppa tea, legs crossed over your sofa on a dreary rainy day, so comforting. 

The poblano is a mild chili pepper originating in the state of Puebla, Mexico. Dried, it is called ancho or chile ancho, from the Spanish word ancho ("wide"). Stuffed fresh and roasted it is popular in chiles rellenos poblanos. While poblanos tend to have a mild flavor, occasionally and unpredictably they can have significant heat. Different peppers from the same plant have been reported to vary substantially in heat intensity. The ripened red poblano is significantly hotter and more flavorful than the less ripe, green poblano.  Preparation methods include: dried, stuffed, in mole sauces, or coated in whipped egg (capeado) and fried. After being roasted and peeled (which improves the texture by removing the waxy skin), poblano peppers are preserved by either canning or freezing.

Chia seeds are a great superfood that is filled with great nutrients and benefits for the body. They are rich in protein and calcium, an excellent sauce of omega 3, high in dietary fibre and a powerful antioxidant

Making your own herb rub is the best feeling in the world! I mean, apart from having your own quantity you have the herb rub fresh. Plus the added advantage of smelling the sweet aroma as the spices meld together while blending. So far my best homemade rub I have made so far.