Tag: food

Jack fruit Jam

~ Sophie ~ 2 Comments

fene jam 1_zpsveevsmd7

A lot of jack fruit has been happening eaten lately. I am sure to find out if it is the season or if we just got lucky. One great thing though is that we are more than excited that we can finally harvest from our backyard tree after more than five years of waiting. So I got to work because work is involved in eating jack fruit. From cutting to removing the individual pieces and then removing seeds while making sure you are not sucked in by the sap -> Pure joy! I started out with Jack fruit scones (which I will be sharing soon in a project I am working on). Since there was still a lot of jack fruit left, an idea to make jam hit too and here we are. This jam is so good. The perfect pungent sticky sweetness with a slight spicy kick from the ginger and your mornings will never be the same! Did I mention it is as easy to make as 123? Because sometimes we need hustle free cooking in our lives. Make this jam and you are good to go for more than a week.

What you will need:

1 C. Fully ripe jack fruit

½ C. Sugar

1 C. Water

½ Tsp. Ginger powder

 

Method:

  1. Finely dice the jack fruit and set aside.
  2. In a clean pan, combine diced jack fruit with sugar, water and ginger powder. Bring the mixture to a boil.
  3. Once it has boiled, reduce the fire to medium and let the mixture simmer till the jack fruit is almost translucent and the water has reduced to half.
  4. Remove from fire and let the jam cool. Store in a jar and keep refrigerated for three weeks.

 

Now all we need is bread. Also you can double (or triple) the recipe and give the jam out as gifts to friends!

Have a great week

🙂

Sophie

Char-grilled Garden Egg Fritters + 4 Years Blogging

~ Sophie ~ 6 Comments

Its a new month and this one has come with a birthday. It is incredible  what has happened over the course of four years! Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would accomplish all these amazing things. It is stuff dreams are made of and sometimes frequently I pinch myself.  I am grateful that all the struggles, failures and hard work bring us to here, in this moment. I would not have it any other way.  I am also grateful for all the amazing people I have met along the way.  I do not know what the future holds but with all that has happened I cant help but be excited for the next four years. With that said, expect a huge surprise (that I am working on day and night) at the end of the month, a brand new feature and much more soon. You can follow me on Instagram for behind the scenes and some random awesome food inspiration.

Now for a celebratory dish, I thought it would be a fun and great idea to  for us to cook up something totally new and exciting. After all that is what AKIU is about. If you are not familiar with garden eggs (ntula), here is a link I found to help you out. They are common in central Uganda and are used to make soups and stews.

We have a roughly 2 by 4 meters garden (sorry I have no concept of space) full of garden eggs. The thing with growing a lot of the same food is that there comes a time when you run out of creative ways to cook it. Now that I have discovered this new twist on garden eggs, I feel like I should cook them all like this so they are easier to eat. This dish is great for garden egg lovers and a fun surprise for the haters.

What you will need:

16 Green garden eggs (ntula)

½ C. Flour

¼ C. Parsley, finely chopped

1 Large egg

½ C. Water

2 Tbsp. Mukene powder

1 Tsp. Ginger

½ Tsp. Cinnamon

Salt

Pepper

Oil for frying

 

Observations:

  1. There are many varieties of garden eggs. I used the green bitter ones. If you do not like the bitter taste, use the white ones.
  2. To avoid cooking eggs that are damaged inside, look carefully for holes on the skin of eggs. Eggs without holes are not damaged.
  3. Char-grilling the garden eggs adds a smoky flavour.
  4. If you do not have mukene powder, use fish sauce.
  5. You can use any herb you have around. I had parsley so I used it.
  6. You may need more or less water depending on your desired consistency of the batter.
  7. If the eggs are overly charred, you can remove some of the charred pieces but leave the flesh.

Method

  1. Wash and half the garden eggs. Char-grill them on a charcoal stove. Remove from fire. Set aside to cool.
  2. In a separate bowl, add flour, ginger, cinnamon, salt, pepper, and mukene powder. Mix well. Next add the parsley, egg and water and mix till a think fine batter forms.
  3. Place a pan of oil on fire and wait for it to get hot
  4. Cut off the stalks and then dip the egg halves in batter.  Deep fry till they are golden brown.
  5. Serve as is or with your favourite soup, stew or dip.

If you try this recipe, share your creations with #AkitchenInUg

🙂

Sophie

5 Ingredients: Double Cream Mango Ice Pops (Popsicles)

~ Sophie ~ 5 Comments

Mango ice loly - AKIU

Let us talk about the weather today. It honestly is frustrating sometimes.  A few weeks ago it rained so hard for two days I thought the rainy season was finally here. I went ahead and planted herbs because of the excitement.  Right after I put the seeds in the ground, the rain disappeared. And it has been that way ever since the year began, raining and shining sporadically.  Sometimes you want to have a cup of tea and other times a refreshing chilled drink. Because the weather is so unpredictable, I thought it would be a good idea to be prepared at all times. Have hot water in a thermos flask and these refreshing mango ice pops in the freezer. Awesome, right?

 

These creamy mango ice pops are a little bit of creamy + refreshing + chilled + sweet.  It is shooting two birds with one arrow by beating the heat and satisfying your sweet tooth. The best part, they are easy to make because you only need five basic ingredients. 5! With my friends over at Paramount Dairies, I bring you these double cream mango Ice Pops that are fun to make and eat as well.

mango ice loly 4 - AKIU

What you will need:

Mango Ice Pops

Ripe Mangoes (6-8)

1 C. Double cream

1 C. Sugar

1 C. Water

Cinnamon Sugar

½ Tbsp. Ground Cinnamon

2 Tbsp. Sugar

 

Observations:

  1. The mangoes have to be fully ripe to blend well.
  2. Popsicle sticks a quite hard to find here.  An alternative is a pack of bamboo skewers (that can be found at Capital Shoppers, Nakasero).
  3. Letting the mixture freeze for an hour before putting in the sticks lets the bottom harden and thus hold the sticks in place.

 

Method

Mango Ice Pops

 

 

Wash and peel the mangoes. Cut the flesh off the seeds. It should equal to 4 cups. Place in the freezer for 1 hour. In a clean pan, combine sugar and water and stir till dissolved. Place the sugar mixture on fire and let it come to a boil. Once it has started boiling, remove fire and let the syrup cool. Once the syrup is at room temperature, put it in the freezer for an hour.  After the syrup and mangoes have chilled for an hour,  Place them in the blender and add the cream.  Blend till fine smooth and creamy. Pour the mixture in the plastic cups/mould and freeze for an hour. After an hour, insert the sticks and continue freezing over night.  When it is time to eat the ice pops, run the cups/moulds under water, making sure the water does not get into the ice pops themselves, and gently pull from the cup/mould.  Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.  Serve on a scorching hot day.

For the cinnamon sugar,  combine the sugar and cinnamon and stir well.

🙂

Sophie

 

This post is made possible by Paramount Dairies. You can find Paramount Double Cream and other cream products in major supermarkets in Kampala.