IT'S A THROWDOWN

Christmas is here, you're in shagz for the next two days. Your pilau is on the jiko, the entire village can smell it. Your grandma's creepy neighbour strays into the compound and takes his place in the sitting room. No welcome needed. It's the season, so you ignore him. After all, it's nice to see long lost cousins and meet some distant relatives for the first time. The fellow is introduced to you as "The husband of your grandmother's niece on her babu's side..."
You don't get it, but it doesn't matter because the introduction will be repeated next year. Everyone loves your pilau because you burn the onions just right, but it's now getting too monotonous and your dying for a change. So here are a few interesting recipes you can try from Kaluhi's Kitchen.


Chilli and Coffee Marinated Beef Dry Fry

Cut your beef into thin strips and place them in a container. To this, add your minced garlic and ginger, red wine vinegar, coffee, crushed bay leaves, chili, sugar, pepper and rosemary leaves. Mix this in and once thoroughly and evenly mixed, cover with a lid and allow this to marinate for 24 hours or more. Store it in the refrigerator. After the marination time has lapsed, remove form the fridge and prepare for frying. You must see the complete recipe here.

Chicken Garlic Suya
Cube your chicken and place it in a container. To this, add your turmeric, curry, maggi cubes, garlic and finely chopped chillies, rosemary and thyme. Add the plain yoghurt and a splash of fresh lemon juice. Mix this all together and let in marinate for about two hours. See more here.

Passion Fruit Marinated Honey Pork Chops
Place your pork chops in a bowl. Add your crushed black pepper, honey, rosemary, passion fruit and finely chopped garlic and ginger. Rub that over your pork until well distributed. Get the full recipe.

Garlic Marinated Fish Masala
Give your fish a rinse and place it in a container. Add your minced garlic, soy sauce and salt and allow this to marinate overnight. An hour before cooking, add the lemon juice and lemon zest. Allow the flavour to infuse. As this is going, work on your masala spice blend. See more here. 

Chilli and Garlic Matumbo
For those that dare to try tripe. 

Pound your garlic cloves in a kind into a paste. Dice your onions and put these two in a safari with some heated oil. Add some salt and let these sauce until they are soft. Add your tomatoes and let this simmer for about 5 minutes until they are all soft. Find the recipe here.

Garlic and Paprika Potato Sautee
In a sufuria, add some cold water to the peeled potatoes, fresh rosemary, salt and cumin seeds and allow this to boil until the potatoes are cooked through. Always start with the water at room temperature so that as the water gets warmer the potatoes cook through evenly. Get the full recipe here. 

Tulip Tip: After all that cooking, you probably need a few stove cleaning tips. Burnt food on the stove top comes off extremely easily with water and bicarbonate of soda paste. Let it sit for a while before scrubbing with a non-scratch scrubbing pad (look for the pink and white dish scrub). If you have a glass stove top, switch on for a few seconds, warming up the bicarb paste, to speed up the process. DO NOT MAKE IT HOT or else you will burn yourself! 

Sufurias with burnt food can also be helped by soaking over-night with bicarbonate of soda. Next day, warm up a little and work on it gently. NO STEEL WOOL NEEDED. Here's another amazing tip if you don't want to wait till the morning. Get a good number of lemons (maybe six) and cut them in half. Throw into the sufuria. Cover with water up to the level of the lemons. Boil and boil and boil and the sooty burnt food will come off. Clearing up can be a great source of therapy. You'll be so relieved and uplifted when it's all done.

All images from Kaluhi's Kitchen