Jasiri

When I was younger I never liked to cook…as recently as a few years ago, I didn’t like cooking. And really, growing up, I never had to. I have a large family (6 siblings) that includes three sisters older than myself. My mom cooked everyday. There was none of this quick-fast, pop in the microwave stuff going on in my house. In fact, we didn’t get a microwave until I was 15, which I actually felt embarrased about at the time. Anyway, when my mom was unavailable to cook, one of my older sisters took on that responsibility. Cooking duty rarely trickled down to me. I typically stayed out of the kitchen until it was time to eat (and usually I was first at the table ). I regret all of this now because my sisters know how to prepare my mom’s dishes, and sadly I don’t. I’m playing catch-up. Well, in the last couple of years, I’ve grown to love cooking. Since we’ve been roommates, my sister Noni and I have enjoyed attempting new recipes. We both love Ethiopian food and after discovering a local Ethiopian market that sells injera, we decided to make our own dishes (from recipes found through the internet).

There’s a Tanzanian recipe site that I love to visit, but I always just read and salivate at the photos of the delicious dishes. Well I sent the link to my sister, and sure enough she came home that day wanting to try out a couple of dishes. The pilau recipe was first on her list, and she also wanted to make a simple vegetable dish called kachumbari. She took care of those, and I made onion and potato bhajis. I also made a curry yogurt, and a cucumber and yogurt side for the bhajis. They turned out denser than I would have liked them to be, and Miriam’s pilau looks more appetizing than ours, but everything was very good. And I just enjoyed trying something new. Now I’m on the hunt for my next recipe. Anyone want to share? I love Indian and Thai food, but I’m open to anything (meatless).