Lately there have been a few setbacks in regards to my work
prospects here in western Kenya. I had
been hired to help with a research study not far from Eldoret, but there seemed
to be issues with the partnership or the organizations- the organization that
hired me may not be involved after all. Thus, I am going back to the drawing
board. In the mean time I am continuing to work with streetkids at the drop in
center, take charge of any household task/need, pursue fluency in Kiswahili,
read all that I can (novels, Kenyan news/blogs/culture), try to study my
nursing texts, run, and cook.
I have the time to cook here, so I have been diving in. One of the objectives is to get proficient at
a few Indian dishes. I am not sure what I have previously written regarding the
presence of Kenyans of Indian descent, but they make up a small minority. Their
influence is much greater and this proves true in restaurant choices and
ingredients sold at groceries. It is very easy to come by anything used in
Indian cooking. Another driver of my attempt at learning this tasty style of
cooking is that there are two “curry trees” in our yard. The man we rent the house from pointed this
out to us and I promptly made use of this new novelty. One of the things I
enjoy about learning this style of cooking is the use of fresh ingredients and
a large array of spices which are balanced beautifully. This dishes I have
cooked thus far begin with heating whole cumin seeds, and/or back mustard
seeds, and/or coriander, and/or cardamom. I have procured a pestle and mortar
and I love that right away as I get down to cooking the kitchen is bathed is
fantastic aromas. Bam! I am
cooking! It is not as though I am cooking Indian meals every night though. I try to switch it up. One can at times find rice noodles and coconut milk is here as well. I have found dry beans which with some coaxing, can pass for black beans I'd make in the U.S. I think I'll branch out and do some dishes with red beans soon. Here’s some photos:
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| New Year's Meal |
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| Noodles, Veggies, Oyster Mushrooms, Fried tofu,Toasted Cashews, Cilantro, Lime |
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| Coconut Curried Chicken w Added Mango |
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| Dahl |
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| Black beans, veggies, rice |
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| First meal in new house- Veggies, Green Thai Style Curry |
