A book and a recipe

As a part of our January book pick- it was time to read Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin and make something inspired by the book. While I did finish the book and the challenge a while ago, I forgot to write up a post.

Book Review: The book set in post-genocide Rwanda revolves around Angel Tungaraza, a Tanzanian who moves to Rwanda with her husband Pius and her children (well technically her grandchildren but her own kids were dead so she and her husband are raising their grand kids). She has a cake business and her cakes are pretty popular- every time a client comes in to order a cake, Angel puts on some tea, and her customers pour their hearts out before they order the cake.
I found this book extremely cloying. Angel could do no wrong...she helped everyone, listened to everybody's stories, made beautiful cakes, took care of her children...

In one short sentence- I did not like the book.

I read the book while drinking chai, an Indian variation of the Rwandan milky tea. And I also made Kenyan style curried creamy cabbage inspired by this recipe.

http://www.kayotic.nl/blog/kenyan-curried-cabbage

Ingredients:

1 small to medium cabbage head
1 large onion
2 medium carrots
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp chick pea flour
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp curry powder
2 tsp salt
pepper

Directions:

Remove the outer leaves and slice the cabbage in 1 inch thick strips. Slice a large onion.Grate 2 medium carrots. Heat 2 tbsp butter and sauté the onion for a few minutes. Add the shredded carrot and cabbage. Cook everything, over low heat, stirring once in a while until the cabbage softens (about 10 minutes). Once the cabbage has softened, make room in the center and pour in the paste. Cook for a minute before pouring in 1/2 cup of milk, 1 1/2 to 2 tsp salt and lots of pepper. Stir well, pop the lid on and simmer for another 10 minutes.

This dish was awesome though- I thought it tasted similar to pasta with bechamel sauce.

Comments

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