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Jikoni: Proudly Inauthentic Recipes from an Immigrant Kitchen
Jikoni means ‘kitchen’ in Kiswahili, a word that perfectly captures Ravinder Bhogal’s approach to food.
Ravinder was born in Kenya to Indian parents; when she moved to London as a child, the cooking of her new home collided with a heritage that crossed continents. What materialised was a playful approach to the world’s larder, and Ravinder’s recipes do indeed have a rebellious soul. They are lawless concoctions that draw their influences from one tradition and then another – Cauliflower Popcorn with Black Vinegar Dipping Sauce; Spicy Aubergine Salad with Peanuts, Herbs and Jaggery Fox Nuts; Skate with Lime Pickle Brown Butter; Tempura Samphire and Nori; Lamb and Aubergine Fatteh; or utterly irresistible Banana Cake accompanied by Miso Butterscotch and Ovaltine Kulfi.
These proudly inauthentic recipes are what you might loosely call ‘immigrant cuisine’, with evocative stories from a past that illustrates the powerful relationship between food, people, place and identity. The tastes and smells of this brazen new world are sophisticated, welcoming, fresh, exciting and bold.
Ravinder was born in Kenya to Indian parents; when she moved to London as a child, the cooking of her new home collided with a heritage that crossed continents. What materialised was a playful approach to the world’s larder, and Ravinder’s recipes do indeed have a rebellious soul. They are lawless concoctions that draw their influences from one tradition and then another – Cauliflower Popcorn with Black Vinegar Dipping Sauce; Spicy Aubergine Salad with Peanuts, Herbs and Jaggery Fox Nuts; Skate with Lime Pickle Brown Butter; Tempura Samphire and Nori; Lamb and Aubergine Fatteh; or utterly irresistible Banana Cake accompanied by Miso Butterscotch and Ovaltine Kulfi.
These proudly inauthentic recipes are what you might loosely call ‘immigrant cuisine’, with evocative stories from a past that illustrates the powerful relationship between food, people, place and identity. The tastes and smells of this brazen new world are sophisticated, welcoming, fresh, exciting and bold.
304 pages, Hardcover
Published July 28, 2020
21 people are currently reading
185 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 27, 2021
My husband made the gnudi recipe and it was such a spectacular failure that he asked me to get rid of the book without trying anything else. We've made gnudi with other recipes, so we roughly know how it was supposed to go. This was a lot of work for a lot of frustration.
May 2, 2023
I love cookbooks that tie disparate food traditions together and this one does an excellent job. African, northern Indian and currant tastes. Well worth reading. I eat paranthas quite often but have never tasted these recipes. Bravo! Recommended.
January 4, 2021
Beautifully written and photographed, but there weren't any recipes that really stood out for me.
May 27, 2021
Beautiful anthology of food and memories !
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews