Crunchy-fried-mushy-roast-cheesy-block!!

Prasad got the censored Anurag Kashyap movie; Paanch. It is meant to be the initial script of Shaitan that recently released. It got shelved because of its high amount of violence and drug abuse story line, w.r.t. the audience tolerance levels back in 2002. So, I was in a rush to get done with dinner and get down to the movie.

We've been trying to cut down on heavy food lately but, that has caused a cumulative heap of left overs in the refrigerator. The thing is, I hate to waste food. So, I decided I got to make a quick fix AND put all the precious food in the fridge to good use AND make Prasad's palate happy.

So, here's what I made! Crunchy-fried-mushy-roast-cheesy-block. That's how I would like to name it. Yes, that little heart was my personal touch.

Ingredients from my refrigerator: 
1. Mutton sheek rolls
2. Mushrooms
3. Cabbage
4. Onion
5. Left over rice. Now, mind it you must use earlier made rice lest you want to make a rice paste.
6. Vinegar, Soy sauce, Chilli sauce
7. Salt, Chilli, Black Pepper
8. Some cheese to garnish.

Procedure:
1. Roast the Sheek rolls and set aside. Cut them into smaller pieces. For the vegetarian folks, you can substitute this with paneer or even french fries!

2. Roast the cut onions and cabbage into a crispy golden brown texture.

3. Add mushrooms to this and add all the condiments i.e. salt, chilli, pepper.

4. Season this mixture with Vinegar, Soy Sauce, Chilli Sauce to taste.
5. Add the rice and mix well.

This is where you realize that if you add freshly made rice, you'll end up with a warm paste, which you do not want.

6. Now, the best part. Garnish. :) You see, its all about presentation.

Cause its all about happiness and love after all :)

Bon Appetit! 

Egg-xxotic Friday! :D

As always Friday nights are special and so, they call for some special treat for the palate.

Today I decided to make the South-Indian Egg Curry since me and Prasad are whole-heartedly eggitarians. Its surprisingly easy and your stomach will thank you profusely as soon as the aromas of this delicacy fill your home.

So, here it goes!

Serving size: 2-3
Cooking time: 30 mins
Ingredients:
1. Eggs - 4 ( or as many as you'd like to eat!)
2. Onions - 3 medium sized
3. Tomatoes - 4 medium sized
4. Green Chilli
5. Coriander
6. Grated coconut (optional)
7. Ginger-garlic paste
8. Tamarind paste
9. Regular condiments: Salt, Chilli, Turmeric, Garam masla, Jeera, Mustard, Curry leaves

Procedure:
1. Hard boil the eggs and cut them into halves. Set them aside.

2. Heat oil in a cooking vessel. Add mustard seeds, let them splutter. Add the slit green chilies and curry leaves.
3. To this add ground onion paste. Let this roast till its golden brown.

4. Add the regular condiments mentioned above except salt. ( You see, salt doesn't let tomatoes cook well!)
5. Once all spices are cooked for about 3-4 minutes, add tomato puree to this.

 

6. Let the tomatoes get cooked. ( Add a lid to this if you don't want a mess around your stove! Plus the steam lets them cook faster.)

 7. Once all the fluid from the tomatoes starts drying up, add another cup of water to it and let it simmer.

8. Once done, add the ground coconut, tamarind and salt.

Now, its imperative, that you check all the spices at this stage because you don't want to be smashing around those lovely eggs later for mixing up.
9. Add eggs to this, let it simmer for about 10 minutes to get the flavor of the spices.

10. Garnish with coconut or coriander on top and serve immediately!

Bon Appetit!!

NOTE: Do not boil the eggs too much in advance of consumption, else you may land up with blackened insides. Although, I'm an egg-lover, I myself despise that!

Mangy-Mangy ..lure..

I'd been to Mangalore last weekend, as I'd declared out loud to many of you.
As always, it was lovely visiting my in laws. They for sure adore me, I cannot speak for Prasad though. ;)

I do not completely agree with the phrase, " The way to a man's heart is through his stomach". Well, I think it should be, " The way to a woman's heart is through is stomach as well". Because, I sure can be owned like a helpless small pup with a piping hot home cooked meal!

The majority of our agenda for Mangalore visit primarily revolves around the menu during our visit.
Terrible. I know.
But, I confess, we do Live to Eat.
Pathetic. I do not deny.

Nevertheless, I had promised my dear readers and followers of a good review of Mangalorean dishes, so here I am. The biggest flaw in my food reviews is my lack of patience to capture the dish well before I dig my teeth into it. Thus, some of them here had to be "recreated" just for you all!!

Day 1: 
On arrival, I went dashing to the kitchen lured by the mixed fragrances of coconut and aromatic steam.
Khotte Idli; Cylinderical Rice dumplings prepared wrapped in Jackfruit leaves.

Dalitoye : Mangalorean toor dal with prominent flavor of Asafoetida
Coconut Chutney : Carries the distinct tang of ginger and tamarind. 

Mangalore Buns: Deep fried flour dumplings with mild flavor of ripe banana. These bakery-fresh babies can make you weak on the knees. Honestly, I never thought 'deep-fried-ripe-banana' can taste THIS GOOD.

While I was still ruminating my breakfast, it was time for lunch alright.
All my doubts about my appetite died away as soon as I saw the spicy red hot Prawn Curry, Fish curry in coconut gravy with rice. Yet again, it was time for some serious Eating.

We went out to the "Village" for dinner. I think this is the joint at Mangalore where all the happening crowd hangs out. I rate it really well for its food and service as well.
I was too preoccupied ordering and pigging out to click too many pictures. But, to name a few, when you're there, don't miss the Tawa Fry fish, Paneer Ghee roast and their amazingly-drool-worthy-heavy-as-hell Cheese Risotto. Well, its not a Risotto to the true sense, but it sure can make your palate dance!

Day 2:
Phew, writing about all that food has got me full! Nevertheless, it is worth mentioning that I had this lovely curry made of tender Bamboo Shoots. Not only it tastes unexpectedly good, its healthy too! Unlike our regular dietary ventures. :)

Last but not the least, we visited the good old Pabbas, without which our trip is incomplete. The famous Ice Cream parlor of Mangalore. This is what we had there :D

Choco-Nut!

Chocolate Dad!

Gud-Bud!

American Choconut! I had this and yes, those are cashews!

Parafit!! Hehe.. I dono why it is called that. Does it resemble a parchute?? :] Although, you definitely glide after eating this!

As I said, too much, too heavy, too sinful , too finger-licking good. I don't deny any of that.
Do visit these places when in Mangalore!
Bon Appetit.

Tandoori Chicken! Mission Accomplished!

As I was working from home today, I got the chance to spend a little more time than usual in the kitchen.
Today's specialty that smoked up my kitchen: Tandoori Chicken.

Disclaimer: I did not have my good old SLR so, please excuse the picture quality of my faithful Sony Cybershot.

Serves 4
Cooking Time: 10 mins

Ingredients:
- Chicken Breasts
- Lemon and Onion rings to garnish
For Marinate:
- Salt, Chilly powder, Turmeric, Dhanya Powder, Jeera Powder
- Ginger-Garlic Paste
- Tandoori Chicken Masala; there are tons of these in the market, make your choice.
- Lemon Juice

Procedure:
1. Mix all Marinate ingredients together.
2. Chop the chicken breasts into thinner slices; this is just to ensure uniform marination and faster cooking.
3. Mix the chicken well with the marinate, keep this aside for at least 2-3 hours.

4. I got a grill like the one below for this. It comes for about 150-200 bucks in the market and is perfect for those who don't have a full fledged barbecue at home.

5. Put the chicken pieces on the grill and keep the flame low, allowing the chicken to get crisp on the outside while it gets cooked from the inside.
6. Toss the chicken periodically for uniform cooking.

Once done, decorate your serving dish well. After all, presentation is everything!

This is the gorgeous serving tray Anjali gifted me. Its my favorite out of all my serving platters.

Bon Appetite!
             

CooooooooRG!!

It started with a disaster. Our Coorg Trip.

We overslept, got delayed and decided to start off a little later than the decided time. (Last night was Friday night, Gosh).

While we stood at the Railway station waiting for the next Mysore bound train, we were increasingly losing patience and the crowd was getting wilder.

Next thing we knew, we're on our way to Mysore in a cab. Phew. So much more peaceful. Only until it started pouring and we were stuck in terrible traffic.

I'm sure the thought of this being a Bad Idea ran through our minds more than once. That's me and Prasad. But, we both kept our spirits high until we realized that we would reach Coorg only by night! Thanks to the rain, traffic and the beautiful mist at the hilly terrain.

My head was almost spinning with anxiety and my face was as pale as that mist, while the Cab driver was snaking his way through what looked like a layer of White Solid.

The last time I had seen such thick fog was in Delhi and I always dreaded driving through these. We reached at about eight at night at gorgeous Homestay called Gowri Nivas. Its rated best at tripadvisor.com for a reason.

Suddenly, I felt this could never be a bad idea.

Our room..

My feeling was reassured when I shook Prasad up to see the gorgeous misty green morning next day. We were lucky enough to have one clear day in our trip, which we made the most of. We could cover the Elephant camp at Doobare,

Prasad and the Elephant Butt..

The Tibetian settlement at Bylakuppe

...as well as the Orange County.

We spent a day at the at Orange County drooling over the scenic setup and primarily gobbling their sumptuous buffets.

The second day was sort of a disappointment because we travelled really far off for a Adventure Sports club to do some Quad-Biking! Finally, we were heading for some adrenaline rush in this quiet, serene setup. But, when we were there, it kept pouring cats and dogs (and leeches) and we decided to value our lives more than a mere rush. :|

We saw these beautiful Chelvara Falls but, alas! only from the cab window. We tried to trek our way up the falls to have a better view but realized that the wet-and-moss-filled-stone-paths only look good in artistic paintings.

That is Prasad going all gaga over the slippery path. He's just a happy kid.

The food at Gowri Nivas was the best part. (My God! I live to eat)

We had all the Coorgi specialties, thanks to Muthu; the landlady of the homestay. This is the reason I believe that Bed and Breakfasts are always the best. They have a personal touch. :)

That's Muthu!

Okie, enough talkie talkie.. more pictures.

Yes, Prasad has some serious issues being in front of the camera.

A memorable trip :)

What have I been up to?

Today I decided to write just as a ice breaker. I can't think of anything particular to talk about!

I had been busy at work with some changes. More than occupied, I was always preoccupied with things at work. But, now things look good. :)

I am in the process of upgrading my camera so, no new pictures lately. But no worries, once my precious Canon 600D is with me, you'll have some eye candy. I've been keeping myself busy working, cooking, cleaning and over all just giving myself a slice of life.

Right now, I'm watching Serial Mom sipping on my favorite herbal tea. Hilariously ridiculous movie.

The recent happenings;

My best friend got married!

God bless her.. They are a sweet couple. :)

Kitchen on fire with a hottie

My nephew lately

Mom Dad back in town! Woohoo.. :D

We went to Bangalore club! They said Deepika Padukone was there!! I never saw :(

O yes.. we were all dressy-dressy ;)

I couldn't capture any of my latest yummies from kitchen but, will be brought to you REALLY soon!