Sweet Tooth

And twas Christmas! And so she was concocting up chocolate biscuit pudding..!

~ n before she could photograph it.. twas attacked!

Simple: Packs of 'Marie Biscuits!'. Dip em in lukewarm coffeeeed milk and arrange a layer in a bowl! On top of that a layer of chocolate (cream, drinkin choc, coffee n sugar all mixed in dil khol ke!)... a layer of yum walnuts, cashewnuts and raisins! Keep building layer on layer on layer till you run out of wither biscuits or sauce or space! :D

Chilllll for an hour and voila! Eternal Sin! :)

Merry Christmas folks!

Dysfunctional...

The kitchen has some elaborate plans comin up... as of now it's just cooking up basic stuff... maggi-a-la-italio was created by adding chilli flakes, oregano and loads o butter to the normal 'Masala Maggi' pack! :)

To keep ya company till my menu-de-elaboratos takes shape:

Green Day!

Dying of hunger 2 roomies reach home at 930 in the night after a looong day at work! Plan: Methi aaloo n parathas!

The yummy Parathas are all a credit to roomie! So much so we ended up having 5 each n dunno where they went!!

The methi aaloo was a first time again... :) The trick: Pluck the leaves and add salt (without washing) and keep for about 15 mins. The 'kadvaa' will go away! Meanwhile.. fry the aaloos (can't cook methi for too long so the only way for the potatoes is to cut em up n fry em!) Mix it all together with onions, tomatoes and the standard masalas! Voila! Methi-a-la-aalu n Parathas!!

~ A very satisfied grin! :D

Experiments at the dhaba!

Lazy Sunday morning... ohk! ohk! Afternoon! As I lazily crawled out I suddenly wanted to cook something different today!

Menu:
1. Chicken in red wine sauce.
2. Tomato Corn Gratin

Secret to the chicken.. roast to semi soft! and then let it cook in the wine sauce later...! Wine sauce... hmm... pour wine into the charred remains of the chicken... heat to boil and let catch fire! :D (serious!) simmer and add soy sauce.. simmer some more... add the roasted chicken and let it soak up on slowwwww fire! :) ahh! the flavor just goes in deeeep!


The Gratin is easy... tomato slices.. reduced over gas. Add oregano and chilli flakes. Mix bread crumbs and cheese and layer over the tomato... top layer of corn in thick white sauce! Ta-da!


Top it all with vodka in black grape juice along with black-forest cake! Now that's a feast!


Verdict: experiment successful! This shall be tried on a larger scale now!

Indian Coffee House

This weekend has decided to be exceptionally out of the kitchen!

The afternoon found me walking the streets of Bengaluru with Bar. We walked past the coffee house and somehow Bar had the vague notion that it served only coffee!!! He stands humbly corrected...!

Saturday afternoon... pretty much just out of bed... apples in the name of breakfast... running to the bank to make a credit card payment and then looking around for a black sweater yours truly insisted on buying! Hunger had to strike! :D

First order:
1 mutton cutlet!
1 scrambled eggs on toast
1 omelette with chips!
2 cold coffees!

After the aforesaid has been made to vanish in seconds (apart from the coffee) another plate of mutton cutlets makes its way to us! 12 seconds flat and our tummies have devoured that as well!

As we sit sipping on the cold coffee, our eyes wander to the rustic look of the place... it's b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l! The rickety old fan.. dirty old walls... benches for sitting... the ornate hats of the waiters... the sepia paled posters... the tiny 'katori' with 'saunf' and the bill... (which was just 110 for so so much!)... It all added up to a fantastic Saturday afternoon! :)

(The coffee house in Jabalpur is where dad had proposed to mum! :) )

Location: Indian Coffee House
13, Mahatma Gandhi Road,
Bangalore, 560001
080 25587088

Verdict: For a quintessential Saturday afternoon while exploring Bengaluru... this is it!

The week that was!

Heya! I know I've become slow, but a damn busy work life has me off the streets! Can't keep me outta my kitchen though! ;)

The week saw me cooking almost everyday! Shortcuts a-la-pasta! :D

• Short cut 1: Take a packet of Knorr soup... instead of the 4 cups o water just add about 1 n half! nice thick pre flavored sauce is ready and all u gotta do is add in the boiled pasta!
• Short cut 2: Take a tetra pack of tomato puree.. add to it finely chopped garlic! (don't make that face.. keep the garlic flakes in water for half an hour and it peels and chops like a charm!). Mix em and let the puree cook just a bit. Add as much grated cheese as desired and add the Pasta! Presto! Tomato garlic Pasta at your service! :)

Now ain't that easy?!

My kitchen saw a few fiasco's with a mixer full of cold coffee exploding like a coffee hand grenade burst all over it and a whole packet of milk burnt (yes burnt) to bits while being boiled! My maid still hasn't given up on getting the vessel spanking clean! :) (Burning milk though considered auspicious under Indian beliefs, is not a good idea! It smells like burnt rubber tyres and doesn't leave the house for a good 3 days!) Phew!

Quick fix Maggi! Lotsa maggi, lotsa butter, chilli flakes and oregano leftover from lotsa Pizza being ordered by roomies! Mix it all! For the non veggie to delight, add in sausages or salami! :D

It saw me make masala parathas as well! Those with butter or honey are sooooo yum!

:) Work looks like it's becoming a lil manageable now.. so I'm planning to cook one of my weekend feasts this weekend or next for sure! Lets see how much I can get coaxed!

Try the quick fixes and lemme know what you think!

Desmond's

So Granpa and two other angels alongwith yours truly decided to have a mini reunion (i've jus come back from home after a nice 10 day holiday!) and catch up with each other at Desmond's (the one in Koramangala).

It's a nice white wall with a big black door that greets you.. the outside look is 'interesting'. Yellow lights, dark wood furniture and a certain myriadness about the place!

(one of the angels!)

The tables have been done up well... only to be reduced in their glory by bottles of sauce which are downright dirty and ugly with their labels peeling off and one of them with a missing cap!

Anyways... the hungarians ordered cheese balls! A li'l dry but good nonetheless! And humongous! Nice with Beer... (the Beer glasses were a nice touch with them being the slim, tall variety!)

(cheeeezy! ;) )

Granpa and the angels set about wondering what to eat! The non vegetarian is spoilt for choices, but the veggies have a limited platter! The continental is what we had... so the Punjabi food (which is served!) calls for another review sometime!

Thus arrived 2 large (oops.. correction! 1 large and 1 pint sized) sizzlers and a quantifiable bowl of spaghetti. The non vegetarian it so happens is spoilt for portion sizes also... The veggies they assume likes to starve! This was duly brought to the notice of the 'manager' who ended up being suspiciously 'a lil bit too receptive' about the whole scenario and offering to add the portions... The offering was declined. (In Granpa's words, "someone needs to just tell them. That's it!" ).

Well... the non veggie had stuffed herself to the brim and the two angels were dying to have dessert! The 'Blueberry Cheese Cake' is definitely a don't miss... 'The New York Cheese Cake' tastes of more butter than cheese and is conveniently avoidable! I've been here before.. the chocolate mousse is sheer and utter sin! :)

All in all... an okeyish experience which could have improved by leaps and bounds with some careful and much needed attention to detail. 'You are not paying a bomb for anything!' ;)

Location: Desmond’s

#48, The Terminus Residency,

5th Block, Koramangala Industrial Estate,

Tel : 41466300/ 01

Verdict: Food is Good. Desserts are a must have. :) Okeyish on the pocket... with Beer, the cheese balls, spaghetti, 2 sizzlers and 2 desserts we spent about 1200 which is pretty decent! But not a place where conversation flows or you forget your cares... Try it for yourself to like it or lump it! :)

Whats my story, Morning glory?!

Story goes that a Punjabi female, nicknamed "bhookhi sherni" by Mommy dearest hit the town called 'Bengaluru' and was skeptical... (land of idli dosa.. how will she survive?!)

Thus began an exploration with partners in crime - an exploration of both foodie-drinkie places and of a different kind in my own kitchen!

Thus we have the Travails of a Punjabi Foodie exploring Namma Bengaluru!

Characters:

Bar (how the name came about is a story too long!): The stoic who gets his moods of going just to drink up nice or to stuff up since he's in the mood for goooo...d food! (also ace blackmailer when it comes to feeding him home cooked food!)

Granpa aka Mite (pronounced "Mighty" and how these happened is something we'd rather forget!): My bestest admirer and my worstest critic! What would I do without him?!

Off and on we have a few more addons and 'the boyfriend' was here last week who has gone on to say, 'Madam, the way to a man's heart is through his stomach! Yahan toh invasion hoke surrender ho chuka hai!' ;) (This from an ace chef himself!)

Bon Apetit!