The Real Foodie

Since I really love food & love me some good home cooking too, I decided to finally make a blog about it. Follow me on my journey to try out a bunch of exciting new recipes & discover some cool restaurants in a few different cities.

[samjd13-blog]

RESTAURANT REVIEW: JÖVÓS, Nibm Road (Pune)

Hey guys !

So I finally got down to writing another restaurant review after quite a bit. 

As i mentioned earlier, I like writing about new restaurants or ones which may not be visited frequently simply because people might not know about them yet.

JÖVÓS is located on the main NIBM road, in Bizzbay mall right opposite CLOVER PALISADES.

When my sister was looking up a new restaurant on Zomato, I was quite happy when she told me that JÖVÓS is located just down the road from our place, as compared to the usual 30-40 minute drive from this side of town to Koregaon park/Kalyaninagar. Because face it, sometimes you just don’t feel like driving through crazy traffic for a simple meal. 

A few highlights about the place are that they have some really whacky and innovative food presentation, lovely ambience, very friendly and helpful staff and super fun decor like the superman/hulk/thor/spiderman figurines on the walls, bubblewrap table mats to name a few!

The quantity & quality of food for the price range is fairly decent.

I would recommend going here on a weekday/weeknight, because it tends to get a bit crowded on the weekend. But, if you make a reservation it should be fine!

They don't have a bar license yet, but are working on getting one soon.

Here are a few things I would recommend trying out: (with reference to the order of the pictures above) :

Garlic cheese bombs (Appetizer) - They aren’t too cheesy (literally speaking) and have a right balance of garlic + cheese.

Pita pockets with Barbecue pulled chicken (Appetizer) - Really tasty barbecue chicken stuffing, although the pita bread could be a bit lighter.

Chicken Tikka smoked in a Mason jar (Appetizer) - I found the idea of smoking the chicken tikkas in the Mason jar or “BARNI” as Goans would refer to it very innovative and great for presentation. The tikkas were well marinated and very soft and flavorful. 

Patrani Macchi baked with coconut rice (Main course) - For those who prefer a mildly flavoured fish. This dish is not very heavy and perfect for health conscious people (who want to avoid cheese, butter etc)

JÖVÓS Khao Suey Thali (Main course)-- This one is my personal favourite ! The gravy was very tasty and the add-ons were well done too.

Charred sugarcane chicken breast served with yakhni pulao - The sauce of this dish is delicious (but not really sufficient) The pulao could be a bit more flavourful.   

I would also recommended trying: The Caribbean chicken served in Plantain bowls as a main course: This gravy was a bit spicy but it balances off really well with the sweetness of the plantain leaf bowl (which was edible, and really tasty to my surprise !)

For Dessert try out the North of the wall I guess the owner must be a big Game of thrones fan !! & The Indian after 8 - which consists of a big scoop of ice-cream with a mix of crushed Paan and mint flavouring, which all blend together very well. 

So if you're looking for a new fun place to try out this weekend, head down to JÖVÓS !

[samjd13-blog]

Ben’s Cookies

So as it turns out, a year ago to this exact day, happened to be our very first trip to Singapore! (and.. oh what a lovely/exciting/awesome/fun-filled/tiring trip it was indeed!) 

Considering it was our first trip abroad, it happens to be at the top of my  favourite place to visit for an international getaway...till I discover a new one...that’s if any place compares to the sheer awesomeness that is “Singapore” (I guess there must be something about a first trip abroad or visiting a different country for the first time that makes it so special to each person)

It happened to be the The lady of the moon festival / Mid-Autumn Festival at this time; which is a harvest festival celebrated by people in China, Hong Kong & Singapore. 

It’s also called the Moon Festival because of the celebration's association with the full moon on this night, as well as the traditions of moon worship/moon gazing. Another name is “Mooncake Festival” because of the popular tradition of eating mooncakes on this occasion (I didn’t fancy the flavours of mooncake too much: lotus, redbean,durian to name a few; but it was pretty cool to try out something different and unique) 

So one of the best things about the trip (among many others) was the fact that we happened to accidentally run into a cookie store, by the name of “Ben’s cookies” at Wisma Atria mall. Funnily, what lead us to buying the cookies was their AMAZINGLY EVIL enticing aroma that almost filled up the entire ground floor of the mall !!

Only later on did we discover (after much stalking online) that Ben's Cookies has stores in the UK, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Kuwait and Singapore ONLY ! What are the odds right?! The ONLY store in whole of Singapore and we happen to run into it. 

At first we decided to try out just one cookie. But, once we bit into it and realised what soft/sugary/buttery/heavenly deliciousness it was, we couldn’t resist packing up a whole box of cookies for our folks back home! (ask my dad, he was the happiest of them all !) They have about 14 types of cookies (dark chocolate, oatmeal & raisin, white chocolate and macadamia, triple chocolate chunk, cranberries & white chocolate to name a few) 

Trust me when I say, if you get the chance to go to any of the stores, if close to you, DO IT ! (You will probably have to WALK back to India after you eat them, they are that sinful !!)

Ever since I had these cookies, a year ago, I’ve been wanting to try my hand at making them, so after reading around a lot, I’m sharing a recipe for what I hope to be the best version of  “Ben’s cookies” 

Note: This recipe makes 16 Large cookies

INGREDIENTS

275 gm Self Raising Flour

200 gm Butter

300 gm Castor Sugar

50 gm Cocoa powder

1 large egg

200 gm Milk chocolate

200 gm White chocolate

METHOD

Start off with dicing the milk chocolate & white chocolate into tiny pieces, mix both in a bowl. Keep a few full pieces of each aside separately for the centre stuffing. 

Now, Preheat your oven to 200°C

In a large bowl mix the butter and castor sugar together evenly. Then add in the full egg and mix it again.

Sift in the Self Raising flour and cocoa powder and stir till all the ingredients are mixed evenly. 

Note: Upto this step, you can mix the ingredients using a kitchenaid as well, if you find it easier.

Finally, add in the chocolate pieces and give it one last stir, so the pieces are distributed evenly. The cookie dough is now ready !

Cover your baking tray with foil, next make a large egg size ball of the dough (use your hands to shape them) and depending on how large your tray is, place approx. 4-6 cookie dough balls leaving sufficient distance from each other.

Don’t forget the full chocolate pieces you had kept aside ! Take a single piece of white chocolate and placing it right on top a cookie dough ball, press the dough down onto the tray (this will make the dough spread a bit) Then, cover the chocolate piece with the sides of the dough. Do the same with the full milk chocolate piece and go on alternating this way. This is important because it’s what will give your cookie the molten chocolate centre; just like “ben’s cookies”

Now pop the tray into the oven for 8 minutes. (not a single minute more)

And once the time is up, slide the cookies off the tray with the foil and let them sit for about 15-20 minutes. Because that’s the exact time they need to form their crusty exterior (but, they will be super soft in the centre at the same time)

Enjoy with a strong cuppa black coffee !!

Tips: 

1. Wait for about eight minutes after you take the cookies out of the oven and with a round cup/ cutter cut the slightly burnt edges off...Then they will look exactly like the real “Ben’s cookies” ...and taste that way too. 

2. Make sure you measure all your ingredients and keep them readily available in separate bowls before you start the mixing (makes the process much faster).

3. Try the other combinations like cranberries and white chocolate (Just eliminate the cocoa powder for this one) or the triple chocolate chunk: which is white + milk + dark chocolate. 

[samjd13-blog]

FLAVOURED RICE

Tired of your usual boring rice preparation? Need something simple and different to cook up?

Try out my super fast (and yummy) version of flavoured rice. 

INGREDIENTS

400 gms Basmati rice, cleaned and washed twice (or any good quality long grain rice)

2 pieces fresh Cardamom (Elaichi) (slightly crushed)

1/2 inch piece of a Cinnamon stick (Dalchini) 

2 pinches of Jamacian All Spice mix (Powder) (I recommend using “Naturesmith” Jamacian All spice mix)

1 Bay leaf (Tej Patta)

2 cloves

2 Tbsp cooking oil

1 3/4 Tsp Salt

2 cups water (should be proportionate to the cup used to measure the rice)

METHOD

In a Pressure cooker, first add the washed rice, then the water and all the other ingredients. 

Mix it up well and cook on a high flame till the first whistle goes off; then continue to cook the rice for about 10 minutes on a low flame. 

Wait for the cooker to open on its own, don’t force it open. I prefer to take out all the spice pieces (after cooking, the spices tend to settle right on top of the rice, so this should be easy peasy!) Then mix up the rice evenly with a fork, and serve it hot !

TIPS: I find that this rice goes really well with a paneer gravy or a chicken gravy. 

[samjd13-blog]

RATATOUILLE 

Ratatouille is a traditional French dish. I think one of the main reasons this dish is popular (I may be wrong) is because of the movie: “Ratatouille”- where the main star of the movie is an adorable mouse/rat, who happens to be a very talented chef. It’s definitely one of the main reasons that inspired me to try making this dish myself. 

I don’t think my recipe is very typical, because many of the recipes that I have read involve stewing the veggies, which I haven’t done. But it turned out pretty good anyway :) and this was (yet again) another one of my first attempts at making this dish.

This dish would qualify as a vegetarian one. (I hear a few YAaaYs out there!!)

My recipe serves about 3-4 people. And I’d recommend it for dinner, not too light and at the same time not too heavy. 

NOTE: Make sure all the veggies are approximately the same size, it adds to the presentation of the dish! 

INGREDIENTS 

2 Zucchini (Yellow & Green)

6 Tomatoes 

6 Brinjal (Aubergine)

7-8 Capers (chopped)

4-5 Tablespoons Olive oil

Salt to taste

Grated Gruyere & Emmental cheese 

(For the sauce)

8-10 cloves of garlic, chopped fine

1 Teaspoon (each) of dried Rosemary & Thyme

1 1/2 Tablespoons fresh Parsley, chopped

7-8 Tablespoons (each) of Tomato sauce & Tomato paste

1 Teaspoon Salt

3 Teaspoons Sugar

3 Tablespoons Olive oil

A dash of water

METHOD

Slice the zucchini, tomatoes and aubergine into relatively thick pieces (refer to picture)

In a baking dish, arrange the veggies (red, yellow, green & purple) and keep doing this till you fill up the dish (refer to the first picture above) Then scatter the chopped capers over the veggies.

You can arrange the veggies in a round baking dish as well, in that case arrange the veggies starting from the inside and move outward in a circular manner.

Drizzle the olive oil and salt over all the veggies evenly. Then set the oven temperature to 200°C and bake for 35-40 minutes. 

Simultaneously prepare the sauce...

(For the sauce)

In a nonstick pan, add the olive oil and chopped garlic and fry for 5 minutes. Then add the tomato sauce and paste and mix well. Lastly, add the rosemary, thyme, parsley, salt, sugar and water, mix well. Let the sauce simmer for 3-4 minutes before turning off the heat. 

After the sauce is ready and the veggies are cooked, pour the sauce and grate both the cheeses over the veggies and return to the oven for 7-8 minutes so that the cheese melts. Serve HOT ! 

[samjd13-blog]

STUFFED JACKET POTATOES WITH BLUE CHEESE MASH

When I was a kid and we stayed in the center of the city (Pune) (922, Synagogue Street) in our beautiful little bungalow, I remember what fun we used to have at barbeque parties on our Terrace (oh how I miss that place!)

One of the most popular dishes my mum would make for those barbeques were Jacket Potatoes. Some with delicious stuffing, the other non-stuffed ones were thrown onto the piping HOT coal (which we were not by any means allowed to touch, especially ME since I was kind of very calamity-prone as a kid!)

I keep watching famous people on TV shows (yes, you thought RIGHT…like Jamie Oliver, Nigella) make Jacket potatoes, so after I don’t know…how many years I decided to try making ‘em with a recipe of my own. This was my very first attempt at trying them out. A few glitches here and there, but eventually turned out pretty YUM!

 Note: This recipe works best for an afternoon meal (it’s too heavy for the night) and it serves 6 people.

INGREDIENTS

(For the Jacket Potatoes):

8 Large Potatoes, washed well - with skin

1 Spring Onion, chopped

5-6 Button mushrooms, washed & chopped finely

100 gms Bacon strips, diced

100 gms Butter

10 cloves of Garlic, chopped finely

Readymade Ranch Dip (1 box)

1 handful, Fresh Parsley, chopped fine

200 gms Fresh Curd

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

A dash of Salt

(For the Blue Cheese mash):

2 Tsp Blue cheese of your choice

1/4 Cup Milk

20 gms Butter

1 Tsp (each) Salt & Pepper

METHOD

(For the Stuffed Jacket Potatoes)

Take the washed potatoes and Poke them with a fork on all sides (you do this so that the skin doesn’t burst open while microwaving/baking) Microwave them for 12 minutes.

While the potatoes are cooking, you can get the fillings and other stuffing ready:

Fry the diced bacon till it’s crispy. Add the mushrooms and fry till done. Keep aside.

Fry the diced garlic in olive oil, till it browns. Keep aside.

Filling one: Melt the butter for 20 seconds in the microwave, mix in a bit of the chopped parsley and the burnt garlic.

Filling two: Mix the curd, ranch dip, chopped spring onion and the remaining parsley. Add in a dash of salt.

Once the potatoes are done, scoop out the centre of 4, and make a criss-cross design on the other 4 (refer to the picture) Keep the scooped out part aside in a bowl. (Remove the skin from the top part only, before scooping)

Place the empty scooped potatoes on a foil sheet in an oven-tray (refer to the picture) in the Oven for 15 minutes at 200°C

Then remove the potatoes from the oven, fill 4 potatoes (with the scooped out centre) with filling 2. (above)

In the criss-cross cut potatoes put the bacon & mushroom filling and top it of with filling 1.

(For the Blue Cheese mash)

Using a fork smash the scooped potato evenly, till it becomes smooth (there should be no lumps) Add in the butter and microwave for 30 seconds.

Then add in the blue cheese, milk, salt and pepper, mix well.

Just before serving, microwave for 1 minute. Decorate with a few pieces of Parsley (refer to the Picture)

TIP:

You can add filling no.1 to the criss cross cut potatoes after baking, just before serving, so that all the butter doesn’t melt. That’s up to you.

[samjd13-blog]

PALAK PANEER (with a little twist)

This recipe goes out to all my hardcore veggie friends. I know most of the recipe’s I have posted so far have some form of meat in it. SO, I decided this time, why not go veg...Cos A Real Foodie knows how to keep everyone HAPPY.  

It’s nothing fancy. It’s just a simple day to day recipe. Can be made in approx. 20 minutes. (YAYYY!) And it’s utterly delicious and super healthy too! 

Here’s my version of it, with a little twist.....And I guarantee once you make it, your friends/ family will be begging you for more (I know mine did) !....

INGREDIENTS

200 gms Cottage cheese (paneer), diced into cubes (refer to the picture)

1 bunch of Spinach (palak), de-stemmed and washed 

1 Big Onion, chopped finely

150 gms Tomato Puree (Freshly made/ Tetra pack)

5-6 cloves of Garlic, chopped finely 

3 Tbsp Olive Oil

3/4 Tsp Lime juice

8 Tbsp Milk

1 Tsp (each) Cumin powder, Coriander powder, Turmeric Powder, Chilly Powder 

3 Tsp Sugar

1 Tsp Salt

5 Tbsp water

METHOD

Chop the washed spinach pieces into long uneven strips. 

Put them in batches into a chopper (usually I use an onion chopper, because it chops the spinach to the exact size I want) and cut it into fine pieces (refer to the picture above) but make sure NOT to make it into a pulp.

In a Wok, add the olive oil, chopped garlic and onion and fry on a high flame for about 4 minutes. Then, add in the masalas: Cumin, Coriander, Turmeric and Chilly Powder(s) and mix well and fry for another 3 minutes. 

On a medium flame, add in the fine spinach & sugar and fry for another 4 minutes.

Turn down the heat completely, mix in the tomato puree, milk, water, lime juice, salt and stir well.

Finally, add in the paneer cubes and stir it into the mixture carefully, so that the pieces don’t break. Cover with a lid and cook on a low flame for 8-10 minutes.

(This quantity serves 3 people generously)

TIP: 

You can use Fresh Tofu instead of the paneer, incase you are super health conscious. 

[samjd13-blog]

Apa De Camarao

For those of you who didn’t know “Apa de Camarao” literally means “Prawn Pie or Prawn cake” and as the name suggests, this dish is very typical of Goan or Portuguese cuisine. 

So my sister tells me that our grand-mum used to make this dish when we were kids. I, however, don’t remember eating it (maybe it had something to do with the fact that I despised seafood for a large chunk of my life!! I know, I know.. what kind of fake Goan was I, you ask? haha! welll, that’s a story for another day....)

I was always fascinated by the name “Apa de Camarao” and being the quirky kid that I was, happily compartmentalised it as a dessert in my brain (which it’s not!) Sigh! !  So.....maybe my Portuguese/ Konkani isn’t that good!!... I’d still make a great tour guide for restaurants in North Goa, any day!

So, when my sister decided to make this for us one day, I thought why not feature her recipe on my blog?! And it did turn out pretty damn awesome, for a first try !

I do have a suggestion or two: You can also try a balchao masala for the prawn stuffing... because, technically speaking from what I have read about this dish: It seems to have a very simple stuffing. So if you want to be a little innovative, or to give it more flavour or if you like a spicy stuffing.. you can tweak it a little bit..that’s up to you.

Here’s my sister’s version of it :

Note: You will have to prepare the dough 8-9 hours before you bake it.

INGREDIENTS

For the Dough:

350 Grams Maida (flour)

Coconut Milk (as required)

1 & 1/2 Egg (for the dough)

2 Tablespoons Oil + (a little over for the final kneading)

1 Teaspoon Salt

2 Teaspoons Ghee

1/2 Cup Water

1 Tablespoon Dried Yeast

A pinch of Sugar

For the Prawn Stuffing:

400 gms Fresh Largish Prawns (cleaned & washed)

1 big tomato (chopped finely)

2 big onions (chopped finely)

1 Teaspoon Garlic & Ginger (paste)

2 Teaspoons Chilly powder

3/4 Teaspoon Cumin powder (Jeera)

3/4 Teaspoon Turmeric Powder (Haldi)

1 Teaspoon Salt 

3 Tablespoons Chopped Coriander Leaves (fresh)

A dash of coconut milk

3 Tablepoons Oil

METHOD

For the dough:

Start off with putting the yeast in a bowl. Simultaneously, heat some water to less than boiling temperature and pour the water over the yeast. Then add the sugar and mix it well. 

Keep it aside for about 5-8 minutes. Once the yeast is bubbling, that means it’s ready to be used.

In a large dish, blend the flour, the eggs, salt, ghee, coconut milk, oil and yeast. Start kneading into a dough and keep adding coconut milk as and when required. 

Do not use any water for the dough; use coconut milk only, if it’s too sticky, you can use some oil to get the dough off your hands.

Once the dough is ready, oil a Ziplock packet/Air tight packet inside and put the dough into it.  

Now, you have to keep the dough aside for 8-9 hours to rise. (Some people keep it to rise overnight) Make sure you keep it in a warm place for it to rise…(what better place than the kitchen!)

For the prawn stuffing:

First chop up the cleaned and washed prawns into halves. Keep them aside.

Then, start off with frying the chopped onions and tomatoes in a bit of oil in a pan. After a few minutes add in all the masalas: chilly powder, turmeric, cumin, salt and mix it all well.

Add the chopped prawns to the mixture. Then add the ginger & garlic paste, mix it and stir well. You can fry this mixture on a high flame for a few minutes.

After a bit, turn down the heat, add in the coconut milk for flavour, as required (make sure you don’t make it too watery) cover the pan and cook it till the prawns get done, then mix in the chopped coriander leaves and turn off the gas.

For the baking:

Choose a baking dish (with a removable base) and oil it well.

Pre-heat your oven for about 10 minutes at 180°C

Split the dough into two equal pieces.

Roll out one piece big enough to cover the base and sides of the baking dish.

Spread the prawn stuffing evenly over this base layer.

Roll out the second piece of dough and cover the stuffing with it.

You can use a fork and seal the edges of both the layers together.

With a silicon brush (refer to the picture) use some egg for egg-washing the top layer of the pie.

Now it’s ready to go into the oven. With the temperature at 180°C   First turn on the bottom heat only, till the base gets done (about 15 mins)

Then change the temperature to 150°C and switch to both top and bottom heat for another 10 mins.

Then switch to only top heat to brown the top (approx. 10 mins) Then, it’s ready to serve ! 

 TIPS:

1. Serve it right out of the oven, because it tastes best when the bread is hot. You can add some butter to the bread while eating. (like I do)

2.  You can add chopped green chillies to the stuffing, if you want to add more spice to it.

[samjd13-blog]

FISH FLORENTINE & TOMATO AND GARLIC TOASTED BREAD  

So apparently starting my food blog (which I had been planning to do for ages, but only got down to doing in the last two months!) Lots of motivation from my sister and inspiration from a few friends who happen to be bloggers too..you know exactly who you are!.... has lead to a lot of good things for me ! (FAME!! Haha, not really..but it's a start, innit!) 

So my first claim to fame, was through a friend who asked me to write for a recently launched food column, in the sakal times..read on for the recipe ! Its very simple & quick too..! 

The reason I decided to share this recipe is that it was one of my grandmum’s signature dishes. In my recipe, I have used frozen basa, simply because I find it’s much faster and easier to cook. As opposed to what most people think, I find that its blandness actually helps accentuate the flavour of the dish, after you cook it with herbs and other seasoning. 

This dish is a great way to get your kids to eat their greens too, mainly because they are hidden right underneath all the flavoured fish and cheesy sauce! It also makes for a great party dish.  Tomato and Garlic Toasted Bread can be served on the side. 

Here’s a little info about the dish......

Florentine comes from “Florence in Italy” where the dish is associated with spinach, or is prepared on a ‘bed of spinach’. Sometimes, food items from other regions of the world may have the word florentine associated with them, but they do not necessarily have spinach in  them.

TOMATO AND GARLIC TOASTED BREAD  

INGREDIENTS:  

Oil...4 tbsp  

Butter... 4 tbsp  

Garlic powder.....2 tsp 

Dried & crushed oregano......1 tsp 

Salt....... ½ tsp 

Chilli powder....... ½ tsp 

Tomato, chopped finely........1 

Baguette, plain......1   

METHOD: 

In a pan, add the oil and butter and melt the butter on a low flame. 

Then add the garlic powder, oregano, salt, chilli powder and tomato, mix and fry well.  

Cut the baguette into thick diagonal pieces, toast till brown on a flat pan. Apply the garlic and tomato sauce on the bread slices and serve hot. 

FISH FLORENTINE 

INGREDIENTS: 

For the spinach- 

Onion....1 big  

Fresh spinach.......1½ bunch  

Oil.......2 tbsp 

Sugar...... 1¾ tsp   

Salt...1 tsp

For the fish- 

Frozen basa, cleaned & skinned......350 gm 

Lime juice......1½ tsp 

Water.......4 tsp 

Salt & Pepper.......1½ tsp (each)

For the white sauce- 

Butter......... 3 tsp  

Oil......2 tsp 

Flour (maida)...... 3½ tbsp  

Milk........ 1 cup 

Water...... ¼ cup 

Salt........ ¾ tsp 

Pepper....... ½ tsp 

Sugar........ ½ tsp 

Parmesan, grated......2 tbsp 

Cheese, grated  (for garnishing)...... 4 cubes 

METHOD: 

For the spinach- 

Wash the spinach well and cut it into long strips. Keep aside. 

Dice the onion very finely. 

In a pan, add the oil and fry the diced onion lightly for 2-3 min. Do not brown them. 

Then add in all the chopped spinach, salt and sugar and fry till the spinach wilts a bit. Keep aside in a separate bowl to cool.   

For the fish- 

If you are using frozen fish, make sure you thaw it well in advance. 

Place the fish in a flat pan, add the water, salt, pepper and lime juice. Mix well using your fingers, so that it coats the fish evenly. 

Then cook the fish till it’s opaque. Take the fish out from the water (basa tends to give out some water while cooking) and keep it in a separate dish. 

Do not throw this water out. Keep it aside.   

For the white sauce- 

In a non-stick dish, add the butter and oil. Then on a low flame, melt the butter. 

Then add in the flour and quickly mix well with the melted butter and oil, to make the ‘roux’. 

To this, add in the salt, pepper, sugar, milk and fish water and keep whisking constantly, so that there are no lumps in the sauce. 

Lastly, add in the extra water and grated parmesan. 

Then on a medium flame, keep whisking the mixture, till it starts to thicken. Take it off the gas once the sauce is thick enough.   

Plating- 

In a baking casserole, arrange the spinach as the base layer. 

Next, shred the fish into large chunks and form another layer on top of the spinach. 

Then pour the white sauce evenly over the fish. 

Lastly, grate the cheese cubes over the sauce, covering the whole dish. 

Set the oven temperature to 150°C and bake for about 15 min. Serve hot.

[samjd13-blog]

Mexican Tacos

Have you ever had a strong craving for Mexican food? Well I definitely have several times; so I decided why not try making some tacos at home! It doesn't get more Mexican than this! 

I know it looks very tedious, but it’s super simple to make, IF you plan & buy your ingredients beforehand.

It makes for a great dish for a party at home too. You can make the tacos and serve them all together OR you can serve all the ingredients in separate dishes and have your guests choose which fillings they want to go with their tacos (kind of like how you do with khow-suey)

Tacos are all about variety of ingredients and the spicy sauces that go with them.

Here’s my very own version of Mexican Tacos, hope you like....  :)

INGREDIENTS

For the Tacos:

1 box Tacos, approx. 12nos. (In this recipe I have used, Tex Mex Salsalito Tacos, refer to the pics above)

250 gm Kashmiri Rajma 

3 Spring onions, chopped finely (along with the chives)

100 gm Iceberg lettuce, washed & shredded into large pieces 

A handful of Cilantro, chopped fine, for the garnishing  

2 Red Tomatoes, diced into cubes

1 (each) Red, Green & Yellow Peppers (Capsicum), diced into cubes

4 Cubes of Cheese, grated finely

A Pinch of Baking soda

Salt to taste

Any kind of meat you prefer (Smoked Chicken, shredded/ Chicken mince...etc)

For the sauce:

2 Teaspoons of Lime juice

3 1/2 Teaspoons of Red Chilly sauce

7-8 tablespoons of Tomato sauce

4 tablespoons of Mayonnaise 

METHOD

First start off with the rajma; wash & soak the beans overnight.

Then pressure cook them for about 12 minutes, adding in a pinch of baking soda & some salt to taste.

Simultaneously, chop up the Spring onions, Cilantro, Tomatoes & Peppers.Then keep them in separate bowls.

Prepare the meat however you like it best (make it with just a teensy bit of gravy, thats how I made mine, because I feel like it adds a little bit of that extra flavour to the dish....usually tacos are served with strips of meat rather than gravy, but thats really upto what you prefer doing)

Shred the Iceberg Lettuce into large pieces, as this will form a sort of base in the taco shell, to hold all the other ingredients.

Next for the for the sauce: Mix the Mayonnaise, Tomato sauce, Lime juice and Chilly sauce together in a separate bowl. 

Heat the tacos in the microwave for about 45 seconds or in the oven for about 2-3 minutes and wait for it to become a little crispy for about 3 minutes after.

Next you can start plating the tacos up one at a time: Put a piece of iceberg lettuce in a Taco Shell first, then add the spring onions, rajma and meat, then drizzle a little bit of sauce with a teaspoon over these ingredients.Then add in the tomatoes & peppers and again drizzle this with some sauce. Finally add the cilantro and top it off with sprinkling it with some grated cheese.

Now continue this process for each one...and enjoy ! 

TIPS:  

1. If you want to serve this dish at a party, keep all the ingredients ready a few hours beforehand or possibly that morning itself.  

2. Keep adding the sauce after every 2-3 ingredients you add into the tacos, so that the sauce mixes well with all the ingredients, and makes it more flavorful. 

3. You can add finely diced green chillies to the ingredients as well, to spice it up some more.

[samjd13-blog]

Hot Pot Breakfast

I love Breakfast. What I really don’t get is how some people totally skip past breakfast straight to lunch....I never did. 

Even back in school, Mum would always make sure we never left the house, until we had at least some cornflakes or an egg and toast, and not to forget the yummy morning tea that she always makes! (nobody can ever match up to the tea made by our mums; to that perfection of how our mums do, can they?Maybe, it’s that secret ingredient called “Love”)

So we usually experiment with a lot of breakfast recipes on Sunday mornings or on a birthday. Today was one of those days! And I decided to cook up something of my own. (Because face it, we all love to throw in whatever’s lying around sometimes and put a funky label on it, don’t we?)

Here’s how to make it:

INGREDIENTS

4 Eggs & Milk

5-6 Button Mushrooms, Diced into cubes

5 Strips of bacon, Chopped (Use bacon with a little bit more fat, to add some flavour to the egg)

Emmental cheese, grated (about two tablespoons)

Salt

Pepper 

1 tablespoon olive oil

Cooking Oil

Note: You will need 4 Ramekins to make this Dish.

METHOD

Start off with greasing each ramekin well, with the cooking oil.

Then, fry the chopped bacon in a pan. Fry it till it’s slightly crispy and there’s a bit of fat melted, then turn off the heat and place an equal amount into each ramekin, along with the melted fat.

Fry the diced mushrooms in a tablespoon of olive oil, then turn off the flame and take the pan off the stove, add in a bit of salt and mix it up. Place an equal quantity into each ramekin.

Lastly, beat up the eggs (individually) and add in about 3 tablespoons of milk to each one, and salt to taste. 

Pour each egg into a ramekin (over the bacon & mushrooms) as you are done with each one (make sure it doesn’t fill the ramekin to the brim (refer to the 4th picture above) or it might spill over when you microwave it. 

Add in the grated cheese, equally, to each ramekin and mix it up with a spoon, so that the ingredients get mixed up evenly.

Finally, put two ramekins at a time into the microwave for about 1 1/2 minute and this will be enough to cook the egg. 

Once it’s out of the microwave, sprinkle each with a bit of pepper just before serving.

NOTE: Eat it hot, because that’s when you get the best taste of the gooey cheese!

P.S. This quantity will serve 4 people.

[samjd13-blog]

Restaurant Experimentation Day:

POLKA DOTS CAFÉ, Kalyaninagar

So Sundays are usually a really lazy day at the de Sa's. I'm sure many of you would totally agree with me. No one likes to cook on Sundays, most of the time anyway! 

We decided to celebrate father’s day one week in advance (actually we just assumed it was THIS Sunday) We wanted to goto a place mum and dad hadn't gone to before, and we picked "POLKA DOTS" at kalyaninagar ( they have a branch at aundh too) They've been around for quite sometime now, just never got down to actually going there. 

It's a really cute café type of restaurant, doesn't have the biggest seating area, but that's okay because most people seem to order take away anyhow. 

They have a wide variety of food to choose from: Mexican, Thai, Indian, Continental and Malaysian. They also have a lot of "specials of the day", which changes from time to time. 

Here's a bunch of stuff we tried out : 

Mr. Bean naanchos (Basically a Big naan, stuffed with a variety of beans, sauces, cheese and jalapeños) 

The Citrusy Mojo (A cool drink on a hot summer day, served in the cutest little jars) 

Mozzarella fingers (A really well made snack, its just the perfect amount of gooey)

Spaghetti with Barbeque chicken and mascarpone sauce (I'd definitely recommend trying this one out, a first for me, and I loved the combo)

Vietnamese garlic pepper chicken (Had just the right amount of spiciness, ordered this as a snack, turned out to be the quantity of a main course dish!)

Classic vegetarian Au Gratin (again a lovely blend of veggies like zucchini, broccoli and some heavenly sauce) 

The quantity & quality of food was really good for the prices they charge. And made me wonder why we hadn't tried this place before ! It's also a perfect setting for a lovely dinner.

[samjd13-blog]

Simple Salad

Since I’m on a bit of a health spree (I know, weird right!) and trying to lose some of that excess Goa weight :D  What better way to go about it, than with a yummy salad. 

NOW, I know what many of you “meaters” must be thinking: 

SALAD??! HELLS NO !!! 

But do not fear !! I have a recipe for quite the yummy salad. Read on……

INGREDIENTS

2 ½ Tablespoons Olive Oil

A Handful of cherry tomatoes ( Washed and diced in half, or keep them full)

50 gms of Feta (diced into chunks; I usually prefer Apertina or Swiss Feta soaked in olive oil and herbs)

4 Bacon strips (chopped into pieces)

1 cucumber (kakdi) (diced into chunks)

150/200 gms Fresh Lettuce

Salt 

METHOD

First of all, make sure you wash your veggies well and drain them really well too (you don’t want any water to be left behind, because that will make your salad soggy and the lettuce leaves will wilt)

Tear up the lettuce leaves (unevenly) and place them in a bowl. Add the diced cherry tomatoes, cucumber, feta, and sprinkle it with the olive oil. 

Fry the bacon pieces till they are slightly crisp(not completely), and then add it to the above mixture.

Mix all the ingredients well and finally, add salt to taste. 

NOTE: You can add some button mushrooms to the salad too.

[samjd13-blog]

One Pan Breakfast

So I don’t know about you guys, but Jamie Oliver is one of my all time favourite chefs (Gotta admit he’s super cute too) What I love about his recipe’s is that they aren’t just simple and fun, but end up looking pretty good too. So I decided to finally try out one of the relatively simpler recipes and I made this. Super happy with how it turned out!

Here’s how you make the One pan breakfast:

INGREDIENTS

3 or 4 Eggs

6 Button Mushrooms (diced into big chunks)

2 Tomatoes (thick slices)

Bacon (About 5 strips)

Chicken/Pork Sausages (4 nos.)

Butter (to coat the nonstick pan)

A pinch of Salt

METHOD

Preheat the oven (or OTG) to about 200°C for about 8 mins. 

Line the nonstick pan with butter well. Place the strips of bacon & sausages in the pan and put it in the oven for about 7 minutes. Then, flip the pieces of bacon and sausages over and reduce the temeparture to 180°C keep checking on it till the bacon & sausages are done (the bacon should be nice and crispy). 

Now add the mushrooms and tomatoes and put it back into the oven for about 5 mins. 

Finally add the eggs (whole) and salt to taste. When you are doing this make sure you arrange the sausages & bacon in such a way that you can spread the eggs out evenly, so that the egg whites cover the bacon completely and this will add to the presentation of the dish too! Now cook it in the oven for about 15 mins (or less depending on how you like your eggs)

Note: Jamie oliver’s original recipe uses black pudding (to increase the quantity) You can choose to substitute that with bread, if you feel like.

Serve Hot.

[michelledesa]

Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. If you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one piece. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through!

Ira Glass, an excellent piece of advice (via michelledesa)

[samjd13-blog]

People who love to eat are the best type of people

[samjd13-blog]

On my annual visit to my hometown (Goa) I always make it a point to stop by at my all time favourite tapas bar, “MARACAS” 

SO do you wanna know the best part about this restaurant? It’s open throughout the year (unlike most of the places that shut down, once the monsoon strikes!) AND its open throughout the day, Yeah, you heard right ! (from 11am to 11pm) –> for those of you who hate to rush off to lunch BEFORE 3 pm (like me!) It’s closed on tuesdays.

Few of my Favs: The Crab dip, Liver Paté, Beer batter basa and the Bacon wrapped chicken roulade.

Also try: The Sangria  & the Serradura. 

I’d definitely recommend going here, when you make a trip to Goa! Trust me, you’ll be glad you did.