Indian Food

BELVEDERE VODKA TAKES OVER THE CANNES FILM FESTIVAL! ~Liam Hemsworth, Solange Knowdles, Ahna O’Reilly groove to Reverend Run from RUN D.M.C and DJ Ruckus~   Hip hop icon Reverend Run from RUN D.M.C performed to a celebrity-filled crowd at the legendary VIP ROOM nightclub to celebrate the world’s first super-premium vodka’s return to Cannes (France) for the sixth year. Reverend Run, DJ Ruckus, Liam Hemsworth (Hunger Games), Solange Knowles (Musician), Chloe  Norgaard (Model), Ahna O’Reilly (The Help),Rebecca Da Costa (Motel), Diplo (DJ), Rick Yune (The Fast And The Furious) and more watched the ‘King of Rock’ rapper perform some of his greatest hits in honor of Belvedere Vodka alongside DJ extraordinaire DJ Ruckus. Liam Hemsworth (Hunger Games), Solange Knowles (Musician), Chloe  Norgaard (Model), Ahna O’Reilly (The Help), Rebecca Da Costa (Motel),Diplo (DJ), Rick Yune (The Fast And The Furious) were all on their feet dancing to ‘Walk This Way’, ‘Run’s House’, ‘It’s Like That’ and ‘My Adidas’ whilst sipping delicious Belvedere Vodka cocktails including French Riviera (Grapefruit juice and Fever Tree Mediterranean Tonic Water) and Mint and Watermelon Martinis. The event also saw the unveiling of the new Belvedere Vodka illuminated bottle, a new bottle with a light that illuminates the bottle when switched on. Following in the footsteps of music icons Cyndi Lauper, Debbie Harry, Grace Jones and Duran Duran, Reverend Run from RUN D.M.C entertained the celebrity-packed audience with ease and left his memorable mark on French Riviera. Other notable music industry icons that featured for Belvedere Vodka advertisement campaigns include R&B star Usher who partnered with the luxury vodka brand for a social-cause campaign to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa. The partnership was run through a program called (PRODUCT)RED, donating up to 50% of profits to six African countries.

Got to try some Idli Chutney while you are hanging out in southern part of India right??? Although it isn't really a hangout for me, I know for the fact that I don't need a reason to enjoy each bite of this wonderful hot steamed Idli!Idli/ idly is one of those delicious nutritious snack/lunch item that I can eat in any season of the year. It tastes even better in chilled winter when you can enjoy them dipping in the spicy hot Sambar. In summer I usually prefer the idli with coconut chutney. It also tastes great with number of different kind of chutney's as well, but coconut is my personal favorite. (Scroll down to see other options for the chutneys)The mixture of rice and Urad daal makes a perfect carbs-protein combo which I absolutely love. The fermented batter increases the vitamin B-12 content in the food. It's a great item to include in a vegetarian/ a vegan diet. Fermentation of Idli is caused by the air-borne wild yeast which is drawn by the urad daal and fenugreek seeds from air. Being steamed, idli is easy to digest.So let's get cooking..:)Soaking time- 4-5 hoursPreparation time- 15 minutes.Fermenting time- overnight/ 10- 12 hours depending on the temperature.Cooking time- 15-20 minutes.Makes 10-12 idlis depending on the size of your idli maker.Ingredients-:2 cups of parboiled rice or any short to medium grain rice1 cup of skinned whole urad daal. About 2 tbsp of fenugreek seeds.4-5 tbsp of cooked rice/ soaked pohaSalt to taste.Cooking oil spray for coating the idli moulds.Procedure-:Start by washing and soaking rice and urad daal and fenugreek seeds separately in a room temperature water for about 4-5 hours.If you have a wet grinder, which I am thinking about buying, you will get awesome results, but if you don't have one, you can certainly use a nice blender. Grind the rice and the daal seperately and then mix together well. While grinding the daal you can add the fenugreek seeds into it and then grind. Make sure you make a smooth paste. while grinding the rice add the cooked rice or soaked poha to it. This is what makes idli soft and fluffy.Mix both the the batters together and don't forget to use your hands to mix it well so that the heat from your body will help in starting the fermentation process.Cover and keep the mixed batter aside to ferment overnight or at least 10-12 hours.The above procedure is the general guideline to make the idlis. However there are some variations that you should know about.Different types of rice results in to different end result. Please remember to use short to medium grain rice. I have used the parboiled rice and sona masuri as well, both work well.You can also use black lentils with the skin on it instead of skinned whole urad daal. The only difference you will notice is ,you will see the black fragments of the lentils into the batter and the idlis won't have the white color.Fermentation Guidelines-:If you are happened to be in a hot climate, you can keep the batter in the corner of your kitchen in a glass or a stainless steel container. Cover it lightly with the lid, don't close it completely.The fermented batter doubles in size, so make sure you keep the batter in a container which has enough space needed for the batter to rise.If you live in a colder region, or making idlis in winter you have a few options to ferment your batter well-:Heat the oven to the lowest temperature. Turn it off and then keep the batter inside the oven for the whole night.Without turning the oven on, just turn on the light in the oven and keep the batter inside to ferment overnight.If you don't have the oven, just keep the batter in the warm place, near your cooking range or in a warm corner of your kitchen.After the batter ferments, and whenever you are ready to make the idlis, add the salt to taste and mix the batter. Do not overmix, as the trapped air bubbles will get released. We need these air bubbles as they help make the idlis soft and fluffy.Spray the idli maker and keep ready. Add a spoonful

The dark chocolate mousse is fab on its own. Sensuous, smooth, satisfying, intense ... everything that good quality dark chocolate promises to be. Top it with balsamic fresh cherries and take it to even more delicious levels.The post No Bake | Simplest & Best Dark Chocolate Mousse {2 ingredient}… with balsamic fresh cherries #chocolate appeared first on Passionate About Baking.

Raw plantain kofta curry

Soya mughlai

The Westin Mumbai Garden City brings to you the ultimate Summer Sundowners, A brand new Friday evening for pure House music featuring the best talent from across the city is coming your way. Engage all your senses and experience a musical treat you’ve never felt before. On the 24th May 2013 be there to witness an evening that you will not forget. Great music with chilled drinks is sure to melt away the weekly blues and party start your weekend. Catch the best of Deep and Progressive House music featuring Junboy and other DJs on the decks along with multi-instrumentalist Ayuddha Project jamming live with them to create a surreal experience. Junboy —A progressive House DJ, producer and remixer. He has remixed for top notch clubs in Singapore, and played at Asia’s biggest dance music festivals like Sunburn as well. Ayuddha Project is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer and DJ with years of experience in the field of music. He is proficient with ethnic instruments like: Didgeridoo – Djembe – Flute (Bansuri) – Morsing (mouth Harp). To add on to the lineup we also have Kalee Karma, Nirvafunk and Kunal Krishnan who have been turning the groove on in Mumbai city, at popular night clubs over the past few years. Breaking the clutter of commercial, over pitched beats they tease the floor with a fresh assortment of thumps and tunes that will keep you bouncing. Get ready to experience an evening full of madness, non-stop dancing and partying. This is surely something you cannot afford to miss. Come submit yourself to sinful music and great ambience at Prego Al Fresco only at The Westin Mumbai Garden City Venue: Prego Al Fresco [Ground Floor], The Westin Mumbai Garden City hotel, Goregaon [East] Date: Friday, 24th May 2013 Entry: Cover Charge INR 1500 pp Time: 5pm onwards till late Genre: Strictly electronic music – Deep/Progressive House featuring an exclusive multi-instrumentalist jamming live with the DJs Full lineup: Junboy, Nirvafunk, Kalee Karma, Ayuddha Project and Kunal Krishnan

Music Untapped at The Beer Cafe   Beat the heat this summer and enjoy Music Untapped at The Beer Café. Come and unwind after a long hectic week at work to The Beer Café, Vasant Kunj this Friday, May 24th 2013 and enjoy the upcoming band “Classic Collective”. Let these young group of musician pay tribute to the icons of rock. Be a part of this music night as they belt out popular contemporary and pop rock numbers from the timeless bands 1960′s through to the early 1980′s.   Meet the band: Aveleon Vaz – On Drums Abhishek Mangle – On Bass Adhir Ghosh- On Guitar Rohit Gupta –  On Keyboard Robin – On the vocals   Venue: Ambience Mall, Vasant Kunj   Time: 8:00 PM Onward   Charges:A la Carte or Unlimited package of Rs 1500/- (Select beers plus liquor and Buffet spread)

If you are a regular reader you might know that my FIL comes to our home for lunch every day after MIL passed away. Mom was not a adventures type when it came for making food, she always made traditional food from Belgium, sometimes I think she started trying newer things after I came here as she hears from me about this or that spices etc..... but still 99 % of food she made was belgian/

Ingredients: Stock Lamb Trotters: 8 numbers Onions: 2 medium, halved Ginger: 2” Garlic: 4-5 large cloves Bay leaves: 2 Peppercorn: 1 tsp Clove: 4 numbers Mace: one Big cardamom: 2 Small cardamom: 3 Cinnamon: 2” Turmeric: a pinch Masala Ghee: 100 ml 1 onion, sliced Tomatoes: 1 number, chopped Yogurt: 0.5 cup Turmeric: 1.5 tsp Red Chilli powder (Kuti Laal): 2 tsp Garam Masala Powder: 1.5 tsp Salt: to taste Paste (blend these) Onion: 1 number Ginger: 2” Garlic: 3-4 large cloves Coriander leaves: one small bunch Green chillies: 3 numbers Method: Take a large heavy bottomed utensil. A 10 litre pressure cooker would be fine. Put in the trotters, half the garlic, and all the Stock ingredients. Cover well with water. Put on high flame and simmer just before the boil. At no point should the stock boil. Simmer for around 3.5 hours. Keep adding hot water to keep the contents covered. Strain and separate the trotters, ‘other elements’ (like onions etc) and liquid Puree ‘other elements’ (separated in previous step) in the blender Add blended mixture from previous step to the liquid. Keep warm. Heat ghee in a heavy bottomed pan, add sliced onions and cook till golden brown. Add blended Paste (from ingredients list), and cook for a few more minutes. Put in chopped tomatoes, all Masala ingredients and whipped yogurt Cook till oil comes to top. Add the liquid and the cooked trotters/paya and cook for another hour to 1.5 hours. Check seasoning. Garnish with chopped chilli, coriander, sliced ginger and a twist of lemon.

Fresh cranberry beans and tomato stew