Indian Food

A meal at Ji Hazoor, is about much more than just the jolly good food. It’s an experience: feeling like royalty in plush grandeur, velvet and bolster/cushion laden seating, chandeliers and crystal curtains all around, and service that is very Indian and very warm. Not a surprise, when the people running it believe that the customers’ wishes, big or small, are to be satisfied. From the owner couple’s young daughter who charmingly bids you welcome and whose sunny form you see running about during your meal, to the lady (who also manages the day to day running of the place) herself filling the buffet dishes, and the gentleman who walks around interacting with all his guests, you are made to feel welcome and cannot help but be infused with their passion and enthusiasm for food and their food culture. Nawabi Khwaish That Ji Hazoor is a labor of love is clear; no surprise it took a year from conception to opening – there is a color scheme of greens, blues and reds, with matching chandeliers hand crafted and brought in from Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Rajasthan and hand assembled on the premises. Mirrored and jeweled pillars and walls decorated with flowers and fancy mirrors, even throne-like seating make you feel like you’re a Nawab for a moment, a feeling helped along by the turbans one is given to wear at the table. The outdoors, which has a mini waterfall curtain and lights and decor that give it a Mediterranean vibe, is often booked up for private events, but if you’re there on an evening when its free, sit out there for an enchanting evening. Paya Shorba We began our meal with a lovely Paya Shorba, with tender meat and delicate flavors. Then we were presented with a gigantic Roomali Masala Papad that had onions and chaat spices and sev strewn in it, and which we would have happily demolished, if it was the only thing we were eating. Knowing plenty of food was ahead of us, we contented ourselves with about a quarter. Despite this judiciousness, we ended up stuffed to the gills waaay before dessert, completely the fault of the starters: Stuffed Tandoori Mushroom, Paneer Resunga Lahori, Kalmi Murg ka Soola, Ghost Shami Kabab, Gelauti Kabab and Pathar ka Gosht. This last dish actually had the texture of sand on the top (with succulent meat below), and was an interesting mouthful. The only kebab we did not love was the Shami, which was served with a cross between an omelet and a fried egg at the bottom: the egg did nothing for the dish, and overall there was an overwhelming flavor of cloves.  Ginormous Papad A mixed bread basket with Lachha Parantha, Butter Naan, Tandoori Roti, Peshawari Naan came along with the main course of: Dal Makhani (good enough that I wanted more than my usual 2 bites), Paneer Korma, Murg Makhani, Bhunna Gosht, Nihari Gosht (excellent), Rarra Murg (brilliant). Despite being full, I had to eat second helpings (well, the first servings were literally a spoon of each) of some of these dishes and was deeply regretful of not being able to eat more. We also drank enormous steel tumblers of rose/gulab flavored Lassi, that had a layer of froth and dry fruits, which helped cool down our mouths after all those spices. Royal Dining We absolutely refused the offer of biryani and instead nibbled at the desserts, which were exceptional. The Gulab Jamoon was not sickly sweet and floating in a pond of syrup, but just right, the Moong Dal ka Halwa was ground finer than I am used to, giving it a different texture, and the Jalebis were also delicious. Had we not had tickets for a movie, we likely would have stayed another hour to make place for dessert and eaten more in general. Around us, there were parties and company gatherings as well as Sunday family lunchers, partaking of the buffet as well as the a la carte options. It’s value for money, with food that has been prepared with care, and the buffets are quite a steal! In the month or so since it’s opened, Ji Hazoor has already ma

Fish sauce

Ingredients: 2-3 medium-sized, boneless chicken breasts 2 tbsp low fat milk Marinade: 5-6 thick cloves of garlic, pounded/chopped 5-6 basil leaves (optional) 1/2 tsp of paprika (optional) black pepper and salt to taste 1/2 tbsp of barbecue sauce (fiery and sweet) 1 tbsp sherry (or replace with 1/2 tbsp of lime juice if you don’t mind the piquant flavor) Optional: Mushrooms, spinach,sliced onions, blanched beans Ingredients: Mix all the marinade ingredients in a shallow bowl. Wash, clean and score the chicken with a sharp knife. Add chicken to the marinade Let it sit for 10 minutes, turning chicken over once after 5 minutes, to ensure the marinade covers it on all sides. Grill in a grill pan or if you don’t have one simply saute in a heavy pan in a tsp of olive oil. Cook for 5 minutes or till chicken is done Take off the heat and cover pan with foil/tight lid for 2-3 minutes Take out the chicken and add the milk to the caramelized juices left over in the pan. Scrape and mix well, returning the pan to medium/slow heat. Add the vegetables to the sauce for a min (optional) When the sauce reduces as per your liking, take it off the heat, adjust seasoning. Plate the chicken, pouring the sauce over it.

Blogging Marathon# 29: Week 3/ Day 3Theme: Course Wise Meal from any State - Maharashtra/ Lunch DishesDish: Usal-Misal PavAfter 2 days of easy one-pot Maharashtrian dishes (Masala Bhath & Vaal Khichdi), today's dish is slightly elaborate and spicy. It's a great dish to entertain as well. I remember one of our dear Marwari friend serving this for dinner and it was probably one of the best tasting Misal Pav I've ever had. Being a rice obsessed South Indian, I was initially skeptical if that sprouts curry with bread on the side is going to fill me up -- but I was really surprised how filling and delicious that combo can be.I referred to quite a few blogs for the recipe, but in the end I stuck with Sangeetha @ Kothiyavanu's recipe. Her pictures were gorgeous and I loved her step by step explanation. This dish is a little time consuming with quite a few steps involved, but the final dish is well worth the effort. I've tried to explain the process as clearly as possible.Read more »

Rachana is a cook and a graphic designer who runs her own graphic design and party food business specializing in Italian & Mexican cuisines and desserts. Rachana loves experimenting with food and her latest obsession is baking. Cupcakes, cakes, cookies, anything she can lay her hands on! Rachana would love to open an art cafe some day and blogs at Second Helping in Service.

Tweet I have heard that all wild fish taste different – they are gamey – a quality I am slowly learning to appreciate.  By living in a city, I hardly get to eat anything that is both non-commercial and wild. Hence, an invitation to savor a wild-caught bounty from Hudson River was a rare opportunity. The allure of fishing lies somewhat due to the fact that it is a quiet and enduring pursuit of unknown – we don’t know if a trout or mackerel or anything at all would be our meal as the result. The wild-caught fish I was getting for dinner was trout. I’ve heard that the rainbow trout are the best tasting freshwater fish in the United States. But do they taste different than their store-bought counterparts? My chef’s mom used to steam-bake the whole fish. We stuck with the method, stuffing the fish with a mixture of sautéed garlic, crushed almonds, mayonnaise, some knickknack spices, freshly grounded back peppers, and sea salt. Trout were topped with sliced lemons, then carefully wrapped in stapled wax paper pouch, and cooked for approximately thirty minutes at three hundred fifty degrees Fahrenheit. Cooked trout retained its delicate flavor. Other additions acted more like a side condiment, optional to use, not necessary. Wild trout seemed to have a superior flavor, better texture, as well as lively color than their mass “hatchery” produced cousins. A better flavor may be due to romantic notion or really because the wild ones eat fresh natural diet while the stocked ones are largely fed on fish pellets. The experience of eating wild food reminded me where our food really comes from. Most people in this world grow, fish, hunt, or at least cook their food from scratch. On contrary, most of us struggle with even properly nuking a frozen box of entrée from Trader’s Joe. We import higher percentage of seafood than oil in this country. Are we eating too much easy fish? At the end of the meal, my chef asked me playfully how much these wild fish fetch in a DC restaurant? I didn’t answer, but quietly thought the experience of eating non-commercial wild-caught fish is far valuable than market price of fish.

Ingredients:Medium size brinjal - 5 Nos Tamarind - A big gooseberry size Red Chilli Powder - 1 teaspoon Coriander Powder - 2 teaspoons Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon Asafoetida Powder - 1/4 teaspoon Oil - 2 to 3 tablespoons Mustard - 1/2 teaspoon Curry Leaves - few Salt - 1 teaspoon or as per taste To fry and grind: Til seeds - 1 tablespoon Fenugreek - 1/2 teaspoon Method: In a dry kadai put the til (sesame) seeds and fry till it starts crackling. Remove and keep it aside. Same kadai add fenugreek seeds and fry till it turn light brown. Allow to cool. Powder both the fried til seeds and fenugreek. Soak tamarind in a cup of water and take out the tamarind juice. Chop the brinjal into tiny pieces. In a thick bottomed kadai, put the oil. When it is hot add mustard. When it starts pop up, add Asafoetida powder and curry leaves. Then add chopped brinjal pieces and fry for few minutes. Close with a lid and allow to cook on low flame. No need to add water, but if necessary just sprinkle a handful of water and cook it till soft. Once it is cooked soft, add red chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder and salt. Mix it well. Then add tamarind extract and stir well. Allow to cook till it become thick. Finally add the til and fenugreek powder and once again mix it well and remove. It can be eaten mixed with hot rice or serve with chapati/bread. Note:We can also grind the brinjals to a paste and use it in the above recipe. In that case, first fry the brinjal pieces in a teaspoon of oil. Cool it and then grind it to a coarse paste. Or you can grill the whole brinjal, remove the skin and grind it to a coarse paste. If you want to keep it for a week or so, then little more oil and make this thokku.

After seeing that the Chocolate Kalakand was a hit, I started thinking what else can be twisted with chocolate. When my relatives visited us, I thought of making gulab jamuns. However I didn't get time and those ready mix packets were lying around still. When the idea came to mind, I was so happy that I could do something new with the old stuff. I knew my kids won't eat gulab jamuns, so making it with chocolate, I was sure they will love it. Since it was a sweet I safely thought I could do it once they go to sleep. The many memories of Amma making it late night came to mind. Since childhood, all birthdays and special festivals are marked with Gulab Jamun making. Amma always used to make it late night and by morning, I would eagerly wake up to see those fried balls turned as monsters after dunking all the syrup. In all her experience of making gulab jamun, I don't think we have ever had a failed experience. And the batch used to last couple of days depending on the occasion. I like it cold and hot as well. I was surprised that though I practically grew up with this sweet, I have never made in my kitchen with a ready mix, other than the times I made for Indian Cooking Challenge. During this challenge, I had made from the scratch each time I made. Thinking of this sweet, also reminds me of my friend who made it for the first time when we were kids. She thought one has to roll out the balls big before frying and soak. So she made huge balls and soaked. Once these got soaked, they turned out to be tennis balls! We had such fun teasing her on her experiment. So using a ready mix was a first time experience for myself. When I had set up to make, I was debating if I should use melted chocolate or Cocoa powder. I settled with Cocoa powder with a chocolate bit as a stuffing. I knew somehow adding the cocoa might make the dough sticky. As expected it did towards the end. Care should be taken to add water little by little to get a stiff dough. My brother's family had come down the day I made this and the kids were so busy. I hurriedly packed some for my colleagues and they were surprised that I would think of such combinations. Everything was licked clean, with some comments like they didn't know if it was halwa or gulab jamun. One batch towards the end, got disintegrated into the sugar syrup and I didn't remove it out. After knowing that the taste was awesome, I offered to my kids and I was so glad that both Konda and Peddu loved it. Chinnu refused to eat though being tempted to note that it was chocolate. However after the first gulp, he was sticking to my side. Konda pointed out to me that maybe Chinnu wants another bite. I saw Chinnu nodding his head and looking sheepishly wanting another bite. So you know end of the story, the entire bowl was finished within minutes. I had to tell my friends that what they tasted was the last of the chocolate gulab jamun. And the next will happen if I make it again. Surprisingly hubby dear who doesn't like anything twisted or fusion, said this was very good. Chocolate Gulab Jamun Ingredients Needed: For the Jamun Readymade Gulab Jamun Mix - 1 packet (250 gms) Cocoa powder - 3 tsp Dark Chocolate bits for the stuffing Water - 1/4 cup for every 1 cup mix For the Sugar Syrup Sugar - 200 gms Water just enough to cover Cardamon powder Oil for Deep frying Ghee - 2 tbsp to be added to the cooking oul while deep frying How to prepare Chocolate Gulab Jamun In a wide bowl, empty the gulab jamun mix. I measured it out to be 2 & 1/2 cups. Add cocao powder and mix well. Now slowly add water by 1/4 cup and knead to a soft and pliable dough. Let it rest for 10 mins. Heat a kadai with oil and ghee, Keep it on low. For the Sugar Syrup In a pan, take the sugar and mix with water. Bring to boil, remove scum if any. Then again cook for 15 mins on medium flame. As such for this syrup, we are not particul

Gulamba in Marathi Time: 15-20 minutes 1.25 cups Gulamba Ingredients: 1 cup grated green mango (peel 2 medium green mango and grate using big hole grater) 2 cup jaggery, chopped 1/2... Read complete recipe on my blog http://chakali.blogspot.com

Khari murgi with potatoes