Indian Food

If you’re tired of the same tandoori chicken and butter chicken, here’s a list of places in Delhi that I think dish out some fantastic chicken dishes. Nandos, DLF Promenade, Vasant Kunj: Don’t roll your eyes, you knew this was coming. So, while it’s probably the newest chicken thing in town, I do believe Nando’s serves up some pretty good chicken. My favorite meal there is a medium spicy half chicken with fries and slaw. Their customer facing attitude isn’t the best and can be improved by a long mile. If you’re crazy about your chicken however, you’ll bear it all. Aslam’s Chicken, Matia Mahal, Jama Masjid: Aslam’s chicken is at heart, a simple, char grilled chicken. What makes it unforgettable is his secret masala over which he pours copious amounts of butter, cream and everything else that can contribute to a myocardial infarction. Aslam’s also serves fish that’s given much the same treatment. Ki Hangla, Supermart II, Gurgaon: Monidipa Dey loves the Chicken Dhakai, served at Ki Hangla. A Bangladeshi dish that’s spicy and served with a little gravy, she finds herself returning to Ki Hangla time and time again with her family. Dum Affairs, South Ex II: Apart from some very expensive, very good food, Dum Affairs cooks up a tantalizing Chicken Biryani that’s really worth making the trip for. Sure, it’s expensive, but then, most good things in life are. Amsterdam Kitchen & Bar, Saket: A new entrant that does a fabulous roast chicken in mushroom sauce with caramelized onions. They have a pretty interesting theme too, so keep those kids at home and go shock yourselves. Blooms, Eros Hotel managed by Hilton, Nehru Place: They use half a cornfed chicken that’s deboned, with the skin on, seasoned and pan fried with herbs and flavors, and served with crunchy potatoes, sun dried tomatoes and deglazed pan juices. It’s quite reasonably priced too. Wildfire, Crown Plaza, Gurgaon: Wildfire at Crown Plaza has a multi course meal, of which chicken is one course. This course however, sees chicken, grilled with bacon and being served at your table sizzling hot off the grill. Grilled chicken is one thing, but chicken wrapped in bacon and having absorbed all that smoky fat is another thing altogether. Go hog! Kebab Express, Connaught Place: Kebab Express doesn’t serve the best or most succulent chicken in town, but for a QSR, it’s pretty much the best I’ve eaten. If you’re on the move around Connaught Place and need a poultry fix, head for Kebab Express. Costa Coffee: They have this Smoked Chicken and Gouda sandwich that I order every time I visit. Obviously smoky, well stuffed and fair value for money, it goes very well with coffee, making a meal on the move as enjoyable as can be, for me. McDonald’s & KFC: There you go rolling your eyes again. Fact is, I *love* the Spicy Chicken Burger at McDonalds and when in the vicinity, would gladly have a lunch of crisp fries, hot-hot-hot chicken and a glass of ice-cold Coke. The same with KFC and their Zinger burger; better still, the Zing Kong Box. Yeah, I know it’s for kids, but I still order it at every visit. So, there you are. Ten places in Delhi that have some pretty good chicken. If you think I’ve left out stuff, just comment here and tell me about them and they’ll be added to this list.

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I have gone back to I'd into the drafts yet again, I have not so great pics for this recipe but must post it so you can bookmark it and keep your eyes open for this veggie for it will be in season soon.It's almost the end of summer here. The skies are cloudy and grey with taletells of the monsoon. The monsoons breathe new life into everything. The seeds that are dormant sprout and surprise you with an abundance of goodies. Kantol in our parts was never grown by farmers, it is considered to be an exotic vegetable that grew wild in the jungles and was hand picked by the katkari and brought to the village to be sold. It came really cheap and by the basketfulls. Only in the city of Mumbai did we pay thru our nose to buy this vegetable. I remember my mother not touching the veggie at the Bora bazaar market and telling me that we will get ours from the village when someone visits. We did and so this veggie was much awaited and relished. There were many ways my Mom would make it but those would mostly drown the lovely vegetable in coconut masala. I prefer this simple stir fry. So here it is.Ingredients1/4 kgs Kantol sliced fine2 large onions chopped fine1/4 teaspoon red chilli powder1/4 teaspoon turmeric1/2 teaspoon coriander powderSalt and jaggery to taste1 tablespoon oilHeat oil. Fry the onions a bit. Add the finely sliced Kantol. Sprinkle the red chili powder, turmeric and coriander powders. Stir. Cover and cook for 15 mins.Add salt and jaggery to taste. Stir again and cover and cook till soft. Enjoy with chapatis. I had made a masur amti to go with rice on this particular day, so you see it in the left compartment and the right one has the Kantol stir fry.All material on this blog is Copyright © 2006, 2007 to Anna Parabrahma

~ Fruit Candies ~What could be more soothing than freshly cut fruitson a hot scalding summer day !!! Unlike the pleasant flowery western summers , Indian summers are hot and humid. Although its time for the kiddo summer vacations all over the Indian subcontinent, yet with temperatures soaring above 42C ,dry hot winds and scorching heat - outdoor games and activities , picnics , play n parties are almost next to impossible hence every morning we mothers have to creatively plan out the day to keep the lil ones occupied !!!!Before going off on a 15 day vacation I wanted my lil one to enjoy the essence of summer with her friends and planned for a tiny summer party. Besides treating them on regular fun sandwiches , yummilicious choco orange muffins and fruit popsicles , I wanted some cute finger foods too .Few fruits and a lot of imagination and love with a dash of chocolate came to my rescue.I threaded a few slices of orange & kiwi on satay sticks , chilled them and handed over to the kids along with a piping bag filled with some tempered chocolate for them to make their own fruit candy popsThe cuties were a big hit with the kids . While the kids were having a blast playing and relishing the stuff, I was busy packing for the vacation. Fruit Candies !!!The perfect finger food to add fun to the lil parties ....Ingredients - 4 slices of oranges & kiwis , 100 gm tempered chocolate, 8 skewers & a piping/ziplock bag. Method- Skew the fruit slices on a satay stick and chill for 10 mins . Melt the chocolate on a double boiler or in a microwave . Mix well & cool for a couple of mins. Fill the melted chocolate in a piping bag/ziplock bag , snip off a tiny piece from the corner and pipe spirals on the chilled fruits.Chill for another 5 mins till the chocolate sets and serve immediately.

It's that time of year again and the outdoors is the place to be. So fire up the barbecue and practice your tong-wielding skills. I have a whole heap of yummy barbecue food recipes for you to try....Read Full Post

Sometimes, when I have a vegetable in hand, and am not sure what to do with it, I turn to my grandmother's simple upkari. Just add a coconut oil fanna/tempering of basic ingredients and a simple stir fry is ready. I do not add extra coconut, but for an authentic taste, a garnish of freshly scraped coconut is a must. PoddaLe Upkari Snakegourds South Canara Style Ingredients 2 medium snakegourds/PadwaL chopped, remove seeds and membranes salt to taste Tempering 1 tbsp oil - preferably coconut oil 1/2 tsp mustard seeds 1/2 tsp asafoetida 3-4 red chilies such as byadgi chilies Method 1. Chop snake gourds taking out seeds. 2. Heat oil in a kadhai/wok/bogaLay. Add the mustard seeds, asafoetida and red chilies. 3. As they splutter, add snakgourds. Saute for 1 minute. 4. Cover with a lid and place water on the lid. Let it cook on a medium flame. Check from time to time. Sprinkle some water if needed. 5. Add salt. 6. Serve with DaLitauy and Rice. Note - 1. Snakegourd seeds can be used to make a Konkani pancake - Sanna PoLo. 2. For an authentic flavor, garnish with freshly scraped coconut. Homegrown PadwaL/Snake Gourd Print Page

If you are a regular reader of my blog you know that I am in the Bread baking group started in Facbook by Aparna We Knead to Bake. And actually this Torcettini di Saint Vincent (Sugar Crusted Twisted Cookies from the Valle d’Aosta)  but as unexpected things happen in ones life I coudn't make the bread in April. So last week when I has time I made this yeasted cookies. They are really so

Kamalika is a creative person who runs her own designer boutique side by side with a home based confectionery and bakery business. She believes home makers rock and can get their own identity while attending to home and hearth. An alumni of Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan, Kamalika’s goal is to motivate home makers to establish themselves via home based businesses. She expresses her culinary thought and activities via her blog, Silence Sings with Kamalika C, where she shares her experiences in the kitchen. Her dream is to establish a Kolkata Food Blogger’s Society and help home makers become financially independent.

Crispy noodles dessert

Messy bum burgers. Sand witch platters. 6 incher Hawwt dawwgs. Chocorgasm. Stuffed mushroom dickheads. Titties Bitties. Now that I have your attention, let me tell you about a small café hidden away in Pratap Vihar, Ghaziabad with the quirkiest sounding dishes I’ve heard of in a while! Started only a few months ago by a young bar consultant, Café Lolz is the kind of place where you can put your feet up. It’s the place you go to in between classes at college, for a plate of fries and some cold coffee. A place where you feel at home even in your pajamas and where you know all the servers by name. There are comics to read, free wi-fi, and relaxed music – it’s the kind of place where a few hours could go by and you wouldn’t realize it. The menu is small, but diverse. After a hearty laugh at the names of the dishes, we started with a Tamarita Brain freezer (75) and BBW or Big brownie walnut shake (75). They were a study in contrasts. The brain freezer came in a pretty Margarita glass. A refreshing, icy tamarind mocktail, it was a pleasant mix of sour, sweet and spicy. The BBW shake arrived in an adorable pink sippy cup (with a straw of course). It was unabashedly sweet with delicious bits of brownie with every mouthful of thick chocolate shake. Next up, we tried an assortment of Titties Bitties (145). The basket contained Cheese poppers (filled with melty cheese, corn, and jalapeno bits), French fries (made in-house), stuffed mushrooms (with spinach in the centre), and smiley fries. I enjoyed them all, but the French fries were particularly excellent – holding their shape and crunch all through the meal. For our mains we tried the Chicken messy bum burger meal (165) and the Spenis Chica peeli peeli (195). The burger came with fries in a handy parchment cone and some creamy, orange-coloured spicy coleslaw. The burger itself was a double patty-double bun burger with lots of onion and a strong hit of pepper. I would have liked the meat to be a little juicier though. The other dish consisted of four large crispy-coated chicken pieces, stuffed with spinach, and smothered in a thick tomato, cream, and cheese sauce. It was served with corn on the cob, and garlic bread – perfect comfort-food. For dessert it was Chocorgasm (95), a chocolate-filled calzone served with vanilla ice cream. Unfortunately the calzone was a bit dry, and there simply wasn’t enough chocolate in it. Did not live up to its name, that dessert. One very interesting initiative in Loca La Zona is their “suspended coffee/tea/cooler”. You can buy a drink, but pay for an extra one which will be given to a person in need later. Isn’t that heartening? Loca La Zona is friendly, fun, and unpretentious. Their food is honest, portions generous, and prices seriously low. Stop by there and see for yourself!