French Macarons and Amande Patisserie

There has been a flurry of activity around the Macaron in Bangalore. Suddenly home bakers have taken to trying their hand at churning these pretty treats out, Taj Vivanta has a Macaron festival, patisseries are selling them hot off the mint and  there has even been serious discussions on a popular food group around their spelling! Adding to this is Masterchef Australia – I don’t think there’s been one season where the contestants have not tried their hand at impressing the judges with a fancy macaron. I guess we’ve reached critical mass for the Macaron in Bangalore and Amande Patisserie has come in at the right moment!

Before you read any further, I have a few things to profess. When I first came across Amande, I was just a happy customer. Being a click crazy person, of course I had to take pretty pictures of the Macarons and cry out to all and sundry on Facebook on how much I loved them. Owing to this evangelist behavior Amande’s customer list included people from my friend list as well! Amande’s owner was tickled pink that a few pictures could get him a larger fan following. (They don’t have a retail outlet yet..only home delivery by ordering online.) So he asked me to click a couple of more pictures for his website – to showcase new flavors. I happily obliged (which food photography obsessed geek wouldn’t?). So now that Amande is a photography client, (P.S. As of now, none of my pics are updated on the website yet. Will let you'll know when they are) Would it be wrong of me to write about them?  I did think of this for a long time and finally decided – I love their macarons irrespective of shooting for them and it would be a great disservice to you guys if I didn’t talk about it here. Besides, if I’m telling you upfront about the circumstances, so I'm sure you guys would understand. (P.S. I got paid in kind in Macarons and wine, so that lessens the promotional angle :P)

Jamaican Jerk Chicken

Was the chicken a jerk? I thought ‘jerk’ was reserved for the masculine gender, so shouldn’t the rooster be the jerk? On the other hand, why is the poor poultry being subjected to name calling in the first place? Ha ha ha … this recipe name always cracks me up. I know it’s juvenile to laugh at such things but my brain is wired in weird ways! So coming to the point…nobody is a jerk here (except maybe the gas connection guys – but that’s another story)!

Jerk is a style of Jamaican cooking where the meat is generally dry rubbed or wet marinated with a very hot spice mixture called Jamaican Jerk spice (courtesy: Wiki). The inspiration for this, was the fact that I had a bottle of All-spice and the rest of the ingredient list (including Demerara sugar) available in my pantry. I know! Sometimes I surprise myself! So I proceeded to make the mixture and marinated the chicken overnight. I cooked it for lunch this afternoon and maybe was a bit overenthusiastic in charring the chicken. (Well, the recipe said 45 mins and I was loitering around!) Of course I’ve tweaked the cooking time down to 30 mins for you guys – the martyr that I am, taking the hit so that you can have a good recipe! It’s a good change from the regular tandoori or grilled chicken recipes. Enjoy it with some beer on a hot afternoon J

Pretty in Pink - The Guava Mojito

Featured in Tastespotting.com on 21st Sep 2012

Featured in Tasteologie.notcot.org on 22nd Sep 2012

When I was a kid, it was stereotypical for the girls to dress in pink and the boys in blue. And because I was pretty much forced to wear pink most of the time, I developed a kind of love hate relationship with it. Love because I actually adored the colour and hate because I would be called a ‘girly girl’ whenever I wore it. And this was completely unacceptable to me, especially while playing tough games like police and robbers in the neighbourhood! I could not bear to have my game credentials questioned because of a colour! (Racism at the grassroot level!). So I avoided pink as I grew up, until one day my wardrobe had nothing that was pink. And then the revolution happened – the metrosexual male stepped over the line and wore the prettiest baby pink shirt! That was it… something snapped inside of me. The hypocrites! All the while belittling us women for being girly girls for wearing pink and now romping around town doing the same! I quickly did a 360° turn and embraced my long lost friend – pretty pretty pink. My Guava drink is a toast to you!

P.S. Now don’t let the prettiness of the drink fool you, it’s got enough vodka to knock a grown man into happy oblivion J

Red and Green Coconut Chutneys for Idlis or Dosa

Featured in Tastespotting.com on 18th Sep 2012

I was the kind of South Indian kid who always liked her Dosas more than her Idlis. The crispy buttery pancake always made my mouth water a lot more than the healthier alternative – The Idli. The only place I would crave an Idli was this little cart near Commercial Street. There are more than a dozen idli sellers with similar wares in and around the area but I always gravitated to this one. The reason was simple – the chutney’s! This man made the most awesome red and green chutney’s to go along with the idli’s. People would queue up in front of his cart from 7:00 pm upto 9:00 pm. His stock would never last beyond that! The whole exercise of ordering in this place is an art – of War! You jostle through the crowd to reach a point where he can actually see your face and hear you. Then you scream out your order (no dilly dallying) and squirm your way out of the crowd. Then you keep looking at the guy who plates the idli’s to confirm whether it’s your turn. He will look at you and the slightest nod in your direction would signify that you can come collect your wares. Of course many people will still attempt to move up the crowd and convince him that it’s their plate, so you need to elbow them out of the way and take what’s rightfully yours. I always go back for second (and third) helpings of the chutney. People around are definitely not tolerant of an Idli holding person moving up the order crowd again, but a girls got to do what a girls got to do! The Idli Plater grudgingly dishes out the smallest portion of the second round of chutney’s (after all Coconut’s don’t come cheap these days!) When you are finally done eating, you dispose of the banana leaf (your plate) and pay your bill and smile till your jaws ache!

Now, my version of the Red and Green Coconut Chutneys can never parallel his, but it will definitely add zing to your Idli or Dosa in the morning! J

Veggie Chic Menu at Caperberry, Bangalore

I like my chicken and my bacon and my pork and mutton and prawns and …you get the drift. So when I excitedly signed up for the Veggie Chic menu created by Chef Abhijit Saha of Caperberry, many eyebrows were raised. Is she turning vegetarian? Is she just coming there to mock us with terms like Ghas Phoos? And finally has she not read the menu? My answer to all the dear veggies – I just thought the Veggie menu looked exciting and why should I pass up an opportunity to be entertained by a culinary genius just because the menu didn’t have anything that walks, swims or clucks! Now that we have resolved the mystery of my presence at the dinner, let’s move on to important bits – the restaurant and the food!

Caperberry means provocation of desire in Hebrew. It’s also really a berry as well – green and tart… but the earlier definition is more in tune with what the restaurant wants to achieve. Caperberry is located at the Tanishq building on Dickenson Road. You have to literally search for the name board before you enter, but a restaurant of such repute hardly needs to shout out from the mountain top! The restaurant is know as much for its food (molecular gastronomy), if not more so for its celebrity chef Abhijit. After this experience, I think he deserves the adulation!

Okonomiyaki or "As you like" - Japanese Pizza

Featured in Foodgawker.com on 20th Nov 2012

Featured in Tasteologie.notcot.org on 20th Nov 12

Featured in BitchinKitchen's Twitter feed on 28th Nov 12

I must confess, I had never heard of this thing till my trip to Stuttgart this summer. I know Stuttgart and Japan are miles apart, but the story starts there. The co-resident’s friends, let’s call then D and E decided to make Okonomiyaki for dinner. Now E had travelled to Japan for her summer break and fell in love with this dish.

The dish being a savory omlette/ frittata/ pizza made out of flour, eggs, cabbage, veggies and pork and topped off with mayo, sweet sauce, fish flakes and seaweed. It’s so popular in Japan that there are more than 30,000 specialized Okonomiyaki restaurants. The restaurant provides you with ready okomomiyaki batter and you add in whatever your heart desires and proceed to grill it on the grill pan in front of you. Then you decorate it with the condiments of your choice and proceed to polish off your Japanese pizza! Unfortunately there are less than 100 restaurants outside Japan that serve this, so if you want to eat it, you’ve got to make it yourself!

So when E and D made this for me, I was intrigued but not entirely convinced of its merit. When I ate it though, I was hooked! Trust me the ingredient list might sound kooky but it tastes incredible! Now E is a converted vegetarian, so her version does not include pork or seafood but feel free to add it if you please. Literally, that’s what Okonomi means - “as you like” :)

P.S. A friend told me Harima in Bangalore serves a mean Okonomiyaki… must try it out!

A Bloggers Meet and Four Seasons Wine Tasting

What is a good way to spend a Sunday? Couple of friends sharing a good meal over some great wine by the poolside on a cheery afternoon - pretty much hits the spot! So that’s what I did, this Sunday. I was invited to a Bloggers Meet at the Royal Orchid which was hosted by Four Seasons Wine. The invite promised a live cooking demo, wine tasting and food pairing and a chance to catch up with fellow bloggers. What’s not to like?

Quick Hummus for Easy Entertaining...

Featured in Tastespotting.com on 26th Sep 12

While the quickest Hummus would be a store bought variety, it’s not essentially the tastiest. At the other end of the spectrum is the completely home made Hummus which is super yuumy but so time consuming (with the overnight soaking of the chickpea and then boiling blah blah blah), that it takes the joy out of entertaining. Ok, I’m exaggerating, but I’ve never been a fan of being a slave to the kitchen. Give me quick, easy and tasty any day! So I’ve found a happy median with this recipe. I use canned chickpea and tahini paste and blend the rest of the ingredients in! It’s super simple and tastes 100% better than the store bought one. And I also have the satisfaction that I churned it out myself. (At least MOST of it)! J

PanchPhoran Dal (Five Spice Lentils) - Comfort food at it's Best!

I know I’ve said many times that making regular dal and rice bores me. That dosen’t mean I don’t make it. No week is complete without Dal being made atleast twice. It’s what we grew up on and it’s what I crave when I come back from a long trip to unfamiliar places. Eating dal and rice with a veggie on the side and a smattering of pickle is nothing short of a homecoming! The fact that it’s such a commoner on the dinner table and gets made so often, I’ve actually never written down a recipe for dal. So this was my first attempt at documenting the precise quantities. I kept a little sheet of paper next to me and kept jotting down what I threw into the pan. Now I finally have a dal recipe that I can pass to the co-resident and ask him to attempt it when am too bored to move a muscle J We use mustard seeds and curry leaves to temper the dal. However, this one uses a five spice mix called Panchphoran that is unique to the eastern parts of India – West Bengal and Orissa. The mix is equal parts of brown mustard seeds, Nigella (kalonji/ onion) seeds, fenugreek (methi) seeds, cumin (jeera) seeds and fennel (saunf) seeds. This totally rocks the Dal into a different universe. I almost feel like I’m eating super sattvic temple food …God bless the humble Dal!

Ultimate Chocolate Banana Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache

Oh Man! There’s so much chocolate in this recipe and its soo moist and googey and yummy. I kid you not! It’s now my TOP chocolate cake. Ok, I know it says banana in the title, but don’t let that scare you away. All the banana does is make it unbelievably moist (just like a fantastic patisserie bought cake) and add a faint banana sweetness. I realized that banana in a chocolate cake is not such an odd combo. I ordered a slice of royal banana chocolate cake at the California Pizza Kitchen and was totally transported to heaven. So I looked high and low for a similar recipe and finally found a Joy of Baking one that looked and sounded delicious. The recipe is super rich and makes a huge cake for 12 people. This means not only do I have a fail safe recipe, but one that tastes un-freaking-believable, and feeds a lot of people at the same time…I am really in cake bliss! I balanced the sweetness of the cake with a dark chocolate ganache frosting. Again super easy to make, so don’t sweat it and don’t leave the frosting bit out. I’m telling you it totally elevates the cake. So I’m gonna beg you to make this cake… no really… I am... it’s that good!