Guacamole - Mexican Avacado Dip

Guacamole (gwaka – mo – lee) is part of Mexican cuisine that originated with the Aztecs. It essentially means a sauce (mole) made with ahucatyl (avocado). Its popularity spiked with American football games and now it’s a household dip of choice in America! India is just warming up to the idea of guacamole as Mexican cuisine gains popularity. When I was a little kid, my dad used to mash up avocados with sugar and we used to enjoy them chilled. We called it Butter Fruit Ice Cream J So I am already a big fan!

I love guacamole but it is really difficult to make. The difficulty arises not in the process but in the sourcing of ripe avocados. There have been more than a dozen times that I have come home happy with avocados and then been a grouch when I cut into them and realized they are unripe or a brown slimy mess! And seriously there are no failsafe options to figure this out. Every time I cut into an unripe avocado, I have rushed back to the computer and trawled Google for an answer. Wrap it in a brown paper bag to ripen it…store it with ripe bananas to get it soft…place it on a hot oven to ripen it…let the outer skin turn brown…let it rest in a cool dark place…so on and so forth! But none of these things have helped and I continue to be sorely disappointed every time I have to throw a fruit away (and they don’t come cheap!).

This time the story as usual repeated itself. I looked at one fruit – it looked suitably ripe (slightly yielding in some places). I cut it open – voila, perfect avocado. My guacamole was going to be made! Then with the spiked confidence, I cut into the other one and as soon as I slipped my knife in – I knew it was a lost cause. Hard, unyielding fruit! (You get a tummy ache if you eat unripe avocados) You win some you lose some right? Sigh…

P.S. Found this tip later on the net. Check for ripeness by gently pressing on the outside of the avocado. If there is no give, the avocado is not ripe and will not taste good. If there is a little give, the avocado is ripe. If there is a lot of give, the avocado may be past its prime and not good. In this case, taste test before using.  

Mangrove - Restaurant.Cafe.Wine Tavern (Kalyan Nagar, Bangalore)

I live at a point where going to Indiranagar or Koramangala or MG Road is the same distance. I know, lucky me! With so many food options scattered at my doorstep, I hardly travel beyond these areas for a quick bite. But after a point it becomes same old same old and this weekend we decided to travel to the beyond. Ok, that’s Kalyan Nagar near H.R.B.R. layout for you. We took the Bypanahalli route because the GPS on the co-resident’s phone said it was the shortest and fastest route, but we din’t know it would lead us to a defunct railway crossing! After a few more adventures, we reached Mangrove. It’s a new American cuisine restaurant that’s opened its doors, to entice the sudden population burst towards Manyata Tech Park and ORR. There is a big sign painted on the entrance wall so that you don’t miss the restaurant on the quite road. J

We expected to find the restaurant under a Mango tree, but realized that the young couple who run the place came up with the name when they were scuba diving in the Andamas (which you know is also famous for its Mangroves). The lady also runs a bakery called Oven Treats and after being in the business for 8 years thought the time was right to step it up. The restaurant/café/wine tavern offers all day dining from 11am to 11pm, but you still have to wait for a while longer to have your meal with some wine. (The license is on its way). The space is split into two areas – the ground floor being more casual and café like, while the top floor acts as the more formal dining space. (The co-resident fell in love with the wooden chairs, but unfortunately it’s not something we can buy here. The restaurant had them tailormade and shipped from Pune L)