Kuch Acha Khana Hai: Rolls in Bangalore

Location: Indiranagar, Bangalore

Sometimes you just feel like having something good … you go like “kuch acha khaane ka mann kar raha hai!” You don’t want something very light, you don’t want anything too heavy … and you exactly can’t place what is it that you want to have? Who is with me???

In such a situation what works well for me is having a roll … yes a roll … a.k.a kathi roll, wrap.

Two of my favorite roll joints in Indiranagar are Chakum Chukum and Istanbul Doner.

Chakum Chukum offers a wide variety of rolls both veg. and non-veg. One roll is a decent size which easily gives you a tummy full. What’s more … for the health conscious wheat roll is available in place of maida. Add a dash of the three varieties of chutneys waiting at the tables and you get a great snacker. They also offer something called stuffed mughlai paratha … all non-veg. so I can’t really comment on that.

A relatively less known place (in my opinion) is the Istanbul Doner. The menu, as the name suggests is slightly inspired from the turkish part of the world. They offer wraps of in a soft bread (something akin to pita bread) which sort of has a different taste and texture to it. Besides that, there are salads, cheese nuggets, hummus, falafel etc. Limited choice for vegetarians again but good for at least a couple of tries.

Whenever you feel like having ‘kuch acha’ these are a few suggestions to experiment with!

Some other top of the mind roll options: Khathi Zone, Calcutta Roll Club (Jeevan Beema Nagar)

Garma Garam Chai: The Tea Culture in Bangalore

With the cool of winter gradually settling in Bangalore, I’m sure everyone one would want to curl their hands around a hot cuppa and cozily slurp up the contents. Yes South India has the coffee culture and nothing beats the good old filter coffee.  However, in the past few years, tea culture has really picked up in the city. It’s matured from serving the classic plain tea, to serving it up with added indigenous ingredients like tulsi, ginger, cardamom and masala to specialty teas such as jasmine, peach, white tea etc. etc. For the health conscious there is a whole range of green teas and herbal teas being served. Besides there are people like me, who would pick tea over coffee anyday.

In this post I’m going to be talking about a few good tea bar/cafe options for Bangaloreans.

Infinitea: This is a premium tea bar located at Cunningham Road. It attracts a lot of foreigners besides the uber chic crowd of Bangalore.  Serves a lot of tea types – blacks, greens, oolongs, fruits, herbals and exquisites.  Also has good spread of snacks to go with. Ambience is great too! I rate it as excellent and strongly recommend to all tea connoisseurs. Read Reviews here.

Chai Patty: small tea shacks located at three locations in Bangalore – Indirangar, Kormangala, Whitefield. I’ve tried the one at 100 Ft. Indiranagar. The joints are rustic in feel … similar to roadside shacks with modas, floor seating and chai served in kullads (earthen ones). The teas are okay and snacks (pakodas, maggie, pasta etc.) are good in taste. But, with the amount they charge and the quantity they serve and considering they are not premium/specialty, it’s not worth my loyalty. I would still recommend tea lovers to give it one try. Some of you might like it. Read Reviews here.

Socie-Tea: located at Indirangar 13^th Main, I happened to visit their Facebook page and decided to give it a try. The experience wasn’t bad at all. Again, this place has a rustic feel to it … floor seating, wooden furniture, chai and pakodas on the menu. I went for the good old masala chai … the quantity was good for the amount they charged. My only criticism is that the tea was a little too watery for my liking. Overall a decent place for some garam chai without leaving a hole in your wallets.

Tea O’Clock: I happen to know this one because it’s located at the back gate of Baghmane Tech Park (where I work). I think all office goers and sutta people know how important a good glass of chai is; during one of those mid-day breaks or post lunch breaks when we are literally snoring away in front of our computers. TOC offers what all office people need …  really really good chai which refreshes you and keeps you going @ work. You can choose from plain, tulsi, ginger, illaichi, masala, lemon and black. I think they should open more outlets in office cafeterias, in food courts and behind many more tech parks. This one is always thronging with ID badge wearing folks!

That was my Tea round up. Having one right now … sooor … sooor. Having tea is not fun without soooring it from a cup! :-)

Tex-Mex Tacos

Ingredients:

For Guacamole:

•  2 avocados, peeled and deseeded
• ½ bunch coriander, washed and chopped
• 1 tomato, diced
• ¼ red onion, diced
• Salt to taste
• Juice of 1 ½ limes

For Filling:

• 1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 button mushrooms, diced
• 2 zucchini, small diced
• ½ cup sweet corn kernels
• 1 cup purple cabbage
• Salt and black pepper 

For Tacos :

• 2 Cups Flour
• 1 Cup Corn Flour
• Salt
• Water
• Vegetable/Olive oil

Preparation:

Tacos: Mix the flour and corn flour, add some salt and make a soft dough adding water as required. Leave the dough aside

Filling: Heat oil in a large frying pan. Cook onions over a medium to high heat until transparent. Add mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes or until reduced in volume. Add remaining ingredients zucchini, corn, purple cabbage and cook until mixture becomes semi dry. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Glaucomole: Scrape avocado and place in a bowl. Add the chopped coriander, onion, tomato, green chilli, lime juice & salt. Grind in mixer and keep aside.  

To serve:

Divide dough into equal parts and roll it. Then cook on hot tawa, applying oil on the both the sides. Cook till its light brown on both the sides.

Apply a layer of glaucomole on half side of taco and then add filling on  top of it. Turn the other half on top of the filled one and make it a half circle (as seen in the pic)

Serve with small slice of lemon on top of it Mexicana ishstyleeee…..

Enjoy…  J

Cottage Cheese & Veggie Sandwich with Mayo & Yogurt Sauce

You Need:

• Cottage Cheese (Paneer) – 200 gm sliced in thin long rectangles
• Seasoning – Black Pepper, Salt – ½ tsp or as per taste
• Olive Oil – 2 tsp
• Paprika/Red Chilli Flakes – ½ tsp
• Red Onion Rings – ½ cup
• Lemon Juice – 6 tsp
• Handful Lettuce Leaves
• Round cut tomatoes (finely sliced)
• Multigrain/Brown/White Bread
• Mayonnaise – 6 tsp
• Milk – 2 tsp
• Yogurt – 3 tsp

Preparation:

Marinade Preparation: Take 4 tsp lemon juice and add a pinch of chilli flakes, salt and pepper and mix well. Marinate the paneer slices in the mix and then shallow fry them on a non-stick tawa/pan till they are light brown and keep aside.

Sauce Preparation: Mix the mayo, milk, yogurt, 2 tsp lemon juice, a pinch of salt, pepper. Add any seasoning of your choice (e.g. garlic bread/Italian). Mix well and keep aside.

Sandwich Preparation: Lightly toast the bread slices on a non-stick tawa or you can choose to take them as is. Take one bread slice and apply the sauce on one side. Place one lettuce leaf over it followed by two pieces of paneer. Put 1-2 tomato slices and 2-3 onion rings over it. Take another bread slice and apply a layer of sauce on one side and place it over. Slice it in half and dig in!

Tip: They key in this sandwich is the sauce. It adds a whole lot of flavor to the sandwich.

Stuffed Veg. Buns

For the bread - You Need:

• 2.5 cups flour (maida)
• 2 tsp dry yeast
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• ¼ cup of milk
• 4 tsp melted butter

For the filling – You Need:

• 1 cup chopped bell peppers
• ½ cup chopped onion
• ¼ cup chopped zucchini
• 50 gm Paneer (cut into small pieces)
• 2 tsp Mayonnaise
• 1 tsp chilli sauce
• 1 tsp garlic bread seasoning  

Bread Preparation:

Take ¼ cup warm water and add salt, sugar and yeast. Wisk to dissolve it well to get a solution.

Slowly add the flour to make a crumbly mix. Then add the butter and milk and start kneading into dough. Add water as required and continue to knead to form a thick and firm dough.

Leave the dough in a dry and warm place for about 1.5 hours.

Filling Preparation:

Meanwhile, sautee all the chopped vegetables in olive oil on high flame. Take them off the pan and add salt and seasoning. Add the mayo and chilli sauce and mix well. Keep the mix aside.

Buns Preparation:

The dough should have risen by this time. Knead the dough again for a few minutes and divide into small equal parts. Roll the parts into balls and leave aside for 10 mins to rise. Flatten out the balls with your hands. Place the filling on one and place another on top and pinch it from the sides to seal it close.

Pre heat the oven to 350F. Grease the baking tray with butter and place the buns on it. Bake for about 10-15 mins till they are crispy brown.

Let them cool down for 1-2 mins. Serve hot with some ketchup! They make a fantastic evening snack!

You can try this with several types of fillings. Best bet would be to try with potato+onion stuffing.

Tofu Scramble and Crispy Corn Fritters

Here is another one of my healthy food posts. Best part is the simple and quick preparation.

For the Scrambled Tofu - You Need (Serves 2):

• Tofu – 200 gm
• Chopped Vegetables:
• Onion – one (medium sized)
• Spring Onion – two
• Capsicum – one
• Garlic – two cloves
• Coriander
• Green Chilies – two
• Salt, Black Pepper, Chilli Flakes
• Olive Oil/Vegetable Oil

Preparation:

Keep the tofu in lukewarm water for 3-5 mins and drain out excess water. Mash up the Tofu to form crumbles.

Heat two tsp oil in a pan and fry the garlic. Add onions, capsicum, chillies and stir fry till they are partially cooked (this is to retain the crunchiness of the vegetables). Add the crumbled tofu and fry for 3-5 mins on medium flame. Add salt, pepper, chilli flakes and coriander and mix well.

Tada! You are ready to serve!

For The Corn Fritters - You Need (serves two):

• 2 cups sweet corn
• 1/4 cup finely chopped spring onions
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1 Chopped Green Chilli
• 1/4 cup coriander leaves, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup rice flour
• 1/2 cup corn flour
• 1/2 cup water (can add more/less according to need)
• 1 tsp black pepper
• Olive oil/Vegetable Oil
• Salt to taste
• Any other seasoning (optional)

Preparation:

Mix rice flour and corn flour and add the water to make a batter that is slightly thick but not runny. You should be able to scoop up and drop it on the pan.

Add the vegetables, salt and seasoning and mix well.

Heat a non-stick tawa with some oil spread across the surface.

Put the batter on the tawa in small thin lumps (similar to how to put for a uttapam, see image below) and let it cook till crispy and brown. Flip it over and let the other side turn crisp and brown as well,

Tastes best when served hot with a dip of your choice.

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For the Love of Food

Looking for stores to buy stuff you need for trying out different cuisines but don’t know where to look?

This post is to share two of my favorite stores for gourmet shopping. These are one of the very good places for people wanting to experiment with global cuisine. Great for picking up exotic vegetables and fruits, sauces, pastas of all kinds, cheeses of all varieties, seasonings, breads, bagels … the whole deal basically.

Nature’s Basket – it’s a concept store by Godrej and has stores in several cities across India. Mainly big cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Pune etc. In Bangalore itself, they have set up four stores. Clickhere to locate a store near you. They basically promote healthy eating. You can also buy online from them.

Foodhall – this is a premium lifestyle food destination by Future Group. A great place for food enthusiasts! They have also set up shop in several large cities in India. The one in Bangalore is at 1MG, Mall at MG Road. Apart from all the exotic food shopping, you can also pamper your taste buds at the salad, sandwich and bakery live counters. There is also a whole section for crockery, utensils and kitchen related stuff. However, shopping here will definitely leave a hole in your wallet.

These two are the ones I have explored as yet. Will be visiting more such concept stores mushrooming all over town. In a subsequent post, I’ll also be sharing some great online food shopping destinations will you all.

Looking forward to hearing more from you on your favorite food shopping destinations.

Cooking with Leftovers - Part I

I got up one morning to find two to three left over sabzis in my fridge. They were all in quantities too less for two people to have it in a meal. I looked at them woefully, wondering what to do with them.  Will I have to simply throw them away? I felt guilt ridden at the thought already. Just then I had this brainwave …

Sharing with you all, how to turn some leftovers into some great tasting simple dishes.

Pav Bhaji  - the easiest is to make a pav bhaji of the left over stuff. Pav Bhaji is after all a mix of different vegetables. I had left over lauki sabzi and cauliflower kofta to start with.  I fried some chopped tomatoes and onions, added the left over vegetables and mashed everything together. Added some pav bhaji masala, salt, chopped green chillies and stir fried for a few minutes. Squeezed some lemon juice, garnished with coriander with some lovely melting butter on top and that’s about it! I quickly grilled some pavs on the tawa and ate away with my bhaji!

Sandwiches – again fairly easy. All you need to do is mix up the vegetables to make a paste. Layer the breads with sauce you think will go well, put the paste and grill in a toaster. This one time I had baigan bharta leftover from previous night’s dinner. I just warmed it up, added some pepper, layered the bread with thousand island sauce, put the bharta in between two breads. Also, grated some cottage cheese over the paste and grilled it up. It turned out into fantastic breakfast for the two of us. I called it my 'eggplant sandwich'.

Eggplant sandwich with Dragon Fruit for breakfast

You can try the above two ideas with different kinds of leftover vegetables. I have tried out this several times and the results have been pretty good. The only thing you need to be careful of is to judge what will taste good as a pav bhaji and what would be better off in a sandwich.

So, put on your thinking caps and dish out some great stuff from leftovers!

If you have similar ideas on leftover food preparation, I’d definitely like to hear from you. Feel free to type out in the comments section below!

Related Posts:
Cooking with Leftovers - Part - II

Chocolate is Good For You!

Location: Bangalore (Kormangala, Brigade Road, Malleswaram)

Feeling low?

Have something to celebrate?

Feel like pulling all your hair?
Had a bad day?

In any of the scenarios above, the best I can suggest to resolve the situation is to visit is ‘The Chocolate Room’ (tcr). I need not elaborate much here as the name is self explanatory on what the USP of this place is. It's based on an Australian concept; the place is rather new and started operations in India since Oct. 2007. So far it has received good response and now have cafes in several cities across India. They have three in Bangalore itself. Find other locations here. I have been to the Baroda and Bangalore (Kormangala, Brigade Road) outlets and all have consistent quality.

I need not elaborate on how so very good chocolate can be. I’m sure most of you are fans of it already.

So cutting the long story short, I’d like to highlight three things about The Chocolate Room.

1.     The party starts with shots: yess they have chocolate shots! At least I had them first time everrr @tcr. And man they are wonderful. The way to have them is to gulp down the whole of the liquid chocolate in the shot glass they serve … similar to having the tequila shot minus the salt and the lemon ;-). And you are all set to party!

Choco Shots  

     Fill yourself with warmth: they have this interesting looking mug they call the ‘warming mug’. This mug has this little space to keep a lighted candle to keep your beverage hot throughout. Kool stuff right? To fill yourself with warmth is to have their delicious hot chocolate in one of those warming mugs

3.    All in a melting pot: as some of you must be aware, Fondue is a swiss dish of melted cheese served in a pot over a lamp to keep it warm and eaten by dipping long-stemmed forks with bread into the cheese. Drooling over some lucky host of a travel show, having Fondue in Switzerland … I jumped at the opportunity of having one right here in India. In my opinion, it was phenomenal. I had the cheese fondue served with four varieties of sides (French fries, breadsticks, potato wedges and cheese balls). Great news is that they also serve Chocolate Fondue. Yess! Served with seasonal fruits and marshmallows, its Heaven for chocolate lovers!!!

Cheese Fondue @ tcr

Apart from this, their menu is pretty spectacular ranging from baguettes, crepes, pancakes, waffles, pizzas, wraps, salads, croques and paninos.

Beverages include choc tails, choc shakes, chillers, mocktails, frapes, coffee ….

Arrgh … Stop drroooling … Go visit …. 

Read More reviews here

Warming Mug ... You can purchase this @tcr

Toast pe Post!

In this post I just wanted to share really easy-to-do, healthy and lip-smacking toast preparations. These are really good for breakfast or evening snacks.

Baked Beans on Toast: This one is the easiest to prepare!

You Need:

·         A can of baked beans in tomato sauce

·         Olive Oil/Vegetable Oil

·         Onions

·         Green Chillies

·         Brown Bread

·         Fresh Oregano/Lettuce

·         Pepper, Salt, Red Chilly Powder, Seasonings

 Preparation: Fry some finely chopped onions in a non-stick pan. Add the baked beans and let it heat on medium flame for 1-2 mins. Add some salt, pepper, red-chili powder and chopped green chilles. You can add any Italian seasoning of your choice. Stir while mixing the ingredients for about a minute. Your beans are done! Separately, toast the breads in a pop-up toaster.

Then spread the toasted bread with butter/cheese/mayo/thousand island sauce … I mean whatever tastes best to you. Spread the beans on top, add some fresh oregano leaves or lettuce and you are ready to serve!

Baked Beans + Lettuce on Toast

Spinach, Corn and Cheese Toast: Healthiest of all and tastes great too!

You Need:

·         Fresh Cream

·         Cheese Cubes

·         Sweet Corn

·         Spinach

·         Brown Bread

·         Salt

Preparation: Boil the spinach leaves for 10-15 mins, chop/mince and keep aside. Boil some sweet corn for 3-5 mins and keep aside. Mix the two together along with salt and 1-2 dollops of cream (depending on how creamy you want it to be) to make a batter. Separately, toast the bread in a toaster.

Spread a generous layer of the batter on the toasted bread and grate some cheese on top. Tada!!!

Spinach and Corn Toast

Mixed Vegetables Toast: Quick and Easy! 

You Need:

·         Vegetables (Zucchini, Capsicum, Spring Onions, Mushroom (Button & Portobello),

Fresh Oregano

·         Brown Bread

·         Salt, Pepper, Seasonings

·         Thousand Island Sauce

·         Olive Oil

Preparation: Chop the vegetables in small pieces and sauté/stir-fry them over high flame one at a time. Add salt, pepper and some garlic-bread seasoning and mix it up. Separately, toast the bread in a toaster such that they are brown and crisp.

Spread a thin layer of thousand island sauce and spread the sautéed vegetables on top. Sprinkle some fresh oregano to enhance the flavor. And you are good to go!

Mixed Veg. Toast

You must have realized, all these are fairly trouble-free to prepare with high nutritional value. A great alternative to parathas in my opinion J. Also, you can try different combinations of veggies, cheeses, seasonings etc. and do your own experimentation. An example below:

Capsicum, Cucumber Cheese Toast with Sauteed Mushrooms on the side

Try these if you may and do share how it turned out in the space below!

Happy Toasting!!!

Mad Over Donuts

Location: Noida (GIP), Bangalore (Whitefield, Phoenix Market City)

The first time I ever had a donut was at a CCD in Agra during my college days. It was as if I was eating some sweet rubbery goo. Yuck! They might have improved it now ... I'm not sure ...

But, my tryst with Donuts was not over yet. I rediscovered them at ‘Mad Over Donuts’ in Noida at the Great India Place (GIP) Mall. And they were just so so great! Light, feathery, soft, well textured and just the right amount of sweetness. This time around I fell in love with them! I went mad over donuts!
What's more, all their donuts are 100% vegetarian!

And yeay they have now opened their outlet in Bangalore too @ Phoenix Mall Food Court.

:-D Going mad over 'em

Eating It Out @ Pondy

My second half is bitten by the travel bug and more often than not, we try to hit the road. It’s a really good thing though cuz that means I get to try out even more avenues to eat:-p. I have been to Pondicherry twice and in no particular order, here is the list of eating joints I’ve tried:

• 1.       Don Giovanni
• 2.      Le Cafe
• 3.       Sciro Pizza
• 4.      Tantos
• 5.      Baker Street
• 6.       Bon Bakes
• 7.      La Dupleix
• 8.      L’ Orient
• 9.      Promenade
• 10.  Surguru

Sharing with all you lovely folks, my take on each of these:

Don Giovanni – yes the name sounds promising and it has its very own Italian chef preparing the food for you. However, the taste is mediocre. We ordered Greek Salad and Spinach and Mushroom Ravioli. The salad was mostly tomatoes while the pasta was very chewy. Due to the roof top setting and moderate prices it didn’t pinch us so much.

Le Café – is always crowded since it’s the lone café right at the rocky beach. We had café mocha, Grilled Veg. Sandwich and Cold Coffee. All were quite good except that the cold coffee was a little too watery for my liking. However, the awesome sea facing seating made up for it.

@ Le' Cafe

SciroPizza – Run by Antonio Scirocco and located in the Auroville visitor center cafeteria, its offers a variety of wood burn pizzas. Also serves regular south Indian food and healthy platters. We ordered a Veg. Tasty Pizza (yeah that was the name) and the Veggie Healthy Platter. The pizza had this rustic, woody burnt feel to it which we loved and the platter was unconventional almost bordering on continental. What I really loved was the combination of Ragi Roti and Mushroom Sauce.

Healthy Platter @ Auroville Cafeteria

Wood Burn Pizza @ Sciro Pizza

Tantos - Again located in Auroville cafeteria … its good for trying out wood burn pizza, calzones, pasta and the like.

BakerStreet – had heard rave reviews about this place and had to visit this for breakfast. We ordered Veg. Focaccia Sandwich and Butter/Chocolate Croissants. We just loved the Croissants. Nice and buttery they were. We got some packed for the journey back to Bangalore as well J

@ Baker Street

Bon Bakes – again one of the several bakeries in Pondy, we went to this one by chance while strolling around in town. I loved the Mushroom roll here. Coffee was good too. Would recommend this place for evening snacks.

LaDupleix – went to the Gourmet restaurant for dinner. The building is worth admiring for its Tamil and French architecture. We tried out their French dishes (names I cannot spell or pronounce now :-P). But, whatever it was … it was awesome!

L’Orient – Located on Rue Romain Rolland road, this is one of the heritage hotel in Pondy. The restaurant was recommended for its Creole and we chose this one for a quiet dinner. The ambiance was pretty amazing. You sit in a old world French villa for a charming candle light dinner. Loved this place!!! We ordered -  Curry Creole Au Choix, Quiche Aux Courgettes ET Tomato, Trilogie Chocolat ... :-)))). Simply speaking … Mushroom Curry Creole (a coconut based curry) with Rice, Spinach and Tomoto Quiche and Triple Chocolate for dessert. This time around I ensured I had the names right.

Promenade – tried out their dinner buffet. One of the best buffets in town. Consists of continental, Indian and Italian cuisines. Should try if you get a chance.

Surguru – one of the best restaurants for south Indian food in Pondy. I had the meals here!

Hope this was useful for you all. Do share your restaurant experiences in Pondy in the comments section below. I will use your recommendation for my next visit.

Related Posts: Give Time a Break @ Pondy

Roasted Vegetables with Potato+Bean Cutlet

Here is a very quick and easy way of preparing a healthy continental snack.
For the roasted vegetables you will need (quantity as per need):

• ·         Button Mushrooms
• ·         Bell Peppers – Yellow, Red, Green
• ·         Baby Corn
• ·         Haricot Vert Beans
• ·         Zucchini
• ·         Olive Oil
• ·         Seasoning: Salt, Pepper, Garlic/Any Italian seasoning

Preparation (Damn simple):

Chop the vegetables in large chunks in any shape you like (use your creativity:-p)

Heat two table spoons of olive oil in a non-stick frying fan on high flame. Wait till the pan is red hot, add the zucchini and shallow fry it on high flame. Keep tossing it at intervals and let the Zucchini develop slight brown patches.  Repeat this for all the vegetables one at a time.

High flame is necessary to avoid the vegetables from releasing moisture and turning soggy.

You may also tilt the pan and let the veggies be in direct contact with the flame from time to time to get that awesome burnt taste.

Just before serving sprinkle it with salt and pepper or any other seasoning you’d like to add. Garlic goes well with it.

For the cutlet you will need (quantity as per need):

• ·         Potatoes
• ·         Beans
• ·         Onions
• ·         1-2 slices of brown bread
• ·         Olive oil

Preparation (Damn simple):

Boil the potatoes, peel the skin and mash it up. Add finely chopped onions, green chilies, salt and spices as per your liking. Slightly dampen the bread and add it to the potatoes (this is to hold the cutlet together). Mix it all up.

Finely chop the beans and stir fry them separately till they are cooked. Add this to the mashed potatoes and mix it all well to make a batter. Take a large spoonful of this batter and round it up into a cutlet by hand. Finally shallow fry these on a non-stick tawa/pan in olive oil on medium heat till they turn brown and slightly crisp in the middle.

Plate it up! Tada … you are done! :-)

Tastes best when served Hott!!!

Happy Cooking! Do share comments on how it turned out.