Paneer Butter Masala

I almost never post any veg recipes on my blog. But recently I've felt that maybe it was high time that I did. So I figured why not post something familiar to many people. So here's my take on Paneer Butter Masala.

Ingredients:
200 gms Paneer (cottage cheese)
3 tablespoons of butter
1 tablespoon oil
1 dried red chilly
2 cloves
1 piece of cinnamon
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon red chilly powder
1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
1 medium onion chopped
2 tomatoes chopped
1 teaspoon garlic paste
1 teaspoon ginger paste
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves (methi leaves)
1 tablespoon fresh cream
Salt to taste

How to MAKE:
                           First in a pan, heat 2 tablespoons of butter and the oil. Now add the cloves, cinnamon, bay leaf, coriander seeds, and red chilly. Sauté it for half a minute. Then add the chopped onion, ginger, and garlic paste. Sauté this for half a minute, then add the tomatoes along with coriander and red chilly powders. Sauté this on a low flame until the oil starts splitting from the mixture.

                           Wait for this mix to cool down and then puree it in a mixer along with the fennel seeds. Now heat the rest of the butter in a pan and add the puree of the mix to this. Cook it for 2 minutes and then add the Paneer and salt. Now add half a cup of water and stir well. Mix in the dried fenugreek leaves and take off the flame. Finally add the cream and slightly stir it.

                           Paneer Butter Masala is best enjoyed with chapathis, or naan. The fresh cream is optional but adding it adds a little extra flavour to the dish. Serve Hot!

Pan Fried Steak with Mashed Potatoes and Spicy Milk Mushrooms

                              Presenting to all people out there, my simplest and yet most experimented with dish yet, which also happens to be my personal favourite, here is my version of a Pan Fried Steak!!
Ingredients:

Firstly I’ll start off telling you that there are 3 different sets of ingredients I’m going to give you. One is for the spice rub for the steak, one for the mashed potatoes, and one for the rest of the dish. So here goes;

Spice Rub

1 part of dried rosemary

3 parts of cumin

2 parts of peppercorns

1 part of oregano

1 part of lemon pepper

1 part of red chilly powder

2 parts of Barbeque seasoning

Half a part of sugar

Half a part of salt

The above ingredients can be sized up for large quantities, but the ratios should stay the same.

Mashed Potatoes

200gms of boiled potatoes

100ml milk

50gms of garlic butter

A pinch of freshly ground pepper 

Salt to taste

The STEAK

150gm beef steak (I used two pieces of Sirloin)

3-4 cloves of Garlic

2 sprigs of rosemary

100gms of sliced mushrooms

50ml mlk

Pepper to taste

Salt to taste

3 tablespoons of Olive oil

100gms of unsalted Butter

How to MAKE:

First, mix all the ingredients for the spice rub, put it in a mixer grinder, and powder it. Keep this aside, since this will flavor everything! Now, mash the boiled potatoes, add 100ml milk, garlic butter, salt, and pepper, and give it a good mix. Next, sauté the mushrooms in a pan for around 5 minutes, now add 50ml milk, and 2 tablespoons of the spice mix, and bring everything to a boil. Now turn down the flame, and sauté it till the milk is reduced and good dry mushrooms are left; keep this aside. Now, we have everything ready for the dish, and are just missing the centerpiece of the dish.

To make the steak, firstly clean the raw steaks thoroughly, and dry them out well. If you bought aged steak, DO NOT let even a single drop of water touch it since that will destroy its aged flavour! Now that the steak is cleaned and dried, it is ready to be marinated. The marinade is none other than the spice mix we have already prepared. Take a good generous amount of the spice mix, and rub it thoroughly onto both sides of your steak, and then leave it to marinate for about half an hour. Now, heat oil in a pan and lay down your steaks into it. Cook each side for about half a minute until a mild brown colour appears on the surface. Now, turn down the heat and throw the garlic cloves, butter, and rosemary sprigs into the pan. Cook each side of the steak for about 4 minutes each, this will give a medium steak. Now take the steaks out of the pan, and let them rest for about 5 minutes. (Don’t worry, the steak will stay warm for about 10 minutes!) In a plate, lay down the mushrooms, top it off with the mashed potatoes, and then the steak on top. Finally, take the juices released by the steak while it was resting and drizzle it on top of the steak to enhance the flavour of the dish. Serve HOT!

P.S: If you didn't get any tender steak, just poke continuously on both sides of your steak with a fork without tearing it in order to tenderise it. What this does is, it breaks up the connective tissues in the meat, which in turn tenderises it.

Seared Fish with Green Salad and Rosemary

    I always wanted to become a gourmet chef. So here is a dish that I made in an attempt to appear all gourmet and stuff!! I hope you all like fish!

The Ingredients

Ingredients:

250gm fish steak (I used a piece of catfish steak)

3-4 finely chopped cloves of Garlic

5 tablespoons of Red chilly powder

Juice of 1 whole lemon (Around 3-4 tablespoons)

A dash of vinegar

3 tablespoons of Barbeque seasoning (Optional)

2 sprigs of rosemary

Salt to taste

3 tablespoons of Olive oil

For the Salad

200gms sliced Cucumber

200gms sliced Bell peppers

100gms of sliced black olives

2 babycorns

50gms of white peanuts

3-4 leaves of lettuce (I like a lot of lettuce in my salad)

Thin strips of carrots as required (Use a potato peeler to get thin strips)

3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar

4 tablespoons of Olive oil

2 finely chopped Green Chillies

1 tablespoon of lime juice

A dash of pepper

Salt to taste

How to MAKE:

                First, mix the garlic, lemon juice, red chilly powder, vinegar, and salt to create a paste. Coat the fish steak using this paste and rub it in thoroughly and let the steak marinate for 15 minutes. Then, heat oil in a pan, and lay the fish down in it slowly with the rosemary resting below it. Turn down the heat and cook it until the bottom part starts turning white, which will take about 3-4 minutes. Now, flip the fish carefully and cook that side for about the same time with the rosemary. When it is done, take it off the flame and let it rest for around 3 minutes.

The Finished Beauty

                Now, in a bowl, mix the lettuce, black olives, bell peppers, carrots, and cucumbers. The babycorn has to be sauted in butter before adding it to the salad, and the peanuts have to be toasted before adding it to the salad. Once all the ingredients are together, mix the salad well. Now, in a separate bowl, mix the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, green chillies, lime juice, salt and pepper to make a vinaigrette (Salad Dressing). Now add this vinaigrette to the salad and mix it thoroughly.

                Once the steak has rested, it can be placed in a serving dish along with the salad, and a few sprigs of rosemary. The leftover juice or oil left in the pan after cooking the fish can be poured over the steak and salad to compliment the entire dish really well. Serve Hot!

P.S: It is really important for a steak to rest for almost as equal time as it has been cooking for, so that it can release all the juices well, and this makes it tastier.

Cripsy Beef with Lime and Chilly Peppers

                 I never usually post any meat dishes here. So for all the meat lovers out there, I present to you 'Cripsy Beef with Lime and Chilly Peppers'. The fried rice seen in the picture is called 'Fragrant Egg Rice' and I will upload its recipe soon! Enjoy!!

The Ingredients

Ingredients:

500gm minced beef

6-7 finely chopped cloves of Garlic

1 tablespoon of finely chopped Ginger

2 finely chopped Green Chillies

20 ml Orange juice       

100gm of thinly sliced red Chilly Pepper (Capsicum)

2 spring onion (Chopped)

1 lemon

1 tablespoon of Oyster Sauce (Optional)

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 tablespoon of Butter

200 ml Olive oil

Final Product

How to MAKE:

                First, rub the mince with salt and pepper to season it, and then marinate it with the butter. Then, heat a little oil in a pan and fry the mince in it. Continue with this until the mince crisps up and turns brown. If the mince sticks together to form large chunks, use the spatula to split these into smaller chunks. Now, drain the excess liquid and place it on a paper towel to get rid of the rest of the oil.

Served with Fragrant Egg Rice

                Heat oil in the pan, and to it add the ginger, garlic, and the green chillies, and sauté it till it starts to sweat. Now add the chilly peppers and sauté. Do not let anything burn, and as immediately as the chilly peppers begin to sweat, add the crisped beef mince to it. Stir and sauté this mix and add lemon zest to it followed by freshly squeezed lemon juice. Stir this well and then add the orange juice and oyster sauce to it. Finally once everything is mixed together well and looks properly cooked, add the spring onions, stir well and then take off the flame. Garnish with spring onions and lemon. Serve Hot!

P.S: If you like pork, you can use pork mince instead of butter in the recipe so as to keep the beef mince moist. 

Pasta Pomodoro

             So this is my first successful Italian dish ever. So I hope you guys like it!! And I think I am gonna make more Italian since it has such an awesome flavour palette! So, enjoy!!

Ingredients:

100gms of Pasta (I used Penne)

2 Onions (Finely Chopped)

The Ingredients

4 Tomatoes (Boiled and peeled)

4 tablespoons of tomato Puree

6 tablespoons of Balsamic vinegar

A pinch of dried Oregano

Fresh Basil Leaves

Fresh Parsley

Dried bay leaves

4-5 cloves of Garlic

A Cinnamon stick

Pepper

1 tablespoon of crushed Red Chilly

A cup of water

5 tablespoons of Olive oil

Salt to taste

                                                                                         How to MAKE:

Pasta Pomodoro

                First cook the pasta with a few drops of olive oil, bay leaves, a clove of garlic, a piece of cinnamon, and salt. In a pan, heat the olive oil and then add the onions to it. When the onions start to sweat, chop up the garlic and add it to the pan. Sauté it well and once the onions start to soften up, add the tomato puree. Do not wait for the onions to start caramelizing. After adding the puree, cook it for about 5 minutes until the raw tomato smell is gone. Now chop up the boiled tomatoes, and add it to the pan and turn down the flame. Cook this mixture for a while until the tomatoes start giving out their liquid, and once this happens, turn up the flame and add the balsamic vinegar. Now sauté until everything gets mixed well together and then add the oregano, freshly ground pepper, crushed red chillies, and the basil and the parsley leaves. Now stir it well and add the cup of water. Keep stirring until the sauce becomes thick and then add the salt to taste. Finally, grate some cinnamon into the sauce and stir well. Cook this until the sauce achieves required consistency and then take off the flame. Pour the sauce over the previously cooked pasta, and garnish with parsley and grated cinnamon. Serve Hot!

Café 17

                A few weeks back, while I was browsing the internet, I came across this website that gave offers or deals that would allow the user to avail a discount at the place offering the deal. The deal for the day was of a restaurant called café 17, and it offered a plate of burger with fries and iced tea. Being the foodie I am, I went to check it out and was blown away by the burger. It was simply magnificent and so delicious that it was to die for. And this is the reason this new post was made.

                Café 17. One of the first restaurants of its type in Kochi, it is located opposite Sreedhareeyam hospital on Kaloor-Kathrikadavu road. It is a place where people can hang out, chill, and go on dates to. It is open from 11a.m to 11p.m every day.

                Speaking of its menu, café 17 offers a lot of burgers, sandwiches and what not. It has steaks and pastas which are newly added to the menu and much more is to come soon. It also offers a wide range of cold drinks, coffees and desserts like pastries and cakes. It has vegetarian food too, so vegetarians won’t feel left out either.

                Now talking about the service. The service is totally exquisite and elegant. The waiters are very polite, and make sure the customer is having a good time while dining. The order was brought out slowly, but that is understandable due to the time that the food takes to cook and also since all food is freshly made from scratch even the topping sauce for the steak!

                The interiors of the restaurant were as beautiful and magnificent as the food. The ambience is totally breath-taking and I loved it. The dining area is low lit and there are always some good songs playing in the background. The wall is decorated with chalk art, various abstract posters, and a book shelf full of books that the customer could read. There are round tables to dine on plus a few long sofas with low tables where a group could sit and hang out or eat. The area also shows off a display of various pastries served at the joint. There is also a window through which the kitchen can be seen where the chef would be preparing the order. Just sitting in the restaurant gives a sense of peace and calm that I really enjoy.

                Now finally speaking of the food, the food ordered was a plate of Grilled Beef Tenderloin steak, a serving of Agua Fresca, and a piece of Death by Chocolate. There was a choice of 2 sauces for the steak. Out of the pepper sauce and mushroom sauce offered, I picked the peppers sauce. The Agua Fresca was a sprite based drink whose fruit flavour changed according to the flavour of the day. Now speaking of the steak. The steak, oh my god!! It gave off so much aroma that my mouth started watering and I couldn’t wait to dig in. It was a plated with a side of mashed potatoes, grilled carrots and broccoli, and was topped off with the pepper sauce. There were around 5 pieces that were at least 2-3 centimetres thick and 4 centimetres wide. In short, they weren’t bite sized. The beef was medium done, and was so moist and smooth. There was no flavour of uncooked beef at all. The surface of the steak was the perfect combination of crispy and soft with a few delicious charred parts. The mashed potatoes were well seasoned and smooth. I am not a big fan of vegetables, so I would say they were not bad. The sauce was very smooth and had an impeccable texture. It complimented the steak very well and enhanced the overall taste of the dish. It wasn’t overly spicy so there were no problems with it. I loved the steak so much that for a moment, I forgot that I was reviewing it and simply enjoyed it with closed eyes. 

                Now talking about the Agua Fresca, it was a very simple drink. All it had in it was sprite and the fruit of the day which was watermelon. Even though it was simple, it was nothing short of being as good as the steak itself. Now finally coming to the dessert, the Death by Chocolate! Up until I had this piece of death by chocolate, I was a fan of it from Chaicofi, but no more! This particular piece of Death by chocolate was so magnificent and tasty that I just ate it without even thinking about anything else in the world. It was smooth and just melted in my mouth. It had four thick and consistent layers that were so fluffy and sweet. The only problem I found was due to it being cold on the outside, the inner portions were a little bit harder than the outer parts. But in total, the food was better than awesome, and was to die for. The price is reasonable when compared to that of steaks at other joints. But, for those of you who think it is pricey, believe me. The food is worth every single penny that you spend! I can guarantee that.

                All that I would say to sum up this experience is that, café 17 is a complete package where you can hang out with friends, eat food, and have fun or you could have  calm and quite time for yourself here with books and food.

Chicknack

                So this is my first post since 2015 began. So this year, my first recipe is going to be one of my personal favourites!! I hope you enjoy this.

INGREDIENTS:

1 kg boneless chicken (Cut into bite sized pieces)

4 medium sized onions (Finely Chopped)

3 medium sized tomatoes (Finely Chopped)

2 Green Chillies (Chopped)

2 tablespoons of Red Chilly powder

1 tablespoon of black pepper powder

2 tablespoons of dark soya sauce

Salt to taste

Vegetable oil

For Marinade-

2 cups of curd

1 green chillies (chopped)

A few coriander leaves

2 teaspoons of pepper powder

2 teaspoons of salt

How to MAKE:

                Mix all the ingredients for the marinade with the chicken in a bowl and leave for half an hour. Now fry the marinated chicken till it turns golden brown and keep aside, probably in a paper towel in order to drain excess oil.

                Now, heat oil in a pan and when it turns hot, add the onions and sauté till they turn a little brown. Now add the tomatoes and sauté till their raw smell disappears and then add the fried chicken and salt to it. Now, in a separate pan, heat oil and add all the different powders to it (except salt). Fry them for about a minute and instantly add it to the chicken. Stir everything well together and then add the tomato sauce and green chillies to it. Stir it well. If you need extra gravy add about 50 ml of water to it. Take it off the flame after about a minute or two. Serve hot!

Schezuan Potatoes

            I have created quite a few dishes that I am proud of. The dish I am posting today is my favourite yet! So a heads up to all you readers. To cook my usual dishes, you just have to do something similar to what I explain and you don’t actually have to as accurate as I explain. But, for this dish, please try to do exactly what I say. I am not saying I am a masterchef or anything, but from experience I can say that even a small change in the crucial part of this dish will mess it up. Trust me. This dish is easy to cook, but requires a little more attention than my usual recipes. So, brace yourselves for the new recipe!!!

The Ingredients

Ingredients:

5 medium sized potatoes (Diced)

4 Onions (Diced)

Half a Capsicum (chopped lengthwise)

2 Green Chillies (finely chopped)

3 tablespoons of “Ching’s Schezuan Chutney”

½ tablespoon of Tomato Sauce

¾ tablespoon of Dark Soy Sauce

1 tablespoon of Green Chilly Sauce

3 teaspoons of Black Pepper powder

2 tablespoons of Vegetable Oil

Salt to taste

How to MAKE:

I usually don't garnish...!

            First, cook the potatoes in boiling water till they are about 3/4rth cooked and keep them aside. Now, heat the oil in a pan and then add 2 tablespoons of the Schezuan Chutney. Stir it and immediately add the onions to this. Cook the onions till the smell of the “Chutney” subsides a little. Now, add the capsicum and saute it till the raw smell of the capsicum settles. Next, add the potatoes and mix everything together well together. Make sure that the reddish colour spreads evenly all over the potatoes. Now, add pepper powder, the last tablespoon of the Schezuan Chutney, and the 3 different sauces and toss it around to mix it well. Now add salt to taste. Now comes the most crucial step of the dish. Add about 50 ml water to the dish, keep it on high flame and keep stirring it till the water evaporates. Do the same thing exactly 3 more times with the same amount of water. This is the crucial step because, this makes the flavour go into the potatoes. If you cook it on low flame by adding a lot of water, the entire dish will become soggy and won’t taste as good. Finally, add the green chillies and mix well. Add 50 ml and do the previous procedure one last time. But this time, instead of plainly stirring the dish, mash one or two pieces of potatoes and then mix everything well. Now, finally, turn off the flame and the potatoes are ready to be devoured!! Serve hot!

P.S: While stirring, make sure not to crumble any potatoes if possible until the last step.

Paragon

                I have always loved the city of Kozhikode (Calicut) for its amazing culinary base and even for the hospitality of the people living there. Kozhikode is very well known for its amazing biryanis. and when talks about Kozhikodan biryani, the first place that comes to my mind is hotel Paragon and the amazing biryani available there. I have eaten my fair share of biryanis but the one at Paragon is one of the best. But the only sad part is that I live in a completely different region of Kerala and going to Paragon just to eat biryani isn’t feasible. I know there are tons of people who have similar sorrows and thanks to Lulu Mall, Kochi, all of us here are quite happy.

                Paragon at Lulu Mall, Kochi is everything that one expects it to be. I would actually say it is much more than what I expected. It is established over the first, second and third floors of the Mall. The quality of dining received is as good as or even better than the one in Kozhikode. I was pretty excited to eat here and I hope everyone will!

The Order

                Starting with the restaurant, it offers a wide variety of food on its menu that covers more than just the classic Malabar cuisine. It offers the traditional Malabar cuisine as well as Italian, Chinese, and the classic Kerala style dishes as well. As all restaurants, Paragon has both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. For all the “health” conscious people, Paragon also has a variety of salads available.

                Speaking of service, no one can have any sort of complaints. The food that we ordered, took even less than 10 minutes to arrive. I have seen service faster than this only at any roadside fast food joint. The waiters were very attentive and very polite. They were quite humble and patient as well, a quality not seen in many waiters.

                Coming to the restaurant itself, the interior isn’t your designer stylish kind of design. It is simple and well maintained. The seating was also pretty good and comfortable. The restaurant has maintained a particular class and it gave me the feeling one gets while fine dining. When one enters the restaurant, you get to see an open air kitchen. It has shelves with fresh fish and I guess the fish dishes will indeed taste pretty fresh. I don’t know exactly how this open air kitchen works but I guess they might cook fish as per requests and that the customer gets to pick out their desired fish. I didn’t get enough time to enquire about it since I was there at rush hour. Sorry about that. For the people with a sweet tooth, they offer a lot of desserts as well.

Looks good in a plate too

                Now coming to the actual important part of the restaurant, the FOOD! I could go on and on about the food served at Paragon, but since you would get bored, I won’t! So, the dishes that we ordered were, ‘Paragon Chilly Chicken’, ‘Beef Ullarthiyathu’, and a few Parottas. As I mentioned before, the food arrived pretty quick and was kind of hot also. So I was sure that it is freshly made. The dishes looked quite normal and the presentation didn’t stand out very well or anything. But once a piece was in my mouth, I realised that the proverb “don’t judge a book by its cover” can never get a better proof. The Paragon Chilly chicken, which I wondered how it would be different, was the most surprising one.

Beef Ullarthiyathu

                     Unlike regular Chilly chicken, this dish actually had a little smoky flavour to it. It was not so powerful so as to ruin the dish, but was very well tamed so that the taste was as a whole boosted. They tried to keep the traditional flavour of the chilly chicken and at the same time infuse it with their very own style making it truly awesome. The meat was perfectly cooked, it was tender and was not at all over cooked by even a bit. The gravy was as delicious and not very runny either. The beef on the other end of the taste palate was crispy and spicy, and was immensely flavoured. It had this tenderness that every meat lover wants in their beef and also had this very small hint of a crunch to it. It too, was perfectly cooked and not even a single piece had any sort of rubberiness that the beef might have when not cooked well. I personally felt that it left a small oiliness in my mouth and it was a little annoying. But the taste of the dish made me overlook this.

                           Finally, the parotta that accompanied us on our delightful battle with the dishes. It was slightly crunchy and soft and what not. I can say that I literally have not eaten parotta as good as this in around 5-10 years! It didn’t even have slightest bit of rubberiness or any of those drawbacks of the usual “parotta”. It was so skilfully made and tasted so good that I would have eaten the parotta on its own if I had to! We didn’t bother to order any drinks since we didn’t see anything catchy on the menu. The only complaint I would have is that the Paragon Chilly chicken could have maybe one or two more pieces in it! The pricing that may be considered as some as too much. I do agree with them since it is not as cheap as your regular restaurants. But, in no way is the money paid wasted. Every single rupee paid is worth the food and service received and is totally worth it all!

Paragon Chilly Chicken

                Finally, I would say that my entire day was brightened up because of the lunch I had here and it would be totally worth my time and money to pay another visit to the restaurant. As a concluding statement,

Thakkaram Restaurant

The Outside View

                I have always felt like taking a trip to the Malabar area in Kerala to try out the cuisine available there. But since I am an engineering student, I don’t get the time travel there just to eat their food. But Thakkaram restaurant, opposite Gold Souk, Vytilla, provided me with just what I wanted. Specialized with Malabarian cuisine, this hotel provides every customer with an experience that would not be easily forgotten. I visited this place with two of my friends, and I am sure that they had as good a time as I did.

                

The Interior

The restaurant is open from 11 in the morning to 11 at night. The specialties here being classic Malabar food, this place also offers other cuisines for the ones who might not like Malabar food. Also, it has vegetarian as well as non-vegetarian dishes. So no one steps outside this place with an unhappy mood.

                The service here was one of the best I have seen in restaurants. The waiters were polite, attentive and very efficient. Most of all, they were patient, I can say this because we took a while to order but our waiter was still as polite as he was initially and didn’t show any form of uneasiness.

The Order

                I cannot complete this article without talking about the interiors and exterior appeal of the restaurant. Outside the place, the first thing that would be noticed is a large bus parked in front. Awkward at first, but then I realized that this was an outdoor dining area, which had a set of tables and proper cooling. I was stunned by this sort of innovative designing and thought put into it. Going into the restaurant, I felt marveled by the sight I saw. Though the walls were plain white, they had various caricatures drawn on them, caricatures of the scenes one would get to see if they were to travel to Malabar area of Kerala. They were carefully planned out and drawn and were totally awesome. The restaurant had a main dining room, while the rest of the place was divided into many rooms. Each room had a name, which I later found was named after places in the Malabar. The attention paid to such minor details is awesome and deserves a great deal of appreciation. The ambience of the restaurant was really very good and unforgettable.

                Finally, talking about the food, I would say that it was good. The food was not the best of its kind, but it was well above average. We ordered a dish called “Kozhi Varutharacha curry” and “Pothirachi(Beef) Kurumulakittu Vatichathu” with Biryani Rice. It took about 10 minutes for the waiter to bring out our food and this made me very happy. The dishes were presented pretty well and it looked very good. 

Kozhi Varutharacha Curry

The chicken dish was a type of chicken curry that used ground coconut as a base ingredient for its gravy while the beef used pepper as its base ingredient. The biryani rice was just a dish made with basmati rice with some biryani masala. The biryani rice was pretty awesome along with the two condiments, the usual salad and a type of beetroot pickle. The beef was pretty well flavoured, but it lacked proper seasoning. The dish was dry, gravy-less and the pieces were fried. But even then, the pieces of beef were a little bit chewy. But this was overlookable since the dish was hot. The chicken however, was very well flavoured and seasoned, and the gravy was thick and had a very good texture. The pieces too, were well cooked but a few portions were a little overcooked and chewy. This wasn’t very noticeable and didn’t affect the taste of the entire dish at all. Personally, I liked the beef more than the chicken but that might have been since it had been a long time since I had eaten beef. The pricing of the food was pretty affordable too. It was not at all overpriced and the money spent was totally worth it!

Pothirachi Kurumulakittu Vatichathu

                Finally, as a conclusion, I would say that my experience here was totally nice and I would never hesitate to revisit this restaurant again. I will visit this place again because I really want to try out other dishes available here. This place is very peaceful and it gives a kind of serenity while eating here. 

Egg Noodles

The Ingredients

Ingredients:

Noodles

4 Eggs

3 Onions (diced)

½ Capsicums (diced)

2 Green chilies (fine chopped)

3 teaspoons of Ginger Garlic paste

4 teaspoons of Red Chilly Powder

3 tablespoons of Tomato sauce

2 tablespoons of Chilly sauce

1 tablespoons of Soya sauce

4 teaspoons of Black Pepper powder

1 teaspoon of Turmeric Powder

2 teaspoons of Pepsi (Yes, you read that write.)

3 tablespoons of vegetable oil

Salt to taste

How to MAKE:

The Final Thing

                First, cook the noodles and keep it aside. Then scramble the eggs with salt to season and keep it aside. Now, heat the oil in a pan and when hot, add the ginger garlic paste and the green chillies to it. Sauté for a few seconds and then add the onions, and capsicum to it. Sauté this for a while until the onions turn slightly brown and the capsicum starts to sweat. Now, add the scrambled eggs to this a sauté for about a minute. Now, add all the different powders (including salt) and mix everything well. Add the 3 different sauces and sauté for about 2 minutes.

 Now comes the step for which you need to trust me. Not using this ingredient won’t make your noodles tasteless, but using it will make it a hell lot tastier! So it is up to you to use this or not. The ingredient I am talking about is the 2 teaspoons of Pepsi. Add it to the dish, and try to burn it off using the flames (it is ok if you can’t). Sauté for a minute and finally add the noodles to it (make sure the noodles aren’t sticking together when you are adding them).  Now stir the entire thing together until is evenly mixed and then cook it for about 2 minutes. Now turn the flames off and your noodles are now ready. Serve Hot!

Tip: If you find that you have not added enough salt at the end after you have added noodles, instead of adding the salt directly, try and mix that salt with very little water and then add it. This will ensure that it spread evenly. This water will evaporate away quickly.

BBQ Square

It looks pretty awesome at night

Located at Palarivattom, BBQ Square has one of the best locations that any food joint can have in such a crowded city. The restaurant itself looks pretty good. It has a very simple and elegant appearance on the outside while the interiors have a very good aesthetic appeal. The arrangements made for seating are pretty great too. The only problem that I had with the interiors was the lack of ventilation, but it was not that big of a problem because it isn’t that hot inside.

The restaurant is open from 12 in the noon to 12 at night. It offers a variety of dishes in the grill, kebab, and barbeque category. It also serves burgers and salads too. So, I guess the vegetarians won’t be completely left out here. But since I am not one, I won’t go into details about the vegetarian dishes.

The service was excellent here. The waiters were very polite and very attentive too. These guys were well groomed too. So I wasn’t worried of them contaminating my food. They were bringing out food pretty quick.

Now talking about the food, I would rank it over average. I cannot say that it was very excellent though. But the fact that some of the items mentioned in the menu weren’t available was a total disappointment. I visited this place hoping to get some barbecue beef. But this was unavailable since the chef who handles beef was still “sleeping”! The next dish that caught my eye on the menu was barbecued jalapeno wings, but this dish too was unavailable. This was utterly disappointing since the waiter told me that the only dishes that were available at that time were the grilled chicken, barbecue fish, and some kebabs. Since I wasn’t in a mood for seafood, I ordered the grilled chicken. The proper name given to the dish is ‘Turkish Spicy Grill’. I also ordered a drink called the ‘Tongue Twister’, which the waiter said was a drink made with oranges and mint.

The complete order

 The food arrived in about like 10-15 minutes and was pretty warm. I mean, it was neither very hot, nor very cold. It was just the perfect warmth. There were four pieces in total, which was accompanied by 2 pieces of kuboos (which is an Arabian flat bread made of wheat flour and such), and two different kinds of condiments- the usual garlic paste and a kind of spicy paste which they call a ‘Spicy Thoom’ (I am guessing it is made with pickled green chillies and mustard paste and stuff). The garlic paste was good, but my favourite was the Spicy Thoom. The kuboos was just the same as I would be served at any other Arabic restaurant. The grilled chicken was which supposedly called “Spicy” was not at all in agreement with the name. The first serving of these was free, but a second helping would be subject to be charged. 

The chicken was nice and crispy on the outside, which is one of my most favourite things I like in grilled chicken. But as I kept eating and went deeper into the meat, I found that the insides weren’t as tasty as the outside. The inside of the meat was dry and not very flavoured. The Spicy Thoom actually helped a lot in masking this flavourlessness and simply made the chicken taste more incredible than it actually was. 

The drink that stole my heart

Now coming to the drink, I was a little extra curious to how good the drink would taste, because after the experience with the chicken, I didn’t expect something miraculous. But, I have to say, the drink was more than what I expected it to be. It was simply beautiful. The appearance itself made me like the drink a lot! The mix of oranges and mint was simply awesome!! It was pulpy and thick, and was just not some watery orange juice. They had used the pulpy orange juice and blended the mint into the drink. I loved the drink the most out of all the other food that I had ordered.

Concluding, I would say that this restaurant is pretty nice. Even though the chicken was a little dry, I loved the entire ambience of the place. Also, since the drink stole my heart, I cannot say that this place wasn’t good. I will surely visit the place again and review it again after I get a taste of the barbecue beef that they serve and the Tongue Twister will surely be ordered once more! The prices here are not too bad, since anywhere outside too I would have to pay around the same amount to get grilled chicken. So in short, even though it was a turn down initially, it was actually pretty good in the end!

Flakes Bake House

       Flakes is a bake house near Chottanikkara, on the Tripunithura-Chottanikkara road. My visit there was purely not planned. I was on my way back from an exam, with my friends, when one of them suggested this place.

                The place has average look on the outside, while the interior was a little better. Personally, I have been to better bake houses. The main part of the building was the bakery, and there was a partition that separated the bakery from the larger dining area. I found it a little uncomfortable that all tables could seat only around 6 people. There weren’t tables for smaller groups and since we were a group of about 10-11, about 3 of us had to sit separately on this huge table. But the tables and the dining area in general was pretty clean. The washroom however was an entirely different story. The water flowed in a very thin and weak stream and the basins were not cleaned well. This was the only problem with the cleanliness.

                Coming to service, the waiters were quite polite, but that is not all that matters at the end of the day. Our order took about half an hour to arrive. We had ordered food that would usually be ready made at any hotel and yet the delay. But I have to say, the bills arrived pretty fast.

Chicken Biryani

               

      Now coming to the main part, the Food! I had ordered a plate of Chicken Biryani. I have had different types of biryani, and I can assure you that the biryani I ate here was nowhere near even half of the best biryanis that I have ever eaten. The biryani was not at all hot to point out the first problem (considering that they took half an hour to bring it out!), but I wouldn’t mind overlooking that fact. Firstly, the rice used was the ordinary raw rice, rather than the usual basmati rice that I have seen being used in every other biryani. This rice was well cooked, but was a little on the dry side. Secondly, the masala, which is one of the best parts of a biryani, totally lacked the spiciness and flavor that clearly differentiates a biryani from its look-alike, ‘The Kabsa’. The masala was so less in quantity when compared to the rice and had not mixed well with the rice. Finally, the chicken pieces in the biryani, the most important part, weren’t cooked properly at all. They were fully cooked, but they weren’t allowed to absorb any of the masala that is present in the biryani. They basically were a bunch of cooked chicken pieces (2 to be exact) in the biryani. I am more used to chicken pieces that have been initially fried a little before being added to the biryani. If not it is supposed to be a ‘Kabsa’. But this dish was nowhere near that either. Now speaking of the condiments served along with the biryani, the curd salad served was too runny and was low on salt. There was this thick chutney (I am guessing it was mango based), that accompanied it. I loved this chutney and it was the one thing that helped in flavoring the biryani actually. After a biryani, I also ordered a Chocolate Swiss roll for dessert. It was a little dry, but then the filling was very creamy. So I actually liked the Swiss roll. Putting it simply, the dessert was much better than the main course itself!

                Concluding, I would say that the Flakes, is a better bakery than a restaurant. Also, it is a little overpriced, because the food doesn’t actually stand up to the quality that can be availed at such a price. My friends had the same opinions since the order they had placed too, were a little off on the quality side. The service could be made faster because slowing the service down and yet serving cold food is seriously annoying! If you w are hungry and have no other option, you could go here. But, otherwise I would seriously not recommend this place to anybody, because much better food and service can be obtain for almost the same rates, elsewhere.

Who doesn't like Sevpuri!!

                                                      Sevpuri is a snack that I have loved ever since the first time that I had eaten it. It has also been one of my favourite food. But even with all the craze, it is recently that I found out the fact that the puris are actually available in the market and these are fried to get the puffy and crunchy puris that we all eat in a bite!

                             After the puris are fried, its pretty straight forward from there. Just make a little masala using mashed potatoes mixed with salt and chopped green chillies. Stuff the puris using this masala and garnish with tomato sauce, sev, chopped tomatoes and onions, coriander leaves and a sauce made by blending mint leaves and green chillies in a mixer. Voila! The sevpuri is ready!

P.S: I use a little Tabasco sauce to add a little kick of spice. It sounds crazy but tastes good!