Afternoon Snack

Remember what Nigella Lawson keeps saying, "It's so easy its almost embarrassing". The recipe of this particular post seems to be an embodiment of that line.

It began with the thought of making cream of mushroom soup. The larder, however, was empty of cream and butter. So the soup became a fusion - something that came midway between French and Asian or as my friend called it after tasting it, an "updated Kerala stew". Well, whatever you call it, it has now become my perfect lazy Saturday afternoon snack when you want something very quick and do not want to potter around the kitchen for an extended period of time. I mean all you have to do is chop some onions, garlic and mushrooms. The chillies are optional - if you want the added heat by all means go ahead.
The end result is light yet creamy with a touch of heat. Have it with crusty bread for an absolute feel good late afternoon snack.

Ingredients:
3tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion
3 cloves garlic
2 green chillies
250gms button mushrooms
1 large potato
1tbsp flour
1 and 1/2 cup water
1/2 cube of vegetable stock
2tsp paprika
salt to taste
1 cup coconut milk
Red chili flakes[for garnish]

Mise-en-place:
Mince garlic. Chop onions and green chillies. Slice the potato and mushrooms.

Method:
Heat oil.
Add garlic and stir for five seconds. Stir in onions.
Sprinkle a pinch of salt and stir so that the onions do not brown. Cook for ten minutes.
Add the flour and mix through the onions for five minutes.
Add 1/2 cup of water and the stock cube. Stir the mixture.
Add the mushrooms and potato. Sprinkle paprika and salt. Add the rest of the water. Simmer for fifteen minutes.
Finally stir in the coconut milk. Adjust for seasoning. Simmer for final five minutes.
Ladle into soup bowls and sprinkle red chili flakes on them. Serve with slices of bread or spoon in some rice along with it for a light lunch or snack.

Loveofmylife: Spot#2

Fudgy Chocolate Cake

Lazy Spreads

"You told me you were going to brunch. This looks like a feast!"

"Well, we just kept ordering. Its like the land of the lotus-eaters syndrome."

This is an excerpt from the conversation I had with one of my friends after she saw the photos of the brunch spread. And it it true. The moment you step on the stairs with terraces on either side, the painted walls reminiscent of lush Italian villas and the trees with golden highlights, it seems you step into a different dimension - a land where time has slowed down and life is good.

The smell of cinnamon and coffee, salty bacon, creamy eggs - they all call to you like siren's song. And in that moment you discover something new about yourself, that your stomach is a bottomless abyss.
We began with a round of coffee. The Moroccan cinnamon hot coffee was the special for that today and we ordered two of those along with Cappuccino Viennese. We sipped frothy, delicately spiced coffee while  joking about inane things.

Then the food arrived and I think we all were transported to some parallel Enid Blyon novel. We asked for the Eggs to order - scrambled with a side of bacon. The dish was served with hash browns, grilled tomato and a sprig of cilantro. In addition to that, you have a side of toast, butter, marmalade and blueberry jam. We also ordered Waffles with golden syrup and honey and one of the day's special - French toast with caramelized bananas and Mascarpone dip.

It was a definitely a feast - a delicious breakfast feast. I think it would take me several days and a lot of posts to do justice to all the dishes that we ate. But I will try to condense in one.
The scrambled eggs were so like soft curds that melted in your mouth-the perfect foil to buttered toast. The hash browns were nice, not over powering. The waffles were soft and sweet, drizzled with syrup and blueberry jam. But the highlight of the day - the Mascarpone dip served with the French Toast. We later agreed that it was like" having amazing sex with a guy you know is wrong for you". What can I say - the lit geekiness never seems to stay far away.

You would think after all that you would be stuffed and have no room for anything else. But something about the place - your fingers itch to open the menu again and look for more tasty morsels to order. And we did. The grand finale of the brunch was the Butterscotch cheesecake topped with sliced apples.It looks like the leaning tower of Pisa but the taste - oh, I am reminded of Rachel's description of the cheesecake in season 7 of Friends - "buttery, crumbly graham cracker crust with a rich and yet light cream cheese filling". I can say no more than that it was the perfect ending to the perfect meal. I would be hard-pressed to find a meal this good in quite a while.
Location: Truffles Cafe, Road No. 10, Jubilee Hills
What to try: Well, everything listed above
Ratings: 4.2/5

Loveofmylife: Spot #1

Rice, dal and curry

INDULGENCE

If you do not have a sliced finger or burned knuckles, you are not cooking right. 
Everything is better with butter.
Cooking cliches crop up unexpectedly in conversations and elicit a quick laugh before moving on to other topics. Another one springs to mind - chocolate makes everything nice.
Okay - that is completely made up. But then it is the truth. There is no mood, no occasion, no celebration that chocolate cannot ingratiate itself into and make it all the more better. And chocolate cake - oh sweet heaven in my mouth and currently the only food that has given an almost out-of-the-plane experience.
I should rephrase that - the dark chocolate cake at Hard Rock Cafe is currently responsible for that almost out-of-the-plane experience.

Remember the cards that they hand you for feedback and the categories they contain - HRC gets a check of excellent in all of them. Ambiance[the muted browns with paneled floors and mahogany finishes studded with rockstar paraphernalia], Acoustics[the music echoes and harmonizes with conversations around the room], Service[personable attendants who go over the menu choices with you] and the food[the tastes just swirl around your mouth and linger for long afterwards]. They have a variety of food choices that are prepared and served well. The signature 10oz burger that takes dedication to finish, the potato skins that are pure sin, the rich mac and cheese and the very indulgent creme brulee.
But the chocolate cake they serve is - well at that time we had no words. We just kept eating in mutual delight and discovery. Right now when I am writing this post I still remember the textures and flavors - the double layer cake with a layer of chocolate cream in between and covered with melting chocolate ganache. It is served with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream with a dash of chocolate sauce. In a phrase, this is chocolate heaven.

The cake is soft and warm - the feel of that warmth with the cold ice-cream ricochets in your mouth sending your taste buds into overdrive. The chocolate ganache is smooth and rich bringing an additional layer of chocolate into the mix and simply making you want more.  And I will stop before I go into spasms of cliched praises and do great injustice to the cake. I shall end with this-
The music, the conversation, the rain outside - they all slide around you as you and the cake form a bubble between yourself and the world which only faded away when the last forkful is finished.

Location: Hard Rock Cafe, GVK Mall, Banjara Hills
Food to die for: The chocolate cake, The Jumbo combo platter, Creme brulee, The signature 10oz. Burger
Rating: 4/5

The consummate hostess's favorite snack

This particular post is a tribute to a very close friend of mine who introduced me to the delights of Poha - Tulika Bathija. Poha is a Maharasthrian dish that can be eaten for breakfast or an afternoon snack and always served with chai. There were times in my early postgraduate days when on Sundays we would wake up to smells of tempered mustard, onions and chillies, the sound of kettle buzzing, the tinkle of spoons as they stirred sugar in the cups of tea[they were pink cups as I recall]. It was like the piper's call, one by one all of us would end up in her room and be handed heaping plates of almost golden, lemon-scented goodness.

Now that she has left the building and gone back home, it seems like a good enough time to write this post and remember those memories.
The dish is made with puffed rice as the main ingredient and finished with a dash of lemon. The base tempering is made with onions, chillies and turmeric and you really can't go wrong with them. Poha combines the ease of cooking with the concentration of the right taste so that it is the perfect food on the go.

Ingredients:
500 gm poha
1tbsp mustard seeds
3 medium onions sliced
4 green chillies slitted
2tbsp turmeric
1tbsp red chilli powder
salt to taste
1 tbsp lemon juice
a bunch of coriander leaves chopped
2tbsp vegetable oil

Method:
Wash the poha and keep it aside.
Heat oil and splutter mustard seeds. Add the the chopped onions and chillies. Cook till the onions are softened. That will be for about 10 minutes.
Add turmeric, red chilli powder.
Fold in the poha and then season it with salt.
Finally when ready to serve add in the lemon juice and coriander leaves on it. Serve with hot cups of strong chai. 

Red Accents

Sometimes you take some time. You go to certain websites and research for recipes. You go to the supermarket with the express purpose of getting the ingredients for the particular recipe that has caught your attention. And finally spend a lot of time creating the perfect dish [of the moment at least].
For me that was Spaghetti alla Marinara and to do it properly is a labor of love.
There is something about pasta that is simple yet so exotic - especially when swathed with a sauce of tomatoes, garlic and olive oil. You wait for the tomatoes to stew properly until they fall apart. You add the dash of oregano at the right time so that the seasoning blends in perfectly.  Finally when you mix in the pasta everything around just clings to it and the whole room shimmers with the scents it exudes.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup olive oil
1 entire bulb of garlic minced
2 tbsp chilli flakes
2 medium onions
1 bay leaf
1 small bell pepper
6 medium tomatoes chopped
1 can tomato puree
1 vegetable stock cube
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1 can mushroom
1 packet spaghetti
salt
pepper

Method:
Heat olive oil. Saute minced garlic. Add half of the chilli flakes and then mix it together.
Add the onions and bay. Cook till the onions brown for about 15 minutes.
Add the capsicum and cook for five more minutes.
This is the time when you add all the tomatoes. Simmer and let the tomatoes stew.
Dilute the tomato puree with a cup of water and then add to the pot. This cuts the overtly acidic taste of the puree leaving a more mellow flavor for the sauce.
Meanwhile boil of pot of water. Add salt to the boiling water and then add the pasta. This should take around ten-twelve minutes.
Take a cup of the boiling pasta water and mix the stock cube in it. Add this mix along with the can of mushrooms.
Sprinkle oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Simmer for ten minutes.
Add the pasta to the simmering sauce and fold in.
Divide portions of pasta in bowls and serve.