Sugar Rush / Europe

About a year ago, i got to see parts of Europe.

I am very glad i made the trip & parts of the trip keep coming back to put a smaile on my face.

The yellow flowers against a grey wall & a greyer sky, shopping in a grocery store in paris, taking the metro to everywhere, diving deeper into my jacket in a sort of cold i had never experienced & eating pie on a park bench. 

I look forward to more such travels & more food photos in the mean time:)

A pie crust with a custard filling & fresh berries. a mild sugar syrup adds a lot of glamour. I ate this while R drank beer on a garden bench on a sunlit afternoon amidst some very chic parisians.

Thats an orange - chocolate muffin with candied giner bits for extra pop! (on the far left ) & ice-cream rose (right)
We sniffed out gelaterias & ice cream parlours all over.This one here is wild berry with ofcourse, (my favourite) dark chocolate. Amidst other flavours we also tried, a poppyseed flavour, blueberry (just to see our tongues turn purple), lemon & yogurt.

We stopped for coffee all over. for small shots of expresso in wood panelled bars & for the cold coffees in the cafe sorts & for milky ones at a boulangerie cafe like this one where we ordered coffee, brownies & macaroons.

CAKE experiments!!

I have been on a cake making trip.

It's not surprising.I have bottled in seasons & seasons of Top chef, Masterchef Australia & Top chef "just desserts" & Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations and so a volcanic outburst of the culinary inspiration would have to have made it way out sometime.

I feel like I have donned a "Nigella Lawson" spirit in the way i drop chunks of butter & litres of cream into the mixing bowl without the slightest trace of guilt. I feel the butter in the pores of my skin....seriously!!

However, i have made over half a dozen cakes & a few attempts at cookies in my trusty rusty old baking oven.Its as or probably older than me & looks like a dated UFO model with a glass top.However, it's been a good sidekick & understands my cake making urges at 2 in the morning & sort of grumbles but never gives up.

So far,I tired a peanut butter cake, about 2 chocolate cakes & 1 fudgy chocolate cake with a chocolate butter frosting, a chocolate cake with a chocolate cream & biscuit frosting, choco- chip cookies & as i write this, i have 3 egg yolks stocked away to try a custard.

The pictures are from the latest cake I made for my uncles 65th birthday & it was a good evening full of family fun & housie.

B Flat Bar !

Yesterday was a fun evening.

first there a was a little bit of a frantic hunt for a birthday gift. I tried to put myself into pri's beautiful flats (& sometimes big heels) and think of what i would like to give myself. I thought for a long time & looked at everything with a "is this a good enough gift?!!" eye but then i was too distracted....by the clothes at M&S, the new collection at Forever new and the lovely smells of Body shop. (No one else I know can make papaya smell so divine)

SIGH:) Shooopping!

well, finally we had the gifts in hand and made a mad dash to the party venue.....not without making a quick pit stop at KFC.

we chomped our hearts out & glugged bottles of water.It was a slow motion moment, i tell you.crispy fried chicken with melting cheese & warm bread. This heap of carbs is so sinfully delicious...its hard to look away.(I can almost hear my Gym instructor shrieking into my ear)

Bflat is on 100 ft road, HAL.

It has a nice lounge setting.A bar, running the length of the place, a small performance area which features upcoming artists & bands or doubles up as the screen area for the never ending cricket dramas in India. I have been there on more than one occasion but haven't really gone past 2 drinks or a kakori kabab at max.However, you'll need some solid daylight & some non alcoholic beverages to see the cracks in the wall and the missing doorknobs (if there are any).

so pri's birthday gathering was a good way to get to know it better.

Like any party scene, the drinks were pouring in......glasses being cleared & replaced in quick succession....food that disappeared fast enough & lots of hugs & voices in the air. we had everything from the innocent sounding mango bloom to the very spicy bloody Mary.

The starters were in good portions.The pork sweet & chewy.The beef spicy & the chicken favourful & light enough to have even some vegetarians dig into it.

The main course was forgettable.The chicken was very bland.very uni-dimensional in flavour & the rice didn't contribute much either.The Long island ice tea despite being pretty & potent didn't grab too many marks.

maybe a couple of drinks later.....it doesn't even matter......

Plans were made, accusations were thrown around,trips to the loo happened, glasses were clinked & forks were strewn around like soldiers in a battered battlefield, bye s were said & hugs exchanged.......what a lovely way of living it up right in the middle of the week!

ICE & SPICE

Events and other fun things to do in Bangalore are scarce.

There is always the option of going out to catch a bite or the winner option of a "house party" but much else is not a regular option for Bangalore.

So after dissecting all the online forums and Time-Out Bangalore in an attempt to land myself onto an interesting Friday "welcome the weekend" celebration, the only thing R & i did find was a play.

So we reached the venue only to realize it was a kid's event and most of the audience was a parent to one of the performers.we quickly found our way out & drove half way across the city.

All the while brainstorming and throwing our options in the air.

After juggling around a bit with the possibilities, we grudgingly settled on Ice &Spice.

The place is on St.marks road nestled between a Kebab place & A wine shop.Both the kebab place & the wine shop are so bursting with the florescent light of a million tube lights that the yellow lit ice & spice with a small as small can be cafe set up is charming.the black interiors and the Quiet graphics of the board is comforting.

The desserts are marvelous and we sampled some on R's birthday when we dug into a delish cake coated with an almost burnt brown shade of chocolate.

We stepped in only to savour some cool AC atmosphere but we didn't realize that the cacophony of the 15 yr olds out with their monthly pocket money were bringing down the roof with their decibel levels.I now know that saying "My ex" is mandatory every 4 sentences & that a certain Aman likes his women to dominate him"(or something like that! )

I ordered a pasta Arrabiata.It was tangy & creamy.Served in a wide white dish with 2 slices of garlic bread. I am very delighted when i see the waiters walk up to me with geneous portions and it certain makes me feels like i'm in a hospitable place....but the warm sticky summer feeling, the noise & the heavy pasta was just the mix of things to make me feel like running out of the place.

R ordered a chicken gravy with some rice.The gravy again was thick & creamy and very white.

High on fat..low on flavour!

However, the place is perfect for a quick bite and the portions are abundant & the staff friendly.

The prices very pleasing and the place is alright.If you can brave through the teeny-bopper crowd, you have yourself a nice time!

CAFE FRESCO'S

It was a day set aside to enlighten ourselves about art and us, enthusiastic art geeks decided to pay our respects to the only decent Art museum in Bangalore, National Gallery Of Modern Art.

The NGMA is now in what was previously known as the Manikyavelu Mansion. A palatial house restored to its former glory . ....huge trees line the drive way and green lawns play silent spectators to the people who come here.

Vast lawn space with a water body and a very modern treatment to convert it into a museum.The steel, chrome and concrete blend perfectly with the white and do not create any disturbing visual noises. The amalgamation is as artistic as the contents inside the space.

We spent a good 4 hours pouring over canvases and frames, squinting our eyes trying to understand the art and the artist. Standing awestruck in front of some and wandering listlessly in front of a few others.

But once we were done soaking up the paintings and sharing our 2 cents worth....we decided to calm our complaining stomachs with some much needed grub.It was way past 3 and we made a quick dash to CAFE FRESCO's at Hatworks boulevard.

The place is set in what looks like a colonial looking house but its hard to really see the space in totality and describe it when you are that hungry and the desserts on display didn't make it any better.

We ordered versions of sandwiches which was served with a sumptuous portion of fat fries.

I ordered a Greek style sandwich filled with greens and roast chicken.....and i tried (but failed miserably at) not eating the fries.

I love the two seaters in the place.Small and cozy with tables and seats like picnic/outdoor furniture made of wooden slats. Perfect for a date and dessert. The extended area has very forgettable furniture ... seems like it was added as an after thought but the food is good and the portions are one of the best in Bangalore which always makes the place a delight to visit.

The kitchen would look better covered or a little more busy.With the open kitchen looking empty, it's not really a crowd pleaser.....me thinks.

The desserts will require another post. and I promise that one IS coming.There's New York cheese cake, blue berry cheese cake and a bunch of really gorgeous looking chocolate puddings and some very "south of north america homely" type pies. definitely worth some blog space.

The GOOD FOOD picture directory

GADBAD summers!

There are so many posts waiting to be written.

I start writing them in my head, sketch the piece out with words on a spare sheet and finally scratch it all out and jump to dream about the next thing to do!

and hence a lot of posts die a premature death!

Its not always a good thing to say this and make oneself seem like an insatiable glutton....but yes i have eaten a lot of different things over the time that i have been missing on the blog :)

idlis wrapped in leaves with chutney at "janapadaa loka" on the way to mysore, this perfectly golden brown circular (almost geometrically precise circle) chicken steak at "the only place". salmon salad at toscanoes at the UB city mall.....but something that i ate a long time ago and i still remember and have photographic evidence of is the gadbad.

gadbad (in hindi) actually means a mess...and maybe thats why this sundae is called that.Its a uniqely mangalorean favourite available at pabba's but made famous by ideals ice cream.

So its a huge dollop of sunny yellow pineapple ice ream which melts into the layers of cut fruit and raspberry jelly and cashew nuts that is filed into a long glass....oh and did i tell you about the vanilla icecream and very very strawberry ice cream that forms the foundation to this deluxe sugar extravaganza....and please ! lets not forget that no sundae is ever complete without a wholesome and generous toasted nut garnish!

many (OMG...Im melting) hot summers were spent in mangalore at Ideals. sitting with only my head above the table and my hands wringing themselves over the laminated table tops...looking and eyeing and salivating at every passing tray and surrounding table till my gadbad would arrive....:)

SUNDAY LUNCHES!!

i reunited with my folks after a fairly long gap of about 8 years.

i spent the last couple of years in hostel rooms, dormitories ,paying guest accomadations, rented aparments,a mortifying youth hostel, homes of relatives and friends..you name it.

I have survived on meagre buns and feasted on awesome-ly cheap chinese............so reuniting with my dramatic extended family was just another challenge.

whoever knows my family knows that family lunches in our household can be more than just entertaining.well, im not talking elaborate 12 course meals served in the finest china man can buy and served with intoxicating quantities of Dom Pérignon...or the type where shah rukh would come jive to entertain us tulu folks........our gathering where were people would talk a lot,laugh wholeheartedly, sleep on the floor, talk about philosohy,life,death,women, movies and family gods in quick sucession.

my mum like most of her cousins and aunts was born to be a good hostess.she loves feeding people...she would fed my dad more medicines when he last had his bout of flu.she would be upset if she cant empty the contents of the fridge onto the table...her knees have slowed her down but she can still feed you like a pro. she will feed you till you cry or die!

ask DT(and dont tell my mum!)

This sunday was another one of those gathering.

some uncles, aunts,a couple of hannah montana loving kids,cousins, me and food!

the party started early and ended only by late monday afternoon,.

any south indian will tell you that puris mean business and it marks an event. so there was puri.chicken curry with a good measure of yummy potatoes thrown in for the vegetarians, mutton fish-plump,white and bonless, but only till we slapped some cornflour and rice powder on it and shallow fried it till it turned golden brown and smelt like heaven.

the mums however thought that it was bland and flavourless to their refined seaside palatte which had gorged for years on sea fish everyday for a measly annual fee of a rupee.

Then of course,there was the biryani...the brown green biryani with a forest full of mint and corriander....amply moist and still dry...accompanied by the superstars of the spice trade...high on masala....with a good shower of ghee and garnished with clumps of brown fried onions ....

shockingly yummy!

The food disappears soon enough and we bring out the ice cream...fat scoops sitting uneasily in small bowls....

you could be on a diet, you could have a cold, you could be bursting at the seams and rushing to the loo, you could hate ice cream but you still got to eat it:)

since the crowd was pretty much fifty plus, we handed them a broken blood pressure checking device (a working one would be a total bummer!)

and were the oldies entertained or what!!!

VADA-PAV

you have a small wallet....you have a craving for something very buttery /spicy/you want something to make sense with your thick cold coffee or you want another reason to go to "japan electronics" store on CG road,Ahmedabad....then the reason comes in the form of a squashed, toasted, generously buttered bread bun (pav) stuffed with a potato cutlet and served on a steel plate that has a poster red and a olive / sap green pudina chutney on one side of it.

There was always a crowd at this particular spot at municipal market in ahmedabad where locals and outsiders like us would regularly flock to eat vadapav.

while i introduce to you this little gujju/bambaiyya marvel...i should tell you that ahmedabad is a food city.you will find people in love with their food and it shows. on them and around them.there are all sorts of indigenous delicasies available on the side of the road, on streets, at junctions, in shops, in air conditioned showroom set ups, in restaraunts, in the night life etc.you have desi pizzas, hybrid varieties of burgers with imli chutney or proffessional looking "golas" (ice candies) with flavours that vary from raspberry to khata aam and choclate eclair.

when i first went to ahmedabad ...the vadapav was a mere 6 bucks and in the last vada pav i had there...the rate has rocketed to a 20. It was still cheap and watching those big hairy hands slather those pavs with ginormous bricks of butter was not beautiful but fascinating none the less.

It always ended with a thick cold coffee.or a chocolate shake.the kind that would almost never make it way up the straw and would choke you.......but it was the perfect comfort food.

Perfect for when u have come on a solitary shopping missison or a birthday treat where orders would fly back and forth over hours .......

The memory of good food evokes the taste in my palate again:)

Recurring food cravings

walnut meringue at herbs and spices
lasuni prawn and tandoori aloo at barbeque nation
bombay toast at koshys :)
kori gasi (chicken curry) and roti at my house
my mums green biryani
oh! hyderabad house's (aromatic, flavour rises in your mouth) biryani
hot choclate fudge junior at corner house
moca boca (yes it does sound like a bengali gali) -amazing choclate drink at boca grande
kababs at nizamuddin
gadbad from pabbas' mangalore
dal makhni from dal roti (the only veg place i eat from)
the dominos pizza with XXtra meat toping that i ate when i was in class 11.
cold pizza square pizza with XXtra meat topping at ishans house, new delhi
aneeths ghar ka bana hua awesome expresso coffee
rashmi's mums brownies
(damn!!! i need to go and try some more adventureous stuff at.........anjappar for all i care / they apparently serve turkey and veal...sorry im still a novice whn it comes to adventureous food tasting)
the masala dosa outside my office at bommsandra-rs 12 /- only!!!
jackfruit fritters at my sisters in laws house
boiled moong and cabbage from my masi's house in kerala
spicy aloo curry from my hostel refectory (hostel mess)
Phad thai noodles
museli / dry fruits/curd and fresh fruits - eaten at aneeths house, my house, gokarna, all over
hash brownies and cold cuts with toasted bread and cheese!
This one partciluar pasta at sheeba in abad ( i dont remember the name any more)
candied cherries from the stoe room in my house
plastic ice candy off the streets back in 92' (my mum was at home trying to make a healthier version in a desperate attempt from consuming those life threateningly yummy ice candy thingies)
lots more need to go onto this one list............:)

food and fabric!

food/textiles and illustration :it cant get better than this.

food for inspiration !!!(as seen in the world of interiors / may issue)

The choice was between Koshy’s and herbs and spices.

Immediately my memory darted to this time when had had lunch with a couple of friends. And then it was gourmet as I had gotten with something called walnut meringue. Well, Its still as fancy as it can get for me since I spend 6 out of 7 days in an industrial estate in bommasandra feeding my guts with spicy toast topped with oily onion something and supper straang kaapi or more often the sugary sweet milky Indian favourite- tea.

The memory of the taste teased me yet again into shamelessly jumping at the opportunity of going back to herbs and spices!

So come Sunday and I wore my Sunday best and waited by the road full of afternoon sun hoping that the knight in shining santro wouldn’t be too late.
P arrived and I hurriedly jumped into the car and a few quicks turns later we were at herbs and spices. No board, no announcing of arrival and there it was hidden away and yet crowded. Damn! yet another treasure trove discovered and looted before I had set foot!!!

A moment of panic and with the gentle aromas in the air and the sun filled central courtyard. All was forgiven .

I hate it when people talk to me when im studying my menu…cause I get very distracted and i feel im being diverted from the actual agenda…and thus I politly, whenever I can, ask my lunch mate to shut up and figure what they’d like to eat too!

P is predictale and so he picked what I almost expected him to…the beef stake!

I went for the fish with my new sea food fetish and I figured chicken makes for ordinary meat (don’t really talk me into foie gras and the likes…im going to be desi for long…..and I had to remind myself and stop P before he wolfed down his meal.so there was a temporaray interruption in the meal and the necessary documentation was done .
Thus the pictures of the half eaten fish and beef.

The fish was nice and packed .white and layered.shiny skin creased together at points giving in to the heat it had been grilled over. Thin, slimy skin tasting like mellow fire. Breaking softly layer by layer. And whenever I felt it was getting too bland for my palatte, I doused it with a (lemongrass??) sauce that accompanied it.
Contact P for more about his steak of well done beef and yummy green herbed potatoes!

Dessert was the difficult part…the meringue came in without much debate but then there is the usual chocolate fav…which I just had to have…and in this moment of massive confusion, I did what I should do…take both…yipppeeee…
Some choices in life are actually easy and I wish I cud do that with everything!!!

Also, lunch was paid for and I was dropped back. Almost felt like a date but only that it was with P and there were no flowers.

WOrkk it!!!

There is no way i could live with myself after eating all that food i love and not doing anything to work it off. So there are my morning gym sessions and my evening walks which cut down (on calories) and on the guilt i might have when i binge on a goey fudge cake with ice cream at the next opportunity i allow myself.
So after drenching myself in sweat and becoming disgustingly out of breath , i reach home and realise that my last tyre is as loyal, faithful and clingy as the the pet i never had. Its here to stay...dammit!

Dinner TIme alreAdy?!?

My style of cooking comes under the broad categorisation of "cook and go" style. I cook with the ingredients i have and usually cook up something which does not take me longer than 10 minutes to make and 20 to finish.(some say im a slow eater.) so today was macaroni with red cabbage(the cross section of the red cabbage is freakingly pretty and a possible textile inspiration for the starved:)) and beans, mashed potatoes with a generous cheese dose and dried tomatoes. The scorching heat in our tropical country comes to one good use..........it can dry tomatoes up in less than a day! thats a shocker...isnt it? if it werent for Rs 20 for a kilo of tomatoes, my kitchen cupboard would have a nice tin full of sun dried yummies for use the whole year through!!!
Serving suggestion: best served with full control over the remote and a good show on the telly! *bliss*

Bombay fed me well!

Food is such an attraction when i am travelling. It keeps me looking forward to something I have been missing for long.I cant wait for the "Cutless" (cutlets) on the train journey to wherever..."Zinger burger wth extra mayo" when im in a place where i cant get to a KFC corner.......masala dosa when im in bangalore...or "Malai rabri" at Gwalia's in Ahmedabad....OMG...the list keeps growing endlessly in my head!!!(no wonder i never lose weight!)
I was in Bombay for a fortnight last month and i was rubbing my hands in glee just thinking of all the marvellous food i could hog once i was there. I had prepared countless mental lists to remind me of the places I had wanted to go eat at again. I have spent very little time at Colaba or Bombay for that matter but my food memories of the place are very fond!I was salivating at the very thought of all these places.
I spent a Sunday with a dear friend at Colaba and i just reconfirmed after spending a good sunday with her that ...two foodies is way better than one!
So at soul fry casa, goan chicken curry, rice and some yummy pina colada's later along with some long due conversation I achieved my long waited craving for a good wholesome lunch!(Rice is the ultimate meal maker for a deprived south Indian u see!)
We were stuffed and sleepy but i dont think the state lasted for long.A few seconds later, a guilty suggestion was made to head towards "Theobroma's" and feast on some food for the gods!
So I had my love for a long time-chocolate!!..and walked out with an aphrodiasiac overdose...
Another new entry to my existing list was an Irani in colaba with sparkling clean mirrors.The food was good too but since i had stuffed myself with cookies and cocktails the entire evening (as unlikely and gross a combination as that is ... I was on a mission....and wasnt willing to let go of the freebies that were a part of it!:) so post all the junk, my stomach wasnt willing to accomadate the excellent prawn curry, reshmi kabab and caramel pudding. I instantly knew was going to regret missing out on something taht looked so awesomely delicious!.
My face lights up like a neon billboard when it comes in contact with good food!
So Bombay this time was was a lot of good fun, learning, FOOD, biryani from luckys, famous bombay sandwiches stuffed and piled with tons of veggies, cheese, sev and unlikely things that you would never want to see in your sandwich but full faith in your sandwich wala makes u a happy person post the brown toast!, pork curry, chicken curry goan style, yummy cookie man biscuits and peanuts that i practically made meals out of for several days in a row, yucky chicken liver patte' that my head cajoled me into trying.My taste buds revolted in disgust!, chocolate and coffee from everywhere, good musical evenings with friends, dinner by the beach, a crazy taxi ride all over town and all that, black tea and pure magic biscuits.........:)