Melt in your mouth Lamb Kebabs

Galouti Kebabs are a speciality of Lucknow and legend has it that they were created for an old toothless nobleman. These are absolutely delicious melt in your mouth kebabs and have a smooth almost creamy texture.

Today I am going to share a recipe  for similar kebabs with  you which my better half has perfected over the years.

Preparation time: 1 and a half hours

Cooking time: 10 minutes

To make the kebabs you'll need:

For the mince mix

• 400gm lamb mince from the shoulder of lamb  

          deboned and passed twice through the mincer ( ask your butcher to do this for you)

• 100gm of grated raw green papaya

          note to novice cooks - peel papaya before grating :-)

• One cup of hung yogurt

          yes, hang the yogurt tied up in a muslin cloth to drain excess water, it'll take about two             hours for this if you used the yogurt from a supermarket, takes longer if you're using                 yogurt made at home

• 1 cup of shelled  finely ground roasted Bengal gram ( sieve before adding to mince)
• 4 cloves of peeled garlic 
• 1 inch piece of peeled fresh ginger
•  3 green chillies
•  Dry ground spice powder - 4 cloves of garlic, one inch stick of cinnamon, 4 green cardamoms, little mace and nutmeg - grind finely (sieve before adding to the mince)

For smoking the meat

•  4 cloves 
•  3 green cardamom
• 1 small stick cinnamon
•  One large tablespoon of Ghee/clarified butter
•  One or two small pieces of charcoal

For the Chutney

• 100 gm Green coriander
•  One large red onion
•  One large tomato
•  2 green chillies
•  Juice of 1 lime
•  Salt to taste

For Garnish

• Raw onion rings
• Cucumber, tomato salad with chopped cilantro

Put the mince in the dough maker attachment of your mixer grinder, add the ground Bengal gram and hung yogurt. Make a fine paste of the ginger, garlic and green chillies and add to the minced meat. Add the ground dry spices and mix well.

Take out the mince mix into a large bowl preferably stainless steel, make a well in the middle of the mince, in this well keep a small stainless steel bowl ( katori). On your kitchen stove heat two -three pieces of charcoal till they are red hot, be careful and use a tong to keep them in the katori. Throw the whole spices for smoking onto the charcoal and add a tablespoon of ghee. Quickly cover the large bowl with the mince and katori in it with aluminium foil, you'll have to be quick so the smoke does not escape. Leave the mince to smoke  for 30 minutes and get high on the dry spices!

It's a good idea to refrigerate the mince for an hour or two before frying the kebabs, the mince binds better and is easier to handle :-)

For the chutney, just blend all the ingredients together till you get a nice green spicy paste.

Heat ghee in a frying pan and shape the mince into small burger patties and cook for 8-10 minutes on each side, you could also turn the patties over so each side is a light golden brown and then put a lid on the frying pan for 2 minutes so the patties come out nice and melt in your mouth soft.

Serve with onion rings and green chutney, if you want to make a meal rather than just a snack, then heat up some paranthas or naans, if you can't find them then just heat up some tortillas!

Foccacia con Olive, Pomodoro, Aglio e le Erbe

This is one bread that I really love baking and eating straight out of the oven. I was quite intrigued when I first heard the name and then when I saw it my first reaction was ' Oh, this is pizza without the tomato sauce and cheese!'

Foccacia is really easy to make and I've given a simple recipe below, I got the basic recipe from Jamie Oliver and it makes a good bread.

Step 1

Take 400gm Maida ( refined flour) in a large mixing bowl
 add 100gm Atta ( whole wheat flour)
 to the flour add a pinch of salt and leave aside.

Step 2

Take 100ml of water, stir in 1/2 teaspoon sugar and add a tablespoon of  baker's yeast. Leave this undisturbed for 15 minutes, you'll soon get a frothy, beer smelling liquid.

Step 3

Make a well in the middle of the flour and add the frothy yeast water and begin to bring it all together with your fingers. Also add a tablespoon of olive oil and more lukewarm water to make a soft springy dough. This will take about 5-7 minutes of kneading.

After kneading the dough, roll it into a ball and take some olive oil in your hands and gently coat the ball.

Step 4

Cover the bowl with dough in it with cling film or a clean moist cloth and leave in a warm place for the yeast to do its magic. This will take around and hour and the dough will rise to double its size.

Step 5

Remove the dough from the bowl, 'knock back'  - this is fancy bakery terminology for punching the carbon dioxide out of the dough. Grease a baking tray with cooking oil and spread out the dough with your fingers into a flat cake.

Step 6

Take sliced tomatoes,  peeled garlic cloves, whole pitted olives, rosemary, fresh basil leaves and decorate the dough. Take care to push these items into the dough as the rising dough can push them back out :-) , use your fingers to make indentations for the olive oil you're going to pour on in a short while.

You could grate some mozzarella on top or any other flavourful cheese, I haven't tried feta but my guess is it could be quite nice. Sprinkle salt and grind some fresh pepper onto the dough and drizzle  olive oil generously on top. For a spice kick you could sprinkle some chili flakes like I did!

Step 7

Leave the decorated dough to rise again for 25 minutes and in the meantime heat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius. Bake the bread for 20 minutes till you get a crisp golden brown crust.

Step 8

Remove the bread from the oven, let it cool for just a bit if you can, otherwise break into chunks, dip into olive oil and balsamic vinegar and eat with olives and chunks of cheese. Yum Yum Yum :-)

The Pasta Bowl Company - great Italian food in Gurgaon

" Bursting with Flavor", yes, that's how my daughter described the chicken lasagna at 'The Pasta Bowl Company". 

The restaurant is fairly new and is located at the Crosspoint Mall in DLF phase 4, Gurgaon, it's a nice cute little place with seating for 20. The decor is simple and the white walls have pictures of stuff Italian; you know - a map of Italy, a photograph of the leaning tower of Pisa, an ad for Vespa Scooters and plates with dry pasta representations. The plates on the walls can look cute or kitschy depending on your mood.

The place was empty when we walked in and we wondered whether we had made the right choice.

Pasta is the hero of their menu and we ordered a fettucine carbonara, the chicken lasagna and a roast chicken panini. The just so awesome aroma of garlic being sauted in olive oil soon wafted across to us from the open kitchen. Lasagna takes a while to bake and we were quite hungry, something to munch on while we waited would have helped. We did find it odd that the server assumed that we would have our beverages with our meal instead of just asking us.

I had a diet cola and the wife and kids went for the cold coffee, the coffee frappe was really flavourful, made with freshly brewed espresso shots.

Our  plates arrived shortly and I have to say this, they looked awesome and smelled fabulous. The fettucine had a generous shaving of parmesan and the lasagna had a sprig of parsley on top. What really got me was the parsley, it was beautiful, a lovely green, fresh, vital sprig of parsley, I admire a chef who takes care to pick a garnish beautiful enough to grace his creation.

The fettucine was nice and creamy, the pasta cooked Al Dente, really delicous. The lasagna was the star, the cheese stringy and melty and hot, delightful herby chicken mince between soft sheets of pasta with a gorgeous tomato sauce. The pasta was as good if not better than what we've had at Zanotta, the Italian restaurant at the Leela, Gurgaon.

For dessert we had the Tiramisu, artistically layered light and creamy spoonfuls.

A wonderful evening, with some great pasta totally bursting with flavor.

La Dolce Vita!

Cafe Delhi Heights

I had a lovely meal last week at Cafe Delhi Heights at the Ambience Mall Gurgaon. The decor is very simple and the place has a relaxed atmosphere. The chairs are a little uncomfortable though. The menu is extensive and you'll find salads, sandwiches, pasta and popular mains both asian and continental.

After going through the menu a couple of times wondering what to order, something familiar or unusual, I just gave up and asked the service staff for advice. The young man suggested I try their famous Juicy Lucy burger. The name sounds pretty weird however it tastes great and they've already sold over 22,000!

My colleague ordered pasta with mixed sauce, I know, sounds plebian right, but you'd be amazed it tastes delicious!

The chef rings a little brass bell whenever an order is ready for service and soon the bell rang for us. 

The portions are huge, reminded me of the ones I've had in the US, the lamb burger lived up to its name and was very juicy. Just a little note to the chef, the juicy stuff actually makes the lower part of the bun soggy and unappetizing. The pasta was very nice, tomatoey and creamy, with shreds of chicken adding to the flavour.

While we were having our meal, the table next to ours had ordered what looked like mocha frappes in these cute glass jars. Very creative.

In case you plan to go there on a Friday afternoon, plan ahead, there's a huge rush and the wait time is over half an hour. In fact on the previous occasion we were unable to get a table and went to the Zambar, a Kerala themed restaurant on the same floor. Had an interesting meal there too, but that's going to be another post.

Aphrodisiac foods?

Research by some scientists in England says that you should drink pomergranate juice for 15 days for good sex, yes, it was in an article in the Times of India. Hmm. got to buy some anaars (pomegranates) before the prices go up. 

Bet you've heard the joke about the man who was told to eat a dozen oysters before his wedding night, his well meaning friend asked him how it went the next morning, the man was upset and replied " Humbug, only six of them worked"!

Hotel kitchens are full of myths and stories around the approdisiac properties of food. Our chefs have various recipies for what they call 'Palang Tod' or bed breaker food,  recipes passed with a nudge and a wink from one chef to another, guaranteed to enhance performance.

One that chefs at The Oberoi New Delhi used to make was the mutton ishtew (stew), the duty was assigned to one of the cooks  in the afternoon shift. Cubes of mutton on the bone were cleaned and put into a large pot along with cloves, green and black cardamom, cinnamon, nutgmeg, mace, cumin seed, ghee (clarified butter), ginger,  lots of garlic, tomatoes, onions and lots of fresh cilantro. The whole thing was stirred over a flame till the meat caramelised and then the pot was covered with a lid which was sealed with dough and left to simmer for seven to eight hours on a low flame. 

At dinnertime, the lid would come off and there was a wonderful, flavourful stew, the meat delightfully tender falling off the bone, this would be accompanied by tandoori roti (an Indian flat bread baked in an earthen oven). The long slow process ensured a thick gravy with all the goodness of the meat and the bones that the cooks felt added that extra to performance.

Another chef friend of mine would lovingly make lobster thermidor, this served with rice was his idea of  a winner combination for the sack race :-), others would vouch for the dark freshly squeezed juice of passionate red grapes.

Ripe bananas are another favorite, probably the potassium helping to keep the heart healthy and of course if the heart is healthy and throbbing well, it does the same for other parts.

At the end of the day I guess  what really do the trick are the stress reducing micronutrients in food, fresh, healthful ingredients that keep on cleaning the arteries and washing away harmful clots.

Some people swear by the wonders of wine, especially Champagne, a couple of glasses with the object of your affection (or seduction)  helping to smooth the way to the silky sheets. However before throwing too many down the hatch, remember - wine makes the spirit willing but the flesh weak ;-)

Hello Starbucks!!

I heard whispers while asleep last night and opened my eyes just a wee bit. There they were, both my feet; conspiring to kill me. One of them, I think it was the left one, was very vocal, at times agitated and determined, while the right foot was more for being discreet and you know 'wanting to make it look like an accident'.

Of course I was terrified, yet I didn't move a muscle, pretending to be fast asleep. I could understand their anger though; the wife had dragged me along to the monsoon sale at Ambience Mall, Vasant Kunj. We walked from one store to another, and another and yet another, well she was doing the walking, I the man was doing the trudging. Yes the sort that you see in old war documentaries when soldiers are returning from a long and bitter campaign.

I trudged and my feet grumbled. All the time, sending me messages through my crying calves that either I sit down or they'll go on strike and leave me stranded having to be carried out on a stretcher.

My nose saved the day, it caught the smell of freshly brewed coffee and led my feet and portly frame to the new Starbucks store. Man, was it crowded, the wife entrusted me with the task of finding a place to sit while she stood in line for our order.

It's quite a nice store, though very crowded and not just because of the loads of people that were there. It was the seating, some chairs and small tables, a long tall table with high chairs, for a more communal coffee experience. And then , there was a big bloody dining table in the center of the store. Now tell me, who orders their furniture and who paid the designer?

Just walking in and out of the mess was a big challenge, as it is I am five feet something and navigating my way in the store was about squeezing my frame between other patrons without having my oysters crushed.

Our frappucino was good, not my usual cold coffee with blended ice cream, but a milk slush flavored with a lovely aromatic roast. The chicken reshmi roll, was nice, spiced cilantro flavors with chunks of a curried chicken in a roll. The lattice chicken thingy was not quite there, the puff pastry lattice was good but the filling was too tomatoey and sweet, I would have added a little basil and oregano to it. 

Their choco chip muffin was passable, Costa makes it better and they use choco chunks instead of chips. We also tried the iced teas, the green tea one and the hibiscus or whatever, that was good.

Overall a nice experience, the coffee was flavorful, the snacks were reasonably good and priced lower than Costa, the desserts are more expensive comparitively, the team however is way better than at Costa, more friendly and communicative.

We must have sat at Starbucks for close to an hour and our table had a nice view of the BMW display on the ground floor. My feet made peace with me for a while, though hostilities broke out as soon as I got up to leave.

Welcome to India, Starbucks!!

Masala Chai Monsoon Magic

Take a little over one cup of water, put it to boil in a small saucepan. Add two cloves, one green cardamom, three to four peppercorns, a small stick of cinnamon and  a little grated fresh ginger.

No, no, this is not the recipe for a good Indian curry, it's actually the base for Masala Chai or 'spiced tea' in Hindi, a very popular beverage in India, especially during the monsoons. The spices are very good if you have a cold and help clear up a blocked chest and nose.

Of course to complete the tea, once the water and spices are boiling, add a teaspoon of sugar or honey, a teaspoon of tea leaves, preferably Assam tea or other black tea and add milk. Bring the whole thing to a boil, strain and pour into your finest bone china tea cup or a small steel tumbler as we did centuries ago in my childhood. 

Best enjoyed sitting in your balcony with a plate of vegetable fritters and chutney, watching the dark monsoon clouds disgorge their fat life giving pearls.

Menus and Scotch tape - the case for iPad menus

I've just sat down at the Barista Creme cafe at the Grand Mall on MG Road Gurgaon. I used to like coming here. The place seriously needs some renovation, the chair seats are torn on atleast four chairs that I can see.

They're also running a penguin books promo and the tent cards are not in the best shape. I get a menu from a friendly waiter fairly quickly. The menu itself has been designed well, the company has tied up with an Indian designer fashion designer to do the artwork. The cafe obviously gets a lot of business as the menu is worn and held together by scotch tape. 

What I fail to understand is when this outlet is positioned as a premium one ( they charge more for the same coffee that they sell in other Barista outlets), why don't they atleast get new menus. Or better still why can't they look at  a tablet menu.

This is one area where many restaurants slip up, fancy furnishing, well dressed staff, great food, sadly the bill of fare or the menu itself is either too difficult to read in terms of font size, font color or is in bad shape, torn, tattered, covered in pen marks, curry stains etc. 

This particular outlet could do a lot more, it has such a nice view of some greenery and you can see the metro train go by on its elevated track. There is seating space outside which is popular with smokers.

I do however like the bookshelf that penguin has put up with books from the publishing house as part of the promotion, good idea. I like the title of one of the books 'Losing my virginity and other dumb ideas', hmmm.... wonder if it's a good read.

Dulce De Leche - Caramel sweetness

I love you Argentina! Yo Te Quiero!

Dulce De Leche! 'Sweet of milk', yes that is the literal translation, caramelized condensed milk. A very plebeian, basic sweet, used like jam on hot buttered toast or eaten by the sinful spoonful. 

1986 came back this morning at The Leela Gurgaon, we had taken the kids for breakfast and on the pastry counter in the coffee shop I found a long lost friend, a jar of Dulce De Leche.

1986 was the year when I visited my parents in Buenos Aires. The year that Argentina won the football world cup, the year that Maradona showed the world that God indeed had a hand in his victory.

So many memories came back, my first cup of Cafe con crema, a wonderful strong espresso, crowned with  whipped cream, savored lazily at roadside cafes. My first bite into an alfajore , a chocolate covered biscuit sandwich with Dulce de Leche in its soft crumbly center. 

The strong sensual smell of fine Argentine leather. My initial hesitation as I cut into my first medium rare steak of the finest beef, juicy and pink on the inside. Glasses of Vino fino Tinto or red wine that my father specially bought and kept for me whenever I visited Buenos Aires.

Memories of simple breakfasts, thick slices of toasted whole wheat bread drizzled with honey and flowing ribbons of toffee flavored Dulce De Leche.

Sweet memories of the beautiful and warm portenos, the people of Buenos Aires, so elegant, so gracious,so brave, having weathered a horrible political and financial crisis.

Walks through Plaza San Martin, often pulling my jacket across my chest to keep out the chilly wind in the evenings.

It's funny isn't it, the simplest of things, a whiff of perfume, a few lines of a  song, the taste of a dish can transport us across time. 

Sparrows and Mangoes

There was a news article recently in the Times of India about a sparrow survey. Apparently the common house sparrow is becoming fairly uncommon. Still remember sparrows making their untidy nests with grass and in crevices around the house and behind the electricity meter. They would fly endless sorties transporting the building material taking a break once in a while to have a drop of water or a dirt bath in our garden.

My mother would tell us not to disturb the eggs, for sparrows give up eggs if they smell of human touch. We would eagerly wait for the baby sparrows to hatch  and share the good news with our friends.

It was such a peaceful time, they say that when we look back in life, that's what we prefer to remember, the happier times. Well they were happy, we would play for hours in the garden behind our house, climbing onto the jamun tree, watching the big black ants going about their business. Once in a while the ants would get irritated with us trying to divert them using small sticks and we would howl and jump around with one of the soldier ants stuck onto a toe. Those bites were painful.

Coming to Gurgaon nine years ago to a call center job, in our busy busy lives, never realised that there were few sparrows, who had time for sparrows and time too had been turned on its head, working to follow the American sun during the Indian night.

Intrigued by the article I set off to explore our condominium and look for signs of sparrows. In our lives we often become blind to the little things, and it is only when you focus your attention consciously that you begin to see again.

In not more than half an hour I came across a little sparrow, hopping around doing sparrow stuff. Further investigation led to a small straw nest in a hole in the parking area. So sparrows are doing alright, atleast in my condominium, they are going about their lives and building houses too!

Not worth the Cost..a!

Last week the wife and I had some time to kill before we went for an Andhra meal so we stepped into our favorite Costa outlet in Gurgaon. This is the store at the Crosspoint Mall, it's a nice cosy place and we have great memories of lazy winter afternoons on the corner sofa, sipping our coffees and reading the paper.

The Costa menu now features mini meals with pasta as an option and we chose the spinach ravioli, on an earlier occasion we had enjoyed the chicken ravioli in a lovely tomtoey cheesy sauce. So we were eagerly looking forward to the vegetarian cousin ... the spinach ravioli. It arrived looking so depressed and sorry, hiding behind congealed pieces of a spinach white sauce. The pasta pockets dehydrated, dried out, to use Chef Marco's phrase they were more leather than Al Dente.

I did not have the heart to complain and when I did bring it up with a trainee steward ( he was wearing a green Tshirt), he replied that the spinach ravioli was  not meant to have a nice flowing sauce like its chicken cousin.

I picked up a feedback form, meaning to share my thoughts on email with the Costa management, however my previous complaint on email was never acknowledged. Seems like many companies do this, they do  not acknowledge customer feedback, yet they spend so much money on setting up customer feedback cells or even outsourcing the process to other companies.

The meal for me was definitely not worth the Cost..aa!