SMOKE HOUSE DELI - LAVELLE ROAD

For January 2017, I had selected a spicy south indian cuisine for review so this month February 2017, I decided to go the other extreme and sample north Indian flavours. I had already decided a place in mind. The day I decided to review this place was one of those days I should have spent in bed for I was restless and crabby. Nevertheless with visions of tucking into north Indian food, I headed to the desired place at Lavelle road junction only to find that the place was closed for renovation!!

This was quite disappointing to add to my mood. I half thought I’d go to UB city close by and grab something there.

I wandered down the lane and came to SMOKE HOUSE DELI (SHD). Here I was with a craving for north Indian food but at a place that’s far from it in terms of food. I stood there wondering if I should go in. Then I remember a friend of mine who said that SHD desserts were “something to die for!”

Well, nothing like a good dessert to soothe a restless soul and walked in.

I’ll start by saying right away that any place where I walk in all cranky and high strung and walk out completely full and relaxed gets a huge thumbs up from me. SHD did just that.

I walked in without reservations. The place was quite empty. I preferred to be seated outdoors to indoors. The outdoor seating had garden chairs (boy! These were heavy), all white with empty cages (?) hung here and there, overlooking the main road yet quiet and airy. This was just what I needed.

What I ordered:

SHD tomato Bocconlini Salad with queen olives and pesto Vinaigrette.

Half portion of grilled vegetable sandwich which comes at a reduced rate when ordered with the salad.

Tiraminu for dessert.

I was presented with a bread basket to start with while I waited for my order. This was good.

The salad was awesome! Filled with lettuce, roasted tomatoes, huge olives, micro greens, fresh figs and pine nuts in it tossed in pesto and greek dressing. The ingredients seemed odd. In an ordinary way I am not sure if I’d want to combine tomatoes and figs in the same bowl but this..this was perfect!! I liked the taste, the presentation, the ingredients.. everything about it.

The grilled sandwich was tasty with grilled vegetable filling. The crunchy chickpeas inside was an added surprise. I like quirky combinations in food. I found the bread used for sandwich quite hard and I ended up eating only the filling using some bread from the bread basket. This was tasty in itself but sandwich bread could have been softer.

I finished with the Tiramisu which was heavenly!. Not too rich, coffee flavored and I didn’t get the heavy feeling that normally comes with a full meal and rich dessert. I’d love to try their burgers (ages since I had a good burger to sink my teeth into) and try more of their desserts so another visit here is due.
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Rathan, who served the dishes is pleasant, knows his stuff and explained what went into the dishes with ease.

I don’t know if it was “something to die for” like my friend described:) but it surely made life worth living;). Gone was my crabby mood post the meal as I headed home feeling relaxed and contented.

Ratings for reviews:

1 – No! No! No!
2- Just about average.
3 –Good. Can give it a try.
4- Great!!
5 – Yes! Yes! Yes! And I’ll tell all about it.

Overall rating : 4/5

Pics: Bread basket, Salad, Sandwich and Tiramisu.

Details

Address: 52 & 53, Ground Floor, Lavelle Road, Bangalore.
Timings: 9 a.m. to 1 a.m.
Contact: 080 40515151

CORINGA

In the year 2015, I posted lots of reviews on different topics – book reviews, movie reviews, event reviews, product reviews and so on. They year 2016 saw my favorite recipes for each month with a background for each recipe.

For 2017, since I thoroughly enjoy both - writing reviews for a year and writing about food, I decided to combine the two and decided to post reviews of food places in my city – one per month. These will include a variety of places from restaurants to street food to ice parlors to anything that catches my fancy. One thing is for sure, I’ll have a hard time choosing where to explore for there’s no dearth of food joints in Bangalore. I hope I can find a place where I can give it a 5/5 rating;)

Ratings for reviews:

1 – No! No! No!
2- Just about average.
3 –Good. Can give it a try.
4- Great!!
5 – Yes! Yes! Yes! And I’ll tell all about it.

This month (January 2017) I’ve visited Coringa located in Koramangala known for its spicy Andhra cuisine. I’m starting the year on a spicy note:) . This review is only for the vegetarian part of the menu.

The menu card mentions a bit about how the restaurant got its name from a coastal village and wild life reserve in east Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, the land of chilly people:)

The interiors had a cosy look about it with soft lighting. I was served a rasam to start with. Now this, I could have every day! Perfect taste and so soothing in the winter chill.

Food I ordered :

Aritikaya slices : Banana slices fried crisp with spices.

Palakoora pappu: Spinach dal

Nuvvulu pappu rice: steamed rice with spicy sesame powder

Mirapakaya Bajji: Stuffed and fried green peppers as a takeaway to snack on later.

I loved almost all what I ordered there. There was onion chutney and ginger chutney to dip into. These were really flavorful. I dipped the fried banana slices in them and enjoyed it the most. Spice quotient was on the higher side so watch it if you aren’t into that kind of food.

The palakoora pappu was fresh and homely and I could eat just that for my meal, which I ended up doing anyways. I dint like the rice not because it wasn’t tasty, but usually basmati rice tends to give an odd odor when cooked and I’m very sensitive to it so I couldn’t enjoy it all that much. Maybe someone with less sensitive sense of smell may not mind it much. I did manage to finish some of it after liberally topping it with dal, chutneys and raw onions to mask the odor. Next time I’ll stick to rotis and the likes.

Disappointment # 1: I did so badly want to taste the sweet poota rekulu which I had heard so much about but sadly it wasn’t available the day I went. Maybe next time I should call and confirm in advance.

Disappointment # 2: Pipe music was awful.

Back home, I ate the mirapakaya bajjis which was good enough, though I like my own preparation of the same.

Suggestions: More desert options. It’s much needed and would be a perfect finish to the spicy meal.

Would I go again? Yes definitely. For one, it was relaxing. Food was tasty. Prices were reasonable and more importantly would want to try their items on the menu the vepudus - fries and their curries and hopefully the poota rekulu the next time around.

Overall rating : 3/5

Details

Address: 2, 2nd Floor, 100 Feet Road, Above Enigma, Koramangala 5th Block, Bangalore.
Timings: 12:30 PM to 3:30 PM, 7 PM to 11:30 PM

Contact:

+91 7760361506
+91 9900178608
Cash and Cards accepted.

COCONUT SWEET WITH JAGGERY

This is the last of my recipes for 2016 and I thought I’d end the year on a sweet note with a recipe that was a part of my childhood.

As a kid, I used to eat these coconut sweets made with jaggery, available in little shops that sold anything from needles to rice. Usually these sweets were displayed in glass jars and looked quite revolting with a few flies hovering around them…but ah! The taste!! The taste is something I cannot forget even today. I used to buy them with 10 or 20 paisa coins and savor them bit by bit. I have added the coins in the pictures, now no longer in circulation. It brings back memories of those days where simple pleasures like this, so inexpensive, was all it took to be happy.

Ingredients:

100 gm jaggery OR
50 gm jaggery and half a cup of jaggery powder (this is the combination I used.)
½ cup of water.
2 cups fresh coconut ground a mixer/processor so that it comes out a fine paste.

Method:

In a non stick pan, add water and add the jaggery in the pan till it melts completely and thickens slightly.

Add the coconut paste and stir.

and stir..and stir..and stir…and stir…:) that’s all there is to the recipe. Just stir till all water evaporates and the mixture looks thick enough to make into little coconut balls with your hands. Switch off the stove when the mixture thickens and do this while it is still warm.


NOTE:

Water: I added a little bit more while melting the jaggery. Though this makes the moisture take a longer time to evaporate, I prefer it over using too little water and it turns out too thick, sticking to the pan.

Add: Raisins and nuts when stirring if you wish. Cardamom powder. Orange red food coloring for a brighter look.

Don’t forget to stir in low flame and keep it going till you get the desired consistency. Keep an eye on it at all times.

PEAS & CABBAGE CLEAR SOUP

Winter time in my city and there’s a nip in the air and one of the comfort foods to turn to in this weather is piping hot soup! I’m partial to thin, clear soups over the thick variety usually where corn flour is added. This is one of my favorite soups that has healed me through typhoid and colds and coughs - quick, healthy, comforting and so, so filling that I can skip a meal after having this. I like it best with lots of water (more than the usual mentioned in the recipe) along with the ingredients.


RECIPE:

200 gm - frozen peas.
1 cup finely chopped cabbage
4 cups - water.
Half a lemon.
One pinch - pepper powder.
1/2 tsp - vinegar. (i used chilli vinegar)
Salt to taste.

METHOD:

In a kadai/pan boil the peas and cabbage with the water. I like to add lots of water for boiling so that it is thin and the flavored water is delicious to drink.

Remove from flame and transfer to a bowl.

While it is still hot, add pepper powder, a half a spoon of vinegar and salt to taste.

Finally, squeeze in the juice of half a lemon.

Delicious hot, peas n cabbage clear soup is yours to have on a cold evening.

I have made this soup with peas and cabbage (and half a carrot) to keep it simple, but you can add chopped carrots, cauliflower, even finely chopped tender beans and broccoli to the pan and turn this into a healthy vegetable clear soup. The rest of the ingredients remain the same (pepper, vinegar, salt and lemon and that’s what gives this soup its yummy flavor.

CRISPY VERMICELLI BONDAS

When it comes to experimenting with ingredients for bajjis, pakodas and bondas, there are dozens of options available. I have tried my hand at quite a few of them …sometimes even making bajjis out of betel leaves (paan bajjis). This recipe, vermicelli bonda, was first made by mom and then I learnt it. Elaborate though it seems compared to the usual dip n fry bajjis, the end result is worth every bit of time and ingredients. With the monsoon just about to say bye and the winter all set to say hello, I felt it’s time for another round of my favorite snack – not that I need an excuse to make bajjis and bondas ;)

Ingredients for the pakoda batter:

2 cups - Besan/gram flour
1 tsp – red chilli powder
1 tsp – turmeric powder
One cup water
Salt to taste

Or you can buy any ready made brand of a bajji bonda mix.

For the aloo mash:

2 or 3 medium sized potatoes - boiled and mashed
1 pinch – Turmeric powder
1 to 2 green chillies, finely chopped (or you can add more according to preference).
1 small bunch of finely chopped coriander leaves
1 pinch chaat masala
Salt to taste


For the Chilli Chutney:

Grind a small bunch of fresh coriander leaves, mint leaves and about 10 green chillies, one cubed onion with a little water.

1 to 1.5 cups - Vermicelli
1-2 cups cold water
Oil for frying


METHOD:

Mix all the ingredients listed in the pakoda batter, adding water little by little to make a smooth batter. Keep aside.

Mash the boiled potatoes with turmeric powder, salt, and green chilli, coriander leaves and chaat masala.

Heat a little oil in a wok and fry the vermicelli till slightly golden; add water to it and cook till tender.

Shift to a colander to drain out the water and run cold water over it to prevent it from sticking to each other.

In a mixing bowl, mix the chilli chutney, cooked vermicelli, and potato mash well.

Heat oil for frying.

Take a little and make small balls with your hand.

Dip the vermicelli balls into the besan batter until well coated and drop these into the hot oil.

Fry till crisp and golden brown.

Serve hot with tomato sauce.

Note:

1.Salt is to taste, so be careful with it; too much of it will ruin the snack. Ensure you do a taste test.
2.You may skip the onion in the chilli chutney if you wish.
3.You may skip the chilli chutney altogether if you want and use just the aloo and vermicelli combo it’ll taste good, but the chutney gives the bondas an unique flavor.

CHOCOLATE PLUS

There is a saying that for some there is therapy and for the rest of us, there’s chocolate and what’s more it is cheaper than therapy and doesn’t need an appointment!!

Truer words were never spoken at least where my experiences are concerned. Not a single time has chocolate let me down then I turned to it as my “go to” food.

While my consumption has reduced (just a teeny bit), for me it’s a piece of heaven wrapped in crinkly sparkly paper and I so love chocolate jokes:

Teacher: If you had 10 chocolates and someone asks for two, how many do you have left?

Me : 10

Teacher: Okay what if someone forcibly takes two of the chocolates, how many would you have left then.

Me: 10 and a dead body!;)

This is one of my earliest recipes I learnt before I ventured into cooking big time was how to make chocolate. I am including it here along with some variations

Ingredients:

1 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)

2 cups milk powder

1 cup sugar (preferably powdered sugar)

Butter – 50 grams (unsalted only)

Ingredients mentioned in variations: dates, nuts, fruit etc.


Method:

1. In a bowl, mix the cocoa powder and milk powder well.

2. Turn on the stove and melt sugar along with 1.5 cups of water. Add a bit more if it is too thick but do not overdo it.

3. Stir it continuously till it comes to one thread consistency.

4. Add the butter and allow it to melt.

5. Switch off the stove as soon as the butter has melted and it looks frothy.

6. Now add the cocoa-milk powder mixture to this – ONE SPOON AT A TIME stirring continuously till you get the thickness you desire.

7. Step # 5 and 6 is most important. If you end up adding the cocoa – milk powder by the cupful or all at once, it becomes powdery and hard and ruins it completely. You need to add the mixture bit by bit so it looks all shiny and buttery.Do not forget to switch off the stove after the butter has melted.

8. At this stage, it’ll look like chocolate sauce. Transfer it into a bowl and you can use it as a dip mentioned in variations below.

9. OR wait till it cools down completely and you can roll them into chocolate balls. You can also pour the sauce in moulds and allow it to set for a couple of hours

10. Note: If the sauce is too thin even after transferring it to the bowl and it is not really up to rolling consistency, add some more cocoa-milk powder one spoon at a time and stir it well till you get the desired consistency in the same bowl. This has to be done while it is still hot. There is no need to heat this up.

11. Tip: Do wash the vessels immediately as the chocolate tends to harden over time and it would be tough to scrub it off. I use a non stick pan for this recipe.

Variations: now this is the fun part!;)

1. Dip seedless dates in the chocolate mixture until fully coated.

2. Dip strawberries or bananas. You may need to use toothpicks for this.

3. Add raisins and cashews. You can also add bits of roasted almonds.

4. Roll the chocolate balls in desiccated coconut powder.

5. Spread the sauce on sponge cake slices.

Description of pictures above:

I have added raisins and cashews to the mixture.

While still in the sauce stage, I dipped seedless dates till completely coated with chocolate as you can see above.

After the sauce had cooled and hardened slightly (though it still had to cool further), I rolled them into shiny chocolate rounds.

It took all my will power to wait to eat till I clicked the photographs;)

Forget love! I’d rather fall in chocolate;)

BHELPURI SANDWICH

I used to contribute recipes to a popular cooking website a few years ago. The website once asked its viewers to contribute a kid friendly recipe that is easy to prepare and different and this was my contribution. I don’t make this very often, but when I do, I skip lunch for it is a meal in itself. Very tasty and filling!


BHELPURI SANDWICH

For the Bhel:

100 gms plain puffed rice.
One medium onion – finely chopped
One medium tomato – finely chopped
One medium potato – boiled and chopped.
Mint chutney. (see recipe below).
Sweet chutney (see recipe below)
Salt to taste.
Lemon juice to taste.
Sev/mixture for garnishing – a spoonful.
A few sprigs of cilantro/coriander leaves – finely chopped.

For the mint chutney:

1 bunch mint leaves
1 bunch coriander leaves.
1-2 green chillies. (or see the spicy green chutney recipe for the month of July 2016 in this blog)

For sweet chutney:

Combine a handful of seedless dates (10-12) and a small marble sized ball of tamarind and grind to a fine paste with a little water.

Sandwich bread slices.

METHOD:

1.To prepare mint chutney, grind mint leaves, coriander leaves and green chillies to fine paste by adding a little water and salt to taste and grinding it in a mixer.

2.Keep some mint chutney aside for layering the bread slices.

3.Mix all the vegetables – chopped onion, tomato, potato and puffed rice in a bowl.

4.Add a spoonful of mint chutney, sweet chutney, lemon juice, and salt to taste and give it all a good mix.

5.Add sev and cilantro leaves and mix once more.

6.To prepare the sandwich, take one bread slice, spread a spoonful of mint chutney and a spoonful of sweet chutney over it.

7.Add the bhel on top of the chutney. You may add extra sev if you wish.

8.Place another slice of bread on top of the bhel mixture.

9.Tasty bhelpuri sandwich is ready.

10.*You may add grated carrot if you wish to the bhel mixture.