Rude Food - A Matter of Taste

Not much has been happening on the food front. The daily diet of Miss Skeeter is becoming rather boring. She just eats what she gets to lay her hands on. Not good! Perhaps she is not feeling very well. Nevertheless she shall bounce back. She plans to make a conscious change in her dietary intake.
Meanwhile, Miss Skeeter visited this restaurant named Urban Pind in GK-1,N-block. She ordered some Pizza which had four different kinds of cheese on it. She did not like it much. Though she did relish her 'Pink Panther'. The weather was awesome as it was raining! So overall the visit to Urban Pind was not bad. Miss Skeeter happened to have two days off in a row which is a rare happening. She enjoyed to the fullest!
A Matter of Taste: She watched the first episode of the seven-part series of 'A Matter of Taste' hosted by Mr.Vir Sanghvi. As expected, the show was awesome! Mr.Sanghvi explored how the Indo-Chinese food came into being. He also formally agreed to accept the Indo-Chinese food as a separate cuisine. This indeed was a big step.
Next Sunday 8.30pm on Travel and Living, he would explore the Sino-Ludhianvi cuisine. Skeets looks forward to that, and all the other episodes and hopes she gets to watch them all :D And for all food bloggers the show is a MUST WATCH!

Shopping for mama...

...is what I love the best!
It is a visual treat and I just love to be with the vegetables :D

When its summertime and the time to dine

Much has been written about Dilli ki Garmi. And now its time to sit up and beat the heat!

Cool! Ain't it?

In the past few days, i've been trying to find places to chill. Saltz @ GK-1, M block is a lovely place to chill out on a hot summer Sunday. When you don't feel like doing anything head to Saltz, sip their Thai Cold Coffee, order a Gelato of your choice and sit 'n' stare by the window seat (they hv a few).

Veg Siomai
Braised Thai Noodles

My maiden visit to Saltz came on last Saturday. I was accompanied by a Thai food lover. In the company of this Thai food lover I am learning to appreciate Thai cuisine as this person orders stuff for me that does NOT contain coconut. And now about the ambience, food and masti: Ambience was excellent! The place is done up in blue, light silver and white. A perfect summery joint! Highly recommended! Food was only 'ok'. But the fact that we can order Gelato from the Gelato parlour downstairs makes it cool as u don't necessarily hv to order food. The menu is influenced by the South-East Asian region. It has many Thai items as must be apparent by now. Service again is only ok. There was only one more table occupied still the service was slow. If you are headed for a quick lunch or hunger is getting on to you, this is so not a place to be.

While we waited for our lunch, we checked out the GK crowd from our window seat :D One that amused us the most was a gentleman sitting under a tree and reading a newspaper. He was so lost in his own world that it appeared as if he was sitting in the balcony of his sea-facing apartment and readign it. LOL.

Can u spot him?

Anyway, we ordered Veg Siomai (Indonesian Steamed dumplings) for starters. They were simply yummilicious and were served with some hot red sauce. For the main course was ordered Thai Chicken Curry by the Thai food lover and I ordered Braised Thai Noodles which were served with Black Mushrooms and greens. The Thai Chicken curry was adjudged not good by the Thai food lover. My verdict for the Braised Thai Noodles was Pass. They were a bit bland, but that is the way they were supposed to be. The dessert was what we enjoyed the most. But sadly I've forgotten the name. However, a pic follows :)

Last words: Saltz was Sweet :)

Creamy royal fare

Perhaps a book can be dedicated solely to it. The gourmets can have conferences over it. The chefs can kill for its much guarded ancient recipe. And if a debate is held about the country that has the credit for its origin, prehaps a war could be fought between the claimants. Such is this delectable dish's fame. I talk about Dal Makhani, the Dal which is also known as Dal Maharani (perhaps named so due to its royal descent), Dal Bukhara, Kaali Dal, Dal Peshwari and so on. It is undoubtedly the most celebrated dish of the Punjabi and Moghul cuisine. No, I do not mean to start a war here. Just penning what I deem true to the best of my knowledge.

The Preparation: Elaborate. That is what the preparation of this Dal can be precisely described as. The Dal has to be cooked on slow heat for long hours. The more it is cooked, the more the flavour intensifies. Traditionally it is cooked over a charcoal-fired clay oven overnight. That is just about the boiling part. The ingredeints which give it the royal creamy taste are the clarified butter (ghee), the white butter and the cream used therein. OODLES of these three ingredients are added. Health freaks can stay away from the pleasure of even 'tasting' this sinful preparation.

I have been a die-hard fan of this Dal myself. So much so that I refuse to allow mommy to cook it at home. Reason? She can't put enough clarified butter leave alone the other fats. My experiment with the Dal Makhani: About 5 days ago, I decided to make my own Dal Makhani. It was my first REAL attempt at it and second general attempt. The result: I 'could' eat it meaning it was ok. R said it tasted as if a Bigdi Buddhi (signifying someone who has a heart that would not have an attack when adding fats to food :) yay!) had made it. P and M loved it. I did not really relish it much. :( But I will not give up till I make 'THE' DAL.

Places where you can get to savour really delectable Dal Makahni: Bukhara at Maurya Sheraton (Delhi), Punjabi by Nature (all branches in Delhi), Invitation (Ashok Vihar), Baujee Ka Dhaba (Gurgaon, Metropolitan Mall), Moti Mahal (they are the ones who are famed to be responsible for introducing the Dal to Delhi's cuisine and making it an integral part thereof) and Bombay Brasserie (Dhole Patil Road, Pune).

The Good Lord made them all...

Rajma chawal, Kadi Chawal, Chilly Cheese Toast, Maggi, Chole Kulche, Chole Bhature, Pasta, Chilly Thecha, Kaali Dal, Butter naan, Paneer Tikka, Baby Onions pickled in vinegar, Green Chutney, Seekh Kababs, Hot n Sour soup, Tomato Soup with croutons, Crispy - wafer-thin Dosas, Yummy hot sambhar, Poppadums, Pickles, Aloo Tikki Burger, Vada Pao, Crispy salted green chillies, Aloo chaat, Golgappe, Cheesy fritters, Aloo chops, Grilled Sanswiches....

Of winter rains...

Just as I had begun to think that the scorching summers are coming back earlier than expected, the rain Gods showered mercy. And with the showers came back the winter delights; they can be savoured for a few more days now. Also came a reminder that Skeeter must cook all the pending winter delicacies that she had thought of while the winter lasts. Writing this post with the hot water bottle on me and a steaming cup of Kashmiri Kahwa by my side is pure pleasure... Nothing could've been better... Cheers to the winters!

Onion Pakodas... Thx to Asha for the excellent recipe

Dinner with Skeeter...

would consist of...

A bowl of mixed sprouts salad

with her favourite winter green: The Glorious Spring Onion

And a bowl of Vegetable Hot n Sour Soup from Dragon Huck