Hard Rock Cafe - Mexican Fiesta, A taste Review

If your looking to rock in style this season, then visit the Hard Rock Cafe situated on bustling St Mark's Road, Bengaluru. HRC brings to you a burst of colour, spice and flavors from Mexico. The cuisine dishes out Burritos, toastanas, tacos, and the legendary burger served with a spicy Mexican Bean mix. Anyone not having tried their hand at Mexican food, then this is the place to hit while it lasts.

Since the girls (Mads, Suma and Geetha) and I made our visit to HRC in the afternoon, the music was slow and gentle, whilst the focus became the food and not the music. We had a quick chat with Chef Vikas Pathak who gave us a run through of the menu. And he promised to give us the best of what HRC kitchen crew skills.

Spicy American Corn and Danish Mozzarella Samosette

The luncheon started off with the 'Spicy American Corn & Danish Mozzarella Samosette' which is a must have on your appetizer list. As cheesy as it can get, the samosette's are crispy phyllo parcels stuffed with sweet corn mix, spices and gooey cheese all in a bite. Served with a roasted tomato salsa, and a pesto mayonnaise which is truly a 'cannot get enough of it' sort of dip.

Seasoned Paneer and Corn Tortilla Tacos

We then moved onto a two dishes, one being the 'Seasoned Paneer & Corn Tortilla Tacos' for the vegetarians. A must try mix of crisp corn tortilla shells brushed with tangy Bbq sauce, stuffed with grilled seasoned paneer, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, olives, pinto beans, seasonings and spring onions.

Bahama Mana Chicken Tender Burrito

Then the Bahama Mama Chicken Tender  Burrito for the only non vegetarian being 'moi'. It's loaded with roasted chipotle chilli  ranch, smoke infused spicy bakebean and corn ragout, chicken tenders, shredded lettuce, mix cheese and jalapeños. One portion of this Big Mama was enough to keep me all good for my lunch!!

HRC Special Texas Beef Chili Toastadas

The next try out dish was the HRC Special Texas Beef Chili toastadas, which is a scrumptious bite of baked thin crust brushed with tangy chilli paste topped with cilantro infused bean and beef chilli mix finished with cayenne pepper, sweet corn, and cheddar cheese. Of course the veggies had their option of the Albequerque Cottage cheese & Veg Burrito and  a BBQ Paneer Toastana.

With dishes being laid out, and our bellies being loaded, the throats required something to slightly ease it all down, so the bartender concocted up some sassy cocktails. The menu hosts 11 cocktails, specific to the Mexican theme, and the stand outs to the cocktails we sipped were the Diablo -  a blackcurrent monin and tequila and the Payback - Kiwi and Tequilla with the Jalapeño pepper hit coming right through.

The other two cocktail were sort of a edgeless in comparison but have subtle personalities of their own, if your not looking for something to have a high, but rather wanting to have a leisured savour; then the Ginger Fiasco- Ginger Syrup, Guava Juice with Teqilla Gold and the Chapala - Watermelon and Tequilla would do some justice.

The legendary burgers then made their glorious way through whilst us Gurls were busy clicking away pictures.  A 10 ounce burger patty patty grilled and topped with smoke infused tangy bake bean mix, chipotle puree and cheddar cheese, with some Spicy Cajun fries. And this became The Meat Lover's Crave for the day - The Legendary Beef and Smoked Bean Burger.

Any meal is incomplete without dessert. So finding some space in our voracious appetite is the Black and White Dessert - Two tone chocolate wafer pyramids spiked with roasted cinnamon and coffee with chipotle sauce and Good Vanilla Ice cream which of course just meltingly and givingly appeased our palates. We enjoyed our feasty fiesta at HRC, thanks to Prachi from Avian Media and Gitanjali the Marketing Officer at HRC for having hosted us bloggers. So for all those who love the spice, the meat, the drinks and the music!!! You'd know where to head to....

Legendary beef and smoked bean burger

My verdict: The samosette's, non - veg burrito, the burger and the beef toastana's get the thumbs up. The vegetarian options are limited to just paneer, making the options minuscule. The play of other veggies in this cuisine is just not seen and done. The cocktails are sharp yet subtle!  The music is all out rocking, but during lunch hours the decibel levels are sort of low, then at 4pm its pumped up to get you in the groove. Don't just wait, just go and get the season's best till September 18, 2011.


Hard Rock Cafe  - 40, St.Mark's Road,  Bengaluru

Tel: 080- 41242222

Working Hours - 12 noon to 11:30pm (Kids Menu and colouring kit on request)

Car and Bike parking available

Black and White

Anyone for a Plate of Pav Bhaji?

I totally agree that this is a wholesome hot meal served in a jiffy right out from the hands of the chat waalla, or the chat kiosk. During my night shift working hours, this meal used to be the smart option available. Me and TJ had to be ready for work at 4pm for our cab to pick us up. We would have just woken up at 3:15pm just in time to get ready, so where is the time to think of a meal? So once the cab drops us to work, we would have this bracket of 20minutes before we sat at our workstations to log in which is 6:30pm. My constant option would be the pav bhaji and a hot cup of tea, while TJ would resort to a nice ghee masala dosa and tea. We would gobble down our food and just make a run for.....so that used to be a our late lunch, and evening snack.

Ingredients:
Cauliflower - 1 cup,  finely chopped
Carrots - 1/2 cup, chopped
Potatoes - 1 1/2 cups, boiled and mashed
Green peas - 1/4 cup
Onion, chopped - 1 cup
Tomatoes - 2 cups,chopped
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Pav bhaji masala - 2 tbsp
Garlic - 2tsp, finely chopped
Black salt - 1/2 tsp
Butter - 2 tbsp
To be served
8 pavs
2 limes cut in halves and a small bowl of finely chopped onion

Put all the vegetables into a pressure cooker, and let off at least 3 whistles until the vegetables are very soft (cauliflower, carrots, potatoes and peas). Alternatively, those who are not using the pressure cooker, boil the vegetables in salted boiling water till very soft, drain the water and keep aside. Into a large frying pan, saute the onion and garlic in butter till soft. Add the tomatoes and continue to saute till the tomatoes have become soft. Add the pav bhaji masala and saute till the oil starts to separate. Add the vegetables and mix well. Sprinkle in the black salt and continue to saute on low heat, using a potato masher, mash down the vegetables. Use about 1/4cup warm water if required to break the vegetables and get it all incorporated with the masala. Once the vegetables are well combined take it off the flame and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Cut the pavs horizontally and into a another frying pan, drop in a 1/2tsp of butter and toast the pavs on both sides and serve along with the bhaji

Tip: You could even grate some cheese over the bhaji and make it a cheesy affair. The paneer lovers may also crumble paneer whilst making the bhaji too. The more the paneer the merrier.

Fish Mango Curry

This dish is much more subtler in terms of spice and when the season of mangoes is galore, there's nothing like it to cook it up for lunch. A pappadom and pickle with rice and fish curry will do just fine...

Ingredients:
Fish  - 450gms (I used Black Pomfret, which was skinned off and cut into fillets)
Dry red chillies - 5
Coriander powder - 1tsp
Turmeric powder - 1tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2tsp
Red button onions - 6, thinly sliced
Ginger - 1tbsp, julienned
Plum garlic cloves - 2 sliced
Curry leaves - 3sprigs
Salt to taste
Raw mango - 2tbsp, chopped roughly
Coconut gratings - 1 1/2cup

Grind the coriander, turmeric, cumin powders along with the dry red chillies with just enough water to make a smooth paste. Combine the fish, ground masala, ginger, garlic, curry leaves and salt in a pan. Add 3/4cup of water and bring to a boil and then simmer for another 15minutes. Add the raw mango to the fish curry, simmer again for 5 more minutes. Meanwhile grind the coconut gratings with 1/2cup warm water as fine as possible an add to the curry.
Temper 1tsp mustard into a pan, add a sprig of curry leaves and 3-4 button onions sliced. Fry till the onions are golden brown and add a couple of dry red chillies and pour this over the fish curry and serve.

Breakfast at the Square - The Menu Review

The Square brings you a refreshingly new Rise and Shine menu. The menu has options from waffles to eggs of your choice and some neat muffins, not to mention, the Square specialty – the Single brewed coffee.

Single Brewed coffee is traceable to the area the coffee bean is grown and picked up from. Thus characterizing the coffee bean to a sensory experience. The Square estate hosts 7 such single malts of coffee from around the globe (Priced at INR167 + local taxes extra).

The quintessential Rise and Shine menu is designed to have your day power packed with all the goodness and spreads from the world (Priced at INR139 - INR 219 plus local taxes). We (my husband, son and myself) were promptly greeted by Mr. Ramachander Raman, head of Food and Beverages CCD. Mr.Raman graciously  took us through the menu, as well suggested at what we should have, along with the coffee to compliment. I promptly ordered the 'Wealth in Health' which is an egg white cooked to my choice, served with a bowl of fresh fruits and a choice of flavored yogurt and a cup coffee. My coffee to go was the Mysore Nuggets Extra Bold, indeed a wakeup Java served with a curlicue of whipped cream on chocolate chip cookie as a dainty accompaniment. We also had a try at  the Spicy potatoes, a dish which is saucy and spiced not leaving you sweltering, but spiced to a palatable perfection.

My son and husband had the 'Good Morning America - which is a choice of eggs and potatoes, a side of sausages and a coffee to go. My son and husband polished their plates clean - leaving my mind to decipher their contentedness?!!

Mr. Raman then showed me around the Square and what the Square has is this rather stylishly set conference room called the 'Huddle Room'.  Available for business meetings, interviews or even a brain storming session open to all with prior bookings, and endless cups of coffee and snacks whilst the meetings are in progress.

The Tariffs: 1 hour -  INR999 plus taxes.

The INR2499 plan offers the room for 3hrs with 9 Cappuccinos and cookies along with 9 Internet cards (each card is limited to 60minutes of internet browsing).

Want to share your experience of the Square by gifting a CCD merchandise to a friend or someone special? 'Cafe Exclusiva' has it all from Coffee Powders, to exquisite mugs, Coffee Filters and much more.

My Verdict: You would want to go to this Mecca of Coffee for a conversation that never ended, a catch up with your friends, or I'd go there for a good solitary time of coffee and a good book in hand. The Breakfast menu is worth it, if your not calorie counting and wouldn't mind being indulgent for a meal. Our meals were pleasantly nice, I would prefer more seasoning but hey I'm not complaining.

The Square - Vittal Malya Road, Diagonally Opp to UB City.

Tel: 080- 40012101

Working hours - 8:30am to 11:30pm (breakfast menu available on weekdays from 8am to 12pm, weekends - 8am -2pm)

Car Park Available

Spicy Potatoes

The Huddle Room - Conference Room

Mysore Nuggets Extra Bold

Beef Ball Curry in Coconut Milk

You could have this served hot with rice, chapathy or any variety of bread. It's rather different from the usual kerala dish one is used to eating. An ingredient list which I find long has a rather shorter method of cooking. So don't get panicked on seeing the ingredient list, and not have a go at this meaty dish.

Recipe Courtesy: From the book 'Sadya' by Remani
Ingredients:
Chilly Powder - 1tsp
Coriander Powder - 3tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/2tsp
Anise seeds - 1tsp
Cumin seed powder - 1/2tsp
Cloves - 6
Cinnamon sticks - 2
Cardamom pods - 4
Garlic paste or grated garlic - 1/4tsp

For the beef masala balls:
Minced beef - 375gms
Onion - 1tbsp finely minced
Ginger - 1/4tsp finely minced
Green chiilli - 1/4tsp finely chopped
Salt to tatse

To temper and saute
Mustard seeds - 1/2tsp
Curry leaves - two whole sprigs
Onion - 1cup finely sliced
Sliced ginger - 2tsp
Green chilies - 2 finely chopped
Coconut Milk - 3cups thin and 1cup thick
Vinegar - 1tsp
Salt to taste

Finely powder all the masala ingredients except the garlic paste and water in a dry grinder. Then mix with garlic paste and water. Take two teaspoons of masala and mix with beef onion, ginger, chilly and salt and form 12 beef balls.
Heat oil in a pan, splutter the mustard seeds and fry the curry leaves. Saute the onion, ginger and the chillies till soft. Reduce the flame and fry the remaining masla unto the oil starts to separate. Pour the thin coconut milk into the pan along with the vinegar and salt. Bring to a boil and immerse the beef balls in it. Cover and simmer for 25minutes. Finally add the thick coconut milk and stir until heated through. Serve hot.

Mutton Cutlet

A mutton cutlet from Indian Coffee House with your choice of eggs is a must-try dish. It simply compliments your eggs, or rather goes with simple buttered toast and a strong cup of freshly brewed Kaapi. Mine is no attempt of the restaurant version, but my thoughts are rested at Indian Coffee House for the moment...

Ingredients:
Mutton (you could use beef mince too) - 1/2kg
Pepper - 1/2tsp
Salt - to taste
Potatoes - 1/4kg
Big Onion - 1, finely chopped
Green Chillies - 4, finely chopped
Minced Ginger - 1tsp
Cloves - 4
Cinnamon - 1
Cardamom - 1
Aniseeds - 1tsp
Poppy seeds - 1tsp
Garlic - 8
Egg - 1
Bread crumbs - 1cup
Oil - 1cup

Cook the meat pieces with salt and pepper and then mince. Pressure cook the potatoes. Peel and mash them well. Grind all the ingredients from cloves to garlic into a smooth paste. In a frying pan, heat 2tbs oil and saute the onion, chillies and ginger. Add the ground paste and fry till the oil separates from the spices. Switch off the flame, then add the minced meat and mashed potatoes. Knead this into a smooth dough and shape into cutlets. Beat the egg. Dip each cutlet in the egg and roll over breadcrumbs. Deep frying hot oil until golden brown.

Lemon Pound Cake

It had been long since a cake had been baked, and since it was long overdue this truly divine delicacy with hints of lime pleasantly satiated our tea time today. A tight crumb indeed as promised by Rose, following the traditional path of cake making.

Perfect Pound Cake Recipe
[Recipe courtesy: The Cake Bible]

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons Milk
3 large Eggs
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
1 ½ cups sifted cake flour (150gm) -  recipe for cake flour below
¾ cup sugar
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
13 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened (184 gms)
Zest of a lemon - 1tbs
Lemon Juice - 2tbs

Preheat your oven to 350 F. Butter an 8 inch by 4 by 2.5 inch loaf pan, or any six cup loaf or fluted tube pan. Lightly whisk together milk, eggs and vanilla in a medium bowl.  Using your fingertips, mix together the zest of the lemon and sugar till fragrant. Place dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix on low speed for 30 seconds, until blended. Add the butter and half the egg mixture, and mix until dry ingredients are moistened. On medium speed, beat for one minute. This will aerate and develop the cake’s structure. Scrape down sides. Add the lemon juice. Add the remaining egg mixture in two batches, beating for 20 seconds between each addition. Scrape down sides. Pour batter into prepared pan. Smooth surface with a spatula. Bake for 35-45 minutes if baking in a fluted tube pan, until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cake cool on a rack in the pan for 10 minuets before inverting onto a greased wire rack. If using a loaf pan, flip the cake over so the top is up.

For making cake flour at home - Take 1 cup of all purpose flour and remove 2 tbsp from it. Replace the 2 tbsp flour with custard powder/ cornflour and sift together 2-3 times. Your Cake flour is ready to be used.

Amma's Mango Chutney

Mum has arrived on holidays and is here with me, so I'm enjoying every bit if her as long as stays. It's awesome to have her stay, because she is in charge of the kitchen, and then people in the house can now ratify themselves with her cooking, than give their valuable opinions on mine. So while she is here, she taught me a mango chutney, slightly different from the regular I know. It goes well with a biriyani.

Ingredients:
Grated coconut - 1/2cup, generous
Raw green mango - 1 medium sized
Dry red chillies - 3
Curry leaves - 1 stalk
Onion - 1 medium, finely sliced
Salt to taste

Heat a pan over low fire. Add the coconut, curry leaves, dry red chillies, onion, salt and continuously stirring, simply roast till the coconut turns evenly brown. Once the coconut is browned evenly, into a food processor, add the mango and pulse till the mango is well chopped. Then add the coconut and blitz till the mango and coconut are well combined. Do not add water to the chutney. Scrape the sides of the bowl timely to well incorporate the ingredients. And there you have it, a chutney ready, to be served with rice or biriyani.

Nargisi Kofta ~ A desi version of the Scotch Eggs

The Food lovers Magazine had this specific article on Saad Bin Jung a former cricketer, cricket commentator, wildlife conservationist and even a resort owner, he dons the avatar of a cook too. Nargisi Kofta, his version of a recipe from experience and generations of cuisines meshed together. I cooked up this dish when our dear friends had come over only to leave them fully satisfied.

Ingredients:

Beef Kheema - 1 1/2kg

Chana dal - 50gms

Ginger garlic paste - 2tsp

Red Chili Powder - 1/2tsp

Turmeric Powder - 1/4tsp

Garam Masala - 1/4tsp

Green Chillies - 4

Chopped Mint and Coriander Leaves - 1tbs

Egg - 1

Boiled Eggs - 10

Maida - 1 1/2tsp

Salt to taste

Pressure cook the mince with all the ingredients except the eggs and maida. Cool and grind it in the mixer to form a paste. Mix one egg and maida in the paste for binding. Cover the boiled egg one by one with the paste gently. Heat about 1/2ltr oil in a kadai and deep fry the koftas till golden brown. Cut them in half and serve hot.

Hot dosa with Brinjal Sambhar & Mint chutney

My chechi (domestic help), made this combination during the time I was sick and was literally bedridden for a week. She said "acca try this combination, don't know if you'd would like it, because you're used to the regular chutney and sambhar. I tell you this is in tamil style "romba nallathe" combo. I tried this today after having tasted what I was served atleast 5 months back..my words echo"mein khush or tummy bhi khush"!!

Brinjal Sambhar

Ingredients
Brinjal- 2 small quartered.
Green gram  - 1/2cup
MTR Sambhar powder - 2tbs
Tamarind paste - 1tbs
Jaggery or sugar - 1tbs or more
Onion - 1
Coriander leaves to garnish

Soak the green gram in water for about 5hours. Cook the green gram till it is soft and keep aside. In the meantime fry the sambhar powder and then add the onion and quartered brinjal and saute. Add tamarind paste  to the brinjal and a cup of water. Add salt and the cooked green gram and cook till the brinjal becomes soft. Once cooked, add chopped coriander leaves and serve hot.

Mint Chutney


Ingredients:
Mint leaves - 2 bunches
Green chilly - 1
Salt to taste
Water as required

Grind all the ingredients together. Serve with dosa and sambhar.

Honeyed Apple Slices~ for a Rainy Day

A GOD above sends the rain down below to wash his earth clean, to cut stones and chisel the grandeur mountains....to bring us refreshment in every season.

[Recipe Source 1 Mix 50 Cakes, Pg 84]
Ingredients:
Plain flour - 175gms
Unsalted Butter softened - 175gms
Caster sugar - 175gms
Vanilla Essence - 1tsp
Baking powder - 2tsp
 Red Apples - 4, cored and sliced
All spice powder - 1/2tsp
Honey warmed - 3tbs
Apple juice - 2tbs

Grease and line a 12 by 9 inch tray. Proceed to sifting the flour, baking powder and allspice into a large bowl and keep aside. To that add the butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla. Beat really well till you get a smooth mixture. Then stir in the apple juice. Spoon the mixture into the greased tray. Arrange the sliced apples on top of the batter overlapping them without pressing them. Bake into a preheated oven of 180C for about 30minutes. Leave to cool in the tin and brush with honey before serving.

Sweet and Sour Chicken Drumsticks

Here's one recipe to simply wolf down, with some steamed rice, or some plain noodles. The sweetness of the sugar and the sourness of the vinegar, humbly satisfies you.

Ingredients:
Chicken Drumsticks - 6
Egg - 1
Cornflour - 4tbs
Salt and Pepper to taste
For the sauce
Onion- 1 small
Green Pepper - 1
Carrot - 1
Chicken stock - 2cups
Vinegar- 4tbs
Brown sugar - 4tbs
Sherry - 1tbs
Soya sauce - 1tbs
Oil for deep frying

Trim the drumsticks if  necessary. Beat the egg with 1tbs of water. Mix the cornflour with salt and pepper. Dip the drumsticks in egg, then in cornstarch and out to one side. Cut the onion into eights and the pepper and carrot into wedges. Drop these into a small pot of boiling water and cook for 5minutes. Drain well.
Mix together in a small saucepan the chicken stock, vinegar, sherry, soya sauce, brown sugar, corn flour. Bring to a boil and stirring constantly, simmer for 2-3minutes.
Heat oil in a skillet, fry the chicken drumsticks until golden and tender. Drain onto absorbent paper. Add the vegetables to the sauce and then the chicken, reheat for about 3minutes and serve hot.

Chocolate Banana Loaf for the Lil Get-together

I get an sms from Prerna, the following day after my birthday
"Are you at home tomorrow @5:30pm?"
I sms back saying "Yes I am, wassup?"
Prerna's sms reads "V are all coming tomorrow"

Surely enough, I knew the 'v' (we) meant much more than just her and her little son. The 'we' meant, Asma and her two daughters Rafa and Sidra, Sunehra with adorable Dhruv (my son calls him Dhrufee), Soumya with her little Princess Avni (my son is her Prince), Megha with her lil one Anya, Priyanka with adorable baby Hridaan. And of course, the sms sender Prerna, sadly her son Veer was asleep.
So with cups of coffee and slices of cakes, there was singing and chatting and lots more merry making.
The good thing from it all for me was that I was in the company of women who understand, women who are humbly grounded and women who are there to give you a shoulder hug when you need one......

Ingedients:
Butter - 1/2cup softened
Brown sugar - 1 1/3cup
Bananas - 3
Eggs - 2
All purpose flour - 2cups
Bicarbonate of Soda - 1tsp
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder - 1tbsp
All spice - 1tsp
Yogurt - 1/3cup
Chocolate Chips - 85gms

Grease a 9 x 5 x 3inch loaf pan. Preheat the oven to 180C. Put the butter, sugar and eggs into a bowl and beat well. Peel and mash the bananas, then add to the mixture. Stir it well. Sift the flour, soda, all spice, cocoa powder into a separate bowl and then add the banana mixture to it. Stir in the yogurt and chocolate chips. Spoon the mixture into the prepared loaf pan and level the surface. Bake for an hour until done. Cut into thick slices and serve warm.

My gift from them are these precious pair of earrings, which I simply loved. Thank YOU Girls!!

Going BananaS~ With Banana Jam

At boarding school, Remaniammama (one of mum's elder sisters) had sent across a bottle of banana jam. Frankly I'm not a fan of mashed banana's but, at boarding school anything and everything home-made was Good to Go. That bottle of jam was like manna from heaven. I remember having it for breakfast, tea, dinner and as a late night out of the bottle snack with anything we had in our stock. Since my stock of bananas right now is over ripe, and having baked three banana cakes, the option I had was to make bottles of jam. I referred to the recipe given in Joy of Desserts, tweaked it a bit to suit my preference.

Ingredients:
Bananas - 1 1/2kg
Brown Sugar - 3 1/2cups
Lime - 5
Water - 1 1/2cups
Vanilla Essence - 3tbs
Cinnamon Powder - 1tsp
Brandy - 1/4cup

Into a large pot, mix in water, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon powder, and the juice of the limes. In a moderate heat, bring the mixture to a syrupy consistency. Add the mashed bananas and cook for about 25-35minutes over low to medium heat. Just before taking it off the flame add the brandy, let it cook off. Put into jam bottles, cover and seal once cooled.

Banana, Blueberry and Orange Loaf

I actually forgot, about this month's sweet punch bake, when my mobile beeped a 'priority reminder' - Bake for Sweet Punch. Then started my madness of dashing back and forth, frantically searching of what to bake, what do I have, so little time....it so reminded me of one these songs I have seen Elijah watch "got to hurry, got to worry blues". With that as my background music, I fancied up this bake only because this month was 'our choice of the bake'- phew!!....the blueberries again I had stock thanks to my Lesa Gurl! Fresh garden produce of bananas from Shaicha's home (my dad's youngest brother) .and there you have have it...

Ingredients:
Self Rising flour - 2cups
Baking powder - 2tsps
Butter - 85gms softened
Caster Sugar - 115gms
Egg - 1 large lightly beaten
Pinch of salt
Medium sized ripe Bananas - 5
Blueberries - 125gms
Rind of 2 oranges, finely grated

Preheat the oven to 180C. Beat the softened butter and sugar together until light and creamy. Gradually add the egg and beat it into the butter and sugar mixture until smooth and well combined. Sift the flour, baking powder into a mixing bowl and set side. In a separate bowl, mash four bananas (reserving one for decoration).
Divide the banana mash into two equal portions and add half of it to the creamed butter mixture along with the blueberries and the orange rind. Gradually fold in the flour with the remaining mashed bananas until well amalgamated but not over mixed.
Pour the cake mixture into a lightly buttered loosed 3-pt/ 7 1/2cup French loaf tin lined with parchment paper,pressing the mixture lightly into the corners and smoothing the top with a back of the the spoon. Peel and slice the reserved banana and cut into pieces. Dust them lightly with icing sugar (cut side up) and lightly press into the surface of the cake mixture. Bake for 45minutes until a cake skewer comes out clean. Dust lightly with icing sugar and cut into thick slices when cold. Spread lightly with butter and enjoy with a glass of milk.

Coriander Yogurt Rice with Dry Chilli Chicken

This combo is not unusual for us, because for one, regular curd rice is an absolute no-no if not accompanied by non-veg. So at home mum would make curd rice with a mutton roast. Then during my spinster days, my curd rice would be accompanied by chilli chicken, because that used to be the take home dinner. If you want to try the option of a take home curd rice and chilli chicken, then I'd reckon getting it from Dolphin bar situated in Frazer town. Of course, there's much more than just curd rice at Dolphin bar, everything on their menu is a must - have!.  But you wouldn't want to get it all by yourself, the bar is a dark and dingy place with groupies of men, gulping down hard liquor and 'women' are a visual treat if you know what I mean (wink).

These recipes are from Ramani Aunty's book called Sadya - Meals for Four

Coriander-Yogurt Rice


Ingredients
Rice - 1cup
Butter - 1tbs at room temperature
For the yogurt mixture
Yogurt - 3/4cup
Milk - 1 1/2tbs
Lemon Juice - 1tbs
Asafoetida powder - 1/2tsp
Salt to taste
To temper
Olive Oil - 1 1/2tbs
Mustard seeds - 1/2tsp
Green Chillies - 2 finely chopped
Ginger - 2cm finely chopped
Chopped Coriander  - 1/2cup

Cook the rice in plenty of water until very soft. Drain thoroughly. Mix in butter to the hot rice. Gently fold in the combined yogurt mixture ingredients.
In a small pan heat oil, sprinkle mustard seeds and allow to burst. Saute the the green chillies and ginger in it.Finally add coriander leaves. Add in the rice mixture Spoon in individual molds. If preferred serve cold.

Dry Chilli Chicken


Ingredients
Chicken Breasts - 250gms cut into cubes or strips
For the Marinade
Gram Flour - 1/3cup
Five Spice Powder - 1tsp (mixture of Powdered cinnamon, fennel, star anise, cloves and szechuan pepper)
Chilli Powder - 1/2tsp
Pepper Powder - 1/4tsp
Salt - 1/4tsp
Vinegar - 1tsp
Egg - 1 small lightly beaten.
To saute
Butter - 1 1/2tbs for frying
Oil - 1tsp
Green chillies- 3 cut into thin rounds
Minced garlic - 1tsp
Minced ginger- 1tsp
Sieved Fresh Tomato pulp - 1/2cup
Soy Sauce - 1tbs
Salt to taste

Pat dry the chicken pieces and combine the marinade ingredients and marinate chicken for 30minutes. Heat the butter into a wok and stir fry the chicken for 3-4minutes until cooked and browned on all sides. With a slotted spoon remove onto a plate. Heat with 1tsp oil in the wok, the chillies ginger and garlic without browning. Add the tomato pulp, soy sauce and salt and bring to a gentle boil. Return the fried chicken to the sauce and stir till the chicken is well coated. Serve hot.

Double CHOC Brownie

Double chocolate, double indulgence, double the delight!

Ingredients:

Sugar - 1 1/2cups

Dark chocolate - 200gms melted

Vegetable oil - 1cup

Vanilla Essence - 2tsp

Eggs -4

Flour - 1 3/4cup

Baking powder - 1tsp

Chocolate glaze 

Dark Chocolate - 18gms

Vegetable Oil - 2tsp

Place the sugar, chocolate, oil, eggs, essence in a bowl and whisk to combine. Sift the flour and baking powder to the chocolate mixture and mix well to combine. Pour mixture into a greased and lined 20cm square tin and bake for 40minutes in a preheated oven at 180C until firm to touch. Cool in the tin, then cut into 5cm squares and place on a wire rack. To make the glaze, place chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water and heat, stirring until chocolate melts. Stir in oil. Spoon glaze over the brownies and stand until set.

After they were set I put the brownies into the refrigerator owing to the present heat.

My second entry for Divya's event The Best Brownie Event

Chorizo and Cheese Quesadillas

At Goa, I remember eating goan sausages with some pan roasted potatoes. Ever since, its been on my mind to use these Indian Chorizos. The recipe I had for a quesadilla seemed just do it all...loved it. Just wish
I wasn't lazy to make the guacamole, but did have some preserved salsa to pair with. All in all a nice meal.

Ingredients:

Mozzarella Cheese - 115gms grated

Cheddar Cheese - 115gms grated

Chorizo (Or Goan Sausages) - 225gms cooked (outer casing removed), or ham diced

Green chillies - 2 de-seeded and finely chopped

Spring onions - 4 finely chopped

Salt and pepper

Flour Tortillas - 8

Guacamole and Salsa to serve

Place the cheese, sausages, spring onions, chillies, salt and pepper to taste in a bowl and mix together. Divide the mixture between the tortillas. Fold the tortillas in half. Brush a large non-stick pan with oil and heat over medium heat for over 4-5minutes until the underside is crisp and lightly browned. Cut each tortilla into a quarter and serve accompanied with guacamole and salsa.

Cinnamon Blondies~A Reason to smile!

Subhash, Su, Raj, Madhu, Tj and Myself have had some impeccably awesome fun when we worked together as Researchers....wonder what we were researching - we were Market Researchers, with data fed into PowerPoint presentations, lengthy transcripts and much more. Though everyone is split up and we are all in different parts of the world, the weekend saw TJ and Raj for dinner at moi place for our catch up sessions and hearty laughters. And of course, friends cannot leave without having to enjoy some goodness can they?

Ingredients:
Butter - 1cup
Brown sugar -1cup, generous
Egg - 1
Egg yolk - 1
Self Rising flour - 1cup
Ground Cinnamon - 1tsp

Preheat the oven to 180C, and line the base of a square 18cm tin with parchment paper. Place the butter and brown sugar in a pan over low heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Cook, stirring for an additional minute. The mixture will bubble slightly but do not boil.Let it cool for 10minutes. Stir the egg and egg yolk into the mixture. Sift in the flour and cinnamon and stir until well blended. Pour the cake into the prepared cake tin and bake for 20-25minutes. Let cool in the pan for a few minutes, then run a knife around it the edges of the cake to loosen it. Turn the cake out into a wire rack and peel off the parchment paper. Let cool completely. When cold cut into squares.

Am sending this across for Divya's Brownie Event.