Barbeque Night

It was a night filled with smokin' hot BBQ chicken, paneer and fish...some soft drinks and vodka with lime, gulab jamuns and fabulous conversation! :D

(Paneer ready to be BBQ-ed!)

(Vodka.....!)

(Empty plates.....as we wait for the fish!)

(Fish O' Fire....)

(Kaku...waiting to dig in...)

( Fish....again...)

( Busy eating...)

( And drinking)

( He loves his food....yummmm....)

( He loves his drink.....hmmmmm)

( A happy lot)

A Sweet Sunday - Gajar Ka Halwa & Khajoor Pak

The sunday that passed was a lazy sunday. I know, i know, a lot of my sundays are lazy, but thats how it is meant to be, right?!

This sunday was a sweet sunday. My cousin Akshay was coming home, so we decided to make one of his favourite sweet, Gajar ka Halwa.

I also love gajar ka halwa. I remember being while mom used to let it cook on slow fire. However, this time around, the wait was slightly lesser as aunty made the halwa with khoya and not in pure milk unlike my mom does. Here's how we made the halwa-

1. Peal, wash and grate the carrots
2. In a pan, take ghee, let it heat and put the grated carrot in the hot ghee. Let it cook and soften.
3. Keep stirring ocassionally so that gajar is cooked well and the ghee gets coated evenly.

4. Grate the khoya and add it to the cooked gajar. Mix well so that lumps are not formed.

5. Cover with a plate and let it cook, stirring ocassionally.
6. Add sugar as per taste, cook some more till the sugar is dissolved.

7. Add powdered ealichi and dry fruits to garnish.
8. Serve hot or chilled!



Say CARROTS! :D

While aunty made the halwa, I tried out a recipe which an office colleague told me. Its basically a jhat-pat (quick) sweet and its called Khajoor Pak.

Here's how "I" made it-

1. Break the seedless dates into smaller pieces
2. Heat ghee in a pan and cook the dates for a minute or two.
3. Add ealichi, and dry fruits while stirring.

4. Glaze a dish with ghee.
5. T/r the date mixture to the dish.
6. Using ur hand or the back of a bowl, set the mixture evenly in the pan before it hardens.
7. Freeze for 15 minutes/till its hardened.
8. Cut into cutesand relish it!


One blunder! - One small blunder I made was adding sugar to the date and dry fruits mixture because i felt like it wasn't sticking together. Due to the heat, the sugar caramelised instead of melting and gave a gariny taste to the Khajoor pak when we bit into it. So do not put sugar! :P



Want a Date? :P



And the sparkle below(see image) was a result of random sunday cretivity! I draped my palstic pearly necklace on the bright pink water bottle and the contrasting result gladdened me! :)



(Credits: All pictures courstey my new Nokia 3600 slide mobile!)

Sheesha - Smoky and Delicious

An unplanned dinner at a smoky and delicious place like Sheesha is always pleasurable. I'd heard a lot about Sheesha and the flavored hookhas there, but I had never dined there partly because I am not too keen on trying out hookah and also due to lack of interesting company. I had the former on the second sunday of December.

I and my poetry friend Vikash chanced upon the opportunity to dine together and ended up at Sheesha.

(In the photo: Vikash, chillings out and checking out two dumb girls at Sheesha!)

It is one of his favourite restraunt and he was more than happy to treat me there. We walked on to the roof-top on the second floor of Huma-Adlabs, Kanjurmarg, to be greeted with nice music, soft murmurings of the diners and the occasional rise of the hookah.

The decor was ethnic, yet chic. I particularly liked the seating space and it made me cross my legs, in true Indian style, and feel at home. The shells and beads danglers added a nice glamour, along with sepearting the tables.

We both were starving and started our meal with a chicken soup. For starters we ordered one plate of chicken pankhuri kabab. The soup was hot and tasteful. The kabab was served on a sizzling plate. The kabab melted in the mouth and it sent the both of us yo Cloud No. 9. We immediately ordered another plate of the same for the kebab was truly lip smacking, with the tender chicken, the spicy coating and the varied chitney and salad it was served with.

We were not too keen on eating the maincourse, but the Chicken curry and tandoori roti, both cooked to perfection, altered our hunger. We were so full and delighted with our meal that we mutually said no to dessert...until we saw the bunch of guys on the neighbouring table relishing the sinful chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream. How could we stick to our mutual decision...afterall decisions are meant to altered, especially when the outcome is so sweet and chocolaty.

(In the photo: Sweet Sin!)

The brownie was small. So was the vanilla scoop on it which was laced with chocolate sauce trims. But what set it apart and elevated its status was that the bownie was served on a sizzling plate and in a pool of chocolate sauce. It truly left us with the ring of the "hmmmm...." from our very own mouths!

Overall, the meal was superb! The main-course can be improved. But the kebabs make up for it. The place has very few options for vegetarians, so non-vegetarians eat on!! It is slightly expensive on the pocket, but hey, you don't just pay for the food, the ambience also counts!

(In the photo: Me and Sheesha)

I'm certainly going back there. And this time...maybe I'll try a flavored hookah.

Drinks: Not tried
Ambiance: 7/10 (the smoke was annoying)
Affordability: 6/10 (go with a full wallet)
Food: 9/10

Mama Mia....cause Mama knows it best!

'Mama Mia..here I go on....my my how can i resist you....?' is perhaps the most famous pop song from one of the most famous band ABBA. 'Mama Mia' is quite an apt name for a eatery that serves pizzas, subs, pastas and salads. You know, every mama knows her child well, so do the folks at Mama Mia, or so they claim! Located at Prime locations like Operahouse, Bandra and Byculla, Mama Mia has been satisfying the tastebuds of Mumbaikars for over a decade.

Mama Mia was little known to me until a college friend of mine ordered a double-decked burger served with fries at a Stay-over. The burger was HUGE, amply filling and top-class. The fries were crisp, slightly thick, but certainly better than what the folks are McDonald's serve. After such a good first impression, on a Pre-Christmas shopping with friends at Bandra, I headed to Mama Mia(on Link Road, Bandra (W)), anticipating a nice meal especially after having skipped lunch.

The place was virtually empty on the Saturday evening and the vibes we got were chillied out, almost sleepy. The staff seemed pre-occupied and not prepared to recommend dishes. Thus we placed our order of Medium-size Margarita Pizza (8"), Cosmos (Pasta in Brown Sauce with onion rings, sausages and corn) and a Large Parita-A-Quattro(12") (BBQ Chicken Pizza with chicken salami and mushrooms), replying entirely on the descriptions in the Menu card praying that they'd turn out to be good.

As the Mama's (or Papa's? - as the chef's were male :P) were busy churning out their famed fare, we were busy observing the place and talking. I realised that the seating was spacious with ample space between the tables. The leg room was good, but the sofa's were quite low as compared to the table's height and hence proved to be uncomfortable, so if you do get a choice, grab a chair instead of the sofa seat! The lighting was dull and there was not much privacy.

Despite being empty, the food took too long to arrive. First came the Margarita Pizza (or was it milk? - ok, just kidding around!) and it looked tempting. The crust was perfectly crisp and thin while the cheese was beautifully melted. However, looks were deceiving and the pizaa turned out to be a flop, reason being the cheese was sour, maybe even spoilt.

Next came the Pasta in brown sauce. It smelled divine and it was divine. The brown sauce was tangy and the onion rings were a stark contrast for the taste buds. The pasta was a mixeture of several types and shapes and the chicken sausage bits went beautifully with hatke preperation. Despite being slightly on the spicy-sour side, the pasta certainly did lift our moods.
The last to arrive was the Large Chicken Pizza. This, again, was not superb, but certainly way better than the Margarita. The salami slices and the BBQ chicken were in plenty.All the ingredients were my favourite so I enjoyed this one, but again, the cheese was sour....
Our bill came to Rs. 340/- and it fed four of us quite well. The place is quite cheap as compared to other places serving italian and certain dominoes and the pizza huts. But I was not impressed by the famed pizzas, however go to this place for the pastas and burgers and for the sheer variety that they offer for a decent price.
I'm not sure I'd go here again unless the food preperations and the staff is improved ....but it's a good place for one-time indulgence. On a concluding note, with a tagline of Mama Knows it best, they ought to have known better than what they already do!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Menu Card from www.menucards.in
Main image taken from my cellphone