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Sunday Brunch @ HIGH Ultra Lounge (World Trade Center, Malleshwaram)

Sunday brunches are sure shot ways of letting all your diet plans go down the drain, or in this case go down a flute of champagne. Over indulgence aside, the sheer variety of cuisines laid out like a smorgasbord of sin is enough to send my head reeling. And with zero will power when it comes to the amount of food I consume – I’m walking on dangerous territory. So getting to HIGH Ultra Lounge for their Sunday Brunch was guided by two important aspects – a. They focus on just Asian fare which is definitely lighter than our ghee laden kormas and b. The absolutely fabulous cocktails their main man Guru dishes out. What’s a Sunday brunch without some tipple eh?

Bright and breezy – we couldn’t have asked for a better day for an open air  Brunch. By open, I mean the 31^st floor of the World Trade Center - getting High is literal here! The brunch is laid out across two of their four dining areas – High Mix (the indoor part area) and High Dine (alfresco dining). The cold starters are laid out for you to pick and choose, however the rest of the hot starters, dumplings, sushi and main course need to be ordered off the special brunch menu. We chose a table overlooking the fantastic views of Bangalore city and sat down to get pampered. 

Old Fashioned Carrot Cake

If someone told me a couple of years ago, that I’d be making a carrot cake at home and polishing it off with joy, I would have guffawed. First of all Carrots Cakes are so old fashioned. It reminds me of somebody’s grandmother baking it and inviting her bridge friends over for tea. I don’t really remember ever ordering it myself at the local bakery or even trying to make it at home. If I was offered Carrot Cake at a friend’s place I would vehemently refuse a slice. A Cake with veggies in it was clearly not my idea of dessert. 

But I rolled out of bed one day and suddenly I was on the other side of thirty (ok, that was some years ago) and everything changed. Nostalgia was suddenly cool in my books and traditional and quaint always scored marks over new age and funky. I was constantly looking for things that reminded me of the yesteryear's, things that will anchor me to my childhood and not let me get swept away with this crazy changing world. So again, why Carrot Cake? Because we must not let traditions die and Gajar Ka Halwa has been done to death :P 

This recipe is as old fashioned as they come – eggs, butter, sugar and carrots. Just a sprinkle of sugar on top and it’s good to go. The cake stayed moist for three days outside the fridge – so it’s definitely a lovely addition to your tea time routine. 

Porcini Mushroom Risotto

Let’s face it - porcini mushrooms are expensive. It’s not something that finds its way into my grocery list AT ALL. But there are odd days (when the salary account has been credited) that one is inclined to feel generous. So I picked up a teeny tiny bottle of it for half a thousand rupees. When coming up with an idea to use it judiciously – a Porcini Mushroom Risotto was a no brainer. The mushrooms would lend themselves nicely to being slowly rehydrated while cooking the risotto and the flavor and color would permeate the stock. And to be fair, just half a cup of Porcini mushrooms is more than enough to make that risotto praise worthy. 

Cooking risotto is like barbequing something – you have to hang around. The stock has to be poured in ladle by ladle while the rice absorbs the liquid and gets plump. And you need to use your intuition and your tasting spoon to know when it’s ready. Lucky for you, I use a fail-safe risotto recipe that has consistently given me perfectly cooked risotto time and again. If you want a grain that holds its shape, is glossy, creamy and luxurious – you’ve come to the right place. 

Weekday Hunger Pangs - Dalma (Koramangala 6th Block, Bangalore)

My blog might be replete with posts of eating out at fancy places but trust me that’s restricted to once or twice a week. The rest of the times (ok, I do eat out a lot) are confined to no-frills places with simple but satisfying meals. A restaurant that sees me going back a couple of times every month, ever since I moved to Koramangala, is the Odiya restaurant called Dalma. I was first introduced to the secrets of this place by an Odiya colleague who insisted I try their absolutely scrumptious Rasagullas. After listening to (in length) the story of how the rosagulla actually originated in Odisha and how the Bengali’s usurped this sweet, made it whiter and more spongy and popularized it as their own, I was more than intrigued to taste the original one. And so one fine day, a couple of years ago I stepped into the building at the Titan Eye signal that declares in bold red font – Dalma, tasteful Odishan cuisine. 

Orissa and West Bengal are located next to each other on the map and people might find quite a few similarities in the cuisine of these two states. But similarities does not mean they are identical and you will create the biggest verbal battle if you even imply that to a Bengali or an Odiya. However since I’m not either and this is an independent blog, I can tell you that they both like to deep fry stuff, they both call cutlets or croquettes – chop, they both love rice more than rotis, they both adore fish and mutton over other meats and they both like a little bit of sweet in all their dishes and of course they both love their rasagullas!

 

Easy Grilled Chicken with Pasta

The grill pan is one of my favorite kitchen treasures. It lets me (almost) replicate the look and taste of an outside grill, right on my stove-top. I’m all for shortcuts and making life easier, so you well know how this fits into my lifestyle ;) Another thing that makes life easier is ready-made sauces – for the life of me, I can’t imagine slow simmering some BBQ sauce over 12-14 hours! I have better things to do, like read a juicy cookbook or go grocery shopping for exciting ingredients! Now, there’s two kinds of grocery shopping I indulge in. The first one is running to the local kirana store (doubles up as exercise) for curry leaves or a loaf of bread and the second is where I make a huge list and plan an exciting day at a large and well stocked supermarket. (yes, I’m sad like that).

Foodhall @ 1MG Road, has been a regular haunt to pick up all things interesting – wasabi paste…check, gnocchi…check, tarragon vinegar…check, Ras-El-Hanout…check, an elephant…check (ok, just checking to see if you’re paying attention!). So when I received a little hamper from Foodhall, I was pretty thrilled - more ammunition for my kitchen! I wanted to act all Master-cheffy and do a mystery box challenge, but we both must agree that Grilled Chicken and Pasta sounds pretty basic. We however jazz it up by using the red chilli, apricot and rosemary sauce and a twisty coloured pasta. Not so basic anymore huh? :P But honestly, repeatable and easy recipes are what I always bookmark and this one finds pride of place in that list. Let’s get cooking…

Of fat Baos and thin Ramen @ The Fatty Bao (Indiranagar, Bangalore)

Ok, so the whole of Bangalore knows about The Fatty Bao already – even though they very sneakily opened without an official ‘I want all the P3 types at my launch party’ party. The crowds have been trickling in from the word go and even though Bangalore is a sucker for new places – this one seems to be running on more than just novelty. The Olive Beach and Monkey Bar team has given Bangalore another enviable establishment that not only puts food first, but also serves it up with style. Of course The Fatty’s style is quirky, fun, slightly eccentric and casual. The approach to casual however, is never casual with Chef Manu Chandra. As soon as you walk up (or take the elevator) to the 3^rd floor, you know that the seemingly disparate elements still tie in to form a cohesive space. I’m thinking Kung Fu Panda, meets acid-tripping-hippie, meets kid-on-candy’s bedroom, meets Asian tea house! (Don’t ask me where I get my aesthetic!) You can either choose to eat in la-la-land or head up to the rooftop bar. Both areas pay homage to the ‘garden’ part of Bangalore and you can enjoy your meals gazing at the tree canopy. Let’s just say I like to dine inside during the day and head over to the rooftop during sundown – after all we must make use of our fabulous weather, no? 

Restaurant Week India 2014 and Republic of Noodles (St. John's Road, Banaglore)

September means Citibank Restaurant Week India!  A whole week of 'food glorious food' and tough decisions (so many places to try, so little time). I was invited for a preview dinner at one of the participating restaurants and chose Republic of Noodles. In all honesty, it was not my first choice but the world works in mysterious ways and I’m actually glad I went there last night. After Indian food, I think Asian food is something that tickles my palate – the complexity of flavors never ceases to amaze me.  

  

Republic of Noodles is located at the Lemon Tree Premier on St.Johns Road. Started in Goa in 2007, this award winning restaurant has slowly made its mark as an excellent destination for food from the regions of China, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Cambodia, Laos and Burma. After alighting from the lift, you walk through a wooden door to step into a space dominated by red and black. The Buddha statues and green plants add the much needed contrast to the heavy colors and in the end it results in creating an intimate and warm dining space.  

The FPD Festival: Jamva Chalo Ji - Parsi Cuisine @ ITC Cubbon Pavilion (Residency Road)

I’ve grown up lusting over Dhansak. The Jehangir Kothari Memorial Hall and the Fire temple was very close to where I lived and the sprightly Parsees always had some fair or event where one on them would be doling out Dhansak! I also had a Parsi friend in school whose lunchbox came crammed with delicious treats. So it’s pretty fair to say I know and love Bawa cuisine. 

The ITC is playing host to Chef Parvez Patel’s (of Ideal restaurant fame from Mumbai), to showcase the best of Bawa cuisine. . Parsi food is primarily Persian in origin but is heavily influenced by Gujarati cuisine as well. A Parsi wedding is judged by how good the meal spread was and it’s not uncommon to find conversations just revolving around food. There is another unique thing about most Parsees I know – their inherent dislike of vegetables and the need to dress it up with some meat or egg at least! So vegetarians, it’s understandable if you feel sidelined here – but ITC has definitely tried to include the tamer veggie versions of the Parsee classics for you. 

Breaking the jinx with Mushroom Melts

The thing about leisurely cooking in the afternoon, is that I get to take pictures. And that is a privilege that I seem to have lost with my current work schedule. Add to that, the imagined pressure of blogging about something fabulous and you have yourself a pretty non-existent blog over a couple of months. (Sorry Shwe!) So I’m breaking the jinx and blogging about something. Even if it’s something really simple. Something I make myself pretty often and something that I really like. 

My normal grocery shopping always includes a packet of button mushrooms. I like to toss these babies into omelets, pulaos, stews and casseroles. But what I like to do most is just sauté them in butter and garlic and pile them mile high on some good bread. The key to making this more than ‘mushrooms on toast’, is to know how to sauté the mushrooms. What we are looking for is a nice seared brown outside and a juicy plump center. Overcrowding mushrooms in the pan and/or adding them in before the butter/oil is hot, will just cause them to water out and steam, instead of sauté. And we don’t want watery, shriveled up mushrooms - not when they are the star ingredient! 

This version takes it a step further and adds some passata and cheese. I use a Baguette as the base, but Ciabatta would work great as well. The Mushrooms Melts make a delectable appetizer or light lunch with a fresh salad. What they also do, is serve to break my jinx and for that I adore them even more. 

Breakfast and Gossip @ Church Street Social (Church Street, Bangalore)

I hate having to get up at unearthly hours on a weekend (10 AM of course) to catch breakfast at a decent joint. Church Street Social serves Breakfast throughout the day. That’s reason enough for me to like them. I also like their industrial design, quirky prints, funky trays and fun drinks, but we’re not focusing on that today. We are paying homage to bacon and sausages and pancakes and eggs and French toast and sugar and spice and everything nice. Just like God intended. Word.  

The FPD Festival: Poush - Kashmiri Pundit Cuisine @ Cubbon Pavillion (Residency Road, Bangalore)

You would be hard pressed to find Kashmiri Food in a restaurant in Bangalore. The last time I relished Kashmiri Food was at a special Wazwan arranged by Bangalore Foodies Group and that was well over a year ago. A wazwan is a great way to experience the cuisine of Kashmiri Muslims – it constitutes a royal banquet of over 30-40 dishes shared family style between groups of people.  Most Kashmiri Food Festivals dish out the Wazwan style meal and the Gushtaba (velvety meatballs in a yogurt gravy) is its crowning glory. But the Cubbon Pavilion decided to showcase the less populist but equally exquisite cuisine of the Kashmiri Pundits. While both the cuisines share a lot of similarities (same ingredients and style of cooking) – the Kashmiri Pundit cuisine is unique in the fact that they do not use onion and garlic in their dishes. The tomato is also an oddity here and they resort to yoghurt based dishes to provide the same tangy taste. The most interesting aspect for me was that even though pundits in the rest of India eschew meat eating, Kashmiri pundits eat mutton and fish. Chicken and eggs however remains a taboo in the more orthodox families, but the younger generation has taken to including the same in their meals. 

The festival called ‘Poush’ (Flower) is spearheaded by Masterchef Suman Kaul who is a Kashmiri Pundit and is passionate about the food of her ‘Gul Poush Vaadie of Kashmir’. A home chef who honed her skills in the kitchens of her grandmother found a patron in the ITC group who invited her to come onboard as a Food Consultant in 2006. Eight years of hosting Kashmiri Pundit Food Festivals across ITC hotels in the country have just made this affable lady more passionate about bringing a cuisine as old as time, to us mere mortals. (The Rig-Veda talks about the eating habits of Kashmiris – so as old as time is a good analogy no? :P)

Candlelight and Surprises - Grasshopper (Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore)

I really wanted to hate this place. I wanted to turn up, eat there and then call peoples bluff on it. Give people fancy, mastercheffy, pretentious food and they all go gaga over it, just to avoid being called pedestrian. After eating out in *insert any five star restaurant* the squiggle of reduced Modena balsamic vinegar on that white plate or the lego-like placement of grilled meat over asparagus spears over celeriac mash, was frankly getting boring. And here I was, heading to a place that exalted in doing just that. Why? Because I am a seeker of truth. (Yes, the profoundness of it all boggles my mind as well!)

The FPD Buzz: Citibank Chef's Table Week - Jul 14-20, 2014

Citi Chef’s Table Week will run across Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai from July 14^th to July 20th. This one-week culinary event is now open to all credit / debit card-members giving diners a unique opportunity to experience a six-course customized chef’s tasting menu as well as interact with the Head Chef of some of the finest restaurants in Bangalore. 

Customers can enjoy exceptional signature dishes as well as off-menu specials as part of a six-course Chef’s Tasting Menu experience. These bespoke menus are priced across restaurants at INR 2,000 in Bangalore, (taxes and service charge extra). GH Mumm Champagne and Jacob Creek Reserve wines, will be available by the glass or per bottle at half the restaurant’s wine list rate. 

Here's a list of participating restaurants: 

Alba ( JW Mariott Hotel Bengaluru)

Blue Ginger (Taj West End)

Dum Pukht Jolly Nabobs (ITC Windsor)

Edo (ITC Gardenia)

OKO (The Lalit Ashok)

Ottimo (ITC Gardenia)

Rim Naam (The Oberoi)

Riwaz (The Ritz-Carlton Bangalore)

Yauatcha (MG Road)

Zen (The Leela Palace Banaglore)

Blue Ginger and Edo are on my wishlist this time :) 

 

Citi card-members will have the exclusive privilege of making reservations starting July 7, 2014, through the Chef’s Table Week website (click here), while general reservations will commence online from July 9, 2014.

Geek is the New Cool @ Aloft Bengaluru Cessna Business Park (Sarjapur, Bangalore)

Somebody finally decided to design a place where Bengaluru’s techie community can feel right at home. The Aloft Hotel (part of the Starwood Hotels & Resorts Inc) at Cessna Business Park mixes technology, architecture, art and music to create a cool new space that appeals to the social, tech-savy global-traveler. It literally takes geek and makes it cool! Conveniently located in the emerging IT hub of Sarjapur, bang in the middle of a tech park, it already spells business. But who said business needs to be boring? 

The FPD Product: Pure Indulgence with Royce Chocolates (Bengaluru Baking Company, Bangalore)

 At the mention of luxury chocolate, the first thing that comes to mind is a Swiss or Belgian brand. So it was natural that I let out a faint sign of disbelief when JW Mariott, told me that Royce Chocolates (which was due to launch on the 20^th of June at the Bengaluru Baking Company) was actually a product of Japan! Like most laymen, my association of Japan was with Sushi and Sony (yes I’m a bumpkin like that!). The team explained that the chocolate is produced in the Hokkaido region of Japan which is a doppelganger for the Swiss Alps with its green pastures, snow covered mountains and dairy farms!  Somehow, the world seemed less crazy now.

Royce (pronounced like Rolls-‘royce’, but having no connection to it), has been around since 1983 and is a pretty familiar name to the well-traveled in Asia. The most popular of their offerings (and in my opinion the one with most fanfare) is their Nama range of chocolates. We tried the Ghana Bitters (48% Cocoa) and the Mild Cacoa flavors. I was instantly taken in by the Ghana bitters. Delicate, creamy (courtesy – cream from the Hokkaido cows), melt-in-the-mouth with just the right edge of bitterness. Nama means pure in Japanese and the product stays true to the name by being hand rolled, using raw cocoa, and having no preservatives. This also means that it has a short shelf life and you need to consume it soon. (No problem with that!).      

Mixology with Shatbhi Basu @ Harry's (Indiranagar, Bangalore)

Indiaranagar’s bars have one more watering hole to compete with – Harry’s! The famous Singapore bar choose this location in Bangalore to open its fourth outlet, hot on the heels of the Mumbai one. Most bars these days are moving from glass and chrome finishes, to more casual and warm interiors. Harry’s adopts a mahogany and exposed brick look that is reminiscent of a speakeasy, albeit a modern one. With the days of our prohibition (11 PM deadlines :P ) coming to an end, I’m sure Harry’s is going to ride on the wave of general elation in the months to come. 

We were invited for a mixology session by the godmother of bartending in India – Shatbhi Basu. For anyone who’s watched her show on NDTV Good Times, you already know the level of celebrity she is. But what you probably don’t know is that her joie de verve is all natural and not just for the TV show. We got to witness her finesse in churning out creative cocktails and keeping her audience glued to her charming stories at the same time. Her hands seemed to have a life of their own when she was mixing our cocktails and before we knew it, she dished out one perfectly balanced drink after another.

The FPD Festival: mmmBurger @ Smoke House Deli (Bangalore)

Grills, Burgers, Cold Beers and other tidings of summer always make a Bangalorean happy. Not that we have too much to complain, considering our weather is more equitable than most cities in India and we indulge our summer fancies right through the year! The pub capital of India seems to have a soft spot for burgers (including veggie ones) and I can bet my bottom dollar that every pub has burgers listed on their menu. Why, even coffee shops and breakfast joints can’t stay away from listing meat sandwiched between a bun as their runaway hit. Smoke House Deli went a step further and had a whole festival dedicated to burgers. They call the mmmBurger Festival an ode to all things meaty as well as a little gift to all their patrons. “Each burger promises a distinct charred, smoky and flame licked flavor”, they say. We went on a balmy Wednesday evening to unwind over a couple of cocktails and sample their wares.

The FPD Festival: Hot Rock Grills @ Dublin (ITC Windsor, Bangalore)

There’s something about the sizzle of a grill that brings out the caveman/ cave women in us. The thrill to see something cooking on a hot rock versus a modern day oven is a primitive urge I can’t explain. There are umpteen theories about why this style of cooking results in the most luscious grills. The ones that makes the most sense to me are A. the ability of the stone to retain and distribute heat evenly and B. the retention of moisture and flavor in the food while preventing flare-ups caused in regular grills. Now, not all of us have the privilege of owning hot stones (generally made of volcanic rock) but Dublin at the ITC Windsor brings the excitement of cooking on a hot stone right to our plate, with the Hot Rock Grills festival. The Irish pub comes alive with a variety of sizzlers crafted by Executive Chef Uchit Vohra giving diners an option of healthy, oil free cuisine made from a selection of meats and seafood. Presented on preheated “Rocks” served with an array of rubs and sauces, it’s a festival designed to delight your inner grill monster. 

We tried their offering this Saturday and (I’ll say it even before I finish the post) came away absolutely delighted. There are many restaurants these days that focus on the frills and thrills rather than the food and eventually lose their regular patrons. Dublin need not worry – their commitment to make food the hero, will always hold them in good stead. 

Terrariums and other Surprises @ Ottimo (ITC Gardenia, Bangalore)

It looks like every five star hotel worth its salt, needs to have an Italian restaurant to cater to our new found love of Italian cuisine. You can’t blame them after all, the Indians have taken with gusto to pasta as if it were dal chawal! Ottimo (which means excellent in Italian) has steered away from the carb-heavy renditions of Italian cuisine and bravely presented a lighter fare with emphasis on nutrition and fresh ingredients. Chef Vittorio Grecco has also indulged his love for molecular gastronomy here and his experience in Michelin starred restaurants across Italy has helped him nudge us towards trying something which looks unfamiliar, but in the end is an excellent tribute to the flavors of Italy. 

Ottimo stands in place of the erstwhile West View Grill and has an air of relaxed luxury. The restaurant itself wraps around the main kitchen which displays a row of terrariums (Micro gardens within their own eco-system, sitting pretty within glass containers). While I am not personally a fan of velvet sofas (this one has a coat of arms of essential herbs!), I loved the beautiful pictures of plants and herbs shot by Magda Indigo that hung above it. The red tinted glasses offer a beautiful shot of color in the otherwise subdued theme. However, after sampling the dishes on offer, I was tempted to suggest that the restaurant needed to present a more light and airy atmosphere to go with Chef Greco’s beautifully plated dishes.