Delightful Healthy Recipes

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Chai Pakoda festival begins in Vashi

The joy of sipping hot beverages and biting into lipsmacking delights during monsoon is something that everyone craves for.

NIBANDH VINOD/ HT

The ongoing monsoon food festival at Four Points, Navi Mumbai offers visitors a variety of scrumptious delights.
If you are yet to experience the feeling, then it is time you to visit Four Points by Sheraton Navi Mumbai, Vashi to get a taste of the Chai Pakoda festival that began at the Wrapped Lobby restaurant from July 6.
Experience the spectacular exhibition of monsoon delicacies prepared by specialty chefs and enjoy gastronomic delights such as pani puri, bhel puri, dahi puri, sev puri, samosa pav, wada pav and a variety of Bhajias all accompanied with tangy, spicy chutneys.
You can also savour the flavours and exuberant tastes of a wide range of parathas, pav bhaji and masala dosa.

If you are looking for some non-vegetarian dishes then you can ask for sandwiches, burgers and chicken Kolkata rolls.
Enjoy these scrumptious delights with a piping cup of masala chai and experience the feel of a roadside tea stall with the tea being brought to you in a ‘desi stand’ and served in a glass tumbler.
The festival that started on July 6 will continue till the end of the month, informed Arbind Singh, food and beverage manager.
The festival is open to visitors from 3pm to 8pm.

The Bharatiya 9:47 PM

Four teams from four corners of India took the tiny Tata Nano on a cross-country road trip and came back with changed perspectives

T he Tata Nano Facebook page crossed the one million mark recently. To celebrate this milestone, the company ran a ‘social road trip’ called Nano Drive with MTV, where participants got the chance to team up with three strangers and take the car on a 3,000km spin. The four teams started out from four cities — Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi and Guwahati — and drove across the length and breadth of the country for 20 days.
Arindam Mohanty, a 25year-old marketing professional, was part of team West. “Meeting different people and driving through the hinterland was the highlight of my trip,” he says. “We had a strict allowance and I was continuously tweeting about my trip. Can you believe local restaurants offered us meals because of my tweets?”
Mohanty drove more than 3,400km from Mumbai to Indore, stopping at Daman, Udaipur and Kota on the way.
Team South started their journey from Chennai and made their way to Hampi on a very scenic route through more than 15 towns. Simran Singh, 22, from Chandigarh, had reservations about the Nano’s endurance capacity. “We started off in Chennai and it was 40+ C! But we could drive with ease with the AC on full blast,” he says. Simran’s favourite stop was Pondicherry, where he spent time lazing on the beaches, enjoying the food and taking in the French architecture.

The foursome that drove through east India felt like explorers since these parts are sparsely populated and not very touristy. “Local people there are not used to seeing travellers, so it was quite exciting for us to approach them,” says Nikita Sawant, a 25-year-old photographer from Mumbai and part of team East. She drove her crew of three guys on National Highway 36 towards the Bangladesh border, among the trucker crowd, and got many stares and cheers.
“That is my most fun memory, a woman driving alongside these hulking men on the highway,” she says.
The victorious team North drove from Delhi to Haridwar and ended their trip with an aarti (prayers) on the banks of the Ganga. “We started on an auspicious note in Karol Bagh, near the Hanuman statue, and ended up with the Ganga puja. It almost felt like a yatra,” laughs Nikhil Kashyap. The 27-year-old marketing communication consultant enjoyed every little experience on the trip. “We learnt turban-tying in Patiala, gorged on momos in McLeodganj, rafted on the Beas in Kulu, trekked to Tosh and Parvati Valley near Kasaul and then did one of the 21 daily Ganga aartis. I couldn’t have asked for a richer experience,” he says.

You can follow the teams’ journeys in the final episode of Nano Drive on MTV on July 12 at 8 pm.

The Bharatiya 9:45 PM

How you brew your tea makes all the difference.

How you brew your tea makes all the difference.

Never add tea leaves to boiling water. Let the water cool down for a few seconds, and then add about 2 gms of tea leaves (for one cup).

Cover the container and let it steep for some time.
Some teas can be steeped for longer (4 minutes), while others need to be served instantly (1 minute).
Store tea leaves in aluminium or glass containers, because they tend to react with metal and turn acidic.

The Bharatiya 9:45 PM

Spearmint tea

You can make this tea by placing a few sprigs of fresh spearmint in a glass and pouring boiling water over it. Spearmint is an excellent remedy for ailments such as headaches, fatigue and stress, as well as for respiratory and digestive problems. You can also use this syrup in other recipes like desserts and cocktails.
Ingredients:
2 cups water 1 cup sugar 1 packet fresh spearmint

Method:
In a 2 litre capacity saucepan, place sugar and water and bring to a rolling boil.
Ensure all the sugar is dissolved and take off flame. Add spearmint leaves, cover and leave to steep till completely cool or overnight.

Store covered for up to 3 weeks or chilled, up to six months.

The Bharatiya 9:44 PM

THERE’S WINE IN MY TEA!

Lots is common between these two drinks — the soil, elevation, cultivator, the season all play a role in the flavours produced by both wine and tea. The two have many variations in price and processes within each category and type, and the tasting sessions of both are elaborate and meticulous. This monsoon, tea importers Chado Tea have launched a special exotic range of wineflavoured teas that are perfect for the cool weather. Some of the varieties include White Champagne Raspberry, Assam Jungle Cabarnet and Sicilian Vespers. Infusing the white and black teas with floral and fruity notes using safflowers, cinnamon and chrysanthemums, the range carries all the goodness in flavour of wine blended with the strong and robust flavours of tea.

The range will be available at Chado Tea, inside Bombay Store, Fort, from the third week of July. Currently, it is available on order on 3216 4466. PRICE: R960 for 100 gms

The Bharatiya 9:43 PM

Where: Indigo Deli

TASTE OF: Sikkim The tea menu here features a sublime bouquet of flavours that can be had all day.

Sikkim First Flush contains floral infusions from The Valley of Flowers What’s brewing?

Sikkim First Flush (SFF) was a tea that was earlier preserved for royalty due to its unique flavour. It’s a beautiful black tea with floral infusions straight from the Valley of Flowers. If you like your cup of chamomile, you’ll surely fall in love with this one.
Green Tea with Madagascar Vanilla (GT) uses the green tea Matcha powder with the world’s best vanilla from Madagascar to create a smoky, scented tea.
Zen Garden (ZG) is a superlative white tea, perfect after meals. White teas are known to have the highest amount of antioxidants and are subtly flavoured. This one has lovely orange, lime and cinnamon notes. Throw in a cinnamon stick for extra measure. PRICE: R155 (SFF), R195 (GT) and R260 (ZG) per tea cup. CALL: 2643 8100 / 4366 6666

The Bharatiya 9:41 PM

Two innovative chai recipes

Here are two innovative chai recipes and one chai-based dessert recipe by Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal, chief foodie, A Perfect Bite Cook Studio.

Flavoured tea can serve as a good post-dinner dessert option Rose-lavender pepper kehwa
Roses and lavender are valued for their digestive properties and the pepper works to improve digestion as well as keep colds and coughs at bay. Ideal for a post-dinner dessert tea option as there are no stimulants of caffeine in it.
Ingredients
2 tbsp / 30g sugar 1 tsp / 15g rosebud tea/dried rose petals or lavender
½ tsp / 6g white pepper, crushed coarsely
1 tbsp pistachio or cashew flakes (depending on the flower you are using)
Method
Combine roses/lavender and crushed pepper in a mortar and pestle and crush together.
Add the sugar and powder to a coarse powder.
Bring 2 cups of water to a boil and take off flame.
Add the flower sugar to it and mix well.
Allow to steep for 2 minutes and then savour hot.
Add pistachio flakes to the rose version and cashew to the lavender version to garnish.

Masala chai crème brûlée

Ingredients
4 large egg yolks 1/4 teaspoon vanilla 1/4 cup sugar 1 1/2 cups heavy cream 2 chai masala bouquet garni 1 (1-inch) chunk ginger 4 teaspoons demerara sugar
1 teaspoon chai masala
Method
Preheat the oven to 300F degrees.
Place 4 ramekins in a roasting pan and pour hot water in the pan to halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
Combine the sugar, vanilla and egg yolks, mixing well.
Place the cream and the bouquet garni in a saucepan and heat to the boiling point.
Take it off heat and let the flavour infuse in the cream for about 5-10 mins.
Pour the cream into the mixture in a slow and steady stream, whisking constantly. Strain the mixture. Pour 1/2 cup of the mixture into each ramekin. Cover with aluminum foil.
Bake until the custard is set, about 35 minutes. Alternatively, you can even steam it in a steamer.
Allow to cool and refrigerate at least 2 hours.
An hour before serving, combine the demarara sugar with chai masala and sprinkle a teaspoon of this mix on each custard.
Using a blowtorch melt the sugar with a flame until golden brown, or broil with bowls about an inch from the flame for 30 seconds.

Cool to room temperature before serving.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

The Bharatiya 12:09 AM

EGGLESS CAKES WORKSHOP

Learn how to professionally bake scrumptious eggless cakes such as black forest, date walnuts cake, mava cake and sacher torte. Today at Juhu. Call 2620 6232 for registrations.

Sunday, July 1, 2012

The Bharatiya 11:44 PM

BASIC INFUSED SIMPLE SYRUP

INGREDIENTS
1 cup granulated sugar 1 cup water
1/3 cup spices or 1/2 cup herbs

METHOD
Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan and simmer over medium heat, stirring until sugar is completely dissolved. Add spices or herbs and leave to steep. Allow mixture to cool, then decant into a clean container with a tight lid.
For a thicker

syrup, adjust the proportions (many mixologists prefer a 2:1 sugar-water ratio.) For a deeper, richer flavor, use brown sugar. This works well for syrups to be used in rum drinks and rich puddings, but not for vodkaor gin-based cocktails or dishes with lighter flavours as it is too strong and imparts a brownish tint.

The Bharatiya 11:40 PM

Sugar, spice and all things nice

Homemade syrups can elevate your cuppa, dress your meat, enhance your dessert and ease that aching throat, making them the perfect antidote to those monsoon blues

T he monsoon is here, bringing with it the season of colds, coughs and sore throats. Whenever I have a sore throat, I fall back on one of my grandmother’s traditional remedies — rock sugar to ease the soreness and sanchar nu paani, hot water with a drop of ghee, a squeeze of lime and a pinch each of turmeric, pepper, sugar and rock salt, to fight the germs.
I love the aroma of the turmeric and the flavour of the spices, but my kids don’t fancy this concoction much. So, driving past Chowpatty on evening, I hit upon a solution.
Remember that rainbow array of bottles lining the golawalla’s ice lolly stalls that you surreptitiously patronised as a child? Those silky thick, sweet, flavoured liquids that your mother tried so hard to keep you away from?
Well, there’s nothing stopping you from topping that collection with one of your own — homemade, healthy syrups that can function as beverages and herbal remedies.
Simple (or sugar) syrup is, as the name implies, very simple to make and will quickly become an essential item around both the bar and kitchen in your home.
With a little time and creativity, you can also have fragrant sweet syrups that will bring incredible flavours and possibilities to your kitchen. Try infusing the syrups with aromatics such as fresh herbs (basil, rosemary, mint, lemongrass), wet and dry spices (vanilla, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, star anise) and citrus zest and/or juice.
As the rain pours outside, these syrups will help elevate your daily cuppa to wonderful new heights and zing up your daily cooking.
Regardless of what flavour you want to create, the requirements are pretty much the same — water and sugar in a 1:1 proportion, supplemented by whatever herbs or fruits you want i nfused. And this i s the most fabulous thing about syrups; not only are they simple to make, they are incredibly versatile.
Heat your water and sugar mixture, add your flavouring ingredients after the sugar has dissolved and bring to a boil. Take off the flame. Ensure the aromatics are completely submerged in the syrup and allow the mixture to steep for about half an hour (actually, I like to leave it overnight).

When completely cool, strain by pouring the syrup through a tightly woven mesh strainer and discard all solids.
Bottle your syrup and you can stash it in the refrigerator for several weeks.
You can prolong the shelf life of your syrups by adding a little vodka — 1 tbsp to 1 ounce, depending on the amount of syrup. I like to add complementary flavoured vodkas to match the syrups.
These concoctions are as simple to use as they are to make. They are ideal just mixed in hot water or as substitutes for sugar.
Just add hot water to a ginger lime infusion for cup of spicy comfort to soothe that cough. Or stir some ginger-pepper syrup into your daily cuppa tea or coffee. Or try a syrup infused with cinnamon and apple juice in a hot toddy. You can add infused syrups to any hot beverage to brighten up gloomy monsoon days — cinnamon syrup to coffee, for instance, and red chilli or cardamom to hot chocolate, herbal tea and hot toddies.
You can also customise your syrups to suit the weather all year round. In summer a spearmintor kaffir lime-flavoured syrup is ideal to add a funky twist to a mojito. Or try a green peppercorn syrup to spice up a watermelon caprioska.
Syrups are also lovely spooned over fresh fruit or warm fruit compotes. Drizzle spice-scented berry and fruit syrups over pancakes, waffles, muesli or porridge. Herb- and spice-infused syrups can also be used in sauces and gravies for salad dressings, marinades and to dress meats and fish.
And, of course, they’re perfect for desserts. Try mint-flavoured syrups over fruit salads and poached fruit desserts. Use just about anything to flavour or top ice-creams, granitas, sorbets and your own ice lollies. Drizzle spice-scented syrups over fresh-fromthe-oven desserts such as tarts, crumbles and cakes or stir into frostings and glazes.
I am particularly partial to lemoninfused glaze on a lemon blueberry cake, lavender syrup over rasgullas and orange-and-anise-infused syrup on gulab jamuns.

As for the kids, inspired by my grandmothers Sanchar nu Paani, I have concocted a turmeric-and-ginger-infused syrup to help ease those aching throats.