Month: December 2004

Hot Sams

It was 9:15 AM and I was hungry, having skipped dinner the previous night. I stepped into Haldiram’s to pick up a loaf of bread for breakfast and nearly drowned in nostalgia looking at the fresh Hot Samosa’s being laid into the trays at the counter.

We had morning college, 7.30 AM and during winter its darn early in Nagpur to be in the college at 7.30 -but still a bunch of us were very regular – we would attend first two classes, get thoroughly bored and hungry by 9.30 .

Our respite was a small chai-samosa thela in front of the college run by a “Kaku” and “Kaka” (a middle aged women who we would call kaku and her husband). Alpana insisted on calling her Maushi though showing her true kokonast breed 😉

So four of us I, Pattu, Alpana and Shishir would invariably find ourselves gorging steaming hot samosa’s -straight out of the kadahai sipping ginger tea. Alpana in her trademark style would ask for more mirche and then say the mirch is too hot. We would tease her for riding her bicycle on the footpath instead of the road and generally pull each others leg eating atleast four samosa’s each…

Samosa!! I use to love them -I still do, but I rarely get to eat them now 🙁

Dont Kill me Nithya :(

Found this on the net today and I am going to make it as accompaniment with Alu ka paratha for Saturday Lunch

Mirchi Ka Salan

Ingredients

1/2 lb. green chillies, large and long
1 lb. onions, sliced
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp ginger garlic paste
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp powdered bayleaf
1/2 cup thick tamarind juice
Salt to taste

Roast and powder the following:

4 tsp sesame seeds
4 tsp khus-khus (poppy seeds)
2 tsp coriander seeds
2 tbsp peanuts
1/4 coconut scraped
1 tsp salt

Method

1. To remove tartness from the chillies, immerse once or twice in boiling water, remove and strain.Pat dry.

2. Heat oil and fry the chillies till they turn white.Drain and set aside.

3. In the same hot oil,fry the cumin seeds.When they turn color, add the onion slices and fry till they become soft.

4. Now add the ginger-garlic paste and fry for a minute.

5. Add the turmeric and powdered spices and fry well stirring continuously.

6. Add the tamarind juice and simmer.

7. Add the chillies, powdered bayleaf and salt to taste.

8. Mix well and cook over a slow fire till the oil starts floating on top.

9. When cool, store in airtight containers in the refrigerator.

10. This preparation goes well with biriyani/pulao.

Shiok!!

One thing I had decided even before I reached Bangalore for Linux-Bangalore/2004 – that I will manage atleast one dinner at Shiok.

So, three of us, that is I, and Aasim accompanied by and reached Shiok on 2nd December.

We sat in the lounge, had a round of drinks -Tarique, Mona and Khader relished their cocktails while I and aasim sipped our non alcoholic drinks.

The food we ate was out of the world and this is what we had and each dish is better than the other. One thing I am sure, no trip to Bangalore will be complete for us without visiting Shiok atleast once.
Recipe descriptions from htp://www.shiokfood.com

Garlic-peppered prawns: Juicy, succulent prawns marinated in a wonderful mix of garlic and white pepper, deep-fried.

Crispy chicken in ginger-garlic sauce: Chicken chunks, crispy outside, soft inside are served with a mild, flavourful sauce of ginger, garlic, soy sauce and sesame oil.

Sichuan potsticker dumplings: Boiled, steamed, or fried? How about all three in the same dish? These “potstickers” dumplings are first pan-fried, then cooked in hot stock. They then get a crispy base and a tender top. Pop them into your mouth in one shot and enjoy the taste explosion.

Golden baskets: Finely chopped chicken and soft sweet corn are stir-fried with a fragrant mixture of garlic, coriander roots, white pepper and soy sauce. Served in golden-crisp rice flour baskets. Perfect finger food.

Crispy fish in red curry sauce: First we take a whole fish, season it, and fry it. Then we smother it in our special red curry sauce. The fish remains crispy and the sauce plays with it nicely.

Drunken beef: Perfect to accompany your drinks, tender beef is quickly stir-fried with a spicy mixture of pounded chillies, garlic and basil. Get ready to order more

Nonya chicken: A classic example of mixed cuisine, the very Malay chilli is combined with the very Chinese dark soy sauce, star anise, and spring onions, and braised in this aromatic mixture. The resulting dish is surprisingly mild with just a hint of chilli.

Orange-lemon chicken: If you think only spicy dishes are tasty, you have to try our orange-lemon chicken. It’s different from the gooey lemon chicken found elsewhere and it’s yummy. That’s all we’re saying.

Singapore rice noodles :While no such dish exists in Singapore, this is the closest we know to what passes for it. Thin rice stick noodles are cooked with chicken, garlic, a touch of chillies and soy sauce.

Nasi goreng : Literally meaning “fried rice”, this Indonesian everyday dish is usually made by combining leftover rice with leftover anything else. We make it by frying a spice paste first, adding meat, rice, and sweet soy sauce, garnished with a fried egg.

While I loved every dish, my fav (and the taste still lingers when i think of it) remains Orange lemon chicken.

While we were just finishing, Madhu gave us a taste of his famous cocktail – Illusions – absolutely lovely and yes, I am sure it hits without warning -its smooth!