Evening @ Azzuri

A few friends and I have been planning for dinner treat and an evening out for the past 6 months !! and finally we made it :) so after discussing a lot we decided to go some place we haven't been before. We chose Azzuri bay! 

A quite evening on a roof top restuarant over looking the Adyar river~ Azzuri Bay

View of the river from Azzuri Bay

"Buddha is my homeboy"~ Shabana :)

Interesting lampshade

Phuket fish

A fish fillet marinated and baked with herbs and spices, i loved every bite of it that i forgot to click a proper pic :)

Dessert!

A shaky -blurry view of the adyar river from Azzuri

P.S. In case you guys are wondering what happened to the food pics- here is a confession the food was soo good that Quintessential foodie forgot to click pictures of the food! 

So cheesy @ Bella Ciao!

Prologue 

From the day I decided to start blogging about food, my cooking sprees have drastically gone down and I' am suffering from loss of appetite and haven't been eating out much either :P . My Dr Amma and I have been trying to figure out whether I'm suffering from the any of the following Chikungunya-Muttongunya, Malaria-Loveria or Typhoid-Scarfoid :P However I dint want to go on without posting anything so I dug up some pics and some really fond memories for this post.

Disclaimer: Guys I  don't have anything new -hot from the oven ,instead I am gonna serve you all food from my fridge- lil old memories :)  Please bear with me!

Bella Ciao 

"The trouble with eating Italian food is that five or six days later, you are hungry again"

~ George Miller

Starters

Few months back few of us from work went to Bella Ciao, for dinner, it was a lovely evening, perfect weather,  moon rise over the sea and lots of laughter. Hmmm I remember laughing a lot but I don't remember  the jokes :P  Bella ciao has two branches one at Nungambakkam and another at Thiruvanmiyur (Bang opp a quiet beach) 

"When the waitress asked if I wanted my pizza cut into four or eight slices, I said, 'Four. I don’t think I can eat eight." ~ Yogi Berra

Thin crust pizza

 I am not a pizza person at all but I ate the thin crust pizza @ Bella Ciao with no complains and yes I think it cos I enjoyed it :)

Grilled Shrimp, roasted potatoes and salad

 For my main course I had grilled shrimp with salad and side serving of roasted potatoes, I love potatoes I think its one veggie that at least 3 out of 5 individuals consider their favorite :) and I m nuts about Shrimp I know it can be quite a task to shell it but who care its sooo YUM!
 

Merlot

You can order Merlot or Chardonnay along with your meal as for me I am teetotaler so I had a glass of cool water in which someone accidentally dropped a piece of Fusilli :D

Moon light

The view from my outdoor table, the moon shinning through the Casuarina trees gently swaying in the sea breeze. It was a day before full moon nevertheless the moon was at her best. I haven't gone to Bella Ciao since then but I will soon :)


P.S "Never eat more than you can lift. "~Miss Piggy

Vazhaikaai Kofta~Green Banana Koftas Delicacy

So today everyone in our family woke up at 7:30! or should i say slept till 7:30 !
We were out of fresh veggies and after my mum saw me sleep walking and my dad reading the THE HINDU as if he is preparing for bank entrance exam - Dear appa u passed ur bank exam 30 years ago and you are gonna retire in 3 years :)):D  so anyways back to the story , my Maa decided to make something with a plantain & an onion and two tomatoes. She worked her magic to make this awesome VAZHAIKAAI KOFTHA- Green Banana Kofta!
 

Spicy Green Banana Koftas*

Another easy to prepare recipe KISS (Keep It Simple Silly) recipe

Ingredients

1 Raw green banana

1 Onion finely chopped

2 Tomatoes finely chopped

½ Spoon chilli powder

Garam masala powder

Salt as per requirement

Spices- 1 bay leaf, 3-4 cloves and a small piece of cinnamon

Optional – garlic and ginger minced

For the Kofta

1. Cut the green banana in half and pressure cook for 10 minutes
2. Peel the banana’s thick skin off (my inner voice says there goes all the fiber content *sigh* Oh well you can’t have it all)
3. Mash the boiled banana pulp with few sprinkling of salt, 
4. Optional: You can also add a pinch of Garam masala to the mashed banana pulp
5. Now make small to medium sized ball 
6. Shallow fry over low heat

Your koftas are ready.

For the gravy

1. Heat a thick pan
2. Add a spoon of oil
3. Add the spices and onion and fry till the onions turn golden brown
4. Add the mined ginger and garlic and sauté for 2 minutes in low flame
5. Add the finely chopped tomatoes and fry
6. Add ½ spoon of chilli powder, a pinch of garam masala and fry till the tomatoes are done  
7. Add the fried banana  koftas  and gently mix until the koftas are covered in gravy  
8. Let it simmer for about 2 minutes, remove from flame and serve with chapathi or rice 

Ensssssooi your Green Banana Kofta!

 

*P.S. Sorry about the poor quality photograph! I am still recovering and hence terribly disoriented

Happy weekend Everyone! :)

Kaapi & more..

For those of you who are far far away from Chennai..
Hear me, Hear me~ It rained today !!

Yes it did  :) finally Chennai received her summmer quota of rains after a dry spell which seemed to last forever ! It was wonderful, the smell of earth, the soft breeze, cool drizzle..However I was amused to see many bikers pull over and stand along the road, pavement, under the trees to keep off the rain!
How ungrateful ! This is so typical of the saying ~

"As a rule man is a fool , when its hot he likes it cool , when its is cool he likes it hot, always wanting what is not "

As for me needless to say I got drenched head  to toe (purposefully)  by the time  I reached home and had an amazing cup of Amma's KAPPI .

My Maa makes the world's best "Filter Kappi

So all the caffeine in my Kappi and rain in my city made me want to sit down and write something beautiful, however my bird brain did not cooperate with me to pen down an Odyssey, instead here is a slice of my life-love notes to my fellow passengers with whom I commute everyday in the ever-crowded electric train while I travel to & from work..


(Words in italics are my mind voice :P ensoiii)

Dear Fellow Passenger

To the girl with allergic sneeze ~Bless you !! & Thank you for sharing your germs with us, please remember to sneeze into your hankie next time! :)

To the lady selling roasted peanuts ~ Women! Seriously!  Do we look like we can eat, digest or even hold a pack of peanuts now?

To the Amway guy making random hits and misses at everyone (including the blind beggar and his Mrs.) No I don’t want to become Ambani over night if I change my mind I ll inform you or better still jump off LIC :))

To the blind beggar – Are those really Rayban glasses? Whoa! Your style quotient is better than me:P

To the iPod freak ~ He he I know you got it from Burma Bazaar, P.S. My maid servant has a better version than you! Hah!

To the teen girl reading M&B with a sly smile & dreamy eyes ~ Your prince is not coming on a white horse honey, for all I know he probably took the wrong turn, got lost and is too stubborn to ask for directions! Oh well! :D

To the Poo kaari (flower seller) who keeps looking at my hair while persuading everyone to buy POO ~ Well NO THANK YOU& No I m NOT wearing a Souri/Wig!

To the lady with the wailing baby – Errrrr so do babies come with 'sound-mute' buttons ?

To the uncle with dander on his head, shoulders and shoes~ Thank you uncle for spreading sunshine   oops! Sorry star dust & moonlight with all of us :D

To the ticket inspector who thinks he/she is Vijayshanthi/Vijaykanth ~ Ennna Maa kannu Sowkiyammaa? (Hey How you doing?) :P

 

Marundu/Milagu Kozhambu~ Medicinal Pepper Stew

Today I woke up with really bad body pain and terrible headache, So I called in sick, and crashed on the couch for the rest of the day and as if that was not bad enough, about half past noon the power went off and I dozed off in the sweaty heat only to wake up at 5pm!  I hate to fall ill (Who the devil likes to fall ill!!)

Anyways I was too tired to make anything for myself and did not like the packed lunch my mum had left for me so I fed off a HUGE bar of chocolate for lunch and for dinner I decided to get the hell out of bed and make myself something nice to eat! But I had no appetite and I was in no mood to eat another bar of chocolate for dinner. I was craving something nice and spicy yes something LIGHT! (..and something that did not involve too much work- A KISS recipe)

~ MILAGU KOZHAMBU~ 

 
Milagu Kozhambu a.k.a. Pepper stew is usually prepared if someone is suffering from incurable cold/cough, body pain or allergic sneeze as it is known to provide immediate  relief .. No My dear reader I won't bore you with the medicinal properties of Pepper :)

Ingredients
4-5shallots -peeled and chopped Optional- Half a tomato chopped finely
A small ball of tamarind soaked in water, dissolved and filtered

For  Powder

• 2 spoons Pepper corns
• 1/2 spoon Toor dhal (Thuvaram Parupu)
• 1/2 spoon Jeera seeds
• 1/2 spoon channa daal (Kadala Parupu)
• 1/4 spoon fenu greek seeds
• Roast the ingredients over low flame and Grind coarsely and preserve in an air tight container 

To saute

• Mustard 
• Jeera seeds
• Red chillis and
• Curry leaves

 Methods

• Heat a kadai and add 2 spoons of vegetable oil
• Add the Mustard, Jeera, Fenu greek seeds and red chillies - splutter over low flame
• Add the chopped shallots, and tomatoes and fry 
• Add the tamarind filtrate and bring to a boil
• Add the required amount of Powder according to your taste (I added 2 spoonful)
• Sprinkle some Asofoetida and let the gravy simmer
• This will be ready in less than 5-6 minutes
• Serve with hot rice and sleep off after the meal

I am a sucker for Smilies :)

  P.S. My body pain is gone but now I have a running nose! :P

Fish-O-Fish

This morning I got a message from a friend with whom I haven't spoken to in months! The first thing she told me was that me she enjoyed reading my blog! :) Just yesterday I was wondering whether anyone is reading my blog at all, so when I heard from my friend needless to say I was overwhelmed. She is also a foodie much like me and loves seafood especially FISH! So here are some really easy to prepare fish recipes which I hope she enjoys!

Our subject for today ~ Anchovies commonly referred to as Nethili Meen in Tamil

This one is for one of ente favorite ommana pen kutties :)

Nethili 65: Deep fried Anchovies

Deep Fried Anchovies

Ingredients
Anchovies: A cup full- cleaned, washed and marinated in lime and rock salt
1/2 spoon turmeric powder
1/2 spoon wheat atta or maida (this will serve as a binder)
1/2 rice powder (this will make the dish crispy, crunchy & YUMMY)
4-5 spoons of chilli powder
1 spoons of ginger &garlic paste
Optional: 1/2 spoon coarsely crushed pepper corns

Nethili 65

Method

• Take big bowl- mix the anchovies with the following ingredients
• chilli powder
• turmeric powder
• ginger garlic paste
• rice powder atta/maida 
• Sprinkle water and mix the contents 
• Make the marinate into a smooth paste
• Keep it aside for 15-20 minute
• Heat a pan with oil 
• Add the anchovies and cook over low heat
• The  fish will be done in less than 5-7 minutes

Serve hot just as a snack or as a side dish for sambhar rice, rasam rice or even better fish gravy & rice:)

Nethili Thokku: Anchovy gravvy

Nethili  Gravvy

Ingredients

• Shallots/ small onions a cup full -
• Wash and peel the small onions
• Do not chop- adding them whole make the dish taste better
• Anchovies a cup full
• cleaned & washed
• marinated in turmeric, lemon and rock salt 
• One whole Garlic peeled 
• Do not chop or crush garlic
• Add them as whole cloves
• A piece of ginger (2 inches-crushed )
• 10 curry leaves 
• 1/2 spoon asafoetida  
• 3-5 spoon pure chilli powder 
• Tamarind a medium sized ball- soaked in a cup of water, dissolved, and filtered 
• Take the tamarind water - add chilli powder and turmeric powder

For spluttering:  Mustard seeds, fenu greek seeds, Jeera seeds, (Optional-pepper corns), Dry red chillies & 4-5 spoons of gingelly oil


Method

• Heat a thick pan, add 4-5 spoons of Gingelly oil (you can also use vegetable oil)
• Add the mustard seed, fenu greek seeds, Pepper corns, Jeera, red chillies and fry
• Add shallots and curry leaves and saute till it turns light brown
• Add the peeled garlic and crushed ginger and saute
• Note:- this recipe does not need tomatoes, however if u want to,  you can add half a tomato finely chopped and saute it after the ginger garlic
• Add the tamarind water mixed with chilli powder and turmeric powder
• Bring to a boil, let the contents simmer until it reaches a consistency of gravy
• Add the 1/2 spoon of asafoetida
• Add the anchovies and reduce the flame
• Let it simmer in low flame for 10minute(maximum 15 minute)
• Note:- Do not stir, this will break the fish into a million tiny bits :)
• Remove from stove in 15 minutes and serve with hot rice or Idlies

 See I told ya it was an easy recipe :)

I hope these recipes were useful, do try them and tell me how it tasted! Happy eating !

P.S. Amma has made chicken curry and chappathi for dinner tonight, I m off :)

Enjoy your fried anchovies!

 

~Fin~

Combating Culinary Disasters :P

• If you have added too much salt or chilli powder ~add one of the following depending on the dish
• Coconut paste
• Chopped potatoes
• Chopped tomatoes
• Tamarind paste
• Coriander powder
• A spoonful of sugar/jaggery
• Worse case scenario water :P
• If you have added too little chilli powder, add slit green chilli/ crushed pepper!
• If you run out of cooking gas then take a deep breadth, lie down on the couch and take a power nap!
• If you are bored hovering over the stove, try singing,  you can also try tap dancing, vegetable carving just don't forget the stove is on- I often do ;)
• If the dish you are cooking gets burnt- transfer contents to another bowl, destroy evidence and blame the neighbors :P
• If you find someone has tail gated you to the kitchen and wont leave, stop complaining and enjoy the company! :)
• If you find your mommy is standing behind you and giving you step by step instruction
• Cool down
• Slice a cucumber
• Seat her on the couch
• Place it on her eyes 
• Tell her its her special spa time :P works like a charm Every time!

P.S. I solemnly promise my next post will be better and will be of some use  :)

Not so-Culinary notes to myself!!!

1.If at first you don't succeed recreating a recipe! Blame Butterfly Effect! .. U can also throw in Chaos theory if you can pull it through :D

2.A true blue foodie does not give up on  potato chips! :D

3.Never let your hair loose in the kitchen, you don't want run in circles singing 'Fire in the mountain run run run' :P

4.If while preparing a dish, it goes all wrong and doesn't slightly resemble the original ~ Pat yourself in the back and call yourself a culinary-genius :P

5.Never give up on 'Thalir Sadam' & 'Maggi Noodles'  you never know when you dish is gonna get screwed and you have to resort to them!

6.The girl who doesn't know how to cook and the aunty who is too lazy to cook are always gonna find something wrong with your recipes ~ Try and make your peace with it.....with a smile:)

7.People are always gonna misunderstand you for a Glutton/Foodaholic/Theenipandaram. Never mind! They'll come around!.. and you can serve them suicide spicy food and have your revenge:))

8.No No No writing down one recipe, in one blog which has 9 posts does not make you 'Julia Child or Neetha  Metha'

9.People are gonna laugh at your face , behind your back and on virtual interface, be happy your blog is entertaining people :) 

10.Someone, somewhere out there will read your blog someday (without scoffing, or rolling their eyes), until then keep cooking, keep eating, keep blogging and keep smiling!!!

Kulla nari Journey!! :)

So today I proudly displayed my blog to my Amma and her reaction ?

Dr. Amma: Hmmmmmmmm..


Me:  Enna Amma ? (What Maa?)

 
Dr.  Amma:  Ellaa .. Enna Vasu idhu ? (What is this Vasu)

The title of your blog 'Culinary Journey' sounds like 'Kula naari* Journey' !!! 

My Reaction!! :P

 

*Kulanari means 'Country Fox' in tamil!!

P.S. I love you Maa :) Your sense of humor is what has helped me sail through rough weathers of life and keep smiling all along !

Minced Soy ~ Veggie Kheema

Few months back we had a pot luck lunch @ my appice (ladies special)!

Did I mention it was vegetarian lunch.. Those who know me also know that I descended from a line of  carnivorous dinosaurs and I DO NOT eat grass! :P However I do love to cook and so I prepared an easy to make 'Soy Kheema Gravy with Paneer & capsicum'

When it comes to cooking I prefer to KISS ~ Before I let your imaginations runwild, I ll clarify i meant Keep It Simple Silly ! Yes yes I learnt it from a lame T.V. program :P

A friend and a fellow foodie of mine really liked it and has been asked me for the recipe, however the lazy Bum I am I could never pen down or share the recipe..

This one is for her..

Minced Soy ~Veg Kheema

Ingredients

1 small cup of Soy granules  (I use a brand called Nutrela) - soaked in a hot water with salt and turmeric for 2 minutes and drained
10 Shallots pealed and chopped finely
2 ripe tomatoes chopped finely
1 spoon red chilli powder & garam masala powder (alter as per your taste)
5-6 cloves of garlic crushed with a 1 inch of ginger

Spices: Bay leave, cloves, Cardamom and cumin seeds (you can tweak this as per your taste)

Optional : A small bar of paneer and a medium size capsicum (Cut Paneer and capsicum into medium - big size pieces, saute in vegetable oil and a  pinch of salt kept aside )

Method

1. Heat a thick cooking pan, add required amount of oil
2. Add all  the spice, chopped shallots, crushed ginger, garlic and saute till golden brown
3. Add the chopped tomatoes, chilli powder, garam masala, salt  and fry till oil separates
4. Add the drained soy granules and stir
5. Sprinkle water and let it simmer for 5-10 minute
6. Reduce heat and add the sauteed paneer and capsicum
7. Let flavors and fragrances of all the ingredients blend!
   
8. Turn the stove after 2  minutes
9. Serve with Chapathi, roti, rice,  idllis or dosai

Lettuce eat!

P.S.  This one's for you Sudha, sorry to keep u waiting for so long :) Kamman!! try it and tell me how you like it!

Monalisa smile~Dude where's my face!

 So we finally got to have a nice North Indian Thali Meals @ Trafalgar Square (after 4 days hehe).

North Indian Non-Veg Thali @ Cafe Mumbai, London

Salad, Butter chicken, lamp gravy, Onion Bhajji and Rice Indian food tastes err different abroad ! :D Oh well it was good enough to keep me on my toes for the next few hours :)  It was a simple meal, but i enjoyed it simply because I was starving and hadn't eaten well in 4 hrs :P 

 Wait its not over yet~Picture abhi Bhaaki hai dost!

~ COMEDY TIMES~

Trafalgar square

  Gallivanting aimlessly at Trafalgar square, London after dinner we walked past a an artist.

Well impressed by his work , I was so tempted to get my portrait done, so I went for it!

My15 minutes of fame

There is something almost intriguing about the way an artist views his subject and draws them ..
 

I of course cud not keep quiet for long, So I began a conversation with Mr..(I don't remember his name)

I learn t he was previously  a high school art teacher in China before migrating to Britain to find employment which he never did :(

Ok back to the portrait

So half way through the portrait, our conversation..

Mr Whatshisname: Like Monalisa, I draw u!

Me: Oh My really!

Mr Whatshisname:Yes yes No ? 

Me: Hmm ok!

Mr Whatshisname: Ohh u has long hair I see! Oh u wears nice dress , very beautiful very nice!

Me: *Awkward smile*

My mind voice: Wokay Bass! get back to work! 

So finally he gave a thumbs up and said 'Yes its ready,  come and see'

Lovely portrait! Monalisa smile alright! Ooo High Cheek bones and doe eyes!

Err Just one thing.. in my mind voice of course

Dude where is my face?

Photo courtesy: http://www.care2.com/

Then I recollected what Mr.Whatshisname said earlier!~ *FLASH BACK*

" Like Monalisa, I draw you " 

Photo courtesy: http://www.care2.com/

Yes it looks like Monalisa alright *translated* BALD GUY in a BAD WIG! :P 

TOTAL DAMAGE!!!

A portrait of me after a face lift, lip job and cheek-lift (if there is something like that) 

P.S.  I have no regrets I m just glad I got my first portrait! :)