Tamil Pride, y'all!/Hotel Sangeetha (NOT the chain).

OK. First thing that comes to your mind when I say... Tamilian food.

Home-y, comforting, satisfying? If you're a hostelite.

Bland, boring, blah? Especially if you've had idli for breakfast, rasam sadam for lunch and kal dosai for dinner. Three days in a row.

Naturally, when we go out, I vehemently protest against any Tamilian restaurant. Except those times when on duty, I'd be so hungry, and W would pick up just what I crave by looking at my Hungryface:  A bowl of piping hot Sambar saadham with chips and pickle from Hot Chips (sometimes he charms them into giving extra kootu/poriyal with his Tamil).

Something that'd fill my stomach, and the hole in my being (Which wanted to vegetate in front of the TV or gossip over the phone with school-friends instead of doing rounds at 10:30 PM). So except for those testing times, I'd turn down tamil food, because I find the ones turned out by restaurants somewhat insipid, soul-less and lacking.

Of course, there are places like Raintree at Taj Connemera which makes delicious kuzhi paniyarams and pazharasam. Hot Chips, that offered sustenance during my internship days, in the form of mini-meals and the 12-rupee filter coffee. The piping hot sakkara pongal/Jil-Jil-Jigarthanda at Murugan Idli Kadai, that somehow makes the road to Obesity a happy, satisfying one.

And there are places that try to make Tamil food posh. You know, deja vu-inducing yellow rooms, dirty ketchup squirter-bottles on the table, A/C hall upstairs kind of places. Where they expect you to pay Rs. 150 for an oily dosai. *Cough*Saravana Bhavan*Cough*. Just because they have branches at Kuwait or New Jersey or wherever.

Indha paruppu en kita vegaadhu (doesn't go down well with me, approximately).

Nitpicking aside, the moral of my long-winded story is that I avoid Tamilian restaurants. It almost never stands up to its home-cooked counterparts. Like this kick-ass Thayir Semiya C's mom makes; one of the dishes that I eat by the bowlful, one of the reasons I visit their house often (amongst a host of others) and one of the recipes I've never tried because I know it'll never taste half as good and that'll kill the magic.

But because something is better than nothing (Mathematics, don't you know?), I tag along when the family dines out on Sunday nights. The real moral of the story: Completely unexpectedly, I discovered a simple restaurant that I LOVE, and it has undoubtedly been one of the best places I've been to, in the last couple of years.

I've gone there five times after the discovery last year. The number may double in the next few months. Hotel Sangeeta (NOT OF THE Apoorva Sangeetha chain or any other chain) is a stand-alone restaurant that is bang opposite the Egmore Railway station. They're basically a business hotel with lodging or whatever, but don't let that fool you into thinking this is some wannabe 2-star basement restaurant. The place is spotless, the cutlery simple and the menu refreshing and basic.



The Specials keep changing each day!



Straight onto what we ate:

I had the Rava Onion Dosai, priced at Rs. 40. I asked the staff if it could be made with no oil. They told me, in honest Tamil, that at least a little is used on the griddle for greasing, but they'd try. And they delivered on the promise. A non-oily, crispy, delicious rava dosa, stuffed with onions and studded with whole peppercorns.

That's the chozha poori. I'm not fond of chozha poori. Or poori channa.

I liked the chana gravy though, and I'm sure poori lovers would have a hay day. Between 35 and 45 bucks per plate.

Masala Dosai. It's that simple. Yummy turmeric-infused mashed potatoes in a delicious dosa. SOLD.

Some healthy venthaya dosai (fenugreek dosa), with vada curry. If you haven't ever tried vada curry in your life, you're missing out on something big. It tastes like masala vada, unfried, cooked in a robust gravy. Our version of the malai kofta maybe? Only a hundred times better, obviously. The vada curry here is pretty good, but definitely doesn't hold a candle to the one my maid makes. Nevertheless, it was completely devoured.

Ooh, the onion oothapam that we always order! The mark of a good tamilian restaurant, I tell you. Do you even need me to tell you how it was here? The sambar, podi and chutneys are a revelation: they're all-natural, have no flavour additives and still taste amazing.

And couldn't resist the temptation of sharing a Madras filter coffee, even though it was ten in the night, and I was probably wrecking my circadian rhythm.
Sorry to be all bundle-of-contradictions on you, but filter coffee is the true mark of a tamilian
restaurant. Along with idlis. And the chutney/sambhar. Mmmm. Filter coffee. Mmm. Stealing an extra portion for myself.

One of the most honest, cheapest meals I've had in such a long time. You know when you should truly, really go, though? Sunday mornings. Between 7 and 10. They do a fantastic Tamilian brunch. A buffet of idli, vada, idiyappam, sambar vada, pongal, uppuma, dosai, payasam, pineapple/chikkoo kesari, filter coffee. Unlimited. Rs. 75 for an adult, and Rs. 40 for children under the age of 5. I'm NOT lying.

I even wish it were a little more expensive that, so the crowd would be lesser. But something tells me any person with half a brain would pay a whole lot more for this. I would, and I like to think I have both cerebral hemispheres intact.

Omm-lay du Frrromage!/Brunch, Part 2!

I'm pretty sure all of you know how to make an omelette and churn out smoothies.

Still, omelettes are something I manage to routinely screw up. I always use lesser oil than I'm supposed to, or my pan isn't non-sticky enough or the high heat makes fried-rice eggs out of them. Sometimes they brown up too much, sometimes they aren't cooked enough for me to flip/fold over.

Mum says I'm just picky.

However, as I'm sure all of you have been taught by experience and know how to fry a couple of eggs, so I'll post my modified Tortilla de Patatas recipe. You need atleast 6 eggs to make that fluffy, potato-Spanish omelette.Since nobody at the household are big fans of the egg/potato combination, I use just 2 eggs and make a thin crepe-like omelette. What's not to like? Eggs, good. Potatoes, good. Bread, gooood. Yes, I grew up watching Friends.

And for as for the smoothie, it isn't weekend brunch, more like a weekday breakfast because it takes approximately two minutes to make and ten minutes to consume. If you want to take it easy on your day off, make this, drink it up and go out and get overpriced coffee and buttery croissants later.

Easy Fruit Smoothie:

Recipe Source: ME. As in Rabia.

Ingredients:

4 plump strawberries, hulled and halved.
1 banana, frozen overnight, cut into chunks.
1/3 cup yogurt (low-fat is fine)
1/3 cup cold milk (low fat is fine)
1/3 cup granola/muesli
Ice cubes, for serving.

Method:

Pulse/Blitz all of the ingredients in the food processor/mixie.

The granola had berries and nuts in it! Yum.

I freeze the banana, so I can use it in lieu of ice cubes that will water down my smoothie in an unpleasant manner. Baggry's Fruit N Fibre muesli is what I used (for the extra strawberry flavour), but any granola with a teensy bit of brown/raw sugar should do.

You can play with the combinations. Mango in place of strawberries, with a little elaichi, in the summer, maybe. Blueberries if you have access to fresh berries. Dates and bananas. Mmm. Flavoured yogurt, if added sugar is kosher to you. Too many choices, not enough Weight Watchers points.

I sincerely hope you know I'm kidding.

The mint-failed attempt at Chef-ing it. Never you mind.

Take advantage of seasonal produce, and since we've got strawberries flooding the market at Madras, I used them. You can pick up a box at Rs. 55 at Mint (sowcarpet) and similar neighbourhoods or at the more high-end greengrocers' for Rs. 100.

Spanish omelette a la Rabia:

Recipe Source: If it turns out good, it's mine. Lol. Mine, either way.

Ingredients:

2 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
5 thin slices of uncooked potato.
1/2 cup chopped bell-pepper (green, orange, red, yellow)
1/4 cup chopped onion
Salt & Pepper, to taste.
1 tbsp olive oil.
A matchbox-sized cube of feta/2 tbsps of grated Parmesan.

Method:

In a bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, salt and pepper until nice and frothy.

Heat a small, non-stick saucepan on medium-high. Add the oil.

When hot, drop in the potato. Let it sizzle around for a while on low heat until it becomes fork-tender. Sprinkle on some salt and pepper. Try one of the slices. If you feel it's done, it's done.

Take the slices out and saute the onion. When pinkish, throw in the peppers, and saute until just heated through. Sprinkle some more salt and pepper. Soggy peppers do not a good omelette make.

Strategically place the potato slices around the pan, onion, peppers and all. Douse it all with the egg mix. Add a few drops of olive oil if you deem it necessary.

When the omelette holds it shape, sprinkle the cheese. Fold over, if you like runny eggs or flip and cook the other side if you like your eggs fully cooked.

Serve garnished with fresh/dried herbs. I use dried parsley, extra pepper and freshly chopped coriander/cilantro.

And pick up some good bread to go with it, won't you? I bought this fabulous multi-seeded bread at Nilgris; a whole-wheat bread with grains of rye, sprinkled generously with pumpkin seeds. I toast it for a tiny bit, and serve it hot with the omelette.

Another good way to ruin the posh-ness of it all would be squirt a little ketchup when nobody is watching. Oh, come on. It's Sunday. Rules are for wusses and weekdays.

Hummus bi Tahine. Terrifyingly Good.

Hummus is one of those elusive things, here at Madras. When you can actually lay your hands on a bowlful, you realise you've been set up for disappointment.

The one at Kryptos is amazing, but not something you can just pop out and get a takeaway bowl of. Seashell used to make decent hummus, but now, it's made of peanuts. Hummus, literally translated, means Chickpea. You wouldn't spread chickpea butter on your toast, would you now? Azulia at GRT, Kefi at Taj Mount and Yalla! Yalla! at Radisson are again 4-rupee symbols expensive.

Back to the kitchen board.

Hummus is as easy as batch of brownies (not out of a box) to whip up. Obviously, the absence of exotic ingredients is a bummer, but it's pretty easy to skirt around those issues. Everybody has chickpeas, sesame seeds, and Extra-Virgin Olive Oil at home, right? Even Del Monte makes Olive oil, so no excuses for not trying out.

And if you decide to try it out (I insist, really), do give the full recipe a good read. You don't want to be discarding the cooking water or anything, because then you'll just have bland chutney.

Hummus bi Tahini/Hummus with Tahina.

Ingredients:

3 cups cooked chickpeas* or  2 (15oz) cans of Garbanzo beans
1/2 cup tahini (recipe follows)**
5 garlic cloves
1/2 cup lemon juice (100 ml)
Olive oil, mint, Paprika (cayenne), cumin, for serving.

Method:

Roast a couple of tablespoons of cumin (black zeera/perun jeeragam). Powder fine in the mixie or with a mortar and pestle. Keep aside.

In a food processor/mixie, combine the garlic and salt, and pulse to chop.

Add tahini and lemon juice (no seeds, and don't squeeze the life out of them-bitter juice is a no-no), and blitz until the mixture looks thick and whitened.

Add the drained chickpeas to the mixie, a little at a time, with a few spoonfuls of the water it's been boiled/canned in. Blitz, blitz, blitz.

I did batches at a time because my mixie wouldn't hold as much.

Thin it down with the cooking water, until it reaches the desired hummus-like consistency.

Taste it. Adjust the salt and lemon juice. Add in the powdered cumin before the last blitz.

Pour it out into the serving bowl. Make a circular indentation (almost like a well) and pour in the olive oil.
Let it soak in the olive oil for at least an hour.
Garnish with chopped mint/parsley, cumin or paprika.

Serve with pita bread, cucumber, carrot and bell pepper strips. Or cut a roti into triangles, bake it in the oven for ten minutes, and make mock pita chips. I bought a box of these wheat crisps at La Chocolate Patisserie.

Recipe source: Desert Candy

**For the tahini.

Recipe source: ME! Yay.

Ingredients:
2/3 cup white sesame seeds.
2 tbsps olive oil/sunflower oil.

Method:

Toast the sesame seeds on low heat. When they start turning golden and give off that characteristically nutty aroma, take off the heat. When cool, throw it in the mixie with the oil and pulse until it looks like this paste.

Use as required.

*How to cook Chickpeas:

Soak 1 and a 1/2 cups of dried white chickpeas (konda kadalai) in water overnight.


Drain the chickpeas. Transfer them to a pressure cooker and flood with salted water (1 inch above the chickpeas). Cover, and heat on medium-high, with the 'weight' on.


After 4-5 whistles, take it off the heat. Don't open it immediately. After 15 minutes, take it out. DO NOT DISCARD cooking water.

Take the skin off the chickpeas if you want a smooth hummus. I couldn't lose all that fibre, so I just left the skin on my chickpeas. I'll just say I like things with a bite to them if I'm questioned on the consistency.

This is comfort food, fashioned out of kadalaka and yellu. And to think I was going to add an Exotic label to this post.

Cookies-and-Cream Cake/Operation: The Best Cake, Ever.

It's no big secret that I'm immensely fond of baking. The prep that goes into it, I enjoy even more if that's possible. The frantic Googling for recipes, checking for ingredient availability and shopping for it! Dorkdom, I know.

The best part is when the person you bake for, really likes it. You know they do when they text something to the effect of "Screw you. I'm going to explode. I ate the whole damn thing."

I strongly recommend it.

It's OK if your cake falls flat or has a gaping split right in the middle. Just consider them as opportunities to flood the cake with even more ganache/frosting/whipping cream. It's even better when it's a molten mass of chocolate-y goodness. Butter-sugar-cocoa tastes bloody good in all its avatars.

This weekend, I realized that a very special little girl's birthday was coming up. She's presumably cut from the same cloth I've been cut from; her Facebook profile picture is that of a slice of truffle cake. She'd appreciate a good cake, I was sure of that.

And thus, Operation: The Best Cake, Ever was born.

I discovered making cakes out of things I like when I first made an ice-cream cake for a sleepover some seven years back. Two layers of dark chocolate cake, sandwiched with mint-chocolate chip ice cream bought in bulk from Baskin Robbins. I don't think I can ever beat that.
Then came Mocha, making milkshakes out of Ferrero Rochers and M and Ms, and a whole myriad of combinations and options opened up.

So, Maltesers, Kit Kats, Snickers, After Eights, Hide N Seek biscuits. If Those Are A Few Of Your Favourite Things, put them in your birthday cake. It may work out to be expensive (unless you're in the US-junk food costs very little there, and come in various shapes and sizes). So. Make it only for people who truly, really would appreciate the effort. This isn't the type of cake that can be smushed into anybody's face.
And you can try subbing locally available ingredients that won't cost a bomb; it'll taste yum, maybe just not as authentic.

A quick check on the birthday girl's FB page showed "Oreos" to be one of her interests.
 Oreos can be made into anything. Hidden in between cookie dough, crushed into base for cheesecake, brownies, milk shake and yes, cake.

Cookies-And-Cream Cake.

Ingredients:

 For the Cake:

2 cups sugar, powdered
1¾ cups all-purpose flour (maida)
¾ cup cocoa powder
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
½ cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water or black coffee

For the filling:

200 g Cream Cheese, softened. *or use my substitute method
200 ml or 1 cup of fresh cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
12 Oreo cookies (can use Pure Magic Vanilla Cream or Britannia Treat-Os)

For the frosting:

1/2 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup cocoa
1 cup ICING sugar (or fine powdered sugar, sieved)
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla essence.

Recipe adapted from Hershey's and Brown-Eyed Baker.
Method:

For the Cake:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celcius. Grease and flour two round pans (9").

In a large bowl, combine sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir until well combined.
Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in the boiling water. The batter will be thin.

It's so easy to make, and almost always turns out perfect. I trusted my little sister with the beating, and went on to make the frosting.

Pour into two pans. Or bake one at a time, but cake batter doesn't keep well for longer than twenty minutes after the wet ingredients are whisked in; the centre tends to fall into a hollow.

Bake until a toothpick inserted at the centre of the cake comes out clean. Cool for ten minutes. Flip it over on the serving plate.

For the Filling:

*Substitute for Cream Cheese:

Hang 400 ml of Nestle Dahi or thick, homemade yogurt on a muslin-cloth lined colander. Let it drain for 5-6 hours in the refrigerator. Use the block of yogurt cheese that has formed in lieu of cream cheese.

Use the left-over whey in chappati dough or drink it plain, for the protein.

1)Empty a tetrapak of Fresh Cream into a bowl. Put it in the freezer for 15 minutes.

I've always used Amul Fresh Cream or Nilgris' Fresh Cream; this time due to unavailability, I bought Milky Mist's Fresh Cream, which is THE best I've come across, albeit a little more expensive.

2)Whip the cream until soft peaks form. STOP when you see this, or even before this.

If you beat for a minute more, it'll split and form butter, guaranteed.

3)Beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar until combined and smooth. Fold in the whipped cream, and crushed oreos with the sandwiched cream and all.

Some of the oreos I bashed into powder, and some I made into bite-sized chunks.

Store in the refrigerator until needed.

For the Frosting:

1)Melt butter on medium heat. Stir in the cocoa, mix until smooth. Take off the heat and add the icing sugar and vanilla.

It'll look like this. Add milk by the spoonful, until it looks like this.

To assemble the cake:

1)On one layer, spread frosting on the rim so the cream won't ooze out.  Heap on all of the filling into the centre of the cake.

2)Place the other layer on top. Spread the frosting over the sides and the top. Decorate with Oreos or whatever.

Two things I'd change about this cake is:

1)Let it cool completely before flipping it over, so the cracks wouldn't have formed.

2)Try to track down proper Philadelphia Cream Cheese by Kraft. Don't get me wrong, the yogurt was fantastic in its texture and taste, but it IS NOT cream cheese.

Minor grievances aside, here's my piece de resistance!

I don't have a cross-section of the cake, sadly. Neither did I get to taste it altogether (obviously, I ate quite a bit of the individual components).

Maybe it wasn't The Best Cake, Ever. But I have it on good authority that it was pretty great. I'll choose to believe that, either way.

A sporadic burst of Healthy/Veggie Kebabs.

I went down to my native place this weekend. It's a little coastal village close to Kanyakumari and Tuticorin, and inhabited by people of Egyptian origin, with bits of Ceylon (they vehemently call Sri Lanka that, even now) and Tirunelveli thrown in.


All this fusion can only conjure up some good eats, right? Mostly, yes.

However. The past few days, my diet has consisted purely of meat curries, ghee rice and a baba-ghanoush like aubergine thingy. And rasam (fulfilling the veggie quotient?). First day, it's delicious. Second day, it's delicious-ish. Third day, um... Fourth day, Nooooooo!

Too much of good thing. I can't see another huge thambalam of kalyana saapadu for another month or two. Maybe I should try this aversion therapy/flooding to deal with my Nutella-addiction. Highly doubt anything will help now, I'm too far gone though.

Anyway.

My first meal back, mum asked me to cook something that had only vegetables and no oil, in order to cancel out those "rich" (I'm quoting the lady) breakfasts/lunches/dinners. Unless I'm a herbivore/vegan happy to be grazing on raw carrots, my options are slim to none. Random "surfing on the internet" (a little throwback to the nineties!) worked out in my favour, and I have these delicious veggie kebabs to prove it!

Make this when you want bajji, but have an inherent fear of deep-frying like I do(I've the war wounds to prove it). Make it if you count calories (it's a sad way to live. I haven't war wounds to prove this one, but trust me?). Make it because you're hungry, and you need to fill your 6 portions of veg for the day. Throw in a little paneer, if you have it in the chiller of your fridge. It has protein (fat, cholesterol, yes, yes. But we'll highlight the PROTEIN).


Veggie Kebabs:


Ingredients:

1 head of broccoli, cut up into florets- approximately 2 cups.
1/2 a head of cauliflower, cut into florets-approximately 2 cups.
1 onion, quartered.
1 tomato, quartered.


For the marinade:

3 tablespoons chickpea/gram flour (besan or kadala maavu)
1/2 cup yogurt (thick, please)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons sunflower oil (or any other neutral oil)
2 tablespoons ginger-garlic paste.
1 tsp garam masala.
1 tsp chilli powder (normal red masala)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp ground coriander seeds (dhania)
1 tsp carom seeds (ajwain/omum)
Salt, to taste.


Method:


1)Steam/boil the broccoli and cauliflower florets after washing them properly. If boiling, use salted water.
Boil, for taste. Steam, for health.

Drain it in a colander after a couple of minutes in the boiling water. Wash with cold water. Set aside.


2)For the marinade:

Mildly roast the gram flour for 2 to 3 minutes on medium heat. When you get the smoky aroma, stop. Let it cool. Once cool, add all of the other ingredients.

Mum grinds all the ginger-garlic she needs for a week and stores it in the fridge door. If you cook Indian food regularly, this works to your advantage.

Dhania needs to be pounded with a pestle and mortar or blitzed in the mixie. Ajwain can be added as it is though.

3)Toss all the veggies in the marinade gently. Cover the utensil with cling film or a lid and refrigerate for half an hour.

I've heard you can use this marinade for paneer, potatoes, tofu, etc. Another day.

4)Preheat the oven to 240 degrees celcius. Change the settings to Broil/Grill. If your oven can only bake, you can try that.

5) Spread the marinated veg out on lightly greased foil sheets. Broil for about ten minutes.



When they start charring slightly, flip it to the other side. You could also try it on a griddle, normal saucepan or an outdoor grill!

Recipe source: Sanjeev Kapoor and Veggie Belly.

I served mine straight out of the oven, with a final sprinkling of chaat masala and a couple of lemon wedges. Try rolling these vegetables into your roti with a spoonful of curd.

And tell me if you still think it's health food. Tastes way too yummy to classify.

A Feast Fit for Zeus/Kryptos by Willi.

I've found happiness at Kryptos.

OK, I'm being a little dramatic. I knew it would be good, of course, having enjoyed dinner at Tuscana very much. However, it takes a little more than good to impress me.

They did, and how.

People ask me if they can take my word because I've never actually bashed any restaurant on my blog. It's simply because I have neither the time nor the inspiration to write reviews of places I haven't enjoyed. Rest assured, if I'm confronted with disrespectful, bad service AND exorbitant pricing, you'll hear a earful from me. Not this time, though. This time, you're hearing a earful of sweet, sweet praise.

The food scene at Madras has morphed so much over the last decade. Growing up, Fine Dining  meant either The Golden Dragon at Taj Coramandel/Raintree at Taj Connemera/Peshawar at Chola Sheraton. All good places. Still. After dining at Kryptos by Willi, I'm left feeling like a proud mama; the scene has sprouted up like a teenage boy in such a short while!

Greek food at Madras would mean me, straining yogurt for hours, to come up with a little cup of Tzatziki. Pita bread would start with mixing honey and yeast, and waiting. Waiting for the dough to rise up. Pummeling it down. Waiting. Kneading. Waiting. Baking it in an oven, as opposed to a stone. It's a beautiful experience, bread is the reason of life and all that, but Hunger wins. Rule of life.

So. Some-lucky-times, excellent pita bread is served in front of you, five minutes after you sit down. Back to Kryptos. The hummus that comes on the side puts any hummus I've had here (including my enthusiastic efforts) to shame.
That, in a cozy room, that's pleasantly lit and has Middle-Eastern-sounding singers croon out of the speakers, with beautiful cutlery and well-done interiors. Almost like a painting.

The cold mezze consists of an array of cheese, olives, cold salads and cuts of meat (including octopus-a first for me at Madras!), an unlimited amount at Rs 450. The feta is crumbly and salty, like good feta should be. Um. I'm sold right there. But mum and the others found it repetitive; I strongly suggest you skip it if you're hypertensive or if your palate isn't attuned to cold, saline things.

The hot mezze was a universal favourite with the family though. Priced at Rs. 700-ish, a selection of appetizers are laid out. Four of each, I think, there were. We got the non-vegetarian one, the downside of which is that falafel is out!

Batter-fried squid, fried sardines, Arnipitakia and Kofte balls,
with a side of Muhammara (that's what I'm guessing the red dip was).

Calamari - most restaurants I go to has it on the menu, and then they disappoint me by saying it's unavailable. I ate most of the calamari, as if to make up for all the times I've been let down!

Sardines-this one I skipped, because I'm weird with fish that have tiny bones in them. Mum and Dad found it delicious, and they're not food fanatics like the rest of us.

Kofte balls - I'm not a big meat eater, and I loved it. I don't even think I need to speak for the carnivores that make my family. Anybody with an Indian palate would enjoy it.
Arnipitakia - things like this cement the fact that there is a God above. Tender minced meat, in an incredibly yummy sauce, wrapped up in a phyllo dough (puff pastry) and baked. Enough said. W has written some form of poetry on it, though.

If I could change one thing, I'd say introduce "Make your own platter!" where you could choose any four appetizers; but that certainly would take out the posh, though, no?

When it came to soup, half of us ordered a creamy, lemony chicken broth with rice and egg. It was all of those things, but a little too heavy and almost difficult to finish (even the 1-by-2 portion). The other half lucked out, as they ordered a steaming hot soup with carrots and meatballs; it was hearty without being heavy.

We next had the grilled seer fish souvlaki, the picture of which I couldn't snap, because it was eaten before the plate made contact with the table. It's got basil and saffron in the marinade, and it flakes like excellent fish should. I'm posting the link to their Facebook page, though, so you can salivate over it when you get bored at work (I do when I'm supposed to be studying).

Tzatziki, agapi mou/mi amor/my love.

Get the garlic rice on the side. It isn't much. But to quote a cliched statement, best things come in small packages. Flavourful little bits of heaven. Souvlakis comes along with salad and pita bread. Ask for some extra tzatziki/hummus and get to making little pita pockets. Assuming you have a well-behaved family, of course.

Moussaka, five seconds after its arrival.

And get the moussaka. I'm like Garfield when it comes to Lasagna (and most other things in life). Moussaka is the fully pimped-out, gourmet version of the lasagna. Sliced aubergine, zucchini, minced meat get layered with that narcotic-like red sauce, and a bechamel (the French white cheese sauce?) that I'm almost certain has feta in it.

Moussaka, five minutes after its arrival.

And because it still wasn't enough for my family, and we had in our midst along a very special guest of honour that day (smiley face), Dad ordered a chicken-pie like thing, which the waiter recommended. Chicken in melted cheese in a tart made of puff pastry. Most of the family found it kickass, but seriously, the Moussaka upstaged it too much for me.

Baked potato and salad on the side.

But by the time Desserts rolled aroud, I was fully regretting my decision to eat huge portions of the main course. Confucius say picture worth thousand words. OK, it was some person of Chinese origin, and Confucius the only Sino-philosopher I know.

So. Three thousand words follow.

To cut or not to cut it? That's the question.

Svingi. Batter-fried, gooey chocolate. This is what Dreams are Made Of. The vanilla gelato has vanilla beans in it. Yes, this has been the ONLY time I've chosen vanilla over chocolate.

The baklava was a reluctant decision. We ordered it only for completion's sake. This baklava shattered any previous bad experiences with syrupy-sweet, prepackaged baklava. This is the only baklava ever, that holds a candle to the ones Dad brings from Turkey. Even W, who knows his baklava, had good things to say about it.

The greek walnut cake with cinnamon-and-honey was light and nutty and buttery and all-around delicious; something I'll try in my own kitchen for sure. I'm going back here pretty soon, just for tea and dessert. The desserts cost about 150 bucks each, and the tea around 100 bucks, so kind of the Grecian equivalent of Latitute 13 or Sandy's.

So. Kryptos by Willi. It is pricey, yes (and sigh). But not disproportionately so. If there's a ring that needs to be put on a finger, a tough exam that has been passed, a salary that needs to be celebrated, go here. My brother, who vehementaly protested against it, saying arty little plates of garnish wasn't food (the guy's ideal Sunday lunch would be the Unlimited Buffet at Sigree), was a happy/satiated camper at the end of it.

Feast fit for a king, indeed (Incidentally, King = Not my brother!! A hypothetical king.)

Big Mmmm, people. Big Mmmm.

Pancakes/ Brunch, Part 1.

I used to love My Disney Kitchen as a child. The computer game, where you potter around the kitchen, baking cakes and popping corn? No clue? Thought so much. Normal childhood, huh?

But, seriously. Nothing evoked the psychic phase of my childhood digestion (read: salivation), like that cartoon picture of a stack of pancakes, with the maple syrup dripping off it, and a white square of butter occupying the place of pride.

I practically nagged everyone going to the USA to bring back those cheerfully-yellow packs of Bisquick (back then, Madras didn't stock them. Trust me, I tried hunting them down). Ninth-standard cookery classes paid off though: I finally learnt how to make pancakes from scratch. Do I hear the green-carders heaving a sigh of relief?

It's easy to screw up pancakes (Read: rubbery, heavy, holey pancakes). Just as easy to churn out the perfect stack of fluffy, steaming pancakes, though.
It's also easy to buy yourself a pack of Bisquick or Betty Crocker's pancake mix. It's even easier to go down the DIY route. Easier, and more fulfilling.

You need two bowls, one griddle, and things that could be dug out of the average Indian pantry. Make it your own, putting in whatever you like-chocolate chips, fruit, nuts. Reserve some batter for the old-fashioned type pancakes-with-syrup and butter, though.

Pancakes!

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour (maida)
1/4 cup sugar, powdered
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup yoghurt (does not have to be thick)
1 cup milk
2 eggs, at room temperature
1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled

Method:

1) Combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a large bowl. All your dry ingredients, basically. Mix well.

This is the only time I've advocated the use of homemade
 or lowfat yoghurt!

2)In another bowl, combine the milk, yoghurt, melted butter and eggs. Whisk it. I say, Whisk it. Whisk it good. Teh teh teh teh teh.


I'll stop singing.

3)Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients. Fold in the wet batter. DO NOT OVERMIX.

It's OK if there are little lumps or streaks of flour. To overmix would be the Dementor's kiss to the pancakes.

4)Heat the griddle (any normal non-stick dosa tawa would do). Mildly grease it with butter/cooking spray. You do not have to keep adding butter or oil for each pancake. Yay.

5)Ladle out some of the batter (around 1/4 cup) onto the warm griddle). Make mini-pancakes or a nice big one, but you need a thickness of atleast 1.5 cm.

Ideal time to flip it over!

Add in the chocolate chips/nuts/apple bits if you are planning to.


When you see bubbles burst on the surface, flip them over. They should be a nice, golden brown on the cooked side. A couple of minutes on each side would be my guesstimate.

You could also try shapes. When I do, though, people play "Let's guess what it is?!" over breakfast.



It's a heart, OK? Once I'm done cutting the bits off, at least.



A couple of teaspoons of Hershey's chocolate sauce finishes it off!

6)Best served straight off the griddle, but if you want to keep them all warm until later, stow them away in the oven set to "Keep Warm" option. If you don't have that option, just reflip them until warm on the griddle again. I would not recommend this though.

Recipe: Adapted from AJ's Cooking Secrets.

Serving options:
You can have them straight, but they won't satiate your sweet tooth, if you have one. So, here you go.

Honey+butter.
Chocolate chips in the batter+chocolate sauce
Chocolate chips batter+chocolate sauce+chocolate ice cream/whipped cream. (Just kidding. Mostly).
Pecans/walnuts/almonds in the batter+Maple syrup.
Sprinkling of powdered sugar (if you can't stand syrup early in the morning.)
Fruits+whipped cream.
Bananas+Nutella.
Strawberry Coulis.

Strawberry Coulis:

1 cup strawberries, hulled.
2 tbsp water (I used the liquid left over from a cherry tin for an extra twang)
2 tbsp white sugar

1)Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stir until the sugar has completely dissolved.

2)Cool, beat with a hand-blender or in a mixie. Sieve.

It tastes way better than it looks!

 I completely skipped this step (as you can see), because I'd crossed my threshold by then. Store in the refrigerator for up to a week, covered. Leaps better than any storebought cough-syrupy strawberry topping.
.
Ooh. One more very important step. Dig in.