Monthly Archives: August 2014

Shakshouka

Posted on by Standard 4

Shakshouka is a Tunisian / Arabic dish of poached eggs in a spiced sauce of tomatoes and onions. My hubby loves this. I usually make it for dinner for him and a bit extra for a one time breakfast. See the picture below and I know you would be salivating.

shakshouka

shakshouka

The dish is very easy to prepare. The only time to be careful is in getting the egg whites cooked completely and at the same time, the yolk should be firm but running when you break into it. Have it with any bread. I usually served it with garlic bread. This time it was a sliced herb-ed footlong.

shakshouka with sliced herbed footlong

shakshouka with sliced herbed footlong

 

Marble Cake

Posted on by Standard Reply

Marble cake is one of of the few sponge cakes I like. I’m totally a cake person with layers of thick chocolate icing. But this cake definitely is the perfect partner to tea. Actually, its an anytime cake

marble cake slice

marble cake slice

I made this cake for a friend as she likes only sponge cakes! I made it in a heart shape and then we sliced it up as we ate. I made this cake after about 4 years, but fingers-crossed, it turned up perfect. Yay!

McCain Potato Cheese Shotz

Posted on by Standard Reply

I bought a packet of these sometime back. I was having a party and wanted something that was cheesy and could be hussled up in a hurry – didn’t want to waste time in the kitchen when I had a group of about 1o guests to mingle with.

Potato Cheese Shotz - pack shot

Potato Cheese Shotz – pack shot

I tried these out a few days before the party, just to be sure they were tasty. Glad I tried them out before the party – the shotz were sooooo average.

A packet of 250 gms for Rs. 110. Reasonable.

Potato Cheese Shotz

Potato Cheese Shotz

So, for my party, I bought 3-4 large packets of McCain Smiles and they were a hit with the group.

Shan – Bombay Biryani Masala

Posted on by Standard Reply
Shan - Bombay Biryani Masala

Shan – Bombay Biryani Masala

Made mutton biryani recently with this. Turned out very good. Its easy to make and turns out really good. Like it mentions, it really does serve 6-8 persons.

Mutton Biryani - using Shan Bombay Biryani Masala

Mutton Biryani – using Shan Bombay Biryani Masala

 

Brand: Shan Bombay Biryani Masala

Net weight: 60 gms

Price: Rs. 60

Validity: 3 years

Rating: 4 on 5

Mutton Biryani

Posted on by Standard Reply

My hubby loves mutton Biryani – who doesn’t?

I took the easy way out this time. I used Shan’s Bombay Biryani Masala. (See following post to know more about the masala). The result –

Mutton Biryani - using Shan Bombay Biryani Masala

Mutton Biryani – using Shan Bombay Biryani Masala

To cook the mutton, it took an hour but must say that the result was good. I got an 8 on 10 from hubby dear for this. What I liked about making with this ready masala was that it was easy to make and the biryani was not dry. It had a good thickened gravy-finish. Served it with kachumbar raita.

Mutton Biryani with kachumbar raita

Mutton Biryani with kachumbar raita

Bhee (lotus stem) Aloo

Posted on by Standard Reply
Bhee Aloo

Bhee Aloo

The above is a dish Sindhis prepare often. Bhee (lotus stem) is an ingredient used by both Sindhis and Punjabis, but Sindhi’s use it in many dishes and cook it in a variety if ways. Punjabi’s mainly make pakodas from bhee. Bhee needs to be eaten a few times to relish its taste. I enjoy the thick gravy dish with either chapati, rice or even pav!

Saboodana (Sago) Khichdi

Posted on by Standard Reply
saboodana khichdi

saboodana khichdi

I absolutely love Saboodana (sago) khichdi. Its almost soul food for me – almost. I try and restrict this dish to just twice a month.

What I love about this khichdi and even a poha is, that they taste divine and yet are so simple to make. Saboodana khichdi takes just under 10 minutes to prepare (saboodana has to be soaked 4 hrs prior to cooking) and tastes best eaten fresh and hot.

Pizza Planet Sizzler

Posted on by Standard Reply

I am falling in love with this place!

restaurant front

restaurant front

Last weekend I went there in the evening for a quick bite. Its located at Woodhouse Road, Colaba. Pizza Planet Sizzler is actually a home-delivery concept restaurant, but accommodates walk-ins (like me). They have just 2 tables with 4 chairs each. I enjoyed sitting there, eating hot food with a chilled Coke and watching it rain outside.

I ordered my favourite snack – Chili Cheese Toast, a Coke and my hubby ordered an 8″ Chicken Barbecue Pizza.

The food arrived in 10 minutes. The food – piping hot and the drink – chilled – PERFECT!

The Chili Cheese toast was excellent. It just had a tad too much of coriander but the flavour was robust – delectable cheese-burst in the mouth with just the right amount of hot chilies. I added a few drops of Tabasco to give it an additional zing -yum….. This gets an 8 on 10 rating.

Priced at Rs. 16o. It would be nice to share these 8 pieces if having it for a quick bite or then its just right for a wholesome snack.

Chili Cheese Toast

Chili Cheese Toast

The Chicken Barbecue Pizza was fantastic as well.

Chicken Barbeque Pizza

Chicken Barbeque Pizza

Perfectly made, priced at Rs. 260, its an absolute delight. It gets an 8 on 10 as well. Its got a good amount of chunky chicken especially when you compare the size and number of pieces you would get from another pizza place, say a Domino’s.

Tonight for dinner, I ordered home a Vegetable Shashlik Sizzler. Its a sizzler with a veg patty, spinach, veggies, potato wedges and noodles in pepper sauce. I was told the delivery time would be 30-40 minutes and voila – my doorbell rang in 30 mins. Piping hot sizzler delivered to my doorstep avec sizzling plate as well. (they said they would collect the sizzler plate the next day). The top of the plate came enclosed in foil, so you can really imagine the food was really very very hot. We actually had to wait a couple of minutes before diving in, to eat!

Veg Shashlik sizzler

Veg Shashlik sizzler

I give this a 9 on 10 rating. Only a very hearty eater can finish this on his own, else it does require a bit of help to finish-up the plate. Just the thing to eat on a rainy night at home. Its priced at Rs. 475 – reasonable but would have preferred it if it was priced slightly lower. But I still will order this when I feel like a pepper sauce sizzler.

I would highly recommend this place for ordering a great meal at home. ANYTIME.