Banana Leaf: Not just an Udipi

I've posted my review of Banana Leaf (near Four Bungalows Market, Versova, Andheri (W), Mumbai) on burrp.com. This recently opened restaurant comes from the stable of Mahesh Lunch Home, Salt 'N' Pepper and Malgudi Days and lives up to its lineage. Notes from my first visit below:

“According to Ayurveda, banana has medicinal value which is why most South Indians serve meals on banana leaves” – is what is inscribed on one of the walls of this up-scale suburban restaurant. May be true, but it’s not what will make me go back to Banana Leaf. I intend to frequent it to enjoy its authentic yet reasonable South Indian fare.

Unlike Shiv Sagar, Banana Leaf does not offer Southie fast-food. Nor does it branch into other cuisines such as Mexican and Italian. It does have a large variety of idlis, dosas and uttapams though. Mini meals such as paneer gassi with appams are also included. The menu tries its best to stick to the authentic (Iyer dosa, Chettinad Spicy dosa) but experiments with cosmopolitan palates too. Try the Chilly Potato dosa to know what I mean. Cheese Mysore Masala dosa is recommended on days when one is famished and doesn’t mind a few extra calories. Though we didn’t try the idlis some seemed quite interesting – Khatta meetha tomato idli and the Sri Lankan style idli with potato stew, in particular. For those who would rather stick to basics, Udipi style masala dosa and plain rice idli are worth a try.

What makes the experience complete is its true to the theme ambience. Mogra flowers on every table, caricatures (like the RK Narayan / Malgudi Days book-covers) on the walls, mural of the Madurai temple at a one end and plantain leaves all over, transports you down South. If it doesn’t, then the South Indian classical on the ears surely will.

Few more brownie points go to its service. A waiter actually told the six of us to not order six dosas as it would be too much for us! And he was right. Each dosa comprises of about eight stuffed pieces – almost like having a 12-inch pizza by oneself. As mentioned earlier, the food is reasonably priced. Throw in a dessert with a big dosa and it would be about Rs. 80-100 per head.

And now for some downsides. The place is quite noisy, especially on a weekend. Almost thirty minutes wait to get a table on a Saturday afternoon inspite of calling before hand and trying to reserve a table. Apparently they don’t reserve tables on the phone but when we reached the restaurant we found that some tables were pre-booked. The restaurant is pure vegetarian, which could be a boon for some and bane for others.

All in all, it is worth stepping into this not-very-Udipi.

Happy Birthday P&C!

It's been a year since I started blogging. Early hours of March 9, 2007 is when I wrote my first post as a lark. I wasn't sure then how long I would last, but I've grown to love this medium. It's been an eventful year - lots of food trivia, recipes (more from friends than me), reviews on food-writing and restaurants, serious foodie opinions and funny kitchen anecdotes. As P&C moved into the second semester of its existence, I put down a goal of 52 posts by the end of the year. Unfortunately, I just touched 40! But a new year brings with it a fresh set of promises...

The cake below has been baked by me in celebration. For those interested, there is really no recipe behind it. Just Betty Crocker's chocolate fudge cake mix, Hershey's chocolate sauce and a compote of fresh strawberries.

Here's to P&C!

Weekend Cook-in: Parathas & Hot Chocolate

I made cabbage-paneer parathas for breakfast last weekend. In keeping with the Oscars' spirit, I would like to thank Seema's cook Rukhiya for making the yummy parathas in the first place; Seema for bringing them to me ; Rajesh for passing down the recipe to Seema; and Tarla Dalal for thinking up yet another way of keeping so many people occupied for hours making something that disappears in minutes.

Here's a free-style account of how I went about it:
1) Cabbage-paneer parathas: Grate about 200-250 g of cabbage. Shallow fry it in about 2 tsps of oil until it loses its rawness. Add a dash of salt while frying. Once done, add fresh cut corriander leaves, 2 green chillies, 1 clove crushed garlic, pepper, red chilly powder, jeera powder (all 1/2 tsp) and salt (1 tsp). Crush 100-150 g paneer and add it to the cabbage mixture. Keep aside the stuffing. Make the dough for parathas. Add 1/2 tsp of salt while making the dough. Over time I have learnt that the dough needs to be stiffer than the chapatti dough, though not as stiff as the puris dough.
Now the laborious part starts. Divide the dough into equal portions and flatten each portion into a roti. Put the stuffing in the center and fold the sides of the roti. Again flatten it out, but this time carefully because you don't want the stuffing to spill out. Fry the paratha on both sides with 1/2 tsp of oil or butter. The size of the paratha depends on the amount of dough per piece which again depends on your eating capacity. For me, just one paratha of the size shown is enough for breakfast. Green chilly chutney or tomato sauce can accompany the paratha on the side.

2) Hot chocolate: I took the easy way out. Put 1/2 tsp Nutella (all time fave) + 1 tbsp water + 1/2 tsp sugar in each cup. Mixed it till it became a smooth liquidy mixture. Poured hot milk on top of it. For the froth effect, please pour from a good vertical distance (just like filter coffee).

More weekend trysts in the kitchen coming up. Let me know what you think of it.

A bride sweet enough to eat

That was the title of a newspaper article I chanced upon a few weeks back. I filed it for the trivia section of P&C and here it is now...

A lady in Dallas, TX celebrated a decade of married life by getting a cake that was a life-size replica of herself! Here are some statistics to wow you:

1) The 5 ft. cake weighed 181 kgs (far more than the woman itself!) and used up about 25 kgs of sugar and 200 eggs.

2) It took about 5 weeks to make the cake, but months to find the bakery that could do the job.

3) The cake cost the couple Rs. 2.3 lakhs and was served to about 500 guests.

The original plan was to get two cakes, for both the husband and wife, but they ran out of time. So the wife went ahead and fulfilled her childhood dream. She says: "Growing up, I always wanted a doll in my likeness. So when we started planning our wedding [party], I told my husband I wanted a unique wedding where my dream would come true."

The article I read was accompanied by a picture that I cannot scan. But here's a manipulated (and funnier) version I found on a website. To add to it, the husband's name is Innocent!

Hi, I'm the Chef! - Part 2

I came across this (pic below) on one of my visits to La Patisserie, a bakery at Foodland (Juhu). Not only does this poster encourage interaction with the chef but also puts him on a high pedestal as an expert willing to share tips with interested customers. He is not positioned as your in-the-face service executive. So someone is obviously thinking or reading my blog!

What they say and what they serve!

Coincidentally I came across a book and a website today that pretty much poke you at the same spot on the funny bone. The book is 'Entry From Backside Only: Hazaar Fundaas of Indian-English', a humorous take on English-gone-wrong in India, as natives struggle to not lose sight of their national and regional langauages. Hinglish is now becoming reality and I won't be surprised if it emerges as a separate body of knowledge just as Indian-Chinese food has!

The website is Engrish; but this time around the joke is on Japan. The site has pages and pages of evidence on English mistakes that appear in Japanese advertising and product design. I couldn't help handpicking a few from their Menus section that will make you smile, if not laugh.

Are they bred in Japan or imported from France?

Surely, it can’t be that crappy…

The Orange juice would do just fine…thank you!

Preethi's Choco-Cherry Cake

My friend Preethi (she has been mentioned before on my blog...lucky gal!) has taken to baking recently. Her motivation: the oven in her new home in NY. She hastily adds that her sister is an almost professional baker and of course she (Preethi) can't be left too far behind. Sibling rivalry surely brings out the best in people (please don't frown now ok?).

The pic above is of the mocha cake with choco-cherry frosting that she recently made. And though she says "this may be the ugliest cake ever, but it is the YUMMIEST cake ever" I tend to disagree. It looks the YUMMIEST cake ever! I'm not sure whether I'll be able to make it exactly as she describes it below (I don't have the same oven as her, you know) but if it looks even close to that pic above, I would consider myself successful.

I recommend everyone to put this delicious looking healthy cake (if you don't believe me check the ingredients) on their 'to-make-soon' list. Do drop in a note to Preethi in this space if you have any questions or would just like to say thank-you.

Ingredients:
- 1.5 cups whole-wheat flour (not the extra fibrous one, even if you’re using Pillsbury etc. make sure you sieve it)
- 2 large eggs
- 4 tsp oil or melted butter
- Half tsp cinnamon
- 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tsp cocoa powder
- 1 cup sugar or as much as you want depending on how sweet you like it (preferably brown sugar)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- Half tsp baking powder
- A pinch of salt
- Half cup whole milk

Method:
1) Sieve the (already once-sieved) flour, salt, cocoa, baking powder and baking soda together.

2) Beat the eggs, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla extract in a bowl.

3) When the mixture is nice and fluffy, start adding the flour mixture little by little and spin in one direction.

4) The batter must be of pouring consistency, just like idli/dosa batter. Add as much milk as it takes to bring the mixture to this consistency (it probably won’t take more than half a cup).

5) Use two baking dishes of the same size and shape and pour the batter equally into both.

6) Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes (make sure you preheat the oven at least 10 minutes before you start baking).

7) Once the cakes are cooled, cut the top layer and all four sides of both before frosting.

8) Cherries and strawberries go best with chocolate frosting. You can use tinned ones if you don’t find fresh ones, they actually taste better.

Mocha Variation: If you like mocha flavor, add 1 tsp instant coffee to the flour mixture or half a cup of liquid filtered coffee.

(C)lick! - Orange-in-an-orange ice cream

Something unique I found in a wedding: orange flavoured ice cream inside a real orange. I wonder how they managed to scoop out the pulp with the skin remaining intact. Must be quite a feat.

PS: Please excuse my un-manicured fingers in the picture.

Of knaves and knives

Few would disagree with me when I say that the knife is probably the most important kitchen equipment. Few would also know that kitchen knives are of various types, each assisting in a specific type of activity in the process of preparing a dish or a meal. For instance, the bread knife has serrated edges to cut through hard crust and soft insides of a bread loaf more easily. Then there are meat knives which are further classified into the carving, boning, slicing varieties. An exhaustive list of the different types of knives is available on Wikipedia.

However the most intriguing of them all are the Asian knives. Essentially of Japanese and Chinese origin, it is said that these knives are becoming popular with chefs around the world because they are shorter and thinner than the general purpose knives and easier to use for more intricate cutting. And it is not just their shape but their composition too that make them interesting. Unlike our Indian stainless steel types, most Japanese knives are made of high carbon steel; and some have high carbon steel (blade's edge) and soft iron (blade's body) forged together. The Santoku knife, used in most Japanese kitchens, deserves a special mention here. Shown above, this 3-in-1 knife (in layman lingo) can achieve the tasks of slicing, dicing and mincing!

Ever wondered how chef Martin Yan from the popular television series 'Yan Can Cook' managed to whip up his dishes so effortlessly? His Chinese Cleaver (a type of Asian knife used by chefs in that part of the world) could be half the answer.

Entry for Click - Jalebi: The God of Sweet Things

I’ve made it in the nick of time for Click, the food photography contest hosted by Bee and Jai on Jugalbandi. The theme for this month is NOODLES, but kindly enough it doesn’t restrict it to just the stereotypical Maggi types and lets pastas and chaklis enter the race too.

So keeping with the theme, I’ve picked jalebi - deep-fried concentric noodles oozing of sugar syrup. In the days of mousse and cheesecake, jalebi stands out as quite a plain-jane dessert item. But in the yesteryears jalebi was the king’s delight. Said to have origins in the state of Punjab, jalebi preferably coupled with rabri (thickened milk) and garnished with pistachios, is still a hit at many weddings across the Indian subcontinent.

This picture was taken at a suburban farsan shop that attracts hordes of people at any time of the day for the not-so-staple meal of two samosa-paus with 100 gms jalebi. For Rs. 25 it’s far more filling (and may I add tasty) than a McDonald’s meal. The entry below (taken with a Sony Handycam) is one from the string of pictures that describes the mass-production of jalebis, a process that the shop has mastered over time. I will soon be putting up a short video describing the going-ons in this shop as part of a series on Mumbai street food. But for now do relish my interpretation of the god of sweet things.