Anda Bharta !!

The simplest yet kinda interesting side dish when you are looking for some quick fix dinner ..
As the name suggests its mashed boiled eggs ..

But you could glamorize it a bit and add some zing and zest to it ..

All Stuff In - Waiting to be mashed !!

• Boil two eggs .. (I prefer them soft boiled rather than hard boiled since I like to see the yolk still moist and yellow)

• Finely .. In fact very finely chop up some onions, green chillies, tomato, a few sprigs of coriander and a couple of mint leaves ..

• Add some freshly crushed pepper ..

• A pinch of chaat masala

• Red chilli powder ..

• A squeeze of lime ..

• A pinch of powdered sugar and salt to taste ..

• Last but important ingredient - pour in a tablespoon of mustard oil

• Olive oil or even vegetable oil will do, but mustard oil gives it a character which the other two may not be able to .. :-)

Now mash all the above ingredients together into a nice bharta .. and you are done !!!

This could go really well with some hot white rice and dal-fry , or even some chappati and dal-fry ..

Saffron - Re-defining taste !!

There are very rare occasions in my life when I have complained less about the food in a group dinner outing ..
Today was one of those days!
Since, I will be leaving Manipal in a few days, Pavan and me, with our better halves decided to go out for a good dinner.

Last time around we had seen this new place called "SAFFRON" on the way to malpe.
Its on the left hand side midway between Udupi bus-stand and Karavali cross.

Well, so we reach there all dressed up and smelling nice.
Its on the third floor and the building is nice and posh. even the elevator plays Kenny G's music !!
When we were ushered in, the restaurant looked all chic and the ambiance was very good.
Nice seating arrangement, nice curtains, good music, TV and stuff ..
Even the menu book said Multi-cuisine, although Indian and Chinese were the only stuff .. Well technically more than one cuisine is called multi-cuisine, ain't it ??
The tag line said : Saffron- redefining taste !! Ironic, very very ironic ..

But thats where all the good things ended, because when after a good hard look at the menu we decided to order, we found that most, if not all things in the menu were really not meant to be served .. :-) They were there for literary purposes only ..
I hate it when the waiter suggests alternatives based on what he thinks we should have and not what I would want to ..
But he suggested and we chose - Baby Corn chilli and Hara Bhara kabab for starters .
The Chilli stuff was not bad, but the kababs were horrible. Big mounds of flour - green coloured and uncooked and sticky .. Yuck !!

For main course, the veggies ordered tawa paneer and dal fry and me a mutton roast masala, with some rotis and kulchas ..
Guess what ..
When the food arrived, panner tawa turned out to be 5 pieces of panner lightly fried on a tawa with some salt and pepper .. and the best part, its cost - 109 rupees.
What on earth was that doing in the main course section of the menu ?

So, to do damage control, we ordered a veg kadai ( again a waiter suggestion !! ) .. Did not turn out to be good either ..
The rotis/kulchas were very tough ..

The only saving grace was the mutton roast masala ..
I was lucky I guess, coz the kulcha and the mutton made for a good and wholesome combination !!

So, all in all, we were just too happy to get out of there .. but not before coughing up 700 odd rupees for some bad bad food !!!

CottonCandy

To improve our mood and our taste buds, we hit the baskin robbins ice cream parlor in Manipal..
Man, are the ice-creams here good ?? I took the cotton candy flavour .. It was amazing !! see pic ..
My wife chose the sitaphal(custard apple) one ..
Pavan chose the bubblegum flavor, and his wife a safe vanilla and chocolate ..

That completed the evening's adventures, but not before we packed ourselves some more ice-cream from the Natural's ice-cream parlor in front of CCD ..

Moral of the story :: If you are feeling adventurous, may I say reckless, you may want to try the place .. SAFFRON ..
Else, if you want some real privacy and a nice ambiance with food being the last thing on your mind (during the whole evening, we were the only ones in the place!!) ,
This is the place for you ..

Else, in plain English - "Just stay away!"

Thai Red Curry !!

The secret ingredient !

This is a very simple yet authentic thai dish, provided you get your hands on to the right ingredients here ..


What you need ::

• A pack of the Thai red curry paste from Manipal stores in TC or from any store that sells spices of the south-east Asia.

• Some basil leaves -- Can be substituted for Coriander and mint leaves (I like to have fresh leaves in there and these are the best I can get!)

• A packet of Coconut milk

• Some diced vegetables like Carrots/green peas/mushroom and capsicum. If you have a couple of small pieces of pineapple, then it would be great ..

• Chicken(with skin) or prawns ..

• And a few cloves of Garlic

• Salt,sugar and chilli to taste ..

How to do ::

Boil the chicken to a semi-tender state, meaning do not boil it completely since it is going to simmer for sometime in the pan later too. Keep the stock. You are gonna need it later !

In a pan, add a bit of vegetable oil, heat it and add the diced vegetables. Saute them, but they need not be cooked till tender .. Remove and keep aside ..

In the same pan, add some more oil ..
Add the crushed garlic, and the Thai Red curry paste ..
Fry them for 2 minutes, till they turn slightly brown and add the chicken stock .
Bring it to a boil and add the vegetables and pineapple pieces (if you have them)

Thai Red Curry !!

Next add all the contents of the pack of  coconut milk Add the fresh green leaves .. (basil or coriander or pudina or all)
Finally, add some salt and sugar and some extra chilli powder as per taste ..


Allow it to boil on low flame for quite sometime, till the gravy has been reduced to a medium consistency ..

There you are done !! Simple enough ..

Now make yourself some fluffy steamed white rice and sit down to enjoy a great meal with your loved ones..




(Note :: You may substitute chicken with prawns, but they need not be pre-boiled. Just add them along with the vegetables before adding the water )