Punjab Sind Shrikand

Good ready-made Shrikand is difficult to find. This evening we picked up the Punjab Sind Shrikand - Kesar and Mango flavours. Good stuff - Must try.

Not sure of the availability in retail stores but you can find it at the Punjab Sind store at Breach Candy. 

Sunday Foodie Delights

One of those Sundays which turns out to be a complete culinary delight.

Lunch at Nairobi Java Coffee House where I relished the Mushroom Chicken Breast.. I really like the mushroom sauce they make. And the fries are always tasty at Java. A meal so good can't be without a wonderful dessert to leave the sweetness of the afternoon lingering for a long time in your mouth. The massive Chocolate Cookie Sundae was ordered. Yes massive is an understatement - look at the size of those choco chip cookies and the 3 scoops of ice creams. Phew!

Choco Chip Sundae at Nairobi Java House

As if the lunch wasn't enough that the wife decided to make the dinner too very interesting. It was home cooked panini and a lovely bottle of red wine accompanied it. Pearly Bay has been my favorite since I first tasted it a few years back with some close friends in Mumbai.

Red wine & Panini 

Truly a delightful Sunday this has been. 2 more days of holidays in Kenya ... Here is to more good food and drinks.

Pastry delights in Nairobi

If you ever happen to be in Nairobi there are some places you must visit for trying their lovely pastries, desserts and cakes.

Alexandre in Yaya Centre is one such place. My favorites there include the Strawberry Tart and Chocolate Eclair.

Chocoholic weekend

And this was what the weekend was all about.

Powered by @rishyka of Chocoholic - Chocolates and more.

Oreo Brownie

 Walnut Brownie

Nutella Brownie

Bandra Ride: Moshe's & San Churros

It's said that an empty mind is a devil's workshop but in my case it becomes more of a foodie. For reasons, that I shall not get into here I have been off work for a while and have been enjoying the "me time". And a part of this free time has also been trying to satisfy various food cravings and dining at some interesting places. 

So we picked Thursday Night for a drive to Bandra and meet a long lost and soon to be married couple friend. Sancho's had been the second choice and after learning about the 45 mins wait, it remained second. Moshe's the first choice was picked and we took the rickety elevator [we called it the world's fastest] to the 1st floor where Moshe's is located. This outlet is a little more spacious than the one in Cuffe Parade. It doesn't have the outdoor seating but in this summer heat I am not sure if that's to be missed. 

I always enjoy dining company who take on the responsibility to order the starters and make good recommendations from their previous experiences. So we started the evening with some jalapeno cheese fondue and labneh with grilled pita bread. I've not been such a fondue fan, so I think I over-liked the labneh. 

There are some cuisines where sharing is just not happening. You order a dish, eat it by yourself and there is complete satisfaction. Thanks to my 2 month stay in Kenya, I had enough of pasta and I skipped it for something more interesting - the Sicilian Risotto. I would have killed my friend who said it looked more like 'masala khichdi'. ghadero saalo. And I think it was a good meal choice - highly recommended. 

Other dishes which came to the table were - Oven Baked Crepe Roulade, different and exotic. The Corn Polenta although I didn't enjoy the 1 bite, wife said it was nice. The all popular Moshe's Penne was nice as always, said the recently engaged friend's bubbly to-be wife. Cheers! 

The black currant ice-tea was a disaster. I don't know how could they go wrong only to realise I ordered the Fizz rather than an ice-tea. Avoid it. Better stick to the ice-tea.

Service was prompt and although it was a busy evening I liked the fact that we were not being pushed into ordering or completing our meal. I think we sat there a full 20 mins after our meal was done thinking if we should go for the desserts or no. Not because we trying to balance our calorie or sugar in-take but because we had decided to do a short trip to the near-by new spanish dessert/coffee shop - San Churros. 

"Churros" are simple fritters that look something like a big “French fry,” but taste nothing like one. They are the Spanish equivalent of doughnuts. Instead of a ring shape, like a doughnut, churros are long straight or slightly curled lengths that usually have ridges. Eaten while warm and sprinkled with sugar or drizzled with honey. 

From: About.com

So they serve Churros in 3 sizes - 4 6 and 9 pieces with a choice of 3 sauces but you can order only 2. We picked milk chocolate and dark chocolate. The 3rd one I think was White Chocolate. Not the most satisfying dessert so if you're looking for something more exotic and wholesome see the other items like a 7 layered chocolate cake or the huge tiramisu serving. Go for it! 

It wasn't the best season to relish it but the hot chocolate with spice and cinnamon is awesome. Told the wife we must come back on a lovely rainy evening or winter night to enjoy this one. 

San Churros is a delight in a city like Mumbai thanks to the spacious seating area. You've got to order your stuff at the cashier on ground floor and then can choose to occupy the huge comfy chairs and sofas on 1st floor till they deliver your goods. Was a bit noisy, but I'll just blame the vacation time which got all the kids out even at that late hour. 

Cocoberry Frozen Yogurt - New ice-cream alternative

Saturday was a day in the suburbs. After dinner at the Pali Village Cafe we decided to try the new dessert place - Cocoberry at Pali Naka, Bandra.

Cocoberry offers frozen flavoured yogurt. We tried the blueberry yogurt topped with blueberries, white choco chips and chocolate strands. It's very different from biting into a regular ice-cream and I think it's even more healthy because it says non-fat premium frozen yogurt.

 Nice and smooth just that I think next time I would avoid the white choco chips - just too hard and irritates the whole smooth feel on the tongue.

Our medium sized serving with 3 toppings costed Rs.179/- 

I don't think they have any other branch currently, so Bandra is your only bet.
Go, try it.

Cocoberry Frozen Yogurt
Opp. Gold's Gym, Pali Naka. Bandra (WEST)
Call: 67258572, 67258573

Bull's Eye at Taj Hari Mahal

This is the awesome dessert - Bull's Eye. Chocolate dessert with a lavish scoop of vanilla ice-cream. Don't miss it if you ever land there.

Served at Taj Hari Mahal, Jodhpur.

Kulfi Falooda - home made

Nani is a fabulous magician in the kitchen. A few weeks back she spent sometime with us and whipped up a delicious kulfi falooda for us ... Couldn't binge much due to the severe cold I have been suffering these days .. but what the hell, who can resist something so yum!

Pastries from 210 degrees

Thanks to good friend Ankit we were introduced to a pastry shop in the Churchgate area - Samrat's 210 degrees. On Saturday I treated the family to some tasty treats from this little place.

On the left is the Swiss Truffle which was tasty but a little dry and recommended eating would be with a scoop of Vanilla ice-cream. And on the right is the Chocolate Mousse Cake - soft and delicious. All pastries sold here are egg-less.

At a time when most pastry shops don't sell anything less than a 100 bucks these are a great deal at Rs.60 or so and there is no compromise on the size or taste. So next time you are around the place drop in treat yourself to one of the many delicacies.

Choco Fudge Fantasy at New Zealand Natural

If you are a chocolate freak, you're going to love this one. It's Choco Fudge Fantasy available at New Zealand Natural Ice-Cream in Atria Mall, Worli.



What's got into it?
Chocolate Dutch, Chocolate Mud Caramel, Chocolate Fudge, Chocolate Caramel, lots of whipped cream, chocolate crunchies showered on the top with nice chocolate sauce and a chocolate stick to lick on.

It could have been made a little more colder by larger scoops of ice-cream but then aren't we getting greedy there. They have a Double Scoop Sundae (Rs.130/-) and Triple Scoop Sundae (Rs.170/-) on offer. Go get it, that's what I am going to say for this one.

Eggless Strawberry Muffins

Nitika made the weekend rather interesting. She baked some delicious Strawberry Muffins. Nice, very nice.



Recipe courtesy: Madhavi at My Veggie World.

Tastes of Delhi

A few weeks back we were in Delhi to attend a Punjabi wedding. Besides all the exotic wedding food we had the opportunity to step out and experience some of Delhi's eateries.

Chocolate Crunchie at The Pavilion, Maurya Sheraton
Delicious and sinfully chocolate loaded, this was a great treat at 1AM in one of Delhi's very upmarket and popular coffee shop. Powered with chocolate, cookies and vanilla & butterscotch ice-cream.

Power of Pranthas at Chandni Chowk
It was a Sunday morning adventure for all of us to visit this all so popular Chandni Chowk area of Delhi. Being a Sunday we were relieved of all the traffic hassles. After a few phone calls to local relatives and cousins and we decided to eat at The Power of Pranthas - Pt. Gaya Prasad Shiv Charan, a rather crowded outlet in the paranthewali galli. You could see the local rush feasting on the hot paranthas with achar, aloo ki sabji and a large glass of chaas or lassi.

We decided to ask for suggestions to start with, but were put off when he recommended the rabri paratha and decided to go safe by starting with tomato paratha, aloo and paneer and even tried the papad ka paratha.

Maybe it was all the crazy fun but I really didn't think the food was anything lip-smacking but surely something worth experiencing when you are in Delhi. The approach isn't very pleasant and might a be a bit difficult if you don't have somebody to guide you around; so get some instructions before you step off.

Nirula's at Connaught Place
Nirula's is a name which is close to every Delhiites heart. A place popular for it's pizzas I think this should be some competition to the Pizza Hut's and McDonald's around there. Impressively designed interiors with lots of red color this was a good place to have our first outing in Delhi.

It was past 12noon and so we decided to fill up our stomachs before we headed off for the farm-house Mehendi party. I treated myself to a Chicken burger which turned out to be interestingly filled with a gherkin. The popular pizza was nice too and we had a hearty meal.

 

While you are at it, don't forget to try the cold coffee, milk-shakes and ice-creams.

3 layered mousse

Had this interesting 3 layered mousse at Senate, Status (Nariman Point, Mumbai). The first layer was milk chocolate, then white chocolate and last layer was the dark chocolate with crushed biscuit base. Not only did it taste nice but was set in "shot glasses".