Mug dal

Mug dal is one of the simplest and quickest dals to make. Here's how...

1. Wash the dal and put it into the pressure cooker with double amount of water. 1 cup of dal,  2 cups of water. For an interesting twist put in some green peas in the pressure cooker along with the dal. Cook for 1 whistle (approx 5 minutes). Once done keep it aside and allow the pressure to subside

2. In a kadai take about 2 table spoons of oil and fry 2tsp jeera.

3. Add a generous amount of ginger garlic paste (about 2tsp) and 1 green chilli cut into 2 halves.

4. Cook this for about 2 minutes then add the dal-water-peas from the pressure cooker and mix well

5. Add about a tsp of salt and 1 tsp haldi

6. Mix well and bring to a boil.

7. Just when it starts boiling,  add a pinch of sugar,  and you're done!

*Remember to taste!!

Enjoy!

The Best Chicken Frankie: Goodies, Baroda

Goodies has been a known name in baroda for over 20 years as one of the best Bakers in baroda. Birthday cakes and bread has always been their forte.

However,  Goodies' cafes have been one of the best day food outlets in the city.

This review is dedicated to the chicken Frankie. The Best Chicken Frankie.

This has a nice soft thick roti layer coated in egg this is served with chips and salad.

But what makes this The Best Chicken Frankie is the chicken stuffing. This contains a beautiful chicken gravy. A nice Brown onion Garam masala based gravy is just a lil spicy. The spice isn't overpowering. Just perfectly flavored.

As you bite into the Frankie the chicken gravy explodes in your mouth. What's amazing is that despite being mildly flavored it packs a punch.

What I personally enjoy is eating this with a spoon and fork and then wiping of the last bits of gravy and chicken with the left over salad

Aloo Bhaja - recipe

Here's a simple recipe for making aloo bhaja (finger chips). This makes an excellent accompaniment with dal rice or roti.

1. Chop the potatoes into thin long slices (finger chips) and keep aside.

2. Heat 2 tsp of mustard oil in a pan. Put in 2 tsp jeera and 2 whole dried red chillies and fry a little. Remember to break the chilly into 2 pieces to get maximum flavor.

3. Once the jeera and chillies stop spluttering put in the potatoes. Stir it so the potatoes are covered with the oil and jeera.  Cook for 2 minutes.

4. Now put in about 1 tsp of jeera powder and 1 tsp of haldi and salt. Stir well and cook on medium flame for 2 minutes. Cover the pan and allow it to cook on medium flame.

5. After 5 minutes open the lid. The potatoes should have softened. Add 1 onion finely chopped and 1 green chilly finely chopped. Stir well and check the seasoning. Add salt if required.

6. If you like,  add a pinch of sugar and a pinch of Garam masala. Stir well.

7. Cook this on a low flame for about 10 minutes till the potatoes are cooked through. You can tell that the potatoes are cooked if they are soft. Pick up one and take a bite. You should be able to tell if they are cooked or not.

8. Sprinkle some Dhaniya patti (coriander leaves) and enjoy!

*Remember to taste at every stage!

Let me know how it turns out. Feel free to add any suggestions to make this even better!

Restaurant reviews : Cafe Goodluck, Pune

This is one of those old awesome traditional food heritages that a city identifies with. Along with Vaishali, Roopali and wadeshwar, Cafe Goodluck is one of the favorite hangout spots for the students of FC College.

But don't get me wrong here. This place is open from early morning till 1130 at night and every moment every day there is a line. You see people from all walks of life dining here.

Start off with the bun Omlet. Huge bun with tutti fruity with loads of butter makes the perfect snack or appetizer.

Moving on, the boiled chicken soup is a relatively new discovery of mine. It's similar to a chicken shorba (stock) - mildly flavored and intensely healthy with a huge piece of chicken.

Another favorite of mine here is the mutton keema. Combined with the roomali roti, the keema is tasty yet not to spicy. The chicken biryani is also pretty great.

But the best item on the menu in my humble opinion, is the dal-gosht (dal with mutton). Simple dal infused with delicious tender bits of meat. Dal-gosht with roti or with jeera rice makes a beautiful fulfilling meal. Do not miss it.

End the meal with a mouth watering caramel custard or plain custard. The caramel custard is one of the best in town. Definitely worth a try.

Apart from the amazing food the icing on the proverbial cake is the fact that the prices are dirt cheap. Super value for money. One of the must visited place in pune

Average meal for two: 500/-

Map here

Restaurant reviews : Zamu's Place, Pune

I discovered this place about 4 months back when my brother Arjya came down to pune for a couple of days and virtually forced me to take him there. Excellent decision. Sangeeta n I revisited this place a couple of days back. Here's what happened

We started off with the bacon wrapped prawns. Yes prawns wrapped in bacon. Arguably two of my favorite meats. As I mentioned in my Facebook post when you get bacon and prawns you can't go wrong! It was magical. Medium sized prawns wrapped with two strips of bacon each skewered with a toothpick and deep fried. Magic. 10/10

I also ordered the potato bacon soup. I was expecting chunks of bacon or potato but it was more of a creamy soup with a mild flavor. Under seasoned. 5/10

Next came the main course. We both ordered the special steak. And it was special. A thick slice of ham (they provide a choice of pork or chicken ham)and cheese sandwiched between two thick juicy slabs of beef. The steaks were medium rare with just a bit of pink in the center and seemed to be cooked with some mild well seasoned garlic sauce . The meat was the star of the show. The slab of ham was thick and delicious and had a generous amount of cheese. On the side were the standard veggies and fries. Condiments were limited to ketchup and a particularly tangy mustard sauce. However the steak being as juicy as it was, you really didn't need anything else

For dessert we ordered the honey glazed bacon. Bacon glazed with honey and cinnamon with a blob of ice cream. Sheer beauty

Overall I would definitely want to visit this place again. Maybe even bring dad here. Then we can have a showdown between Zamu's and Touché. See which is the best steak in town. 

 

Address: 

Zamus Place Shop No. 189, 

Nirmal Apartment, 

BS Dhole Patil Path, Pune, MH 411001 ‎ 

020 2612 3610 ‎ 

Map Here