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Kebab Gali

August 30, 2014

Kebab Gali

By Anubhav Sapra

 

Of late, I have been trying to experience and understand the journey of kebabs in India. And I was quite fortunate to receive a call from Kebab Gali, a small restaurant located in Yusuf Sarai, to try out different varieties of kebabs. The name Kebab Gali raised my curiosity and expectations, as it resembles the name of a by-lane in Jama Masjid, Gali Kebabian.

The restaurant is owned by Deepak, who also owns an electronic goods shop in Lajpat Rai Market. His passion for kebabs made him open Kebab Gali, 1st Floor, No.12, Yusuf Sarai Community Centre, next to Green Park Metro Station, Yusuf Sarai, New Delhi, Delhi-110049. You can contact him on 011-41629911.

10570462_710083155742235_3161271911800089883_nI started with galauti kebabs priced at Rs 195 , one of the softest kebabs that literally melt in the mouth. The galauti and the similarly priced kakori kebabs are served with warqi parantha. Other kebabs which I had at Kebab Gali were dohra kebab (Rs. 195), a combination of chicken and mutton seekh kebab, and kalmi kebab (Rs. 195) which were chicken drumsticks cooked in a tandoor, chicken gilafi kebab (Rs. 185), minced mutton kebabs in a crisp coating of capsicum, and lastly, tomato, onion and chicken malai kebab. The kebabs I liked the most were chicken malai, galauti, kakori and gilafi kebabs.

20140825_191121Kebab Gali also offers Awadhi style dum biryanis – Awadhi chicken biryani, Awadhi mutton biryani, Awadhi anda dum biryani, and Awadhi vegetarian biryani. Biryani is served with salan and raita. Dum biryani is cooked with layers of marinated chicken and rice, sealed off in a utensil with dough, on low heat so that the aroma of spices and flavors remain intact. Kebab Gali offers “Biryani Party Packs” starting from 4 pieces at Rs. 385 to 110 pieces at Rs. 8800.

Kebab Gali also has interesting curries to offer – chicken rara and mutton rara, dhaba meat curry, malabari chicken, mutton nahari and lal maas. I tried each one of them, but they failed to impress me.

Although the name of the restaurant is Kebab Gali, I am surely going to visit again for the Awadhi chicken and mutton dum biryani.

 

Anubhav Sapra
Anubhav Sapra is an avid foodie! He is a Founder but proudly calls himself a Foodie-in-chief at Delhi Food Walks. He is also a street-food and Indian regional cuisine connoisseur and loves to write about street-food.
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Diageo Masterclass

Diageo Masterclass

 

JRS_VogueWeddingDelhi_A00405At this luxury fair, brides and grooms-to-be  received a consultation from India’s topmost designers in bridal couture, wedding specialists, India’s best Jewellery designers, gifting services, master classes with leading industry experts and had an opportunity to experience the best brands in the bridal space under one roof. Among the master classes that prevailed was the unique interactive session on rare and exclusive malts by international master Mixologists from Diageo, Zbigniew Zapert and Pedro Rafael. With India being primarily a whiskey drinking country. the experts showcased and educated audiences on Diageo’s finest spirits and malts – especially liquids that would were ideal for weddings. Right from Bar accessories and cocktail shakers as great wedding gifting options to cocktail menus and tips on the finest blends to have at your wedding bar, the two master mixologists gave audiences all the tips, advice and let out secrets to planning one’s wedding bar to suit their tastes. Among some of the cocktails showcased were the following the following :

PEDRO’S COCKTAILS

Good Morning Princess

Gordons              60 ml

Lime Juice           20ml

30 ml Grand Marnier      15ml

1 Bar spoon Orange marmalade

JRS_VogueWeddingDelhi_K00758This twist and surprising cocktail was created in the 1990s by Salvatore Calabrese at the Library Bar in London. It is an adaptation of the ‘Marmalade Cocktail’ created in the 1920s by Harry Craddock which featured in his 1930s book ‘The Savoy Cocktail Book’.

Captain coco loco            

Ciroc      50ml

Balsamic vinegar 10ml

Cranberry juice 20 ml

Dash crack black pepper 1 dash

Crème de cassis  25 ml

JRS_VogueWeddingDelhi_K01032This will give your palate a run for their money, the bitter sweet taste of the balsamic vinegar goes along the unique taste of the crème de cassis and cranberry juice. Ciroc makes drinks drink unforgettable, as the little kick you get from the black pepper in the end.

So Fancy

Smirnoff Black 60 ml

Crème de Cassis 20ml

Pineapple juice 50 ml

Passion fruit juice our puree 20 ml

A very refreshing cocktail, the pineapple juice and passion fruit give this cocktail a new dimension

That balances perfectly with the smoothness of the Smirnoff Black Vodka

ZBI’S COCKTAILS

 Old Fashioned

–          60ml Talisker 10y

–          10ml sugar syrup

–          3 dashes Angostura Bitters

–          Orange zest

Whisky Sour

–          60ml JW Gold Label Reserve

–          20ml lime juice

–          20ml sugar syrup

–          2 dashes angostura

–          One egg white

Back on Black

–          60ml JW Black Label

–          20ml Blackberry Syrup

–          20ml lime juice

–          60ml ginger ale

Golden Gates

–          60ml JW Gold Label

–          60ml Green Tea and spices decoction

Green tea and spices decoction:

–          1000ml strong green tea

–          500gr castor sugar

–          10 cardamom pods

–          Half of a nutmeg seed

–          50gr cinnamon bark

–          Skin of one orange

Boil all ingredients for 20 minutes and cool it down. Fine strain the spices.

Anubhav Sapra
Anubhav Sapra is an avid foodie! He is a Founder but proudly calls himself a Foodie-in-chief at Delhi Food Walks. He is also a street-food and Indian regional cuisine connoisseur and loves to write about street-food.
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Soju like to drink?

August 24, 2014

Soju like to drink?

By Aisha Bhattacharya

 

When people talk about alcohol it’s usually the regulars that get discussed like Vodka, Whisky, Rum, and Beer. I recently had the opportunity to go for a Soju tasting. Now, the invite said it was Jinro Soju – Jinro is the world’s leading producer of Soju and is a South-Korean brand. A little like Sake but not quite. While Sake is like warm beer (being a fermented drink) Soju is distilled and closer to vodka in terms of the manufacturing process.

Jinro now in India Surprisingly Soju is the most widely consumed drink in the world and sold nearly 65 million cases worldwide which is 2.5 times more than the next best selling spirit in the world. And we hear about it now! As of 2014, only Jinro Soju is available in India. Jinro 24 Soju is bulk imported and bottled in Goa for further distribution in the cities of Delhi/NCR, Mumbai and Bengaluru.

Before the tasting I decided to ask a few friends about it. The friends I chose had varying things to say:

Friend 1 is an American citizen of Chinese origin, an aspiring actress based in L.A. Here is what she said via a messaging application, ‘It’s not so different from Sake to me. Not for everyone, lol. Not really my thing, I prefer cocktails or wine. But, some people probably love it!’ This left me wondering, it didn’t give me a clear picture of what to expect. So I asked the next person who I thought would know what Soju is like.

Friend 2 is an Anglo-Indian based in Gurgaon; he has been in the hospitality industry for over 10 years now and deals in the luxury segment. I thought he’d be the perfect person to ask. Here is what he said, “Not my thing. You need to develop a taste for it and it usually goes well with Japanese food. It’s had neat and tastes like cheap vodka, like the one that was an outcome of a science project. If you like vodka maybe you’d like it. Drink it as chilled as possible and keep something you like eating in your mouth.” Now this was definitely making things clearer for me. I’m not really a fan of Vodka but by now my curiosity had got the better of me. I do enjoy Japanese food and luckily the venue for this tasting was Shiro at the Samrat Hotel in Chanakyapuri. But, I still wanted to ask one more person but I had no idea who else would know.

Friend 3 : My desire was fulfilled when I received a phone call from a very dear friend based in New York, he is a Punjabi-Bengali NRI and is very Wall Street (anyone who does anything with finance in New York is Wall Street enough for me). So, I asked him his opinion on Soju and his take was rather refreshing! He said, “I love it! It is my favourite first date drink.” When I asked him why, he said that the high creeps up on you very slowly and before you know it you’re drunk. So if any woman could handle him like that there lies the possibility of a future. I asked him if the deception was like Feni and he said yes!

Armed with all this invaluable knowledge I arrived at Shiro for the tasting and I have to admit I am a fan. The Soju was served chilled and neat as expected. The General Manager – Mr. Diljeet Singh Bindra came and spoke to us about the Soju and later even sent us a plate of Fire Cracker prawn that was absolutely delicious and went down well with it. We were served in the traditional ceramic cups and the Soju was poured into ceramic pots which lay nestled in a bowl of ice ensuring it remained chilled.

Jinro Locator Delhi It is a clear, colourless and versatile liquid that is rather smooth and tastes pretty good. Unlike Vodka it doesn’t send a burning sensation down your throat and can be sipped at ease through the meal. We had the Teppanyaki Experience and the Soju went very well with all the food on offer. We sipped it chilled and managed to go through 2 bottles of 375ml each.  As the name suggests this particular Soju had an ABV of 24% making it a little over half the strength of Vodka and none of the burning sharpness that accompanies vodka or even white rum for that matter.

I didn’t feel dizzy or anything but I did get very sleepy by the time I got home and woke up with a mild headache that went away after 2 glasses of water. Other than that no hangover!

Soju tips:

  1. Serve absolutely chilled
  2. Drink it neat
  3. Pair it with Sushi or Sashimi if you like that. Or as my friend said with anything you like to eat but definitely go Asian with the flavours.
  4. Soju can also be used as a base for cocktails or a shot dropped into a pint of beer to make a ‘Soju-Bomb’. You could also mix 30% Soju and 70% Beer to make a ‘Somaek’.
  5. Watch how much you drink because of the high alcohol content
  6. It hits you much after you drink it so make sure you have a ride back home and are not driving

Soju Facts:

  1. Soju is traditionally made from rice, wheat or barley but modern producers use supplements or even replace rice with other starches like potatoes, sweet potatoes or tapioca.
  2. It has a high alcohol content ranging from 16.7% to 45% alcohol by volume (ABV) for traditional Andong soju with 20% ABV being most common.

Soju Etiquette:

  1. When receiving a glass from an elder, one must hold the glass with two hands (left palm on the bottom and hold the glass with the right hand) and bow the head slightly.
  2. When it is your turn to drink, turn away from the elder and cover your mouth and glass with your hands. This is a useful tip in case you aren’t used to drinking neat alcohol.
  3. While pouring a glass for others hold the bottle with your right hand and support your right arm with your left hand by touching the elbow. Anyone who has ever done puja or aarti at a temple will manage the supporting part with ease.
  4. Most importantly: Never pour your own and don’t refill until the glass is empty.

Here comes the awesome part: You can visit jinro and login to their page via facebook to nominate a friend for a Soju Party on their birthday! I’ve already asked a couple of friends to nominate me and why not? I really enjoyed the drink! Drink it with an open mind and a not too empty stomach and you’ll actually enjoy the experience. Also please see the Jinro Locator provided by Jinro India for Delhi.

 

Anubhav Sapra
Anubhav Sapra is an avid foodie! He is a Founder but proudly calls himself a Foodie-in-chief at Delhi Food Walks. He is also a street-food and Indian regional cuisine connoisseur and loves to write about street-food.
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Hangout Cafe

August 22, 2014

Hangout Cafe

By Anubhav Sapra

There are few places where one feels like a child again. Recently, I was at Hangout Café, in Saket’s Select City Walk Mall. On entering the place, a horde of childhood memories came rushing back. I remember, during my childhood, one of my uncles gifted me a video game which I used to play with so much vigor that I dreamt of becoming a car racer!

Why Hangout reminds me of my childhood is because this cafe is a complete package of entertainment and fun where children along with their parents can spend quality time together. The interiors have been specially crafted to give a rain forest-like atmosphere, with animal-themed furniture placed all around to engage and excite the kids.

Half of the dishes on the menuat café are created keeping in mind the target audience – the children.The child-friendly menu consists of Dino nuggets, Monku bites, Hang Out ringlet fries and a lot more.

DSC00013I was introduced to the delicacies on offer by Chef Kiran who suggested that I start with the watermelon with mint sparklers and round shaped fries with a smiley. Something which caught my attention in the menu was Dal(lentil) Burger, which tasted really good. I also tried Choley Kulche, White and Red Pasta, Fried Rice and Chilly Paneer. The food is decent and mild in spices as the restaurant caters mainly to children. However, adults too can relish many delicacies.

Shalini Vij has brought this unique concept of entertainment to all the age groups, from toddlers to teens and parents to grandparents. Along with being an entrepreneur, Shalini engage herself in various social activities and has also supported many NGO’s that help underprivileged kids. She has always believed in supporting the lesser privileged kids by giving them an opportunity to be a part of Hangout at various occasions.

Anubhav Sapra
Anubhav Sapra is an avid foodie! He is a Founder but proudly calls himself a Foodie-in-chief at Delhi Food Walks. He is also a street-food and Indian regional cuisine connoisseur and loves to write about street-food.
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The Chhach Man

August 04, 2014

The Chhach Man

By Anubhav Sapra

I stay in North Delhi and travel by metro to my office in Adhchini every day. The nearest metro stations to reach Adhchini are the Green Park and the Hauz Khas stations. I usually get down at Green Park, but today morning, while talking to a friend of mine I missed the Green Park metro station and had to de-board at Hauz Khas.

Although I was getting late for office, the burgeoning crowd outside the Hauz Khas subway caught my attention and I succumbed to the foodie instinct calling out to me. I found a man with huge cans,which are mostly used to sell milk, filling up disposal glasses with chhach (buttermilk).

I asked for a glass of the much-acclaimed refreshing drink. It tasted amazing. In a glass of  chhach, he adds a spoonful of masala- roasted cumin seed powder and black salt. The salt adds flavor and helps replenish salts lost due to sweating in the hot and humid weather.

Buttermilk is traditionally made by removing butter from cream or curd. It is churned using one’s hand or a blender, the butter (white butter) comes to the top and the liquid left at the bottom is buttermilk.

20140802_110610

It was no surprise to know that the Chhach man, Mr. Ram Chander, hails from Haryana, a state rich in dairy products (butter, cheese and paneer). He travels everyday from Rohtak to Delhi to quench the thirst of Delhiites in this humid summer weather. He catches the 5 a.m EMU from Rohtak and reaches Hauz Khas Metro Station on his bicycle at 10. If you are around Hauz Khas metro station between 10 am to 1 pm, do stop at Gate no.2, Laxman Public School, for a glass of Chhach.

It is time to bid adieu to the Green Park station, now that I have got a reason to de-board at Hauz Khas for a glass of thirst-quenching Chhach.

 

Anubhav Sapra
Anubhav Sapra is an avid foodie! He is a Founder but proudly calls himself a Foodie-in-chief at Delhi Food Walks. He is also a street-food and Indian regional cuisine connoisseur and loves to write about street-food.
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Chocolate Making Session with Little Chefs

August 01, 2014

                                                Chocolate Making Session with Little Chefs

                                                                  By Akshita Singh

Kids behind the counterA bunch of exuberant little kids, some chocolate cakes and Delhi Baking Company’s coveted Salted Caramel gelatos – what else could one ask for, to make his or her evening perfect? A bakery-cum-cafe, known more for its geletos and sandwiches than for its cakes, pastries and pies, is a beautifully designed place which could enchant anyone who visits the place. Internationally acclaimed fashion designer Ritu Beri hosted the event, wherein she invited her friends to a cake making session with their little ones. And that it would be a joyful evening, was made conspicuous by the kids frolicking and cavorting all around the place.

For the little chefs, who were all geared for their novel attempts at preparing chocolate cakes, tables were aligned as semi-circle on the right of the bakery. Our young chefs kept pouring in with their mothers, euphoric at the idea of making and eating cakes.The innocent assurity that they exuded, at preparing cakes better than professional chefs, was a pleasurable sight. It’s always entertaining to watch kids’ curiosities – they loved inspecting each and every corner of the bakery.  Sugar sachets were opened; the powder was emptied on to the petite palms and then licked away till every sugar particle was off their hands.

Chef Girish Krishnan, Antony Page & Ritu BeriExecutive Chef Girish Krishnan assembled all the kids and discussed their experience at making cakes in the past ( which, as was expected, many kids had) and then assigned one chef each for 2-3 kids on every table. Chef caps were put on, which ended up shrouding some kids heads ( that, of course was taken care of); gloves were introduced, and aprons were tied and thus began the hour long cake making session.

This was a session with a lot of stirring and intermittent splattering. Unfortunately, most kids had to stand on their toes to stir the contents in the bowls that were placed too high for them. The first round of blending was of chocolate and butter. The white of the egg was separated from the yoke, and then stirred – the un-uniform but gentle movements of the kids were pitted against the swift whisking and beating by the chefs. Designer Ritu Beri and the moms supervised the whole process of cake preparation,.

Chef Narendra Lendave with kids (1)After further beating, blending and whisking, the cakes were moved to the ovens while the kids’ focus shifted to ice-creams. Although, initially it was intended that the kids would actually prepare their own ice-creams as well but the already available array of geletos was too tempting a sight to resist and so they just scooped some flavors into their glasses, straightaway. Delhi Baking Co.’s signature salted caramel gelato was nothing less than a intense, succulent feel of cream slowly melting in your tongue.

Salted caramel obviously explains itself well – there’s the salt and the caramel – but the intensity of the different ingredients could blow you off. Salted caramel is one rare flavor that brings salt and sugar together and Delhi Baking Co. knows exactly how to pull off the right sugar-salt amalgam. If a salted caramel can make you feel mildly dizzy and yet still, make you want irresistibly crave for more and more of it, you have certainly gotten access the best of all salted caramels. Delhi Baking Co.’s galeto is is a classic example of such a salted caramel.

Until the cakes that our young chefs made weren’t ready to be eaten, their was a wholesome assortment of snacks. The labels for the snacks were suspended from decorative pieces that had Indian spices and legumes stuffed inside the transparent glass exteriors. This innovative way of presenting the buffet made you feel hungrier still.

Trying Chunky Peanut Butter S’mores was another new food experience. This dish, popular in the United States, consists of roasted marshmallows and chocolate sandwiched between Graham crackers layered on the inside with peanut butter. This is yet another risky, but successful merger of salt and sugar. Although, both the sugar and salt were too mild for either to stand out, the crunchy outer layers, the softer middle part and gummy marshmallows made a delicious S’more. You’d sure want “s’more”!

The Spicy Potato and Green Pea Puffs , although not at all spicy, were again, a delectable treat which could touch perfection if the filling was greater and creamier. Then there were little cubes of Cucumber and Sour Cream sandwiches, Lamb burgers and Mac and Cheese among other things in the diverse buffet. Howsoever much one might have eaten, how could one not try the plat du jour – the scrumptious cakes by our little chefs?  And honestly, that was the best thing we got to taste in the whole evening. The 5-6 year olds proved yet again, that experience and age is no bar if there’s enthusiastic and innocent efforts involved. Little kids know just how to impress and astound the wiser, older lot.

It has just as, if not more, attractive an architecture as the hotel to which it belongs – JW Marriot Aerocity. The interiors consist of stone wall cladding, embellished intermittently by structures painted with graffiti. The pendants are hung too low, and if you’re tall you might bang your head against the suspended lights while sitting down and getting up. Nevertheless, these pendants, right above your couches look very agreeable.

The bakery has many different segments. The largest one is the one that displays pastries, cakes and pies. There’s one part displaying chocolates and the other which has the ice cream counter. Then there’s a counter with breads on one shelf, donuts on another and muffins on yet another. The most interesting segment is the one exhibiting various cookery books and baking equipments like beaters, ice makers and plethora of other cooking machinery.

Coming back to the wonderful event hosted by Ritu Beri -the Chocolate Making Session was a delightful event and 99 % for the success of that evening has to go to none other than the Little Chefs, who, through their excellent cake making abilities and more so through their unabating ebullience, won everyone over.

Anubhav Sapra
Anubhav Sapra is an avid foodie! He is a Founder but proudly calls himself a Foodie-in-chief at Delhi Food Walks. He is also a street-food and Indian regional cuisine connoisseur and loves to write about street-food.