PRODUCT REVIEW: HALEEM HOME DELIVERY FROM PISTA HOUSE

Carnivores rejoice! Dedicated meat lovers can now order authentic, very satisfying, Hyderabadi haleem which Gati will deliver to your doorstep on the very same day. Currently Gati is delivering only to limited locations, you can find more details here.

 

For those who aren't familiar with it, haleem is a delicious, decadent meat, lentil and spice paste which comes vacuum sealed in 1 kg plastic tubs. Traditionally haleem can be served with chopped mint leaves, lemon juice, coriander, fried onions, chopped ginger and/or green chillies.

Call a few people over and arrange for some rotis or naan because one person should NOT be eating one kilogram of haleem on their own.

I think the most exciting part of ordering the haleem is the thought that we can now order food in from hundreds of kilometres away for perfectly reasonable prices. I've been thinking and talking about it for a week and I still can't really wrap my head around it! For INR 575 a kilogram, Pista House's haleem is far more affordable than a lot of dine in options in Delhi.

 

RESTAURANT REVIEW: FORK YOU, HAUZ KHAS VILLAGE

For meat, cocktails and beautiful women

I can count the number of places in Hauz Khas with a clear identity and appropriate execution on my fingertips. On one hand.

Fork You is not here to add to the list. What’s supposed to be a steakhouse and burger joint looks like Kitty Su’s younger, less discriminate sister on most weekends.

Bespoke Chicken Burger

LOOKS LIKE

The most notable things in Fork You’s décor are the impossibly glamorous women gliding around on sky high heels. Every time I’ve schlepped myself over to Fork You I’ve wondered why all these babes in bandage dresses are at a burger joint. Maybe the answer lies in the comprehensive cocktail menu. Though last I checked nobody has imposed any restriction on cocktail consumption in casuals yet.

 

Apart from the chickabees there are a few club style booths with fancy white sofas on the inside and a pretty but usually crowded smoking area, sorry balcony. I think the bar is supposed to invoke thoughts of some kind of salon style Americana but it’s too generic looking to try to guess the designer’s intentions.

Herb and Garlic Tenderloin

TASTES LIKE

As mentioned above, Fork You has an elaborate cocktail menu and a list of ingredients you can pick from for their “bespoke mixology” feature. I understand this to mean they'll make a cocktail for you out of whatever you pick. They’re quite good at it too – their Lynchburg Lemonade and Cucumber Cooler is well balanced and way better than the ordinary sugar and artificial flavor syrup concoctions I’ve come to expect at most Delhi bars.

 

The burgers work off a similar theme – you can pick the size, bun, cheese, sauce and sides to create a bespoke burger right for you. And there are lots of options so you can have a lot of fun mixing and matching things to your mood flavor. If you like. Or you can always pick a pre-crafted burger or a pasta off the menu.

 

Small note on this bespoke business though –

 

(a) on sides: the onion rings are kind of soggy, the spicy potato wedges are totally flavorless and the curly fries are a lie. They’re never available.

 

(b) on sauces: the Garlic Aioli is gorgeous but the Spicy Chilli Mayo is bleh.

 

Since I don't eat beef, I have to outsource comments on steaks to trusted companions. I have it on good authority that the Herbs and Garlic Tenderloin is great for its price though they have the usual discomfort with rare and medium rare. It’ll be done well but still moist so all is not lost.

 

Fork You gets most of its food right and there aren’t that many burger and steak joints in Delhi that aren’t either totally Indianized in flavor or Mac Donald’s but I worry the establishment will end up focusing disproportionately on the mixology for the cocktail girls. By the second time I visited there was a marked increase in mini-skirts and a palpable decline in food quality.

Onion Rings, Kingfisher and the Cucumber Cooler

FEELS LIKE

The staff tries to be helpful but they often seem to be overwhelmed by the thirsty hordes. It may be time to do some more hiring.

See what I mean. Crazy crowded! And this is on a Wednesday!

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

Should you go: Yes! For the cocktails and meat

Vegetarian Options: Yes

Liquor License: Yes

Smoking Area: Yes

Address: 30, 1^st Floor, Hauz Khas Village

Phone: They don’t have a landline listed

PRODUCT REVIEW: THE TEMPERAMENTAL CHEF

Love the adorable logo and packaging!

The Temperamental Chef’s new line of vegetarian snacks ticks a lot of very difficult boxes – healthy, vegetarian, time efficient and delicious.

 

I love that Srishti Handa and Siddharth Kumar (the brains behind the bites) have put so much thought and soul into their products, coming up with innovative flavours instead of piling more potato and paneer on to vegetarian’s plates. The same thought and effort extends to the adorable packaging and the insistence on keeping the calorie count of their products low.





She wouldn't endorse anything she didn't really believe in.

But you don’t have to take my word for it. A couple of weeks ago, I popped a pack of the Beet and Walnut Bites and the Spinach Bolts on to a pan and served it up to my critical cousins. The Beet and Walnut Bites were more popular but both disappeared quickly. They’re great by themselves but even better with a creamy dip. Alternatively, mash them into a roll, crumble them over a salad or serve it as an accompaniment to other dishes. Since they don’t need to be thawed they go straight from the fridge to the pan/oven and into guest’s plates with minimal effort. It takes less than 10 minutes to put together so they’re an easy option for appetizers even for larger groups.





The Spinach Bolts

Find the Temperamental Chef on facebook here or pick up a pack from your neighborhood grocery store, currently only in Delhi.



Walnut and Beet Bites

BAKED SPINACH EGG CUPS WITH SUNDRIED TOMATOES ON BAGUETTE

It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.- C. S. Lewis

Okay the ingredient list may seem a little generous in terms of calories with all the egg, cheese and butter but you can lighten or weigh down the ingredients as you like. You can take the yolk out of the eggs being baked (and thus take out most of the saturated fat in the egg) and reduce the butter to just a couple of spoons for flavour.  You can get rid off the sundried tomato and cheese toast on the side entirely. But with or without adjustments this can be a great snack to come home to in the evening (with a good dose of spinach) or a side that you can bake for each guest if you're arranging lunch or dinner.

 

 

Serves 4

Adapted from Good Food Magazine

 

What you’ll need:

400 gm spinach

100 gm parmesan

100 gm basil

50 gm sundried tomatoes (finely chopped)

30 gm butter

4 eggs

Slices of baguette

Salt and pepper to season
 

How to:
 

1. Cut off the stalks and put it into a pan. Cook till the spinach wilts.
 

2. Take out the spinach, drain the water and then pop it back in the pan with the butter. Stir and cook till the spinach is well coated in butter.

 

3. Heat the oven to 190°C.

 

4. Line the inside of 4 cups with the spinach. Make a depression and crack an egg into each cup. Season with salt and pepper – add some butter if you’re feeling indulgent.
 

 

5. Mix the grated cheese, salt, pepper and sundried tomatoes in bowl.
 

  

6. Use some of the mixture to top the spinach cups if you want – if you want to keep the spinach cups low fat then use the mixture to top slices of baguette and toast.

 

7. Bake the spinach cups for about 10 minutes (till you see the eggs set).
 

8. Serve with the cheesy baguette slices.

 

RESTAURANT REVIEW: TASTE OF TIBET

For someone willing to look beneath the surface

 

I’m so excited to be writing this review. This isn’t the kind of restaurant you’ve seen reviewed on this blog before and that’s unfortunate. Hopefully as I become more familiar with Delhi I’ll work up the courage to visit (and get you guys’ photos and reviews of) more places off the beaten path to Khan Market or HKV. Here’s taking a step in the right direction… 

Pork Momo

LOOKS LIKE 

A bright pink room with 5 folding tables and an open kitchen is about it. There’s one woman in the kitchen and the cashier is watching television over our heads. Half way through our meal a man strolls in with his terrier. The terrier sits down politely under his master’s table and suffers the indignity of being petted and fussed over by the patrons walking by him. 

Chilli Roast Pork

TASTES LIKE 

Start with fat, fluffy chicken dumplings waiting for you to bite into an explosion of flavorful, juicy meat. Follow up with a platter full of spicy, saucy, meaty Red Chilli Roast Pork. Set the fiery meat off with a banana shake they’ll whip up in front of you. Finish with a hot bowl of Pork or Buff Thukpa and fill yourself up with the soothing comfort of noodle, meat and vegetables. I doubt you’re going to have room for dessert. Actually I’m not sure if they have dessert at all.  

Pork Thukpa

FEELS LIKE 

Tucked away deep in the by lanes of Friends Colony market the Taste of Tibet is a treasure. This is some of the best comfort food I’ve ever had and I didn’t really mind that it came without any dressing.  

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW 

Should you go: Don’t bother to click in here in your stilettos, it’s probably best if you don’t carry that designer handbag and you should just check your hygiene phobias in with the terrier at the door.

Vegetarian Options: Yes

Liquor License: No

Smoking Area: No

Address: 33B, Sarai Jullena, Friends Colony, Delhi

Phone: 9811525423

RESTAURANT REVIEW: CAFE 88, MEHARCHAND MARKET

For when you want coffee and elegance

 

I want that LV trunk in the coffee table. If you hear someone broke into Cafe 88 and stole only the trunk that's probably me.

 

A friend with good intentions advised me to review new restaurants because everyone is already a familiar with the stable of Delhi classics and unlikely to want to read more about them. This is obviously good advice so I set off in the direction of Hauz Khas Village and Meharchand Market, where new restaurants seem to open and close every day and I wasn’t disappointed.
 

Eating at new restaurants every weekend is thoroughly enjoyable, the only hitch is getting my review together and up on the blog before these fly by night operations shut shop. While I’d love to be able to update you in real time about where to go (and more importantly what to skip) I’ve to come to terms with the fact that my day job doesn’t leave me that kind of time. On the brighter side, I do have reviews on 5 (now not so) new restaurants to get to you guys.
 

We’re starting with Café 88. No real reason except that it is extraordinarily pretty. I’ve changed my mind about my future living room looking like Ca Va. In my head it now looks like Café 88, subject to my boss tripling my salary.

Fresh flowers! Fresh flowers can change your mood, your day, your room and the world.

LOOKS LIKE

 

This place is so pretty I can even forgive that hundreds of birds must now be homeless because their cages were wrested away from them and flung around Café 88. The interior designers deserve a pat on the back, no, a bear hug for not going down the usual boho-hobo-shabby-chic road expected of young establishments. Eschewing cutesy posters and curated clutter these brave souls have created a wonderfully grown up, minimalistic luxe space. My favourite things - the whimsical astro-turfed roof top area with its cabana style umbrellas, the fresh flowers everywhere and the gorgeous vintage Vuitton suitcase doubling up as the coffee table for the ground floor. I want that suitcase. I’m happy to trade in my younger brother and a couple of cousins for that suitcase. You can inspect them here.

 

TASTES LIKE

Maybe my expectations were too high when I heard Café 88 is run by the guys who handle Yeti. Maybe they had teething troubles when I visited in their first week of opening. Whatever the extenuating circumstances the food here is a disappointment. The menu is a confused mash of different cuisines and I’m not sure how they expect us to piece together a coherent meal out of the scramble of continental, India and south east Asian options.
 

Most people aren’t very good at ordering food. I know I’m not. At the end of a long day I don’t even want to try. Any decent restaurant will set up the menu in a way that makes it easy for you to find what suites your palate. This doesn’t happen at Café 88. When my order arrived I found myself looking at an odd assortment of mismatched food.
 

The Nachos with Spinach Dip and some other cheesy type dip were poorly plated and the spinach bitter. The Caesar Salad and Juliet’s Meat Loaf were tasty but hardly exceptional. The Tom Yum Soup was watery and not worth anyone’s time or money. The highlight of my meal was the bread basket filled with different kinds of fresh, warm, fragrant bread.
 

If you read my blog you’ll know I’m not a big believer in food presentation. Do as much as you can but don’t kill yourself trying to make a dish look pretty. After all, once it’s in someone’s mouth it’s not going to matter how photogenic it was before. But that doesn’t mean the food should look sloppy on your plate, specially not at a restaurant. What is going on with the plating at Café 88? The dishes are thrown on the plate so casually I felt like I was serving myself dinner before settling in front of the television at home.
 

Go for coffee and cake. Or a milkshake. A whole meal is a risk that might leave you discontent and poorer by about INR 2,000.

 

My younger brother can plate a dish better than this. Actually he can't but I'm exaggerating to make a point.

 

FEELS LIKE

The staff is very gracious and attentive though mostly ignorant about the chaos going on in the menu.

 

 

 

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

Should you go: A whole meal? Maybe if you choose very carefully.

Vegetarian Options: Yes

Liquor License: No

Smoking Area: Yes

Address: 132 – 134 Meharchand Market, Lodhi Road, Lodhi Colony

Phone: 011 49052888, 011 49051888

CRAB, APPLE AND POMEGRANATE SALAD

“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.”

― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

 

This is my salad for the summer. Filled with so much colour, tons of texture and a wallop of sweet, garlic, salt and lemony flavor, that if you're going to make one thing this summer make it this salad. I love crab meat and it adds an immediate dimension of luxury and indulgence to this salad, making it perfect for serving up to a gang of guests.

 

Serves 5

Adapted Good Food Magazine

What you’ll need: 

 

For the salad 

 

170 gm crab meat (I used 1 BumbleBee can – you can hike this up or down as per your preference)

1 mango (peeled and cut into cubes)

2 apples (peeled and sliced)

½ cucumber (medium sized) – deseed the cucumber and cut it into slices

½ cup pomegranate seeds

1/3 cup chopped cilantro

¼ cup chopped mint

Salt

Pepper 

 

For the dressing

 

1 apple (peeled and chopped)

1 small spring onion (chopped)

1 tbsp garlic paste

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

¼ cup olive oil

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

 

How to:

 

1. Take the dressing ingredients and make it into a paste. Add the olive oil last and blend some more. It should be completely smooth.
 

2. Toss the salad ingredients together.
 

3. Add as much of the dressing as you like. Toss. Serve.
 

Note: This isn’t a vinaigrette type dressing so I don’t know if it makes much sense to serve it on the side but you take a call?

RESTAURANT REVIEW: PLOOF, DELI & KITCHEN

For the Calm

I have so many fond memories of Ploof. The first time I visited was for the birthday of a family friend – the place is small so they had to queue all the tables together on to one side to make room for us. It was a beautiful evening with great food and lots of laughter. I’ve been back many, many times since. Ploof is great for long drawn out lunches filled with giggling and gossip in their sun dappled terrace, for week day dinners where you need some restorative peace and quiet or even for a civilized snack and a drink if you happen to be in the area.  

Places like this are one of the reasons I live in Delhi. Why I brave the cacophony of violence, pretension and conspicuous consumption in this city. It’s because of these tiny pockets of charm, culture and a love of quality. Indulgent greenery, the quiet of a much smaller city, a slower pace, places where the din dies away.

LOOKS LIKE

Hidden away in a shady corner of lush, calm Lodhi Colony Market, Ploof is a lot of goodness compacted into a small space.

 The ground floor is cosy and inviting with its bright yellow furniture and quirky black and white photos. Everyone and their uncle has tried the photo collage theme and most of the time, the results are disastrous. At Ploof, the effect is cheerful, classy and understated. A little further in and you’ll find shelves filled with just baked Ciabatta, Focacia and whole wheat loaves. The refrigerated stands hold dessert, meats, marinades and an array of cheese. A one stop shop for all your picnic or barbecue needs.

My favourite, is the unexpectedly verdant terrace with its adorable wall filled with old school badminton rackets. On winter nights, it’s an intimate, magical gardenlike escape from reality.

 

Oh how much I love this bread basket. So much. Also, that orange red blob is their sundried tomato pesto which is an absolute revelation. You can buy a bottle from the Deli.

TASTES LIKE

It might be called a deli but Ploof has a lot more to offer than just snacks and sandwiches.
 

Peppers stuffed with Goat Cheese and Mozzarella Phylo Triangles are excellent vegetarian appetizers, though their portions are a little smaller than I would have liked. The Cold Cut Platter, Prawns Karwari Style (cooked with chopped onions and spice) and Vietnamese Grilled Chicken Skewers are a great way for meat eaters to start off. There’s a bunch of sandwiches, all of which are carefully, deliciously put together and substantial.
 

What you really shouldn’t miss here is the seafood. The gleaming Grilled Sea Bass Fillet, the delicately textured, enchanting Red Snapper and the effortless elegance of the Pan Seared Himalayan Trout cooked as they were meant to be, flavoured often only with a glug of olive oil and squeeze of lime. The quality of the ingredients and the courage to let them speak for themselves without unnecessary paraphernalia is a surprise and a delight.
 

The desserts are a rotating and mixed bag but if you, like me, have already consumed an aquarium’s worth of sea critters you’re unlikely to care.

Seafood platter

fEELS LIKE

You might want to think again about turning up at Ploof in your comfy jeans and old t-shirt. The place attracts South Delhi’s fashionable intelligentsia and you’ll see your share of contrasting blouses and organic cotton. One time I saw Arundhati Roy eating trout there and another time I (almost) saw Markandey Katju.
 

The staff can be plenty inattentive but I can't really slag them since they give me 2 bread baskets when I ask.

Prawn Skewers

 

Should you go: Absolutely!

Vegetarian Options: Yes

Liquor License: Yes

Smoking Area: No

Address: 13, Main Market, Lodhi Colony, Lodhi Road

Phone: 011 24634666, 011 24649026

The beautiful Walnut Pie with Ice Cream they had in their winter menu