RITU DALMIA'S CARROT CAKE

"Patience is the secret to good food."

Gail Simmons

 

If the world seems too noisy, if there are too many people asking too much me, if things just aren't going my way, I retreat to stationery and art supply stores. They're usually quiet places and the staff know not to be pushy. How much can you push water colors anyway? There isn't any of that annoying "Madam, try new style from Faber Castell - we have one plus one offer" nonsense. Filled with thousands of tiny implements designed to feed your creativity, help you make things from scratch, or make things more beautiful - only good things come out of art stores. Hundreds and thousands of brightly colored, good things filled with potential, waiting for you to make them your own so you can make something wonderful.

 

Wonderful things come out of your kitchen also, like this unvarnished, plain but pretty carrot cake - gorgeous ochre sponge filled with soft, wholesome carrot-y goodness with a playful sprinkle of confectioner's sugar.

 

This cake recipe from Ritu Dalmia's Travelling Diva is superb, and this is restaurant quality cake. I've reduced the sugar though and upped the cinnamon. Add nutmeg also if you like. Or chocolate chips. Or cream cheese frosting. Dress it up anyway you like but it's pretty spectacular just the way it is.

 

I poured the batter into mini-bundt pans and filled the gap in the middle with raisins to make a little carrot cake nest.

 

Serves 6

Recipe adapted from Ritu Dalmia's Travelling Diva

 

What you’ll need:

½ cup butter

1 cup sugar

¼ cup cooking oil

2 eggs

1 ¼ cup flour

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp baking powder

1 ½ tsp cinnamon powder

1 cup grated carrots

¼ cup chopped raisins

¼ cup chopped almonds/walnuts

2 -3 tbsp milk

How to:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

2. Beat the butter, sugar and oil together till well mixed. Add eggs one at a time and keep mixing.

3. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon. Add to the butter mixture and mix.

4. Add the carrots, raisins, nuts and milk and mix fold together. When well mixed pour into a greased tin.

5. Bake till the cake passes the toothpick test. Should be about 30 minutes. Serve warm with a sprinkling of icing sugar.

 

 

RITU DALMIA'S PRAWNS WITH SPINACH, ALMONDS AND RAISINS

"Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside." - Mark Twain

 

I've been thinking a lot about the word "appropriate" - it's a concept that means such different things to different people but is, at the same time, such damning criticism. The moment you say something is inappropriate, not only do you shoot that thing down but also bring into question the understanding and aptitude of the person behind it. To be inappropriate is to completely fail the context you're inhabiting.

 

There are some things though that are always appropriate, like a white shirt and blue jeans, solitaires, and this amazing dish of Prawns with Spinach, Almonds and Raisins. Perfectly balancing notes of raisin-y sweet with the crunch of almonds and the succulent bite of prawns. I'm in love with the ingredient pairing - you can pull this together easily but the result is so elegant and polished.

 

 

 Serves 3

Recipe adapted from Ritu Dalmia's Travelling Diva

 

What you’ll need:

200 g prawns (clean)

½ kg spinach

3 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp garlic paste

Handful of raisins

Handful of almonds

Salt

Pepper

Squirt of lime juice

Pinch baking soda

 

For the marinade:

 

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp garlic paste

2 tbsp lime juice

Chopped Parsley/Cilantro

Salt

Pepper

 

How to:

 

1. Mix the marinade ingredients together and dunk the prawns in there for a couple of hours.

 

2. Remove the stem off the spinach. Put a deep pan of water to boil with the baking soda and salt and throw the spinach in when the water hits a boil. Cool for a minute and drain.

 

3. Transfer the spinach into a bowl of ice cold water. Drain again and chop.

 

4. Put the olive oil into a pan, once hot add garlic and stir. When the garlic turns golden add the prawns and let cook. When you’re sure the prawns are done, remove from pan and throw in the raisins and almonds. After a couple of minutes pop the prawns and spinach back. Season with salt and pepper and stir the whole mixture together.

 

5. Serve hot with a dash of lime juice and a drizzle of olive oil.

 

RITU DALMIA'S BEETROOT RAITA

"Your diet is a bank account. Good food choices are good investments."

 Bethany Frankel

 

 

 

One day a friend and I were sharing a sandwich and discussing the small parts of our day that make us happy. I'm happy when I order good coffee in college, when I get paneer sandwiches for breakfast, when I sneak a Nirula's hot fudge sundae into my day (double scoop ice cream with extra fudge and extra nuts), when I get home and get to work on this blog and when I fall asleep by 10.

 

The really big things that go right sometimes seem too complex, too hard won, and too few to really count. It's the little freebies life throws me that delight me, the weather being perfect at brunch, a dreaded meeting being unexpectedly productive, diligences getting called off (okay that may be a big one), finding no traffic when you're running late to work. Tiny, everyday, gifts of fate that let you catch your breath.

 

This Beetroot Raita happened much the same way. I made Ritu Dalmia's Prawn Biryani, found it was to be accompanied by this raita, looked in the fridge and there they were! Two gnarly looking beetroots. I'd never worked with beetroot in any form before so this seemed like an appropriate baby step. And now I'm in love. This raita will take you less than 10 minutes to make, the ingredients are inexpensive and easy to find, the sweet and tang of the gentle beet and yoghurt combination is delicious - the brilliant fuschia color is just a bonus you didn't even need to earn.  

 

Serves 2

Recipe adapted from Ritu Dalmia's Travelling Diva

 

What you’ll need:

½ cup beetroot (peeled and cubed)

2 cups yoghurt

Salt

2 tsp cooling oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

Handful of curry leaves

Couple of dry chillies

 

How to:
 

1. Puree the beetroot and yoghurt adding a little water if necessary. Mix in salt.

 2. Heat a pan with oil. Add mustard seeds, curry leaves and chillies when the oil is hot. Fry till the mustard seeds start to crackle. Turn off the heat and drizzle on to the yoghurt mixture.

RITU DALMIA'S PRAWN BIRYANI

“After a full belly all is poetry.”

Frank McCourt

The ingredients

I'm so fascinated by the term "frenemies." It's hardly new but I'm still fascinated - it so perfectly describes my relationship with so many acquaintances I love to hate. I'm not being mean. I'm pretty much completely certain they loathe me back. It's just that context, some expectation of benefit, shared experiences like college or school compel us to keep in touch and stay in each other's lives. To some extent this is unavoidable but with time and more real obligations, pressures I feel I'll need to cut a large swathe of them out of my social circle.

Everyday I find myself becoming more tense and with less and less time I can call my own. So much like the cheap, rexine handbag I bought from Janpath in third year of law school for INR 200 I realize perhaps these bits and baubles from my past aren't going to cut it in my present. Why invest more time and effort trying to patch these failing relationships when I can invest in the ones that work?

Unlike the recipe for this satisfying, lively Prawn Biryani from Ritu Dalmia's Travelling Diva. I love rice, I love prawns, I love this happy, yellow color - why not smash it all together in this sunny celebration? I know this recipe works because my brother polished it off all by himself in a day - eating it for all 3 meals. Little brothers don't lie about things that go right.

I've added more spice to my version, you can also add some more prawn if you like. You can also skip the turmeric, but if you do then roast the rice till it's a richer brown color at step 3.

 

Serves 3

Recipe adapted from Ritu Dalmia's Travelling Diva

 

What you’ll need:

1 cup basmati rice

100 g prawn (deveined)

2 onions (sliced)

4 -5 tbsp coconut milk

2 tbsp oil

1 tsp crushed garlic

1 tsp grated ginger

2 -3 dry red chillies

2 -4 cardamom

2 -4 cloves

1 dry bay leaf

Pinch of red chilli powder

Pinch of turmeric (as much as you need to get the color you want) (optional)

Salt to taste

Juice of 1 -2 limes

Handful of chopped coriander/mint
 

How to:
 

1. Soak the rice in water for about 30 minutes.

2. Heat oil and fry the whole red chillies, onion, ginger and garlic till the onions sweat and lose color. Add the bay leaves, cardamom and cloves, fry till fragrant – about a couple of minutes.

3. Add the rice and stir it around the pan till it browns slightly and is nicely coated in the spices.

4. Add 2 cups of water, turmeric, chilli powder, coconut milk, salt and some of the coriander leaves. Cook till the rice is soft but not completely cooked.

5. Add the prawns and lime juice. Cover the pan and cook till the rice and prawns are done.

Note: Prawns cook super quickly and you don’t want them to end up dry and rubbery so check in on them often.

 6. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with Beetroot Raita.

 

 

RESTAURANT REVIEW: MARKET CAFE, KHAN MARKET

For putting your feet up and watching Khan Market bustle

Sometimes you find a place that gives you what you need and like. For me, Market Café is often that place – it’s very close to where I live, I’m there so often the staff knows what I’m going to do and when the weather is good the slightly, shabby balcony offers me everything I love about South Delhi and a bunch of hyperactive cats. Seriously. There’s a whole litter of cats that calmly stalk across the place like they own it.

But for all the reasons I’ve mentioned above, this can’t be a recommendation – I’m too familiar and too close to be able to judge the place anymore.

Looks Like

The inside has orange walls with some art and thankfully no harsh white light (I hate white light, it always reminds me of office). Sit in the cool interior if it’s too hot or too cold outside but otherwise find a chair at the pretty terrace and watch Khan Market bustle below.

Tastes Like

The Market Café menu feels like a sprint around the globe with Mediterranean, Italian, Mexican, American and Spanish options. Usually I freeze in the face of so many choices but I know these guys do a pretty stand up job. The Mezze Platter with Hummus, Muhammaran, Tabouleh and Falafel is a safe thing to start with, tiny bite sized chunks of the Mediterranean with a spread of dips. I do wish they weren’t so stingy with their dips though. The Greek Lamb Gyros are much more filling, little minced lamb kebabs with mini pita pockets and hummus. The Harissa Chicken Skewers were unexpectedly bland, tasting like plain chicken skewers with too little harissa flavor to make a difference. If you’re looking to eat and run, the Roasted Chicken Sandwich is bursting with healthy slabs of chicken, basil and olives.

I mostly go to Market Café to get my writing done so my consumption is usually limited to endless cups of coffee or the Lemon Twist (lime, fennel and ginger fizz) which I can’t get enough of. Apart from the mezze dishes none of the food strikes me as exceptional but the standard, location and ambience keep me coming back.

Feels Like

I have sat here for hours with just one cup of coffee and they’ve never tried to rush me. For a while me and Fuchsia came every Sunday to wine and whine – the service has always been not just professional but really sweet. It’s the balance of unobtrusive and helpful I appreciate.

Be prepared to run into someone you know!
 

Should you go: I say yes!

Vegetarian Options: Yes
Liquor License: Yes
Smoking Area: Yes
Address:  8, 2nd Floor, Khan Market
Phone: 011 30146022 Ext: 972                                                                        
 

RED PEPPER AND POMEGRANATE MOLASSES DIP

"Am I tough? Am I strong? Am I hard-core? Absolutely.
Did I whimper with pathetic delight when I sank my teeth into my hot fried-chicken sandwich? You betcha.”
― James Patterson

 

 

When I'm trawling the net for recipes to try out I look for any of the following:

 

(a) the recipe is remarkably simple,

(b) the dish is a classic I want to learn to make, or

(c) it involves unusual combinations of ingredients.

 

 Just to clarify the ingredients themselves should not be unusual - I hate nothing more than having to forage through grocery stores for a bottle of something or the other which will gather dust and fungusify on my kitchen shelf after I've used 1 1/2 tsp for one goddamn recipe. I mean that the mix of ingredients should be unexpected.

 

Like for this exciting, punchy red pepper dip - it has old bread, it has pomegranate juice and peppers. Whaat?! What will this even taste like?! I get all excited and mad scientist-y about stuff like this. But to get back to the question of what it tastes like, this is a light dip with gentle, sweet tones and an incredible soft heat that follows - very truly an unexpected bouquet of flowers. A must try.

 

 Serves 8

Adapted from Martha Stewart

 

What you’ll need:

2 red peppers

1 cup pomegranate juice

¼ cup olive oil

1 pita (torn into chunks)

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

¾ tsp red chilli powder

Salt to taste

 How to:

1. Simmer the pomegranate juice in a pan for about 10 – 15 mins till it’s reduced and much thicker.

 

2. Throw in all the ingredients (including cooked pomegranate juice) and blend till you have a smooth paste.

RESTAURANT REVIEW: IMPERFECTO, HKV

For when you want to release your inner hipster

What do you think of hipsters? I ask because Imperfecto with its suspended 2 wheeler at the entrance and beaten, repurposed wood interiors is definitely hipster. The laudable thing is that it transcends that dubious distinction to be a very good restaurant.

Looks Like

So when I tell you the place is super hipster you’re rolling your eyes at me because that’s what all of HKV is aspiring to, right? What sets Imperfecto apart from the rest is the scale at which they’ve implemented these aspirations. By village standards the place is massive – 2 whole floors and a multilevel balcony/terrace. The owners have clearly taken their time to dot their i’s and cross their t’s before opening. They’re also usually present on most evenings, keeping a hawk eye on the premises which makes me, as an admirer of detail oriented, micro-managers, very happy.

I understand they initially hired a design firm to do the place up but when they were dissatisfied with the results they tore it all down and started from scratch. Their commitment is clearly visible in what is one of HKV’s most visually impressive restaurants.

The walls are weathered and painted different colours, there’s an eclectic collection of knick knacks flung around the place in interesting ways and unusual design elements in every corner. Literally. My favourite is an installation of books tumbling out of a box. The indoors is fun but if the weather allows it, I would recommend sitting out in the grassy balcony. If you’re in a group try the cabana style seating on the terrace.

 

TASTES LIKE

Imperfecto primarily serves Italian and Spanish food and does a good job of it. The highlight of their menu are their grills. If you’re on the balcony you can watch your food being grilled fresh in front of you – try a seafood platter with the lightly seasoned, succulent jumbo prawns. Their pizzas are also worth trying, very thin with heaps of well sourced and obviously fresh toppings. Get their deliciously, strong red wine sangria pitcher as an accompaniment and you’ll have everything you need for a memorable evening. To add to the happy homey vibe, I love the cheerful chef who bustles around with samples of different food making small talk with patrons.

They also have hummus and other mediocre Mediterranean suspects but these are too ordinary for the price you’ll be paying. I wish they’d just get rid of the ho-hum Mediterranean menu, they have plenty left to choose from without it. Similarly Imperfecto’s dessert options are pretty limited and seem to be outsourced. If they fix their dessert menu, it would be wonderful to sit out in their balcony on winter evenings with a portion of coffee and cake. Till then I'll just make do with pizza and sangria.

FEELS LIKE

The place is so busy most evenings that even with the best intentions the staff looks like it’s struggling to contain the crowds. This is another reason why I recommend the outdoor seating, the inside can get annoyingly noisy. I love that they’ve started using the space for live music acts and the performances they set up look like a lot of fun. Just keep in mind it can get pretty choc a bloc.

At this rate, it looks like TLR’s mantle has been usurped by the quirky Imperfecto. Small hiccups aside this is a great, unexpectedly reliable place to head to in HKV.

 

Should you go: Absolutely.

Vegetarian Options: Yes
Liquor License: Yes
Smoking Area: Yes
Address:  1A/1 Hauz Khas Village
Phone: 011 41090093
 

LUXE SALMON DIP

"I get way too much happiness from good food" - Elizabeth Olsen

 

 

At dinner one day a friend was talking about job choices, to which another friend responded, that though the opportunity sounded comfortable it would never make him great. The comment really resonated with me, how many us even aspire to greatness anymore?

 

We're all worried about salaries and commute timings and don't get me wrong, I have nothing against more money or less traffic, but how often do we think about what we need to do to thrive? Not just vaguely hope we'll do well and go back to watching TV shows but really constructively think about how our lives could be better. I realize I barely think about the future - specially not in a concrete, structured way. Days and weeks go by, crossing off silly errands and dealing with inconsequential issues, till I turn around and realize I have spent huge chunks of time on things I don't even remember.

 

I'm in fact so bad at this that it's taken me 27 years to realize time is passing me by. In keeping with my reignited desire to get my life back together I've decided to face my fear of working with seafood. The result is this creamy, delicate, ultra luxe salmon dip. Get on, make some dip, get your life together.

 

 

Serves 6

Adapted from Martha Stewart

 

What you’ll need:

 

1 can tinned salmon

¼ cup mayonnaise

3 tbsp cream cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

Sprinkling of capers

 

How to:

 

Throw all the ingredients together (except the capers) and blend till you have a paste. Sprinkle capers on top. Chill and serve.

 

Note: Don’t bother using fancy salmon for this, the tinned kind is perfectly okay. Keep your salmon fillets etc for baking whole.