Tuesday 12 August 2014

PRODUCT REVIEW: I SAY ORGANIC

I choose a lazy person to do a hard job because they'll find an easy way to do it.
- Bill Gates
 
How cute is their van?
 
Trying to eat healthy often seems impossibly hard and I'm a very lazy person. Unfortunately my advancing age has made it obvious that I can't survive on a diet of just beer and cake. I try to order grilled chicken or fish when I'm eating out but I usually fail so the only option left is to try to eat as healthy as possible when I'm home.

From my conversations with nutritionists I understand the biggest problem with our diet is how little raw vegetables and fruits we're eating. The only way I can figure to add raw vegetables is to eat salads but ordering a salad at a restaurant makes for a pretty huge stomach bug risk in the summer/monsoon. Salad leaves aren't easily available in local markets and all of this makes I Say Organic a godsend - they have a wide range of organic produce, including fruits, vegetables, cereals and some miscellaneous seeds, honey etc. All of their products are organic and delivered straight to your doorstep. The website is super easy to navigate and you can either swipe your card or pay cash on delivery. My favorite feature is that you can choose the time slot you want delivery to be made - this way you can schedule exactly when you're home and want to get your groceries. Also, if you don't have any idea what to do with the vegetables you've ordered, check out their cute blog for healthy recipe ideas. You can order from their website (http://www.isayorganic.com/)


Thursday 7 August 2014

RESTAURANT REVIEW: TROLLEYS, KHAN MARKET

For absolutely no reason. Don't go.


The highlight of the meal

There's one advantage to bad restaurants. Their reviews are easy to write. Trolley's is going to be a breeze.
 
 
The place opened in the middle of 2013 and it's testament to my survival instinct that I resisted the plaintive wailing of the waiters in the middle lane asking me to try out their happy hour specials. One day, early in January 2014 I couldn't put it off any more and I walked into the place for lunch. My friends have still not forgiven me.


Bog standard Mezze Platter

Looks Like

I think the place is supposed to look like some kind of .. I don't really know. Swanky living room? The décor isn't bad, it's a sort of typical clean lines, bright colors kind of scene but the insides are strangely dark and result doesn't add up to much.

The inside was dim and not very inviting so I sat out in the balcony which seems to have slipped the interior designer's mind. The plug points were exposed with wires drearily dangling out and the upholstery tattered.
 
The half decent pizza
Tastes Like

Let me get the good things out of the way first because that won't take much time. I quite appreciated the little platter of papad and assorted chutney - I always think it's very considerate of restaurants to offer patrons something to nibble on while they navigate the menu.

Now on to the bad, the "classic" Mezze Platter was uninspiring, the dips too tame and the pita, cold and store bought. The Pizza with Grilled Chicken, Sundried Tomatoes, Fresh Mozzarella and Pesto Tomato Sauce was equally bleh. I mean we ate it but that's because we'd anything hot and cheesy. The Red Wine Sangria's a syrupy mess with too much sugar and too little wine or fruit. The Grainy Mustard Glazed Chicken was inedible, cold and made with obviously stale meat. The only reason we didn't send it back was because we refused to stay a minute longer.
 
The inedible chicken
Feels Like

The staff is fine but uninterested, who can blame them?
 

MUTTON ROGAN JOSH

“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.”
― Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own


This recipe for Mutton Rogan Josh is another I'd misplaced and only rediscovered when trying to clean out my photo folder. The photos are obviously, kind of crappy (they've been taken by my dinky old pink camera which I retired about 2 years ago) but the recipe is a good one so I've put it up. Looking through my old photos made me nostalgic about those confusing days when I was starting this immense time sink.

There's a lot of writing out there on how to begin your own blog and I remember reading some of it before starting out but no number of helpful guides makes the process easier. Still, I thought this was as good an opportunity as any to write down the stuff about blogging I wish someone had told me a couple of years ago:

1. First drafts suck. The first set of photos/ posts you come up with will all suck. So will the second, third and fourth probably. Even the tiniest post on my blog takes much more effort and patience than I imagine it will.

2. Get yourself up to date on the technical toys that'll help your blog look more polished. If you're not good with technology hire/ request someone who is. For photo editing, my go to tools are Picasa, Picmonkey and Typic. They're not going to be able to give you photoshop levels of quality but they're reliable and easy to use.

3. Speak to other bloggers - they've probably gone through the same teething trouble you're dealing with now and figured out ways to sort through it.

4. Do NOT abandon your blog! It's okay to make mistakes, slack, or not consistently deliver quality. Fine, it's not okay but you'll survive. The only thing your blog can't survive is you abandoning it.

5. The number of numbers can drive any crazy. Between facebook stats/ blogger stats/ instagram likes/ twitter/ pinterest and everything else, it's easy to get overwhelmed by all the numbers and data being thrown at you. Make as much sense of it as you can but after a while I've learnt to let it go. Sometimes I slave over a post and am really excited about it and the only person who likes it is my mom. Sometimes I put up something random and hordes of people fall over themselves saying it's amazing. Just keep on doing what you're doing. I assume it'll all make sense one day.

6. No pictures are better than bad pictures.

7. Don't become a slave to blog trends. Initially, the more food blogs I'd look at, the more worried I got, that my photos weren't filled with mason jars, that I didn't have the time to get a Christmas themed recipe up in December, that I wasn't putting up enough posts. If you manage do everything everyone else is doing then your blog will be like every other blog. That is not the point.

8. Listen to constructive criticism but know what your vision for your blog is. You don't have to take on board everyone's comments. If people go on and on, tell them to go start their own blog.

9. For those trying to monetize their blogs, congratulations you've just signed up for an impossible task. The more ads you put up, the less attractive the blog looks, the less traffic you get. The more sponsored posts  you put up, the less genuine the blog looks, the less traffic you get. Basically you need to find a way to make money without your readers finding out you're trying to make money. Good luck.

10. Grammar matters.

11. Blogging is a public activity and if you continue to keep your day job you have to remember that EVERYONE (including your boss, colleagues, clients, ex, future marital prospects and basically anyone with an internet connection) can read and judge you on what you're putting up. We still live in quite a conservative society and specially if you work in a more formal work environment you can be sure there's no dearth of gossips passing judgment. Be prepared for all the pitfalls of being a public figure without most of the perks.

12. A lot of people have great ideas but it only counts if you implement them. Also, get to implementing quickly, before someone else has done it and you're left squeaking you thought of it first.

13. Read everything you can on what you want to blog about. There's a lot of faffers out there and your knowledge will set you apart from the lightweights.

14. Ask for favors, for help, for advice, for input, for publicity opportunities. It won't happen if you don't ask for it.

15. Be prepared. Carry your camera, notebook, business cards and other tools with you everywhere you go. You never know when inspiration, a potential contact or the opportunity for a great photo-op will show up.

 
Serves 4
Adapted from Anjum's New Indian

What you’ll need:

1 kg mutton (on the bone or boneless – obviously not keema)
4 tbsp vegetable oil

Whole spices

10 peppercorns
5 brown cardamom (badi elaichi)
7 green cardamom
5 cloves
Atleast 2 inch cinnamon stick
2 onions (sliced finely)
3 tomatoes (pureed)
4 tbsp yoghurt (stirred well)
1 tbsp ginger (paste)
1 tbsp garlic (paste)

Powdered Spices

4 tsp ground coriander
4 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp red chilli powder
2 tsp fennel seeds
3 tsp garam masala
Salt to taste

Handful of cilantro leaves with stalk (chopped for garnish)

How to:

1. Pour oil into a large pan, heat. Add whole spices and fry till sizzling. Add onion and stir till the onions are nicely golden.

2. Add the mutton pieces and stir for 4 – 5 minutes till the mutton colors over.

3. Add the ginger garlic paste to the pan and stir for a couple of minutes till cooked. Add tomatoes and then the powdered spices. Stir. Cook for about 20 – 30 minutes till the tomato sauce is reduced and the sauce starts to release oil.

4. Move the contents of the pan into a pressure cooker, add a cup and a half of water and pressure cook for 2 whistles.

5. Once the meat is tender, transfer back into the pan. You should have some gravy in the pan, add the yoghurt, stir and bring the pan to a boil.

6. Cook for another couple of minutes (add some water if the gravy is getting too thick) taste, fix the seasoning.

7. Before serving stir in the cilantro.