Tandoori Chicken Bhel

My craziness for tandoor & Indian street food goes a long way back. The craziness for tandoori chicken, chicken tikka, the breads and my love for Pani Puri and Sev Puri made me come up with the crazy idea for this creation. My love for both gives me the chills sometimes! So, one day on my way to work, I thought, "what the hell, let's come up with a dish that combines my love for both these dishes." There would be nothing better than making a dish that combines the flavours of the street with a hint of smokiness and spiciness you get from. So I said to myself, "what would be good? A bhel that contains crisp puffed rice, potatoes, spices, and chutneys or would a sev puri be better?"

In the the mix!!!

I decided bhel would go perfect since it gave me more room to play with the dish. 

I haven't dismissed the idea of making a tandoori chicken sev puri though, and that's my next attempt on the wonderful craze of Indian street food i have got recently...

And so began the craziness!

So to begin with the dish, i firstly looked into the original dish; the ingredients that go in it and after that, I decided to redesign it up with my creation. I decided to add the regular stuff that goes into a bhel, and some other stuff that would make it different to make it a tandoori bhel. The chutney was going to be made using a tandoori marination that was used to marinate the chicken. So, I cooked the marination in oil until all the spices were cooked and gave it that tandoori smell and smokiness. With a touch of water and oil, I adjusted the consistency of the chutney. I also decided to add some mustard oil and of course the main highlight was the tandoori chicken with its smokiness and charness. I then gathered all the ingredients and it was time to re-invent this street food! I mixed my crispy rice puff with boiled potatoes, mustard oil, onions, thin sev, finely chopped cilantro, freshly squeezed lemon juice, and to bring everything together...I couldn't forget the two main things, one was the chicken, and the other was the tandoori chutney. I then added a little bit of spicy chana dal.

Old skul with a twist!!!!

There was only one way i was gone serve this street food, even though it was a bit fancy than your regular, I did not want to serve it on a plate or glass, hence, I told Bhavika; one of my best servers (can't disclose real name due to political reasons), to get me some paper from old magazines. Made a cone out of the old paper and filled it with the bhel. I garnished it with a little bit of chopped coriander and gave a puri to scoop out the bhel. Made little cones and gave the entire staff of the restaurant to try out my new experiment.

                                 My God, what a re-invention of something so simple, or I'd rather say what a great twist to the old school street food we all crave for. I hope you guys enjoyed reading this post as much as I did while writing it. So get your butt and go make some for yourself, and enjoy!  You could also make it with paneer if you're a vegetarian, or could add your own little twist to the dish! Do let me know how it turned out!! 

Ciao!

Braised cow tongue empanadas, pepper foam & chimichuri

"Ewwwww!!!", is what most of you would say after reading the name of the post. Hahah... but it's not ew, it's good and sexy!!!!

This dish was made for my tasting menu while I was doing my culinary degree in Chicago about 2 years ago, and was inspired by a similar dish which was on the menu of Graham Elliot; where I was working for a while. I really loved the dish that was served there and I wanted to create something similar but different. The dish sparked my craziness for empanadas and working at Graham Elliot's made me a better cook and l learned a lot from the chefs there.

For our tasting menu, we had to make 5 courses and I chose one of these. I was working with beef tongue for the first time and had to research a bit and ask a couple of chefs. After doing the needful I decided to make beef tongue empanadas and see how it tasted.

Beef empanadas!!!

 I started off by cooking the cow tongue, and God, it took hours to cook! While the tongue was cooking, I was thinking what to serve with the empanadas. I thought of serving pepper foam. I made that with pepper purée, a bit of gelatine and isi whipper. Since empanadas are mostly Argentinean, I thought of giving  chimichuri as well and instead of putting the boiled eggs inside, I'd put them on the plate. I then made the the dough with flour, melted butter, some cold water and salt. The tongue was ready and it was time to finish the filling with spices and all the other stuff. I added some olives, tomatoes and onions, garlic, some seasonings, cumin, paprika, and oregano. I diced up the tongue and mixed it the other mixture, and my filling was ready. 

It was time to make the empanadas. I rolled out the dough and made discs and filled half of it and closed it to look like a crescent moon. I decided to fry them rather then bake them. I fried 2 pieces and cut them in half; platted 3 of the 4 pieces and followed by the red pepper foam and the chimichuri followed by some fragments of hard boiled yolk. The dish tasted and looked good. I wasn't very happy with the outcome of the dish as I wanted it to be a little more classy and sophisticated but, I was content with what I had made. My chef who was doing the tasting of our dishes was also happy and a bit surprised seeing what was presented in the plate. I personally was a little bit disappointed with the plating but the rest was good.

Okay guys, enough of me making your mouth water and drool. Go grab an empanada from your nearby store or get your ass off the chair, and make some!

Thanks for reading the post and I hope you keep doing it...

Ciao!!

Hazelnut cappuccino!!!!

Every Tom, Dick & Harry likes coffee these days; be it the different variety you get from cappuccino or espresso to coffee latte or macchiato. 
Personally, I'm not a big fan of coffee. I sometimes tend to have some cold coffee just to change the mood and that would be once in two weeks or even a month. But one person I know who loves coffee; cappuccino and not just any cappuccino, but cappuccino from Starbucks; hazelnut to be precise, and no other flavour. This person is such a maniac. Well, let's go no further and reveal this person's name... but I guess you got it right, it’s no other than my retarded sister, Dee (cannot reveal her real name due to political & government reasons). She really loves it, and drinks nothing else but that. Sometimes when I am with her, I take few sips from her and yes, it's good. It has that toasty, earthiness you get from the coffee and the hazelnut and having it hot just takes it to another level

The hazelnut cappuccino!!

So one day, I decided to make a dessert based on the hazelnut cappuccino that she likes so much, and dedicate something to her and say I made it just for her. In short I would say she was my inspiration for the dessert.  Making the dessert was not a hard task, but what components to put was a bit tricky as I wanted  different taste,  texture and mostly wanted it to look like the cappuccino she drank. I finally got the chance to make the dessert when I was giving my food trial where I am currently working. I was making a five course tasting menu and decided this was going be one of the dishes and I took the risk. Since it was my first crack at it, I decided I would keep it simple but yet classy and sexy!!! So I deiced to make a chocolate creamux at the base, followed by a coffee sponge and then followed by hazelnut panna cotta. To give the whole feel of someone having a cappuccino, I decided the dessert will be served in a coffee cup, and also added the milk frothing and put some granules of coffee and hazelnut atop.

With the cookie!!!

The dessert was made and it was time for the chefs to taste it. At first I was a bit edgy as to whether they would like it or not. But they loved the concept as well as the dessert. I was also happy with the final product, but I knew it could have been done better. So I made a point that I would re-create the dessert again and have it on our specials menu and that too a better and tastier version of it. 

Months passed by and i hadn't made the dessert and just couple of days ago I decided I wanted to add another dessert to the current menu and I knew what I was going to adding. So I said to myself, "I will add hazelnut cappuccino and will do it differently than what I did during my food trial". I decided to go with the same flavours, but change the texture of the components and present it the same way i did for my trial. This time, the base was a very soft chocolate panna cotta infused with hazelnut and coffee followed by the same coffee sponge, and then instead of the hazelnut panna cotta which i doneearlier, i decided to go with hazelnut ice cream. To give the idea that you are having a cappuccino or coffee, I decided to give a small cookie with it as you would get when you are actually having coffee.

The inner beauty!!!

The dessert was tasted by some of the morons at the restaurant and they loved it. For once, I was very happy with something I had made and it made me feel good. And I guess, since it was for my retarded sister, it also made me very happy. The texture and the flavour combination went so well that you could literally have an orgasm in your mouth. In short, it was a killer dessert and it made me very happy! It's on the menu now and I have gotten some positive feedback from the guests who've tried it.

I hope Dee is proud of the dessert as it was made for her, but the funny part is she hasn't tasted it yet. I guess she has to wait for it! 
Anyways thanks for reading the post and hope you enjoyed reading it. Have a great day and it's time now for me to go work and whip up something interesting!

Ciao bella!!!

Candy crunch, Strawberry & Granola

Who doesn't like ice cream?! That too when it's hot, and you need something to cool you down. Many things can cool you down, but ice cream is something that relaxes you and satisfies you not that other things don’t!!!!

Today's post is about a creation I came up with, without having to put my brains together and think hard; not that I do! But anyway, this creation made me proud and it's amazing how simple things can turn into wonderful things. I am not always proud of the things I do, and nor do I take recognition for it, but this one made me take credit and I felt proud that I created it!

Anyway, lets' talk about the creation and its existence! I love ice creams and dessert. I guess that must have been obvious by now, but if not just letting you retards know that I do love them. I literally eat ice cream every day at work, and that too different flavour! After a while, I got bored eating the same flavours and wanted something new and exciting, something sexy to arouse my taste buds. At that time, I was working on creating granola or had already done it. I loved what I made, and we even started using it as one of the desserts that I created but with help of my pastry cook!

One day after having my lunch I decided to try this creation and see if it works out. I also had this habit of having my ice creams in tea cups. Very weird, I know and who eats ice cream in a tea cup?! Only retarded people like me do that or I guess not even crazy people do ...just me! 

My Sexy Baby!!!!

So, I went to the pastry section and grabbed a scoop of candy crunch ice cream and put it in the tea cup, and my pastry cook had made this strawberry compote once, and I liked so much that I was gone add it to give another texture and taste to the dessert and the last thing I had decided to add was something crunchy and was not going to add anything else but granola..

It was time to devour the creation. I took the dessert to the table and sat and started eating it. Everybody was wondering what I was eating. I then told them about the invention and everyone liked it. It became a habit of mine & everyone to eat it every day after lunch. After a week or so, it was on the menu of my restaurant and we serve it the way I ate it. It's still going strong and I still eat it. I really loved what I had made & needless to say, people were very proud of it. 

As they say sometimes, you really don't have to do anything to create something that will wow people, but just simple ingredients and a little bit of creativity.

That's it for now. Hope you enjoyed the post. Please don't curse or abuse me for just making you read all these creations and not making you guys actually taste it. But if you come by where I work, I will definitely make you try all the creations!

Candy crunch ice cream, strawberry & granola!!!

Thanks for reading the post and have a wonderful day ahead!

Ciao!

Old fashioned ice cream sandwich!!!

Don't you ever wish you could be a kid again and have all the fun that you did when you were small and not bother about a thing. Well if not, I guess you were a retarded kid.

Today this post is about a childhood favorite and a classic....Ice cream sandwiches! I guess we all are familiar with it and have grown up eating it. Since I work as a chef and in a deli, I thought you ought to have some childhood favorites like Mac n cheese, spaghetti meatballs, and others. So I thought why not ice cream sandwiches. And plus baby inspired me to make the classic since she liked it so much when I made her try the store bought classic...she fell in love with it and liked  it and I decided I will put this on the menu of the restaurant I work with.

I wanted to make this favorite in different flavors rather than the classic flavors; which I have eaten and was vanilla ice cream between two chocolate wafers. I decided to make three flavors for the patrons to choose from. I wanted to make one that would replicate a snicker bar. The other one was my favorite dessert I created and wanted to incorporate in to a sandwich and the third one was another combination I like; which was coconut, raspberry and chocolate. I decided to change the shape of the sandwiches from the classic, I opted for a rather round one than the rectangular ones you get at the store.

Caramel & salted peanut!!!!

I started with the first flavor. Made a caramel sauce and added some salted peanuts to it and also made a chocolate biscuit. I just grabbed some homemade vanilla ice cream and put them in the round mould. It was the chocolate base followed by the vanilla ice cream which was mixed with the salted peanuts and then some more caramel sauce followed by the biscuit. When guest would order, it will be rolled in crushed peanuts just to add another texture. I must say it was good and I was happy with final the product. Some people found it salty, but who cares, they just don't know what they want and what they are eating and also noticed not many people are a fan of sweet and salt when combined together! They need to improve on their palate. They have one like a cow’s backside!!!Hahaha!!!!

The second was the coconut and raspberry. It was quite a simple affair. The same one as above but with coconut ice cream and raspberry soft in the center  When one would bite into the sandwich the raspberry soft will flow out and you will get the sweetness from the coconut and the sourness from raspberry. It was good! Loved it too! The idea of the raspberry been as a soft center was given to me by my brother from another mother Manisha(For political & government reasons cannot say his real name).

Coconut & Raspberry!!!

The final one was based on one of my other creation. I will write a post on that soon, it was candy crunch ice cream, granola & strawberry compote. This was another good combination! Everything complimented each other and was well balanced! The chocolate wafer was the base followed by a smear of dark red strawberry coulis and followed by candy crunch ice cream and the chocolate wafer.  And would roll the outer layer in granola to order

All the sandwiches were served wrapped in wax paper to give a rustic look. I would say I was happy with the result and everyone liked it as well.

As always I never tasted my creation but my instinct said it was good and I followed it. It's sometimes good to follow it but sometimes it's also good to taste.

The sandwiches were a hit and were eaten by the patrons in the following days after that. For now these are the three flavors, but have been working on others and you guys will have to wait and be surprise to another crazy combination of flavors and textures. 

For now enjoy with the pictures and drool over it or go buy yourself one from your ice cream store! Hahaha!!!

Ciao!!!!! 

A Take On Dal Kichidi

Who doesn't like comfort food?! Be it Mac 'n' cheese from the States, Dal rice from India or Fufu from Sierra Leone, everyone likes comfort food and that which gives them the satisfaction of home cooked food.

The magical Shoestrings!!!

Being a chef, people always think you eat best of the best food, sometimes you do, but not always. Working as a chef is a hectic job. Long working hours, not a fixed meal time and many other factors, but I still love the job and enjoy what I do the best. Some times at work you just don't want to eat something fancy and just want to have some comfort food and lay back and think about the day or life. I fancy dal kichidi at times but not always. I like to eat something new and sexy every day. Today this post is a take on dal kichidi and make it into a classy dal risotto.

Same principle applies to make the dal risotto as you would make a normal risotto but with no wine and a couple of twists and turns in the process. The idea came to me when I was making dal kichidi from left over dal and rice. By working in India you are bound to find some cooks who cook good Indian food, and I happen to come across many in the past year and one of them showed the tricks to make dal kichidi and it wasn't a rocket science job but rather a simple affair.

Dal Risotto

So yesterday I decided to make dal risotto from left over dal. Started off with basic technique of making risotto but with all spices, tomatoes, chilies and everything followed by additions of leftover dal and the rice. Left it to cook for some odd 20 minutes. To finish the risotto, I added couple cubes of frozen butter to just bring to another level, I decided not to add cheese to it, because didn't like the idea of cheese and Indian spices bonding together, but classic risotto would not be completed by a handful of Parmesan cheese. I decided I not to add any vegetables as I was allergic to vegetables (Yeah right, who is allergic to vegetables?! Only Dana I guess! hahaha!) but it could be a great addition to it. You can add exotic vegetables or the daily stuff. I bet asparagus or baby shallots would go well. That's for you to try and tell me, morons! Ain't gone make everything and tell you or show you!

The risotto took about 35 minutes to make, while it was almost done I was thinking what people eat kichidi with. Some with yogurt, some with papad or some with pickles. I thought adding another texture to the dish would be a great addition. Something crunchy like papad but very different and elegant. So I decided to make potato shoestring. Not everyone might think of it as classy and elegant I thought of it and it was there. After frying the shoestrings i tossed it in some BBQ powder to give it another flavor profile of sweetness. Everything was ready and it was plating and tasting time.

Sexy & Orgasmic!!!

I scooped out some risotto on to a plate and garnished it with my BBQ potato shoestrings, a fried chili and some chili oil. I wanted to put some micro cilantro but yet again couldn't find it. Better luck next time I guess. The final dish was ready to be eaten. This time i wanted to try my own creation for once, and it was absolutely divine and orgasmic!!!Loved it to the last bit on the plate!!!For me the two things that changed the whole dish was the addition of the frozen butter and the BBQ potato shoes string...it was sexy!!!! My cooks also liked it and were like, "chef you can cook Indian food too?!"

I was very happy with the final result. I thought to myself i can really cook and I wasn't bullshitting all this while! It was good to know that.

That's it for now, morons! Hope you liked the post and enjoyed reading it! Drool for now over the dal risotto or get your ass of the seat and go make some for yourself.

Have a fun day and enjoy!!!!

Ciao!!!

Reinventing Indian Street Food-1

A country where the population is more than a billion, food plays a pivotal role in their lives. Across the whole country you are bound to find thousands of dishes as there are so many cultures ,tradition and cast. But one thing that brings the whole nation together is good food and that too street food. On every corner of every city, you are bound to find  a hawker stall selling some food, be it vada pav, pani purri, dosa, or momos. Indian people have a habit of spicy and tasty food and won't compromise on that. As a kid growing up in Mumbai, for some time I learnt to eat whatever I could get my hands on even though I am a fussy eater. At least try it and say if it was good or it tasted like cow's shit!

My favourite of them are pani purri, ragda pattice and medu vada. For all you morons who don't know it,  google it. 

So I decided to change the whole look of some of the street food. This post is about ragda pattice! I have been working on pani purri and others.

Reinvented Ragda pattice!!! 
Well since I am talking about ragda pattice, I will give you an insight about what it is.

It is a patty made from potatoes and spices and pan fried or deep fried, and topped with spiced lentils, onions and chutney; both spicy and sweet. The lentil varies from chickpea to white peas which are actually called ragda.

Another style of platting the classic

My variation is based on the same ideology but presented in a very different way. The dish is usually spicy, sweet and sour and has a lot of flavour. Since I don't like the idea of having sweet Indian food I omitted it. I made the potato fritter with different spices such as cumin,coriander, chili powder. Rolled the potato into a long cylindrical tube and kept it in the freezer to chill and solidify well. The chutney was made by blitzing red bell peppers with fresh red chilies, garlic, onions and pan fried in oil till the water and the rawness was gone. I had decided to give an green oil instead of the green chutney but based it on the same flavor. So took some oil, blanched coriander leaves ,garlic,onion and fresh green chili. Pureed all and strained to just get the oil! You know what, it actually tasted like green chutney but in an oil form!

I then chopped up some brunoise of onions and had some thin sev, it was time to put the act together.

I took the potato log and cut it into medallions and pan seared in butter till warm in the center  For the dish, pretty much everything was ready and it was time to plate.

A different view!!!

I placed a couple table spoon of ragda on the plate, followed by the medallions of the potato and  followed by the red chutney and green oil and sev and onions, as this was done in India couldn't find micro coriander as garnish.

Personally I don't taste my own food always but this had to be tasted and have to say was on a different level,even Baby and Kalia agreed with it!!Both of them loved it so much and baby was so amazed that something can be done like this and it made me happy she loved the dish as I wanted her to taste something very classy which she had eaten while she was growing up but in a very different way!!!

From top!!

Anyways for all you morons, just enjoy the dish with your eyes for now and deal with it that you are not gone taste it! ;)

Will update you guys with another post about the second part of Indian street food!

Caio and have a great day!!!!