Yauatcha, Delhi- Michelin Starred Resturant

Food....good food and me are inseparable, I can go almost anywhere to have good food. Starting last Friday I have had a food filled weekend, which started with the Cheesecake @ Foodhall followed by a platter of Sushi at Sakae Sushi both in Ambiance Mall, Vasant Kunj   but the best food I have had in a very long time, was last saturday at this Michelin Starred Restaurant called 'Yauatcha' which serve modern Cantonese cuisine. My desire to have food at a Michelin Starred Restaurant ended at Vasant Kunj and I must say the restaurant and the food were better than expected. Located in 2nd Floor at Ambiance Mall in Vasant Kunj, the restaurant is very well located and by the time we left at 10 pm it was full. 

The food met my expectation and the service was also good. For starters we ordered  5 types of dim sums out of this I was most impressed with the Pak choy wrapped dim sum, Chicken and Prawn Shui Mai and the thin fish fillet wrapped dim sum, I can claim that I had the most amazing dim sum available in the whole country last saturday , the presentation was super good and the taste even better. The main course we ordered were also good, steamed baby pak choy in light oyster sauce  (I will try to replicate it soon) and french beans with Shaiitake mushroom in spicy black bean sauce (The mushroom was missing tough), 2 types of chicken, thin rice noodles and jasmine rice, for dessert we had Raspberry Delice which was mind blowing, the presentation was so beautiful that I didn't felt like eating it. . 

So if you are planning to experience gourmet food try 'Yauatcha', the price (inclusive of taxes) is a little steep but totally worth it (you may end up spending Rs 2500/- per person including drinks) , booking a table during weekend is recommended . 

My rating:

I will give Yauatcha 4 stars for ambiance, 4.5 stars for Food and 4 for service. The picture of the dessert is to motivate you to visit and enjoy the food :)

Raspberry Delice

#Dinner # Momos # Steamed Spinach # HAPPINESS

The combination momo's (Dimsums are popularly known as Momo's in India) with steamed spinach was really good, add a glass of sparkling wine if you want to make it more interesting.

#Instagrammed  #my dinner

Comfort Food- 1 Thambou Singju

Thambou Singju

Recently I met my dear fren 'CT' and the first thing she said was 'Why did you never made singju for me?'. I laughed and said because I never had the right ingredients while we were in Hague but I promised that I will make it for her very soon once I procure all the ingredients including Thambou and even Thoiding. We make different kind of singju (Manipuri salad mixed with herbs, chillies and sometimes with Ngari) but Thambou Singju reminds me of my childhood and the uncountable times I have had this comfort food with Aloo-saak, the combination of these two item was lethal, it still is :).

Thambou or Kamal Kakdi (in hindi) is available in many vegetable market in Delhi most of the vegetable stalls/shops in INA Market stock Thambou and even my neighborhood vegetable vendor sells it, in fact INA market sells almost all the Manipuri vegetables, which make me double happy whenever I visit the market. Before making it for 'CT' I decided to make it for myself and it was quite good. The recipe is below:

Ingredients:

1. Thambou (Kamal Kakdi/Lotus Root)

2.Cabbage

3.Spring onion

4. Toningkhok (Houttuynia cordata- Roots and leaves)

5. Thoiding asuba

6. Besan (Lightly roasted)

7.Chili 

8.Salt to taste

Steps:

• Finely (as fine as possible) chop the cabbage,spring onion, Toningkhok and thinly slide the Thambou.
• In a plate/bigger bowl mix the chili with salt and add the chopped vegetables, mix the ingredients well and add Thoiding and Besan, mix all the ingredients again and garnish with coriander leaves (optional). 

Enjoy the super healthy and yummy Singju. 

A Holiday post- Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar

Sunset- View from Table Land Panchgani

I visited Panchgani with my husband few weeks back, after google searching and more google searching we decided to visit Panchgani for a short break. The view of sunset from the famous Table land and the really awesome weather makes Panchgani my current fav. holiday place in India. I used to think that I like sea and beaches more than mountains but off late I have realized that for the kind of person that I am I prefer mountains than sea. Growing up in Imphal and seeing the Mountains almost every day of my life for 17 years, mountains never fascinated me now but for a holiday destination I will choose Mountains over any other destinations because its peaceful

Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar are two  very popular holiday destination for people from Gujarat and Maharashtra but I think more popular among the Gujarati's, my husband said he has never seen so many Gujarati's at one place  in any other popular tourist places in India, which was true because almost every car and Bus had a Gujarat number. As Panchgani offers great weather, affordable accommodation and also the proximity to many district in Gujarat I guess that makes Panchgani attractive. But the reason we were attracted to Panchgani was  because it's close to Pune and I just didn't wanted to go to Lonavala or the over hyped Khandala.

Panchgani is a just a little over 100 Kms from Pune, if you travel in your own vehicle it wll take about 2.30 hrs but if you travel by one of those commercial private bus service it will easily take 4-5 hours because they will stop for lunch which will easily take 30-40 mins and also they will stop at so many places that you will easily end up travelling for at least 4 to 5 hrs. If you plan to travel by Public transport the best way is to take the MSRTC buses which is cheap and may even take lesser time. (http://www.msrtc.gov.in/msrtc_live/index-eng.html). We stayed at this really nice place which was 5 mins walk from the main market and the main Bus and Taxi stand,  Hotel Mount View Heritage ( http://www.hotelmountview.co.in/heritage.html) located on the main road and owned by a Parsi family, the property is well maintain and the owners very, very hospitable . The food was really good and the best part was almost all the tourist places were located within walking distance, including the Table Land, if you are in a mood to walk and explore the town I suggest you avoid taking taxi in Panchgani. My husband and I walked till Sidney Point and also till Table Land, which I thought was just a flat mountain top till I saw the Sun set, the view of Sun set is breath taking and I have never seen such a beautiful sunset in my life. What was really amazing was that as I was admiring and watching the sun set I realized that it sun sets very quickly but yes we did managed to take some really amazing shots.  We also visited Mahabaleshwar but it was so crowded that we happily came back to the hotel as soon as possible, the Venna Lake and even the garden next to it was beautiful but it was so crowded that I didn't had the patience to go on one of the boat rides. The Mapro garden was a total disappointment, I thought that garden will have some Strawberry garden but it was just one big overcrowded restaurant which had an empty so callled 'Chocolate Factory' on display. I advice is skip the MAPRO garden and spend some time at the Venna Lake instead.
 
Panchgani is in my list of 'Must visit' places and I plan to make that happen soon :)

Venna Lake

Stir Fried Vegetable in Black Bean sauce

Stir Fried Vegetable in Black Bean sauce

Ingredients:

1.       Cauliflower florets

2.       Cabbage ( 2-3 leaves)

3.       French beans (100/150 gms)

4.       Mushroom

5.       1 medium size onion

6.       5-6 garlic cloves

7.       1 inch ginger

8.       2-3 green chili

9.       Soya sauce (Kikkoman)

10.   Black bean paste (1 tbsp- Available in INA market in Delhi)

11.   Salt to taste

12.   2 tbsp corn flour

13.   1/2 tbsp vegetable oil

Steps:

1.       Boil water in a pan and once it comes to a boil  add the chopped french beans, cabbage leaves  and cauliflower ( DO not add the Mushroom). Cover the pan and keep it for about 5 mins.

2.       Drain the hot water and immediately run cold water  over the veggies for  2-3 mins.

3.       Take a Wok/Kadhai and add oil, once it’s hot add the chopped garlic followed by slit green chili and onion. Fry for 4-5  mins.

4.       Add the vegetables and fry it for another 5 mins, add the soya sauce* , also add the black bean paste and mix it well with the vegetables.

5.       In a bowl add the corn flour and ½ cup of water. Add this paste and mix it well with the vegetables.

6.       Add salt to taste and if you feel you need to add more soya sauce add ½ tbsp.*

7.       Cook for another 10 mins on medium flame and enjoy with fried rice.

*Always add 2 tbsp of water to 1 tbsp to soya sauce and mix it well.

Baked fish wrapped in Turmeric leaves - My version of 'Nga-nam'

Last week was lot of fun, the extended Durga Puja holidays were fully utilised by cooking, eating and shopping. The other day on my way back from work, I dropped by INA market and bought my weekly quota of fish, what I absolutely love about INA is that the market never disappoints me and what is even more interesting is that INA market works like a mood elevator for me. I may sound a bit crazy but I'll choose to spend time at INA market over any of the swanky shopping mall in Delhi. 

To make my weekend interesting and food filled I decided to make baked fish and stir fried mixed veggies, so I bought 1 Kg of Red Snapper fish, Rohu, chives, Pui saag also known as Malabar Spinach, Black beans paste, Kikomon soya sauce and few other things. The final result of my exotic buy was very satisfying...baked fish is not a new recipe, Manipuri's love the 'Nga-nam' made mostly with smaller fish or 'Nga-kha' as we call it and never made with fish bigger than the little finger. But once I tried it with medium size fish and it was quite good. The recipe of the baked fish is below:

'Baked Fish wrapped in Turmeric leaves'

Ingredients:

1. 2 medium or small size Red snapper fish ( One can also use Pomfret, Tilapia or any other medium size fish)

2. Ginger Garlic paste- 3 spoons

3.Turmeric power- 1 tbsp.

4.Onion- 2 

5. Garlic- I whole pod 

6.Chilli powder - 1 tbsp (opitional)

7. 15-20 leaves of Awa Phadigom ( also know as Culantro/Mexican Coriander)

8. Mustard oil.

9. 4-5 Turmeric leaves (In case you don't have turmeric leaves use Banana leaves)

10. Aluminium foil

11. Salt to taste.

Steps:

1. Wash the fish properly, make small slits and pat dry using kitchen paper towel.

2.Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl ( Ginger garlic paste, Turmeric power, Chopped onion, Crushed garlic, chilli power, chopped awa phadigom, 1 tbsp mustard oil and salt). 

3. Smear some turmeric powder and mustard oil on the fish and also sprinkle some salt.

4. Cover the fish properly with the mixed ingredients and also put some inside the fish. Once done leave it for about 30 mins.

5. Pull out some aluminium foil and on it put a single Turmeric leave, now put the fish on it and put another turmeric leave on the fish, to save turmeric leave as it's always on short supply I had cut it neatly and covered the fish well with the leaves. Now wrap the fish with the aluminum foil, I used another layer of aluminum foil to fully wrap the fish. (Traditionally we use only the turmeric leaves to bake it but due to limited supply/availability of the turmeric leaves I used the aluminium foil to cover it fully and maintain the aroma)

6. Take a Tava and pre heat for 2-3 mins on high flame, add 1/2 tbsp of oil  and  put the foil wrapped fish on the tava, cover it fully with a plate or another container to maintain the heat. Turn the fish every 7-8 mins and cook on medium flame. It will take about 40-45 mins for the fish to get cooked. 

( One can also use an Oven to bake the fish but I prefer using the Tava, I find it more convenient )

Unwrap the fish after about 15-20 mins and serve hot with some simply yummy stir fried veggies and rice. Enjoy....