Bombay Foodie

Joy the Baker raised a crucial point about breakfast a few years ago. Most breakfast recipes out there can't be scaled to feed just one. Even if you add just one egg, you will end up with way too much batter for crepes or pancakes. Joy solved the problem with pancakes, and possibly waffles with her iconic post titled The Single Lady Pancake . I've now encountered a similar problem with birchermuesli. A Swiss breakfast staple, bircher is a delicious combination of uncooked oats left to soak overnight, apples, nuts and dried fruits. The issue here is the apple. Even the smallest apple will be too much for one serving and you can't leave these apples lying around, they brown too quickly. So here's my solution. The night before, measure out 3 tbsp oats in a large bowl. Add enough apple juice to cover the oats. This will impart the traditional apple flavour to your bircher without you grating a real apple. The next morning, pick a fruit that goes with oats. It has to...

Every year on my birthday, the most important decision is on where to eat. Last year, it was the excellent spuntino in London's soho for lunch followed by an equally spectacular hix for dinner. So when the day rolled in a couple of weeks back, I wanted to pick another restaurant with a wow factor. Jiggs Kalra's masala library has been on my wish list ever since it opened a few months back. But turns out it's super popular and you can't call them up a couple of days in advance and expect a reservation. Thankfully, a last minute table did open up and masala library is where I found myself for my birthday dinner. The 9 course chef's tasting menu starts with an amuse bouche of sev puri shot and a cheddar cheese pao. Loved the bun, while the sev puri was more show than flavour. The meal then started with a mushroom chai. A bit of mad Heston like touch here - the servers bring in tea cups where they add dried mushrooms (tea) and white truffle oil powder (looks li...

Today is a day of many festivals. Maghi in the north, makar sankranti in Western India and pongal in southern regions, the day variously marks harvest, new year and start of an auspicious time. My favourite festival though happens a day before January 14. On lohri day, my state of Punjab celebrates winter solstice with bonfires and much signing and dancing. As with all festivals, food forms a major part of lohri. It's traditional to eat peanuts, sesame brittle called rewri and for some strange reason, popcorn, on the day. The same foods are also thrown into the bonfire, an offering to bring in good luck. There are also sweets, of course. The more popular one is bhugga, made of condensed milk and sesame seeds, bringing in warmth in the cold months. But it's this lesser known sweet that I wanted to tell you about. This sweet springs up at all sweet shops in Amritsar the first week of January. It's called khajoor, the same name as dates. And yet, the sinful treat has...

There is no grain that polarises opinion more than polenta. Most people I know can't stand it. Even an Eastern European friend, who should be guzzling this stuff, couldn't understand why I would order polenta fingers at a restaurant. It's peasant food, he said. But peasant food or not, I like the simple comfort of polenta. I like it even better when it is cut into fingers or wedges, then pan fried. And topped, in this case, with a creamy mushroom sauce. I am not going to tell you how to cook polenta because it varies from one package to the other. So go by what it says on yours. Once it's cooked through, pour into a greased pan large enough to hold about 1 inch thick layer. The one you see above is in fact a bit too thick. Once it's in the pan, leave it in the fridge overnight to set. Next day, cut into fingers or wedges or a shape of your choice. Heat a tbsp of olive oil in a pan and shallow fry your polenta until browned on both sides. The thinner you s...

Here's to a year full of...           The richness of cream           The decadence of chocolate           The sweetness of vanilla           The comfort of cinnamon            And the joy of tiny, tiny marshmallows. Have a delicious 2014!

I know, I know, you are sitting there wondering why we are talking about this again. Haven't at least half the food bloggers already written posts about how kale chips are the new and improved substitute for potato chips. Well, I just wanted to set the record straight. Nothing is a good substitute for a fried potato. But if you take that off your head and get in the mood for a crisp, savoury snack that takes 10 minutes to bake and is really good for you, go ahead and make kale chips. Kale's now easier to get in Mumbai, thanks to Trikaya (did I tell you I owe them a LOT for all the fancy vegetables they grow for us foodies in Mumbai!!!!). And these chips are easy enough to put together whenever you get a snack craving. Just make sure that as soon as you buy your kale, you wash it and dry it. Then leave it in an airtight box in the fridge until needed. Heat the oven to 190C. Wipe your kale leaves with a cloth to remove any residual water. Remove stems and roughly tear i...

I love pina coladas. But since you can't (normally) have those for breakfast, I am recommending this smoothie instead. This also fixes another oft sited problem people quote with that tropical favourite. If you find coconut milk too strong a flavour in your drink, this one uses the subtler notes of fresh coconut water. To make the tropical smoothie, put 1 cup of chopped pineapple in your blender jar. I also added 2 chickoos, peeled and sliced, but those are optional. Also add in 1/2 cup of coconut water and a handful of mint leaves. Blend until it all comes together in a delicious mix.

This has to be the easiest way to impress your dinner guests. Just after main course, when your dinner party is looking forward to that store bought pudding, drop in (as casually as you can) - "oh! I'd just go and make some icecream". With an emphasis on make. Both times I tried it, this resulted in a bit of mayhem with guests telling me that I should let it be, it would be too much effort, that they didn't want dessert anyway. Followed by a stunned silence when, 5 minutes later, fresh churned ice cream emerged from the ice cream maker. Then one time, it also became a bit of a crowd puller as fascinated friends stood by the kitchen counter watching my bowl of liquid cream turning into frozen dessert. The ice cream base itself is so easy to make that it should count as cheating. The recipe comes from David Lebovitz of course. You need about 10 minutes the morning of the dinner party. First, make sweetened sour cream by mixing 2/3 cup milk, 1/3 cup cup sour cr...

I could not have asked for a better welcome back into the culinary world of Mumbai. My first food outing after moving back to the city happened on saturday; a food trail with Mumbai Boss' resident foodie Roshni Bajaj. For this version of their food walks, Roshni picked Matunga. She mentioned in her teaser that she will bypass the touristy favourites Cafe Madras and Cafe Mysore and lead us to hidden udupis in the bylanes of this South Indian haunt. Just the prompt I needed to sign up. Our group met outside Ram Ashraya near Matunga Central station but the real trail began at a hidden udupi nearby. Shree Sunders came up with the idea to create novelty dosas to increase their clientele and Roshni ordered us a few. From the selection, my favourite was Chettinad, a version that uses sago in the recipe to create a soft version. That dosa and a few others plus a filter coffee later, we emerged groaning that we simply could not eat any more. That's a bummer for a food trail but Roshn...

With cake shops, cafes and tea rooms at every corner, you will expect fabulous desserts easy to come by in London. Not really so. Dry cakes, soggy pies and mediocre cookies, I had to battle the whole lot before I found my favourites. Just so you don't have to kiss all these frogs on your next London trip, here are my top 5 picks from all the sweet goodies I sampled: 1. Honey Cake at L'Eto: As you walk down Soho's Wardour Street, a display of desserts will stop you in your tracks. The window belongs to L'Eto and I dare you to pass by without going in and eating something sweet. On my first visit to the cafe, I complained to the server that all cakes in London are dry. She cut me a slice of honey cake right there and promised this will be the fresh, moist cake I was looking for. Several thin layers of honey cake intercepted with light and not too sweet sour cream frosting, this cake is simple but sublime. 2. Honeycomb Icecream at Wild Honey: A friend and I walked by ...