Dinner at Panasia Bahrain (Asian Cuisine)

Last week we celebrated my Dad's birthday by going for dinner to Panasia Restaurant and Tea Lounge.

Panasia is a aesthetically decorated Restaurant situated in Um Al Hassam, certainly away from the hustle bustle of the popular restaurant road in Um Al Hassam.  The restaurant offers a good range of Chinese, Thai and Indian delicacies.

Unfortunately I do not have snaps of the main course, but I do have photographs of the Starters that we ordered as well as of the Dessert.

It didn't take them long to bring our starters, but as we waited, they gave us two plates loaded with Spicy Pappadoms and Prawn Crackers with their special sauces (I call them the traffic signal sauces-you ask why?-well because of their colors). 

Here are photographs and descriptions of the Starters we chose,

Chicken Lollypops with Oriental Sauce....sorry about the blurry photo, can't help it when you have good food in front of you ;)

Chicken Siu Mai- minced chicken, water chestnut, mushrooms served with their '3 G dip/sauce'-which I found very YUM and for some odd reason reminded me of Beef Pickle that a Keralite friend had brought from her house to our hostel in Mangalore. That is one pickle I ate daily, religiously.

Once we were done with the starters, we were given some breathing time and more importantly time to get back to those yum PRAWN CRACKERS.

In a few minutes, our Main Course was laid before us on the table, and the waiter served us all. 

Like I mentioned earlier we had the Brocolli Beef (thinly sliced beef stir fried with brocolli in oyster sauce) and the Kung Pao Chicken, again, stir fried diced chicken pieces with scallions and cashew nuts as garnish.

Sorry no photos of our main.

Considering how much we ordered for the five of us and it being dinner time (light food time) and us having a three course meal..I expected us to have no room for dessert or being unable to walk to the car but the food was astonishingly light and we didnt' have to take a doggy-bag as there were no leftovers. NONE AT ALL!

Moving on to our dessert.....here is what he shared like a good family ;) 

PanAsia's Signature Dessert- two scoops of Vanilla ice-cream, deep-fried and the outcome, a warm crispy outer shell that hold cold vanilla flavored ice-cream inside it. PURE MAGIC!

(This is TMI, but I had to mention, while trying to sleep my sister and I YouTube-d the recipe for Fried Ice cream)

Warm Chocolate Brownie topped with a scoop of Vanilla Ice-cream, cashew nuts and Chocolate Fudge sauce on the side (this doubled as Dad's birthday cake)

I do not have the break down of the bill but the total as per my memory came to BD21.300 for 5pax.

Please Note: This not a sponsored blog post. 

Guest Contribution: Sabudana (Sago) Khichdi

My friend with whom I share the same first name, who is also my 'regular recipe contributor' has shared one of her favourite snack recipe with us. A typical Gujarati snack that can be eaten with pickle or yogurt (dahi/curd) and on its own. The main ingredient here is 'Sago' also called Sabudhana, and is used in a popular dessert-ish drink called 'Falooda' with a rose flavouring to it and a generous amount of vermicelli in it. Sago is basically starch extracts.

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of Sabudana(sago)
• 1 big potato-chopped into small pieces
• Half cup peas (you can use frozen too)
• 4 Curry leaves
• Half a teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
• Less than half teaspoon mustard seeds (rai)
• Half teaspoon Red chilli powder
• A pinch of Turmeric (haldi) powder
• Lemon or lime juice (as per your taste)
• Roasted peanuts
• Coriander (Cilantro/Dhania) leaves
• 1 or 1 and a half tbsp Ghee/oil (I used ghee)
• Salt to taste

Preparation:

1.Soak 2 cups sabudana in cold water for 2 hours. Drain the water after 2 hours and leave it overnight so that any little trace of water is evaporated.

2. Take a saucepan. Pour ghee or oil.

3. Once the ghee or oil is heated, add mustard seeds and as they splutter add cumin seeds.

4. Then add curry leaves followed by chopped potato. Let the potatoes cook for about 10-12 minutes.

5. Then add roasted/unroasted peanuts. Stir well.

6. Now add peas let it cook for 3 to 5mins.

7. Pour lime/lemon juice. Add Red chilli powder, turmeric, salt (as per your taste). Stir it well.

8. Now at end add sabudana (sago) mix it very gently and slowly.

9. Garnish with chopped coriander/cilantro leaves.

Serve with yoghurt, pickle, or even just as it is.

Thank you for sharing your recipe Ekta.P. Lots of love- Ekta .D


-bPv

Guest Post: Rajma & Potato Curry

Hi everyone,

With my 'summer drink' frenzy, I haven't posted any main course dishes or snacks recipes of late. Don't worry I haven't gotten lazy. I have been doing some cooking and you will soon find them on the blog. But before I get into my routine posting of recipes, I have a special post today....special because (1) it is a recipe my good friend (who also shares my name) has shared and (2) this is the first ever guest post on my blog!

I figured you could have a slight change and here it is, guest post by Ekta P, my college friend, who is a gujarati, lived in Mangalore and now lives down under. When I just started this blog, I tried out her recipe potato and cabbage sabzi and now she's our guest post author.

During our last college days, she invited us over for lunch, and her mum's chapatis were just super soft (i wish I could get her to share her secret with you all). And it is at her house I learnt that pickle can be sweet too. All of us girls ate so much at her house for lunch that afternoon, you won't believe it but we took breaks while eating. You can't help it when such awesome food is right in front of you (talk about losing control).

Hope you like the recipe.

-bpV

               ________________________________________________________________

Rajma & Potato Curry by Ekta. P

Photo courtesy: Ekta P- Sub: Rajma and Potato Curry served with Chapati and cucumber and onion salad- 2013- Copyright.

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp Mustard seeds
• 2 tsps Cumin seeds
• 4-6 cloves
• 1 three inch stick of cinnamon or 2 tsps cinnamon powder
• 1 tbsp of ginger-garlic paste
• 2 tsps green chilly paste (increase if you would like it spicy)
• 3 tsps turmeric powder (haldi)
• 3 tsps red chilli powder
• 3 tsps coriander powder (dhania)
• 2 tsps cumin powder (jeera)
• 2 tsps garam masala powder (optional) *For Garam Masala powder preparation check footnote.
• One large tin of Rajma/ Red kidney beans or two small tins (drain the water out) or 400gms rajma/kidney beans (soak the previous night in water if you plan on cooking for dinner tonight)
• 1 medium sized onion finely chopped
• 2 small potatoes- washed, peeled and diced
• 3 tbsps tomato puree/paste or fresh tomato (2 no.s) cut into pieces
• 2/3 tbsp cooking oil
• Salt to taste

Preparation:

Take a non stick sauce pan pour the required cooking oil.

Once heated, add the mustard seeds wait till it starts spluttering, immediately add cumin seeds wait for a second then add finely chopped onion.

Then add garlic ginger & chilli paste & let it cook till onion turns golden brown.

Then add diced potatoes. Fry for about 4 minutes on low flame. Stir in between.

Then add tomato puree/paste/fresh tomatoes. Mix it well, then add Turmeric (Haldi),Red chilli powder, salt, coriander (dhania) powder, cumin seeds (jeera), garam masala and let it cook for 2-3 minutes.

Next add rajma. (If you are using tinned rajma/red kidney beans, then just add the tinned beans with water OR If you are using soaked red kidney beans/rajma, then first remove most of the water , leaving just a little to make the gravy dry but if you intend on eating this with rice you may want to keep most of the water in order to get a runny gravy).

Allow this to cook at low flame for 20-30 minutes. Keep checking and stirring in between.

Serve with chapati/rice or you can have just a bowl of this on its own.

                                                            Photo courtesy: Ekta Mandavia-  Sub: Rajma and Potato Curry - 2013- Copyright



Hope you enjoy cooking this and serving this dish as much as I do. A plain and simple Rajma and Potato curry that can be served with chapati, rice or on its own.

Thank you,

Ekta P.


*Garam Masala: a mix of powdered hot spices namely (2 ) green cardamoms, (2) cloves, (4) black cardamoms, (2) bay leaves, (12) peppercorns, 2 inch cinnamon stick.Fry these on slow fire for about 30 seconds. Grind this into a fine powder using a grinder/ mortar pestle or even a coffee grinder. Store in a clean and dry container Garam Masala.

Tomato & Herbs Soup

Hi everyone,

This is what I call, a mix breed soup LOL, I mean its not so clear soup and its not so thick too. It is somewhere in between thick and clear.

Ingredients:

 3 medium sized tomatoes chopped up
 1 tsp parsley
 3 tsps oregano (dried)
 1 small onion chopped
 2 cloves of garlic chopped
 2 tsps of corn flour
 2 and a half cups water
 1 tsp cumin seeds
 1 bay leaf
EVOO 2 tbsps
2 tbsps honey
Pepper and salt to taste

Steps: (sorry guys no stepwise pictures for this one)

1. Take a pot and boil water in it. Add the whole tomatoes to it and let them sit for about 3 minutes. After 3 minutes get them out and allow them too cool. When they've cooled down, peel the skin off. (I feel sad during this part because the skin is healthy too). Next chop the tomatoes.

2. Take another vessel and add the EVOO, and let it heat up on medium flame.

3. To the oil, add finely chopped onions, garlic, cumin seeds and bay leaf.

4. Once the onion turn translucent and the raw smell is no more.

5. Add the tomatoes. And mash them in the vessel. Reduce the flame and let it cook in its own juice for about 5 minutes. Keep stirring till the tomatoes reduce and look pasty.

6. Add the oregano, honey, also add 1 and a half cup water.  And mix well.

7.  Use the remaining half cup water to mix in the corn flour and stir well till dissolved and add it to the soup to thicken it. You have to keep stirring till you notice it thickening.

8. Cook until it boils. Season with salt and pepper as per your taste.

9. Garnish with parsley.

* If you want the soup to be thinner you could strain the soup before pouring it into the bowl.
* But if you prefer it with chunks of tomato you could avoid straining the soup before dishing it out.



Slurp awayyyy!!

bpV