Tuna Masala

I know I have been MIA for more than a year and funnily enough it is because my cooking load has increased (who would have thought!). So after being promoted to WIFE, I have definitely been a lot more busy and loving it. I did slack on the blog work but probably compensated by at least posting photos if not recipes of food I have cooked through my personal Instagram handle (at least I think).

So I am back for a bit with a recently prepared dish cooked on a hungry Friday afternoon with very few and basic ingredients to satiate rumbling tummies in no time.

Tuna Masala (Serves 2)

You will need:

1 small onion-chopped finely

1 small tomato –chopped finely

1 green chilli- slit or chopped (increase the number of chilies if you prefer your food spicy)

½ inch ginger- chopped finely

4-6 Curry leaves

1 can of Tuna fish (I used the one in oil)

A pinch of cumin seeds

Two pinches of Turmeric powder

1 tsp Red Chilli powder.

2 Tbsp Oil

Salt to taste

The steps are fairly easy.

Heat a pan, add oil. Once the oil is hot add the cumin seeds when they crackle add the onions, frying them till translucent (you know the basic drill).

Add in the chopped ginger, green chilli, curry leaves- fry a bit.

Add the chopped tomato and fry them up till they become soft.

Open up the canned tuna and add that to the pan. Break the tuna down (this takes effort).

Add the masalas i.e. Turmeric, Red Chilli.

Give the Tuna a nice stir and add salt to taste.

Allow this to fry for say about 5 minutes more.

This was devoured with some plain rice and basic dal and remembered fondly even a week later.

The Urban Dhaba, Adliya, Kingdom of Bahrain (Our dinner at...)

Last night after running errands, we popped over Urban Dhaba in Adliya, Kingdom of Bahrain. After months of drooling and browsing through this restaurant's Facebook page. We randomly decided to have a small dinner there. 

Urban Dhaba is a small, colorful and interesting little place located in Adliya behind Costa Coffee. The restaurant has closely placed seating, and the tables are rather interesting and can keep you and your gang quite busy. As we waited for our order, we played board games. The dice is placed in a small bowl placed inside a 'dafli' (tambourine)!

After we placed our order, the waitress brought us a plate of papads served with chutney. I really liked the chutney, which had the right amount of spice and salt.

For starters we ordered Gobi Manchurian. The two of us couldn't finish the generous portion of crunchy, indo-chinesy appetizer. There wasn't any excess oil to be found nor were the cauliflower florets soggy because of the sauce. they were just right.

(Veg Starter: Gobi Manchurian)

(Main Course: Bhuna Ghosht and Butter Naan)

For our Main course we ordered, Bhuna Ghosht (pan fried meat in spices) with naan. The essence of a Bhuna Ghosht is the blending and frying of the spices; this needs to be done really well, there is absolutely nothing more beautiful that slow-cooked meat in its own juices and aromatic spices. For me the single and most important criteria for any mutton dish would be how the meat melts in my mouth. Very few places give cooking meat the time it needs. Urban Dhaba's Bhuna Ghosht did not quite make the cut for me and Mr. D found the salt a bit low in this dish. 

I guess next time, we need to stick to their tandoori/ tikka items. We are defintely headed to Urban Dhaba for a second time-just to try out their tandoori/ tikka items and their lassi (the whole idea of serving it in a chota matka part fascinated me)

Since Mr. D was craving some sugar last night, he ordered the Gaajar Ka Halwa. The second the waitress placed it before us on our table, I could smell that majestic aroma of saffron. The halwa was warm and yum, it definitely put me in my happy place after a couple of spoons.

The bill for just the two of us came to BHD4.500. Apart from all the food, we ordered a small water bottle and a Coke.

(Dessert: Gaajar (Carrot) Ka Halwa)

Are we going there again?
YES. And this time eyes on the kababs, tikkas, tandoori items and lassi for sure!

We went there again!!…and here is my blog post detailing our second visit.

If you have visited this quirky new place, share your experience in the message area.

Please Note: This not a sponsored blog post. 

Dinner at Bonchon, Bahrain [South Korean- American Cuisine]

On the first day of Eid Al Fitr this year we went out for dinner to a new place I had been longing to try out. Tucked away in a very cozy spot at the Seef Mall-Muharraq on the 2^nd floor next to TGIF is ‘Bonchon’- a South Korean based international fried chicken franchise that serves rather interesting food.

Bonchon means 'my hometown'.

Photo Source: (www.twentyfoursevennews.com)

It didn’t take us long to locate the place since we already had most of the clues we needed thanks to facebook-bonchon-bahrain.

We took our seats by one of the huge glass panel windows and we were given the Bonchon menu in two different ways, one on a Samsung Tab and the other on a wooden board with their menu strapped on to it.

I had absolutely no idea about Korean food –all I knew is that I wanted to try this place coz the food looked…. We studied the menu, thankfully there were photos of the dishes they served and we of course took plenty of help from their service staff who were so kind enough to patiently explain to us about some dishes we set out eyes on.

Anyway this is what we ordered….*controlling drool*

For starters we ordered the 'Half and Half' Bonchon Chicken (boneless) (serving size: small i.e. 8 pcs). The Bonchon chicken ones on the left were with spicy sauce and the ones on the right were coated with soy garlic sauce. These pieces of chicken were served with a tiny portion of coleslaw.

The second starter that we opted for was the 'Kimchi Fries'- they are fries that are baked and seasoned with Korean chii seasonings and is basically served with various toppings such as lightly carmelized white onions, kimchi, jalapenos, scallions, beef bacon, and topped with cheese.

Our first main course recommended by the staff there was the 'Bibimbab Beef' (this means 'mixed rice' also available in Veg). This was a bed of jasmine rice flavored with some secret sauces covered with assorted veggies (sauteed carrots, zucchini, mushrooms, spinach, sprout stems) and sliced juicy beef and topped with a sunny side up egg. 

Bonchon staff showed us their special way of stiriing this up before we attacked this dish. 

Bibimbab Beef was served with Kimchi sauce (cabbage stem fermented with spicy and sour seasoning) .

 Our second main course was the 'Japchae'- glass noodles with vegetables and beef. This was slightly  on the sweeter side. (Glass noodles are made from sweet potatoes)

Close up of the glass noodles that I was fascinated with. My first time eating glass noodles :P

The bill for 5 persons breakdown:

1 Boneless Chicken small (half and half) 4.900

1 Kinchi Fries                                           3.500

1 Bibimbab Beef                                       5.900

1 Japchae                                                 4.500

2 7Up regular                                          2.400

2 Pepsi regular                                        2.400

Total:                                                     23.600

Pop over Bonchon Bahrain this weekend if you are in a mood to try something different.
                                                    Please Note: This not a sponsored blog post. 

Dinner at Rampé-Bahrain [Sri Lankan Cuisine]

When I first set my blog up I focused only on documenting recipes that I created or tried, and I will continue doing it, until I can. But I figured I should do a restaurant review on an authentic Sri Lankan restaurant that has recently opened in Bahrain. Ever since I read an advertisement on the local newspaper, I've been wanting to go to Rampé...and I finally did go!

Rampé is located in Um Al Hassam, right opposite Hong Kong Restaurant and close to Hyderabad House. Rampe translates to Pandan, as in Pandan leaves (from Pandanus plants) which are key to a number of Sri Lankan, Malay, Thai and Indonesian dishes.

From outside the restaurant looks very humble but once you enter you will find this beautifully lit entrance and stairs leading to the first floor. Once we reached upstairs, the restaurant manager, Mr. Jaya Godage led us to a table. We took our seats and noticed they had a live 2 man band playing the organ and the sax! LOVELY!

To begin with we ordered a round of fresh watermelon juice which was served quickly and chilled to perfection, I think I could have had a pitcher, given the heat outside that evening and how nice the juice tasted.

Fresh Watermelon Juice

Then the manager, informed us that they have a buffet available (Fridays Rampé serves a buffet and on other days they have an  à la carte menu). The buffet consisted of several homely Sri Lankan dishes, that really gave you an idea of their local cuisine. Served in earthen (decorated) pots were red rice, chicken fried rice, vegetable noodles (YUM), deviled chicken, mutton curry (YUM), octopus curry, prawns chilly (YUM), dal, prawn chutney, pol sambal (coconut in its desicated form with dry fish), papaddoms (LOVE), tabouleh (arabic salad), curd (to be eaten with sugar), fish head curry, potato curry (YUM), beetroot curry, banana leaf greens with coconut, mixed fruit salad. 

My first serving Prawn Chilly, Mutton Curry, Veg Noodles, Dhal, Beet Curry, Tabouleh, Devilled Chicken

                                                                    Curd and Sugar

Fruit Salad

We were also treated with two plain hoppers and two egg hoppers on the house, the egg was cooked to YUM and the hoppers were crispy on the edges

Sri Lankan food is loaded with spices and can get super hot..the curd with sugar really helped reduce the heat on my palate. 

Unlike other buffets, this wasn't a rich buffet with lots of creamy or deep fried dishes, easily ranging from 20-40 dishes. Rampe on the other hand serves a homely, authentic and deeply Sri Lankan food and that is what I love about it. 

The bill came to BHD28.100

Bill Breakdown:
Buffet for 4 pax @BHD5.9 =23.600
Watermelon Juice for 4 pax @BHD1.0= 4.000
Water Bottle 1 unit @BHD0.5=0.500

Reasonable or not? For a non Sri Lankan it was an interesting and exciting cuisine to try out. Price wise, may be you can visit and let me know how you found the prices since I haven't visited them on a weekday. When I do visit them on a day other than Friday, I should be able to tell you how I found their pricing. Until then... see you!

                                      Please Note: This not a sponsored blog post. 

Roti Jallas (lacey net breads)

I got to know this recipe a couple of months back while watching one of India’s Master Chef episodes, where the chefs shared a recipe sent in from a viewer from Singapore.

I liked the name of this dish and it probably got stuck in my head and I also liked the way it was prepared on the show.

So I looked up the recipe, and I found two comprehensive recipes for Roti Jallas (www.Rasamalaysia.com and www.singaporelocalfavourites.com ). A little digging around, led me to learn that ‘Roti Jallas’ are famous in Singapore and Malaysia, they go really well with coco-nutty curries and sambals (spicy curry).

They remind me of ‘neer dosas (in Kannada)/ paan-polays (in Konkani)’ served in the Karnataka (India) with a variety of gravies and chutneys. They lacy and look like someone crocheted them.

However Roti Jallas (roti-bread, jallas- net) are more on the yellow side, because of the turmeric used in preparing the batter, and taste lightly like coconut milk, which again is an important ingredient in this delicacy. You of course do not crochet them though; you just use a ‘roti- jalla cup’ to get that crochet effect.

Here is what a roti jalla cup looks like,

Picture Source: WWW.fussfreecooking.com

I tried to follow the recipe as closely as I could but I had to play with the quantities a little.

Ingredients:

(Makes 30 rotis- Preparation time: 10 minutes Frying time: 60 to 90 minutes)

•  3 and half cups of flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 2 cups water
• 1 and half cup coconut milk
• 2 tsp salt

Cooking tools needed:

• Roti Jalla Cup or a bottle closed tightly and a hole made on its cap or a squeezy ketchup bottle.

Steps:

1. Mix all the ingredients together to form a thick batter. The batter should have no lumps you could both strain and remove lumps or you could use an electric beater and get a thick lump-less batter.

2. If you have a roti jalla cup use that. Or else, take a dry and clean empty bottle, make a hole on its cap (or use an empty ketchup squeezy bottle), enough for the batter to pass through in like thin straw. Pour the first round of batter in the bottle. And closely tightly.

3. Take a tava as used in the Nutty Tava Fried Prawns recipe on this blog or a non stick pan; heat it up on medium flame.

4. In a small bowl, pour some EVOO/ cooking oil and stick a quarter of an onion in a fork and dip the onion in the oil and rub it onto frying pan/ tava. Do this before every roti jalla is to be fried.

5. Pour the batter from the bottle on to the tava/ pan and create three big circles, and continue making many more circles within those. Try and make sure that most of the circles are linked with each other.

6. Let them fry for about 30-40 seconds. Once they are fried, they will start peeling off the pan like the below picture.

7. This is a good indicator that, it is time to fold the roti into quarters and take it off the pan. You do not have to fry the other side.

8. Repeat the steps for the rest of the rotis.

*Serve warm with a nice gravy/curry/sambal

I served these with Coconut Chicken Curry.

Enjoy!

-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.