coconut burfi

i have to confess that i get all goo goo ga ga when i meet guys who can cook. they never cease to impress! gosh, i can just imagine h's expression when he reads this on my blog..

we have a young colleague at work (we'll call him "t") who is a public relations executive at one of our sister companies. t is a soft-spoken and very quite chap who doesn't really socialise much and stays at his desk for most of the day, glued to the daily papers or his desktop. it turns out however that t is a fantastic cook. we discovered this because his aunt (who he lives with) is out of town for a week. so t has been going crazy in his aunt's kitchen making all the sweets he always dreamed of making but never dared to lest he incur the envy of his aunt who considers herself a great cook. he's been bringing these sweet treats to work everyday this week and needles to say we're enjoying the daily indulgence :)

we sampled a bit of coconut burfi a few days back after a post-lunch slump when we needed a boost. yum, they were totally melt in your mouth - neither overpoweringly sweet nor coco-nutty. i must get the recipe from t!

if you're trying to eat more vegetables every day, try this easy recipe. cut three of four vegetables into bite size bits and toss in a marinade of olive oil, crushed garlic, mixed herbs and some lemon juice or balsamic vinegar. i like to use button mushrooms, onions, red and yellow peppers. you can also use brinjal, squash, zucchini, artichokes, cauliflower or broccoli. let the vegetables marinate for half an hour. then put on skewers (available at crawford market) and then grill on a barbecue or kitchen top grill pan till nice and brown. arrange on a platter, pour over the remaining dressing and sprinkle with fresh herbs.

these mixed grilled vegetables can be tossed with greens to make a hearty salad or folded into a simmering tomato sauce to make a pasta dish.

cherries from kullu

my mom got back from a relaxing holiday in kullu manali several weeks back. luckily for us, she travelled there in the peak season for cherries which is april to june. she brought us the most delicious and intensely fragant baby cherries with just a bit of tart to keep each bite interesting. apparently himachal is the hot location for cherry farming given the troubles in jammu and kashmir.

you've got to give it to fruits, especially the cherry. where else can you bit into such indulgence without any guilt?!

valhalla

south bombay has a new restaurant at last! the erstwhile starters and more at eros cinema has given way to valhalla, a premium business lounge by day which morphs into a tapas bar at night. not sure though why such a concept has a norwegian name which means fine food and drink.

we chose valhalla to have dinner with h's parents, brother and sister in-law a few nights ago. the food was very fine, i have to say. as were the drinks including what became a quick favourite - the isabella, a red grape mojito.



what a fabulous invention! the juiciness of the plump grapes and the freshness of the mint leaves alone make this drink the best on tap.



some of the vegetarian tapas plates we loved were the open betroot ravioli with goat cheese, the assorted spiced mushrooms, the patatas bravas and the paella. each of the dishes was well plated and as authentic as it couldget in bombay. the food brought back a flood of memories from our romps in españa. now if they only served prosecco!



the food and drinks scored high and the service was sincere but the rest of the experience was sadly mediocre. the plush and formal decor was too corporate for our liking. the choice of rock music was bizarre and frankly very off.



and there wasn't much of an atmosphere whatsoever. but to be fair, the restaurant hasn't yet officially launched. it will be interesting to see how it fares in the next couple of months.

baby cupcakes

if you're hosting a birthday party for kids in bombay, you must get baby cupcakes from mallika khan at altamount round. i didn't get around to ordering a puzzle-shaped birthday cake for r1's second birthday but i did have the good sense to take a friend's advice and order six dozen baby cupcakes from the city's finest home baker. made with the utmost love and affection, mallika's bite-sized seasonally flavoured treats are to die for. i got two dozen each of cherry and dark chocolate, apple cinnamon and peach vanilla. needless to say they were a super duper hit with kids and adults alike!

jhama for jamuns

i recently discovered that a shop called jhama sells the best gulab jamuns in bombay. a friend of ours told us that every time he makes a trip to the eastern suburbs, he makes it a point to swing by jhama for jamuns. a few days back i was on my way back to town from the bombay presidency golf club in chembur and picked up a dozen gulab jamuns since my in-laws are visiting.



what a big hit they are with the family! made from pure milk, ghee and sugar, these gulab jamuns have the right level of sweetness and a grainy texture which makes it easier to enjoy each little bite for that much longer. i am very embarassed to confess that i had two for breakfast this morning :)
i'm sure that h will read this confession on my blog and roll his eyes as i am supposed to be on a major weight loss programme!

veggies veggies

it's such a herculean task to get baby r1 to eat any whole veggies other than the cooked sabzi that i whiz with her daily chawal. so my latest attempt is to have finger sized vegetables sautéed lightly in olive oil and seasoned with sea salt and some pepper.



i've found that cauliflower florets and beans lend themselves well to toddlers who as we all know are always on the move. i like to add sesame seeds to the beans as i think they add a nice crunch.

what are you tricks for getting kids to eat more vegetables!