Look who's here? --Eagle Boys Pizza!

When you think of quick pizza in terms of international food chains, some of the popular ones in India pop up in your head. Not for long though now. Eagle Boys Pizza, an Australian pizza chain, has entered the Indian market and is surely going to woo you. You just need to give its classics a try.

So a friend and I had the opportunity to visit one of the newer franchises of Eagle Boys Pizza that has opened up in Mumbai’s Fort area at Sterling Cineplex. Who doesn’t love pizza, right? Well, with that in mind both of us were quite excited to try this new place and I am extremely glad that we did! It has opened doors to a newer, quick, non-fine dine, yet great pizza place for me at least.

The store is inside the Sterling Cineplex area so it has a food court kind of set up. For those of you who are wondering “where?”, it has opened up at the place where Nawab’s, a place serving Lucknowi food, used to be.

I had the pleasure of talking to the owner and he told us how when he had tried the Eagle Boys Pizza for the first time he was so fascinated by the concept that he just felt it as his responsibility to introduce this awesomeness to the palates of us Mumbaikars.  The concept of freshness, that is the USP of Eagle Boys, is actually a very basic necessity for all of us looking to eat well. Whereas a lot of places would, because of logistic reasons try to make their work easier and avoid the harder way, this place has not shied away from doing one major thing to bring to its customers the delight of freshness and it can be tasted in the crust of their pizzas. Instead of just sourcing their pizza base from some central place, each and every pizza base is prepared at the kitchen of the store. This has definitely amped up the taste and texture of the pizza that your teeth dig into at this place.

I shall give you my description of their food in the order that it was served to us.

We first started with the Spicy Garlic Scrolls (Rs. 89) featured under the “Sides” in the menu. The owner told us that unlike a lot of places that use cheese sauce in such rolls, Eagle Boys strictly uses freshly grated mozzarella and indeed this could be felt in that first bite that I took where the cheese stretch was never ending- just like it should be. However, on the taste front while the garlic and spice was full power doing justice to the name of the dish, the salt was a little lacking or at least was getting subdued by the crust- which I felt could have been done a little crispy so as to get that crackly feeling when biting into it.

For our round of mocktails we were served a glass of the Exotic Flavoured Mocktail and the Green Apple Mojito both of which are priced at Rs. 69 each. While the Green Apple Mojito was extremely refreshing, the Exotic Flavoured Mocktail is not something that I enjoyed so much so that it tasted a little cough syrupish to me. Maybe its just me but I know that's not something I'll be ordering at this place again.

We went ahead with the Tomato Penne Pasta (Rs. 99) and the first bite had that charred caramelized onion which just took our hearts away. The pasta was just the right amount of saucy and the flavour was great for a quick bite kind of pasta with crisp veggies.

Finally the pizzas arrived- BBQ Chicken and Spicy Chicken (Rs. 219 each for a 7" pizza). First things first- the crust of the pizza is what definitely makes this a good eat. Not flaky, not dry, not too doughy, just the right amount of thickness which complimented the toppings and the cheese very well. In no bite would you feel that "oh- that's just bread! Where are my toppings?" because that's how well spaced the toppings were. 

I am more of a spice lover so for me the Spicy Chicken definitely did it. My friend on the other hand is a BBQ person so well that's what he favourited. This just goes on to say that the flavours were bang on and yummy and depending on what kind of a foodie you are, you're surely going to find your pick here.

But this was not all. What we had for dessert, even though by now as you can imagine we were full up to our necks, blew our mind. So Eagle Boys does a Sweetzza (Rs. 99) which is basically chocolate pizza and is a great dessert in terms of taste. This was sort of a chunky version of the chocolate pizzas that many of you must have tried and this was really good. The texture of the spread on top with the soft pizza crust is what will keep you coming back for more!

As far as the service goes, the staff was extremely courteous and helpful. Ask them anything and they’ll be glad to help you out or tell you more about the place or the food.

Will I go there again? Most definitely, whenever I am next in the area. (Sweetzza yummy!)

Where is it? Sterling Cinema, Marzaban Road Cinema Lane, Fort, Mumbai Contact: 022 33956057/ 67493939/ 67494040/ 65060001 (Note: This review is restricted to the Fort outlet of Eagle Boys Pizza only.)

A Tribute to the Best Butter Chicken Ever!

And the month long vacation is over. A whole month of pampering, lots of home food, snuggling and cozying in the bed with warm blankets while sleeping without an alarm- basically a month of bliss just got over. But was I excited to come back to Bombay? Hell yeah! I love this city and going away periodically to catch a break is great, in fact required, but you just want to return because nothing like Bombay and its food.

Talking about food, well there was a lot of cooking that I did back at home. It’s simpler there because of the bigger kitchen, mom’s helping hand, the enthusiasm which can only escalate with a mother around and family waiting eagerly to try the next dish that comes hot right out of the kitchen. Because there were so many things I wanted to try out and learn we would actually make lists of things to be cooked. Imagine that! And because there was so much cooking involved and new dishes that we were trying out that none of us really ever felt the need to go out and eat dinner. That is just reaching a whole different level I feel. However, there are two places that come what may, I just have to visit whenever I visit Dehradun. Today I am going to talk about one of these two constants.

A lot of us know the President Hotel as “Presis” and that probably comes from the incessant need to give a short form to everything, a habit which developed back in school (read “hospi” for hospital; “stretchi” for a stretch band”; “baski” for basketball; “gulabo” for gulab jamun; the list is actually endless but I’ll finish here). For those who don’t know, the President Hotel is one of the oldest and extremely well reputed hotels in Dehradun and is situated at Astley Hall on Rajpur Road which is the heart of the city. As I was in a boarding school, I know that parents of a lot of my school mates would put up here whenever visiting the city. But what this place is extremely famous for is its restaurant- The Pavilion. However, the restaurant is also more commonly referred to as “Presis”.

“Presis” is a multi cuisine restaurant serving decent Italian, Mughlai, Continental and Thai food. I remember back in the school days we would have standard orders which would include the Fettuccine, Chicken sizzler, Crispy Veg, Honey Chili Potatoes, and the most loved Butter Chicken.

About the Butter Chicken- I can go on to make a remark as high as that it’s the best Butter Chicken I have ever tasted and that is after having had Butter Chicken in various parts of Delhi and having tried it in Punjab (Amritsar and Chandigarh). This Butter Chicken is orange, has a creamy and smooth gravy, is spiced to perfection and the chicken used by the restaurant is succulent and full of flesh. It is "not mara hua” as my dad would say. I mean of course its “mara hua” but you get the drift I am sure. You do get an option of the boneless version but I avoid that as I follow the rule that meat on the bone is the juiciest- which is also another great thing about the Butter Chicken here- extremely flavourful and juicy. You can just order this with your choice of bread (recommended: Garlic Naan), accompany it with pickled onions and that would be a meal that you would categorize as your best meal for a very very long time.

One thing that this Butter Chicken is not--- sweet. I am aware of the school of thought that Butter Chicken is “supposed” to be sweet and in fact that’s the kind of butter chicken that is served almost throughout Mumbai. But if visiting Dehradun or even passing by it, do let your taste buds have an experience of this Butter Chicken and you will know what I am talking about.

It has all of us so addicted to it that friends of mine have been known to get it packed, freeze it over night and then carry it with them to Delhi and Mumbai. I myself got some of this deliciousness back to Mumbai and had a friend taste it for the first time. She simply loved it and now understands what the fuss is all about.

I had this paired with some Garlic Naan and Tandoori Roti, pickled onions and ended the meal with a helping of the Caramel Custard. 

Wouldn’t say that this is the best Caramel Custard that I have had in my life, because that award goes to the Caramel Custard served at Britannia in Mumbai (read about it here), but I can guarantee you that you’ll like it a lot and on the whole this will be one meal that will leave you with a lot of happy food memories and cravings that can only end with a visit to the valley.

So being a fulltoosh Punjabi, this was my tribute to the best Butter Chicken that I have ever tasted and grown up eating. Still in search for something which comes even close to this here in Mumbai. Recommendations are welcome!

Will I go there again? Absolutely! Each and every time I visit Dehradun and more than once.

Where is it? 6, Astley Hall, Rajpur Road Dehradun. Contact: 0135 2657386

(The author dined there anonymously and her dad paid for this meal.)

Pineapple Crumble: Crumbly Delight

Crumbly warm sweet and gooey- this texture and taste with a dollop of vanilla ice cream (or not), is what’s going to keep you smiling from ear to ear. And that too when you prepare it in your own kitchen for your loved ones using the goodness of fruits! A dessert that simple which doesn’t require much; just some basic ingredients, teeny weeny bit of effort, a warm oven to bake in and of course, your love- Yes, that’s all we need for preparing a wickedly good Pineapple Crumble.

I learnt this  when I went for  few cooking classes to The Culinaria, started by Radhicka Agarwal of MasterChef India 2010 fame. You can check out the facebook page of The Culinaria for more information on classes and other cooking tips.

Here you go with the ingredients!

For the Crumble

Butter- 150 gm, chilled and cut into small cubes

Castor Sugar- 100 gm

Flour- 200 gm

For the Fruit Filling

Pineapple- 1, chopped (Alternatively you can use a tin of pineapples)

Castor Sugar- ½ to ¾ cup (depending on how much of a sweet tooth you have) (If using canned Pineapple skip the castor sugar since the pieces are already in syrup).

Butter- 1 tbsp

Cinnamon Powder- ½ tsp

For baking, right temperature and exact measurement of ingredients is extremely essential, so a word of advice would be to have a set of measuring cups and spoons in your kitchen.

Method:

•  Pre-heat oven to 180°C.
• To prepare the crumble, take flour, castor sugar and the small cubes of butter in a bowl and rub it with your fingers to form bread crumbs like texture. Please ensure that you use chilled small cubes of butter and do not use your palms to get the bread crumb type texture- strictly and only finger tips.
• For the fruit filling, mix the castor sugar, chopped pineapple, cinnamon and butter till all gets dissolved.
• Grease an oven proof dish with butter and pour the pineapple mixture in the dish. The pineapple will be watery but don’t worry about that.
• Evenly and generously coat the pineapple filling with the crumble mixture.
  
• Bake in the pre-heated oven for 35-40 minutes or till the crust turns slightly goldenish brown.
• Serve hot with whipped cream or ice cream. GORGE!

Double ka Meetha- Kuch Meetha ho Jaaye (for the Boys in Blue)

Double ka Meetha is a Hyderabadi cousin of Shahi Tukda. The dessert gets its name from bread or what is also called “double roti”. There really isn’t much difference between the two except that in Shahi Tukda the fried bread slices are soaked up in rich rabdi or condensed milk and for Double ka Meetha the fried bread slices are soaked in hot milk. 

Shahi Tukda  is something I am not very fond of and I don’t know if it’s the amount of sugar I used or because I made it at home for the first time, but going by the way my Double Ka Meetha tasted, I would take that over Shahi Tukda any day. In fact this is one of the few Indian desserts I really enjoyed eating and would happily make another batch soon. This recipe is also from Neeta Mehta’s recipe book with suggestions and inputs from my friend’s mother who, as I have heard, is a fantastic cook. 

And we’ve just won the India v. South Africa ICC World Cup Match as I type this post and that too by a whopping margin so my post is dedicated to the boys in blue! #WontGiveItBack.

This recipe serves 20 as I had prepared it for mum’s potluck.

Ingredients:

White bread slices- 20 (trim the edges and cut each slice into half diagonally) (Note to Readers: The slices I used were small in size. If using big slices of bread you may want to restrict to 15 in number.)

Milk- 1kg

Fresh Cream- 1 cup

Sugar- 1 ¾ cup

Water- 1 cup

Saffron- a pinch

Rose Water- 4 tbsp  (Soak the saffron in rose water and keep it aside)

Almonds- 20- blanched and sliced

Pistachio- 20 sliced (Note to Readers: You may use a larger quantity of the dry fruits as per your liking)

Oil/Ghee- For shallow frying the bread slices

A few sheets of Silver Leaves or Chandi ka Warq (optional)

Preheat oven to 180° C for at least 10 minutes

Method:

• In a medium sauce pan boil the milk. Once the milk has come to a boil reduce the heat and cook on medium heat for about 15-20 minutes till the consistency is reduced to almost half. The reduction also depends upon the type of milk used. If using full cream milk the reduction should be almost ¾th of the quantity used and if using regular toned milk then the reduction should be ½ of the quantity used. Once the consistency has reduced, add cream and cook for a minute. Keep aside.

• Boil sugar in half cup water and make a syrup. You want a one wire or “ek taar” consistency for the syrup. Keep this sugar aside to cool. Once cooled slightly, mix the saffron infused rose water to this sugar syrup.

• Heat ghee/ oil in a pan to shallow fry the bread slices. The traditional method for any sweet will almost always ask you to use ghee only but because it makes the dessert a tad too heavy and rich, I used half ghee and half oil. The bread slices have to be shallow fried till light golden on both the sides. Ensure that you do not fry more than 2-4 triangles in one go (depending on the size of your pieces).  Please note that the bread slices will soak up all the ghee/ oil in the pan. Some recipes even suggest that the bread slices can be toasted till slight golden. This will definitely be a healthier option but somewhere you might end up compromising on the taste. But do whatever suits you best.

• Layering- Grease a baking tray with ghee or oil. Place the bread slices in the tray and pour one tbsp of the flavoured sugar syrup over each slice to soak it completely. Next pour the creamy milk over the slices. Then sprinkle chopped dry fruits on the slices. Allow the bread to soak in the liquids.
• I had enough slices to make three layers in my dish. I repeated the procedure for each layer. Do not worry about the slices sticking to each other because you will scoop out the dessert and serve it. The second layer gets all gooey and that tastes fantastic.

• Bake this in a pre-heated oven in the middle rack for 15-20 minutes till the liquids almost dry up.

• You may want to decorate this with silver leaves.

• You can serve this warm or chilled. This one was served warm and it was loved by all!

Achaar ke Aaloo: Hyderabadi zone

As everyone knows I love food, eating out especially, and recently I have tried to actively enter the cooking zone as well. End of last year, a friend of mine, who is also an ardent food lover, gifted me a recipe book on my birthday (best gift ever, right?). I have been in the mood for Indian cooking for a while and this recipe book seemed as a great way to kick start the journey. It’s a book on Hyderabadi cuisine by Neeta Mehta and I set down to prepare a few dishes (3 to be precise) for a dinner when we were hosting some family friends at home. 

Today I shall give you the recipe for one of those dishes that was prepared- Achaar ke Aaloo or Potatoes in a Pickle Sauce. The dish was perfect, soft potatoes and proper achaari tangy mirchi vaala taste. Goes well with hot phulkas.

Serves 6

Ingredients:

Potatoes- 700 gm, boiled and cut into 1” pieces

Onions- 5 medium sized, ground in a mixture to form a fine paste

Ginger paste- 1 ½ tsp

Garlic paste- 1 ½ tsp

Red Chili powder- 1 ½ tsp

Turmeric powder (haldi)- ½ tsp 

Salt- to taste

Oil- for frying

Mix Together

Vinegar – ¼ cup and Sugar- 2 tsp

For Tempering

Oil- 2 tbsp

Nigella seeds (Kalonji) 1 tsp

Mustard seeds (Rai)- ½ tsp

Cumin seeds (Jeera) or Coriander seeds- 1 tsp

Dry whole Red Chilies- 8

Method:

• Take a kadhai and heat oil for frying.
• Deep fry the potatoes till they give a slight golden brownish colour. Keep the potatoes aside.
• In another kadhai or pan, heat 8 tbsp oil. Add the onions on medium flame till they turn golden brown.
• To this, add the ginger paste and the garlic paste and fry for about a minute.  Then add the salt, turmeric powder and red chili powder and mix well.
• Add the fried potatoes to the onion-ginger-garlic paste mixture and mix well gently.
• Add about ½ cup water and cook on low heat for about 5 minutes till the spices are well blended and some gravy remains.
• Remove this from the fire and add the sugar and vinegar mixture. Mix well gently and then transfer to the serving dish.
• For tempering- Heat 2 tbsp oil. Add the dry whole red chilies, mustard seeds, coriander seeds or cumin seeds (Note: The recipe originally calls for cumin seeds, however I tried a twist with the coriander seeds which I felt made the temper crispier).  After these add the nigella seeds. When the mustard seeds begin to splutter and the red whole chilies begin to darken pour this baghaar over the dish.
• Serve hot with garma garam phulkas and enjoy!

After eating delicious cupcakes, sweets, chocolates and various desserts on the occasion of valentine’s day and India winning the India-Pak ICC World Cup match, I am sure everyone must be craving for some chatpata and tangy flavor. Cook this Achaar ke Aaloo and satiate those cravings! 

Taste Bhi Health Bhi- Garlic Roasted Broccoli

Being at home means comfort and a lot of pampering. In a typical Punjabi household a lot of pampering equates to a lot of food and sometimes being over stuffed with it.  Thankfully, that’s not the kind of household I come from. Here, the family members have over the years become health conscious and strive to eat right.  big credit goes to mommy dearest who can cook any dish magically with just a smear of oil. I am yet to imbibe this wonderful quality and tactic of her. Nevertheless, after all the Mumbai gluttony that I have been through, I decided to figure out some easy, healthy and yummy recipes during my stay.

I decided stick to a diet of fruits and veggies for a few days and with no choice of my regular dose of gobhi parantha I had to satiate my taste buds with something healthy yet delicious. This is how this dish- Garlic Roasted Broccoli- came into the picture.

Broccoli is an edible green plant and belongs to the cabbage family. It is the large flowering head of the broccoli that is used as a vegetable. It is known to be a hearty and tasty vegetable and is also rich in dozens of nutrients. It is known to be beneficial in many ways including preventing cancer, reducing cholesterol and is a great diet aid. It is believed that a cup of broccoli has as much protein as a cup of rice or corn with half the calories.

Image source

But yes, to make this nutrient packed vegetable into a delicious dish was the task at hand, and what could be more fun than roasting it!

Ingredients:

(Note to Readers: The measurements for this recipe are more of a guideline. You can add more or less olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, salt or pepper.) 

Broccoli- 2 heads, cut into florets

Olive oil- 2 tbsp

Garlic- 5 cloves, minced

Sale- 1 tsp

Pepper- ½ tsp

Lemon juice- 1 tsp

Pinch of red chili flakes (optional)

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.
• Take a large bowl and toss the broccoli along with the olive oil, salt, garlic and black pepper.
  

• Spread the broccoli florets in a single layer on a baking dish.
  
• Bake until the florets and tender enough to pierce a folk and the edges are browning (about 15- 20 minutes depending on how crisp you want it).
• Turn once halfway through the baking process and add the red chili flakes if you wish too.
  
• Once baked, add a generous squeeze of lemon juice over the broccoli before serving.

Happy eating!

Luncheon in the Queen of Hills

Dehradun is home for me and being here for a month means a lot of ghar ka mummy ke haath ka khaana (which I do not get in Mumbai), lots of cooking and of course trips to Mussoorie, the Queen of Hills. Getting home was not less than a herculean task this time thanks to Jet Airways- flight delayed, connecting flight missed, no flight same day, luggage lost; basically a lot of tamasha. After all this, I managed to reach home on February 2^nd, on my Dadu’s birthday and just in time for my Dad’s birthday which falls on the 3^rd of February.

And in this weather, we decided to drive up to Mussoorie for lunch to celebrate Dad’s birthday. What a fantastic idea :)

It’s a half an hour drive from my place too Mussoorie and the roads are winding (please note people who are prone to nausea on such journeys). However, once that is taken care of, the view is spectacular-add to that the chilly weather and some Maggi points where you can stop a while and devour the delicious Maggi noodles prepared by the small dhabas enroute.

Mall Road, Mussoorie

However, as we were specifically going for lunch and usually do the Maggi scene when we are just going for a drive in the evening, we gave this a miss and headed straight to the Mall Road to go to Tavern Restaurant. To our dismay, on entering the restaurant we realized that the central heating was not working and the place seemed quite stuffy. During the season this place is always buzzing with people and in fact it is difficult to manage a table here, but off season and we didn’t want to take a chance. Stepped out in the freezing cold and were wondering where to cure our growling tummies when we spotted My Shop.

My Shop, Mussoorie

My Shop is a very old (read: about 15-20 years old) restaurant situated at the Mall Road.  My Dad tells me that earlier this was a shop where woolens were sold. Very recently My Shop has acquired space from the video games parlour that was adjacent to it to increase the seating capacity. I have been here on numerous occasions earlier but it had been a while since we had tucked in some food from My Shop on any of our trips to Mussoorie as we head to Char Dukaan, Rokeby or Tavern on most of our trips. While this restaurant is open, with no central heating, from the outside the live tandoor counter looked extremely inviting. We dashed in and just about saved ourselves from the drizzle that had started.

The whiff of the tandoor was driving us crazy and we ordered for half a Tandoori Chicken right away. The menu is a decent spread of Mughlai food and while we waited for our first dish to arrive it started hailing. What a pretty sight! Too bad I couldn’t take a picture because as soon as I got up to click our Tandoori Chicken was on the table and food is more of a love than the weather; which is just an accompaniment. The Tandoori Chicken was hot, good looking and well seasoned. The chicken was cooked through and through and the flavor of the tandoor was infused well within. Don’t forget to squeeze a wedge of lemon on top and you would be licking your fingers.

Tandoori Chicken

My Shop passed the starter-test and on scanning through the variety available on the menu we decided to call for the Kali Mirch Chicken, the My Shop special Dal Makhani and tandoori rotis. 

It took about 10-15 minutes for our food to arrive and this is where I would like to add a note for the service. While the Kali Mirch Chicken and the Dal Makhani was served, along with the accompaniments- onion rings, lemon wedges and green chilies- it took them another 5 minutes to bring the rotis to us.  Because of our starving selves, it was torturous to just wait for rotis while we were staring at the beauty that was the dal and chicken. Thankfully by the time the fresh and soft Tadoori Rotis arrived, the dishes had not gotten cold else the experience would have been a disaster.

Kali Mirch Chicken

The Kali Mirch Chicken was a spicy and thick gravied affair with a very distinct flavor of black pepper. While I would give full marks to the gravy I feel that all the flavours had not entered the chicken. Nevertheless, the dish was enjoyed in the freezing cold weather. 

Dal Makhani

The Dal Makhani was topped with oodles of white butter and this made the dish rich, creamy and extremely satisfying. While at home we usually try to cook a healthy version of Dal Makhani by cutting down on the amount of butter that goes in, we also end up compromising on the taste factor. Here, however, the flavor was plentiful and going by the way this Dal Makhani tasted, I give it a rating higher than the Kali Mirch Chicken. 

For our second round of rotis we ordered a Pudina Parantha along with the rotis. This was delicious to the core, warm, soft, and yummy. Apologies for not letting you feast with your eyes on this one as really it got over within seconds. The bill for all this was a total of Rs. 710! 

The regular scene after a meal in Mussoorie is to stop at the corner Mussoorie Sweet Shop to feast on some jalebis or gulab jamuns and some badaam elaichi doodh- and that is exactly what we did. 

Gulab Jamuns

Badaam Elaichi vaala Doodh

I gave the jalebis a miss this time even though they looked quite tempting- hot and crisp- and went ahead with the badaam elaichi doodh and gulab jamun. 

Badaam Elaichi vaala Doodh in Kulhad

The hot milk infused with almonds and cardamom and a special treat of chopped almonds at the bottom served in clay kulhads is a delightful drink and was indeed a treat in this weather. I gulped down two of these. The Gulab Jamuns that they serve here are just as I like- no dry fruits, right amount of sugar, soft and hot. Your visit to Mussoorie is incomplete without paying a visit to this Mussoorie Sweet Shop and devouring on the yumminess that is served here.

Gulab Jamun

The other tried and tested eateries that I’d suggest to people who are visiting Mussoorie are- The Green (serves delicious vegetarian food), Tavern (Mughlai, Chinese and Sizzlers), Kalsung (known for its Chinese and Tibetan fair), Rokeby Manor (go there for taking a tour of the beautiful property and the breakfast), Char Dukaan-Landour (for a great open aired ambiance and food like bun omelette, pancakes, waffles, various maggi preparations, ginger lemon tea and coffee served to you on tiny tables right outside the shops), Doma’s Inn (for their veg momos which are better than any non vegetarian momos that you would have ever had), Chic Chocolate (for the various desserts they offer and their hot chocolate) and Deodar Woods (for the pizzas).