Author: thefoodporndiaries

1-2-3 Chingri Malaikari

Give me a recipe for Chingri Malaikari and I’m going to make it. The idea of pink prawns floating around in a fiery-sweet silky curry is too much for me to resist. This Bengali preparation is always on my order list whenever I go to Oh! Calcutta, Bhojohori Manna or Esplanade. I can’t really say which one is my favorite because each time I eat it, I am lost in the delicate flavours of this exquisite curry.

Strawberry Tart with silky Pastry Cream

Strawberry season and not succumb to the luscious fruit? Not a chance. So as usual my fridge is stocked with box after box of strawberries this year. After umpteen strawberry shakes, smoothies, juices and eating the fruit dipped in chocolate (yes, that’s legit), I decided to incorporate it into a dessert. A Strawberry Tart seemed like the perfect way to enjoy the fruit without cooking it. (I’m all for jams and preserves with other fruit, but the strawberry is perfect as it is).

5 Ingredient Whiskey Truffles

I saw a gazillion posts by everyone on the 1st of Jan. Kudos to those with strong wills and/or exemplary planning to have a post go out on the New Year. I’m lazy laidback and see no reason to get my panties in a bunch because I missed a momentous occasion to post. The same message spun around in 100 different ways, on one day, probably leads to message fatigue…probably. 😛 Rationalizing it in my head – it’s probably better that I’m saying Happy New Year a couple of days into 2016 when everyone’s hangover has subsided.

Edo turns five and how! @ Edo (ITC Gardenia, Residency Road)

The name Edo is inspired by the erstwhile title of the ancient city of Tokyo. It brings alive the Japanese Izakaya style of dining (casual after work watering holes) with sake, wines and whiskeys to savor alongside sashimi, sushi, robatayaki, tempura and scrumptious desserts. Edo has been enthralling and delighting Bangaloreans since its inception and has created an exalted space for itself in the culinary landscape of Bangalore. Voted the ‘Best Japanese Restaurant’ five years in a row – Edo is quite the overachiever! As Edo turns five, it has a new Masterchef in Nariyoshi Nakamura from Tokyo and a new menu to boot. The competition better pull up its socks… I had the pleasure of experiencing a Kaiseki style meal on a lovely Saturday afternoon (yes, they are open for lunch on Saturdays). Japanese Kaiseki is your equivalent of haute cuisine where the chef uses fresh seasonal ingredients to prepare a sequence of dishes or courses. Each course is artistically presented on carefully chosen tableware that aims at enhancing the final dish. Edible garnishes …

Bao Chica Wow Wow @ The Fatty Bao (Indiranagar)

Tis the season to be jolly, but for a whole different reason! A Bao festival at The Fatty Bao can only multiply your Christmas cheer. Fourteen different Bao’s compete for your attention till the end of this month. A mix of old favourites and new dazzlers, the #baowowfestival showcases why Fatty won Best Pan Asian Restaurant at the Times Food Awards two years in a row!

Donne Biryani – Bangalore Style

I’m not certain we can call this Biryani in the purest sense of the word. But the debate on what constitutes Biryani has been raging for decades and I don’t have the time or the inclination to delve into its subtleties. For me, Biryani will always be a one-pot meal of rice and meat cooked together with spices, served with aplomb on a Sunday afternoon. Sundays would be incomplete without Biryani in our house, though logically it had no place in Andhra-Karnataka cuisine.