soft - Travels for Taste

Amani – Fine Dining, Indian Style at Chelsea Harbour – Review (Permanently closed)

June 2, 2014 by manjirichitnis 4 Comments

Who can resist an invitation to dine at a fine dining restaurant that faces Chelsea Harbour, make that Indian cuisine and its a double whammy.So come Thursday evening and hubster and me made our way to Chelsea Harbour, just one stop on the train from West Brompton it was a very quick journey for me from home.Bonus – time saved on commute is time spent sipping more wine 😉

We were seated at a table in the corner but still with a fairly good view of the harbour ,thanks to the weather playing spoil sport on us we couldn’t sit the balcony and risk our popadum’s flying out of the plate like little flying saucers could we? !

The friendly Manager Azad got us settled in with some white wine and our huge mixed meat and seafood platter.Hardly had we started with working our way through it that we had another platter on our table – the Bombay Street Food Platter with Paani Puri, Samsosa Chaat and Aloo patties . This mixed chaat -very Mumbai street food style platter certainly got us smiling.Its been ages since I had good, tasty pani puri and sadly not many places in London can get anywhere remotely close to the mouth watering taste of typical pani puri dripping and heaving with loads of mashed potato bits and spices floating around in ice cold spicy ,tangy flavoured liquid watery taste heaven …ummm Elco Pani Puri how I miss thee!

This is the first time ever I have tasted this hybrid version of Pani puri, with no spiced watery chutney ,which is the norm but they were still tasty, I could have done with more pani puri on that platter and done without the samosa and papri chaat altogether but then that would destroy the purpose of a tasting platter wouldn’t it?

The mixed meat and seafood platter was superb with the lamb chops totally stealing the show but the galouti kebabs were equally good , only I haven’t had them before in London…even better .These minced red meat kebabs in a complex mix of spices that is great dipped in the tamarind chutney.

R- L : Fish Cakes in batter deep fried,Tandoori King Prawns in a rich cheesy,creamy yoghurt marinade,fresh green spiced chicken,spicy red grilled chicken from the tandoor,Lamb Chops in a marinade which has seeped deep into the meat not charred but done just perfect – smoky,spicy,soft – basically perfect,Galouti Kebabs served with a side of cucumber and yoghurt dip, green mint coriander chutney and tamarind chutney.

The chef really did go a bit overboard and spoilt us royally, this spread of mains is proof that he was all set to impress us , all guns blazing. But honestly after I sunk my teeth into those lamb chops I didn’t need any more convincing that they know their spices and how to work them just right.

So spicy portuguese lamb curry,butter chicken ,dal makhani , fish curry with steamed rice, pulav and butter naan in full portions arrived at our table. In fact there was so much suddenly that we had to move and occupy 2 large tables! Ha!

Now for me faced with fish curry and steamed rice which is a meal that makes me blind to anything else I had to taste the lamb curry for as you who read me regularly have learnt by now, is a huge weakness- really huge . Humm Catch 22 situation? Yup!

So had to tear myself away from the hot fish curry sending invisible hands towards me to draw me in, I served us some dal makhni and butter chicken with the naan. I dread ordering naan in London because it is absolutely disgusting having to chew hard naam that is thick and lumpy but this naan was so light with papery layers and melt in your mouth delicious! How do you do it guys? want to let me in on the recipe? Think Not!

The butter chicken had loads of kasoori methi or dried fenugreek leaves ( much more than say Sanjeev Kapoor’s recipe would ask you to add into your butter chicken),which cleverly balance the otherwise sweet gravy, this is almost how old Delhi style butter chicken is supposed to be , except its really easy to get it terribly wrong and an overtly sweet version means either leftovers have been given mew life by adding an onion puree or the chef tried some experiment that well umm went wrong. This butter chicken is great with the pulav we ate ,the pulav had a generous topping of freshly fried thin slender slices of onion sitting temptingly on the top and it was not an oily heavy pulav which is again a really good sign.

The dal makhani (black lentils in a thick gravy with loads of fresh cream) was very fresh and had a distinct twist to it, the deep fried garlic and onion gave an alternating crunchy and delicious punch as we worked our way through it with ease mopping large mouthfuls with the soft and layered naan, the thick gravy hiding in the folds of the naan just about as close to a moment of sheer foodgasm.

R- L : Spicy n Hot Portuguese Lamb Curry, Dal Makhani – which you see in the centre, Butter Chicken ,Fish Curry,Butter Naan.

Unfortunately by the time we got to the fish curry we were quite full but we couldn’t just let it sit there staring at us begging to be eaten! Now the creamy coconut thick gravy and the fresh fish which itself was perfectly cooked and tasty in itself was much sweeter than we make our curries in Konkan, I need atleast 4 small potently HOT green chillies in one cup of freshly grated coconut and coriander marinade for my curries. This fish curry nevertheless is very satisfying and perfectly paired with steaming hot basmati rice ,I suggest you abandon your spoons ,roll up sleeves and go desi style to truly enjoy this curry and rice. Dont worry if you muck up your wine glass with grubby fingers, Azad and team won’t mind and am sure the guests at neighbouring table will kick themselves for not ordering themselves a portion of this fish curry 😉

We had to stop eating now and I think we had slipped into a coma of carb induced happiness but Azad wasn’t going to let go of us just yet! The mention of hot ,freshly prepared gulab jamuns can make any self respecting foodie go weak in the knees surely? Throw in a rare find – Thandai ice cream and I use my old excuse that ice cream and gulab jamun can find a tiny little space in my full tummy and hide around other morsels of food which have just found their way inside. Hummm – gluttony? Of course! Guilty as charged!

The bang of crushed pepper in the cold Thandai ice cream with the warm gulab jamun is so so good. what is that you just asked? Oh yes – let me tell you what Thandai back home is all about – this dry fruit and saffron flavoured milk is traditionally prepared as an offering to Lord Shiva during the festival of Mahashivratri. During Holi however a rather notorious concoction is brewed by adding lots of crushed cannabis leaves to make what is called Bhaang – it is infamous for getting people drunk after they drink large glasses one after another thinking that it is nothing but an innocent little milk shake and KABOOM it suddenly hits you like a bolt from the blue and snap! An internal switch gets to repeat and whatever it is that you were doing or worse saying when the switch flipped ,its pretty much what you will continue to do on repeat mode for say the next few hours;) Sounds like fun,no? But relax this Thandai ice cream is all innocent and yumm with no naughty additives – alas 😉

It was good to see many other guests also working their way through the meat platter and the happy clinking of glasses around us. It was wonderful seeing the surrounding buildings with soft yellow lights throwing long dancing shadows on the now dark and beautiful waters of the Harbour. The madness and pace that is London seemed to fade somewhere far away.

If you looking for a fresh new place to get your Indian fix and would like to do it in style then head to Amani at Chelsea Harbour for a relaxing meal ,authentic Indian cuisine with touches of coastal Indian flavours thrown in,and stunning views of Chelsea Harbour thrown in free!

For those guests put up at The Windermere Hotel,especially this is an absolute treat, just turn a corner and your inside Amani,kills the headache of thinking about transport back to your room and allows you to have more wine – guilt free.

*With thanks to Amani for the invite and to Azad and his team for a fab evening.No monetary compensation was provided for this post.All views expressed are my own.

Lunch at Le Porte des Indes, Marylebone, London – Review (Permanently closed)

May 6, 2014 by manjirichitnis 7 Comments

Influence of the British Raj on India,its culture and their indelible influence on the railways , architecture and the many places of tourist interest is common knowledge but India was also ruled by Mughals,the Portuguese,the French and the Dutch. Each of these colonies bear distinct stamps of a deep-rooted influence especially on the food with some beautiful foods that have become a part of the local community and recipes developed by such confluence of are not only brilliant in taste but also a mixture of flavours that otherwise would not have been combined.

I had heard so much about Le Porte des Indes and Chef Mehernosh Mody who has been awarded Ethnic Chef of the Year 2012 at the Craft Guilds of Chefs Awards for people who pay attention to things like that. So when Fiona who blogs at London Unattached asked me to accompany her for a lunch at Le Porte des Indes it was an offer too tempting to pass up!

Le Porte des Indes literally means Gateway to India. The decor is warm and welcoming and I felt was in some old, Indian palace with intricate wood carvings, huge artefacts, paintings especially replicas of Raja Ravi Verma’s magnificent originals and stone statutes which reminded of the ones at Khajuraho. Indoor plants are similar to ones I would see probably at The Taj Hotel in Mumbai, India lots of wooden statues of Lord Ganesha too.

We started by ordering some drinks I ordered for a Tamarind Martini while Fiona ordered some white wine.My gin,tamarind and limoncello martini came adorned with a slice of Star Fruit on the side .The sight of the star fruit took me back to my college days when my friends and me , about ten of us would get off the train and trade the crowded bus journey on way back from school and walk home instead on the dusty footpath – our treat for walking, a tangy snack packed in an old newspaper sold by a haath – gaadi or hand cart street food vendor which included roasted peanuts in shells, tamarind -imli and star fruit slices sprinkled with chilli powder and topped with a squeeze of lime – very ,very tangy but totally fun. On a good day when we had some extra change between us we would follow this up with a fizzy drink from a small shanty opposite the gates of the IIT,Mumbai campus mummm – simple pleasures. Seems so far away now and I only ever see my friends on Facebook and comment on old scanned photographs 🙂

I fell in love with the beautiful cutlery and the copper plate sighh…

Our starter was Demoiselles de Pondiche’ry – seared king scallops with a hint of garlic in a delicious saffron sauce – succulent and morish…

The cuisine is a mix of French,Tamil and Creole influences and lots of fusion recipes using the chefs imagination.

Next up was a platter of starters with kebabs and a fish called ”Patra ni Machi” or Parsee fish (Patra – leaf , Macchi – fish) this divine fish was made using fillets of sole encased in a mint and coriander chutney steamed in a banana leaf.I remember eating this fish at a Parsee friends wedding feat in Bombay 5 years ago and it had green chillies in a generous amount in the green chutney.There was a mild hint of chilli in our fish ,just perfect, excellent in fact and I could have made more,no wonder this is Chef Mehernosh Mody’s speciality. The other starters on our platter were Kathi kebabs – spiced lamb kebabs rolled in an egg served with a dark fruity chutney. Murgh Malai Kebabs – tandoori grilled chicken tikkas marinated in a creamy cheese sauce with spices.A twist on the usual onion and potato pakoras we ate Chard Pakoras – red and green chard rolled in gram flour, green chillies,coriander, turmeric and caraway seeds and fried crisp – very tasty!All this served with Garlic and Coriander Naan.

In the picture about L-R :Murgh Malai Kebabs,Parsee fish,Chard Pakoras and in the middle Kathi kebabs.Peaking on the right side corner is a rice cracker with a roughly ground green chilli chutney with a cooling yoghurt and saffron dip.

In the picture above is the Pomegranate Raita -Natural yoghurt with pomegranate, a touch of cumin and paprika.We then ate this most perfectly cooked white fish in a rich tamarind sauce steamed in a banana leaf – pure pleasure.

For our mains we got a large assortment of dishes served Basmati Saffron Pillav Rice, Seed Naan and Red Rice– Steamed organic red rice.

L -R in the photo of our mains platter below:

Tandoori Barra Chops: British Lamb Chops Char-grilled with cinnamon, cardamom and cloves finished with caramelised onions -everything you expect from a tandoori lamb really – smoky,soft,packed with flavour and juicy ,falling off the bone.Prawn Assadh curry as it is made in Pondicherry with turmeric,ginger, green chillies,coconut, mustard seeds and green mangoes – so creamy and delicious we couldn’t get enough of it scooping it off our plate with our naan stuffed with spiced lamb.Poulet Rouge, spécialité de notre maison is a gallic inspired dish – Chicken Slices marinated in yoghurt and red spices, grilled and served in a creamy sauce. Rougail d’ Aubergine: Smoked aubergine crushed with red chilli, ginger and green lime also called Baingan ka bharta in Hindi.I was most delighted to find we had a portion of mutton – it is not easy to get goat’s meat locally and this Mutton Braised home style as in Pondicherry with robust spices and laced with coconut milk was a delicious curry with the mutton having soaked up all the flavours of the spices .With the Saffron rice it was very good.Chef Mehernosh Mody also let us in who his regular suppliers who he told us are all local British producers.

We also had a selection of chutneys to go with the naan.Though I was stuffed I was hoping I could manage to have some dessert. After all a grand meal like this is not complete without some Indian sweets!;)

Fiona had to leave in a hurry and only managed to taste some the many treats on our mixed dessert platters.

L-R : Frozen dessert – Rose flavoured kulfi -the indian home-made ice cream with no artificial flavourings or stabilizers, made using Jersey & Guernsey Milk with pistachios ,followed by a mini chocolate filled samosa – thin pastry stuffed with chocolate and deep-fried ,Belgian Dark Chocolate Mousse(55% Cocoa Solids) served in traditional leaf cup – in India its is common practice to serve desserts in a dried leaf folded into the shape of a cup especially at large public gatherings like the Sarvjanik Ganpati Festival and during Navratris – these are bio-degradable and much better option over plastic or foam cups, a fruit tart and a slice of mango carved artistically.

Chef Mehernosh Mody then took me on a tour of the premises .There is so much room for big parties in the Maharajah room which is very tastefully done up antique Indian artifacts, the Shamiana perfect for weddings and a lovely,a fully private big dining room with French colonial decor for corporate lunches too.If that is not enough there’s a Jungle Bar complete with cane furniture ,palm trees and tiger skin rugs so while you sip on a tropical signature cocktail called Karma which has – oh yes coconut juice and vodka, you can pretend your on the beautiful shores of Pondicherry ne Puducherry with pristine beaches of blue water and warm silky sand and are about to set off for a hunting expedition in a while with your buddies! Did you know that Puducherry meaning New Town is also referred to as ”The French Riviera of the East”?

That’s not the talented Chef Mody also conducts live cooking classes in the restaurant where the chef and his team unravel the mysteries of Indian cooking , explain the intricacies of the spices and how to cook a great Indian Meal – fab idea for team building exercise I say where you actually eat the fruits of your labour!

The Beautiful dome of the former Edwardian ballroom this adds to the grandeur of the place.

One of the private dining rooms, notice the beautiful statues at the back? 🙂

At the Jungle Bar it was common practise for patrons to throw peanut shells across the floor and then walk all over them on crunching shells!Fun I say.

For the images of the dome, the private dinning room and Jungle bar – Image Courtesy -Le Porte des Indes

Disclaimer: With many thanks to Chef Mehernosh Mody, the attentive team at Le Porte des Indes and Fiona. I was not required to write a positive review and was not compensated monetarily for this post. Like all my previous posts about events and reviews, ALL opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

”POSH ”Victoria Sponge Cake

August 3, 2012 by manjirichitnis 4 Comments

What better way to celebrate the excitement surrounding the Olympics happening in London than sinking my teeth into a perfectly delicious soft Victoria Sponge Cake!

It’s an easy recipe and the result left me feeling like so very happy!

I tried to read up online why it is called a ”Victoria” Sponge cake and the apt answer seems that since Queen Victoria loved this soft cake with her afternoon tea! So I am going to savour the cake and afternoon tea as I cheer myself hoarse in front of the telly whilst watching the Olympics 🙂

Lovely! So let’s get baking and when your done gobbling some of it, drop me a line and let me know how much you enjoyed creating this yummy delight!

This cake serves 8 people, takes about an hour to prepare.

I choose to call it ”POSH” because that’s Victoria Beckham’s pop name, our very own British star and this cake is modernised version of a British Classic recipe with a twist as it is layered with Creme Chantilly’ – very posh sounding indeed!

Ingredients:

225 g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
4 medium-sized eggs, organic if you please
225 g caster sugar
225 g self-raising flour
4- 5 Large tablespoons of Strawberry Jam, the traditional version uses raspberry Jam, I used strawberry conserve.
250 gm fresh strawberries sliced lengthways
Icing Sugar for dusting on top of the cake
Soda Bicarbonate – 1 teaspoon
Baking Powder 1 Teaspoon

To make the crème Chantilly:

300 ml double cream – so sinful 😉
25 g icing sugar
I tiny cap full of Vanilla essence, the original recipe inspired by The Good Food Channel advises to use – 1 vanilla pod, halved lengthways and seeds scraped or vanilla extract

METHOD :

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Grease and line two 18cm cake tins with a removable based with baking paper. I inaugurated my brand new weighing scales and cute cake tins I purchased for all future cake making experiments!
Put the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and cream well until light and fluffy – this will take at least 10 minutes to get it properly aerated. Use the 10 minutes you have to wash and clean the strawberries and slice them lengthwise. This was also a first for me in terms of using my food processor to mix the butter and sugar mix. Then empty this butter sugar mix into a large mixing bowl, I also have a NEW nice bright Orange bowl!
Break each egg and add one at a time, whisk the mixture well after each addition to ensure it is soft and fluffy.
Add the self-raising flour to the above butter, sugar and egg mixtures, I added one spoon at a times and mixed it really well each time. Add the Bicarbonate of soda and Baking Powder to this mixture, I used this as I do in every cake but the original good food channel recipe does not mention these 2 ingredients. Later I used a hand blender to really get this mixture to feel like one entity and till it felt right to pour into the ready cake tins.
Now pour the above cake mix in equal portions into the 2 cake tins and smooth the top with a plastic spoon, the type you get with a food processor.
Bake for 20 minutes, with a timer, until risen and golden. Ensure you do not go over the 20 minutes, also if you are using a fan oven as I do, use only the setting that heats from below.

For the crème Chantilly:

Put the cream in the food processor, add the icing sugar and the vanilla essence. Whip to the soft peak stage, using the slow speed setting then refrigerate until slightly firmed.
Take the strawberry jam into a small pan and warm gently whilst stirring, use low flame and do not leave on pan for tool long.
Remove the cakes from the cake tin, on the top of one cake spread the jam from the pan and add the chopped strawberries.

Then get the Creme Chantilly’ from the fridge and spread generously over this.
Place the second cake on this and press down ever so gently.
Dust the top of this lovely sponge cake with a bit of icing sugar and decorate with a blob of the Creme Chantilly’ and some sliced strawberries!

Voila, the classic British cake with a twist – Posh Victoria Sponge is ready for you to savour, impress your family and friends and enjoy baking over and over again!