When we were planning our Coonoor trip, someone mentioned to us about the Cheesemaking self-sustainable farm run by Mansoor Khan a little away from the main Coonoor City.  The idea and the description excited me and it went right in my must do list for Coonoor. The farm is really beautifully situated about 5 kms away from the hustle bustle of the main city and the first thing you spot when you reach the farm is the small pond with tons of fishes, some ducks and few geese sputtering away.

The idea Mansoor has behind the farm is really nice and thoughtful, he wants to have a self-sustainable place for himself. He grows his own fish in a man-made lake. The cows he has on the farm give him milk and the fuel, yes he has a bio gas plant on the farm which is what he uses as a fuel for cheese making, he has a lovely vegetable and herb garden in which we could see many vegetables including cauliflower, cabbage, spinach and other greens, bottle guard growing. Many herbs like thyme, parsley, fennel and basil were blooming. We had a great time at the farm with my son enjoying the open place and so many animals around and us sharing ideas about ecological balance and how as a generation we are more of an economy base generation rather than ecology based when we came to the highlight of the trip the cheese making itself.

The rough stages in the cheese making are put up as pictures in the cheese making cottage there, which is basically divided into three parts – the kitchen, the cellar and the packing area

It was really exciting to see how its made, unfortunately we couldn’t get the demo of the whole procedure as its atleast a two day long process but I fairly got an idea of what happened and being interested in cooking and food it was really a pleasure.

Vinod working in the kitchen with the cheese

And off the comes the pressed cheese out

And cellar where the cheese is kept to age from a minimum of 1 month to a maximum of 5 momths

And last but not the least the yummy cheese and crackers for tasting, the one of the right is garlic and fennel soft cheese and the other one is pepper flavour

Plan your trip to Coonoor and the Nilgiris with Club Mahindra resort in Ooty.

Hubby: Let’s go to Pondicherry.

Son: What’s there in Pondicherry?

Me: It was once ruled by the French, and there are still lots of French people there. The old part of the city is also exactly like it was then.

Son: It sounds boring. Let’s go somewhere else.

Hubby: We can get to eat French food!

Son: What is French food?

Me: To begin with, Crêpes – pancakes to you

Son: We’ll get pancakes there? Let’s go!

And that’s how it began… our search for crêpes at Pondicherry.cop

We were in Chennai unexpectedly with a day to spare, and being in the mood to explore, headed towards Pondicherry. None of us had been there before, though we had passed by the East coast road a couple of times on our way to visit some temple or the other. Not knowing what to expect, and without enough time to plan things properly as we usually do, we headed out in a car borrowed from a cousin, deciding to take things as they came.

The union territory of Pondicherry or Puducherry as it is now called, is a former French colony, made up of 4 unconnected districts – Puducherry (in Tamilnadu, near Chennai), Karaikal (also in Tamilnadu, but near Thanjavur), Yanam (in Andhra Pradesh), and Mahe (in Kerala). We were visiting Puducherry, which is about 150 Km from Chennai. The city is divided into two parts – the French quarter, called Ville Blanche or white town, and the Indian quarter, called Ville Noire or Black town. We need no imagination to see where these names came from! The two halves of the city are quite disparate. The French quarter, with its colonial styled houses, roads with names listed neatly in French, the huge churches, neatly laid gardens and the Indian quarter with its comparatively narrower lanes, Indian style houses with verandas and gardens and huge doors, a temple on every lane…. The two are easily recognizable.lat

We then set off in search of something to eat. Our mobiles had decided to give up on us as soon as we arrived in Chennai, so we had no Google to help us out. Since our driver had said that he had been to Pondicherry a number of times, we decided to ask his advice instead. Our question, “Where can we get French food” brought on a frown and a minute’s silence before he finally replied, “All the people I have brought here eat at the Adayar Ananda Bhavan”. Wondering silently if we had come all the way to eat at A2B (as we call the hotel, which is a chain all over south India), we told him to drive around, so that we could look for a place to eat. It took us only a few minutes to realize that driving around would not work. To begin with, he had no idea of the kind of place we wanted to go, and he knew less than nothing about the French quarter. It would be much better for us to explore on our own.

The scorching peak summer heat made walking around difficult, and deferring our exploring for the evening, we managed to find a patisserie and gorged on veg baguettes and milk shakes, slaking our hunger for the moment. The evening saw us setting out once more in search of something remotely ‘French’ to eat! Being vegetarians, we did realize that our options were severely limited, and that the best option was to hunt out a place where we could get something like crêpes for breakfast.

The beach promenade seemed like the place to start, and a friendly traffic policeman sporting a kepi suggested we go to Le Café. The beach was too crowded for us to even want to step in, so we opted to go directly to Le Café, where a table set on the porch gave us a great view of the beach, but kept us at a safe distance from the crowd.  We soon realized that the view was the best thing about the place. It was just a café, and all we would get were sandwiches (again!) at this time of the day! In any case, sandwiches and French fries sounded better than idlis and dosas, so we opted for sandwiches again.

Determined to find a place which would serve us crepes for breakfast, we walked up and down the promenade entering every place which looked like a hotel, homestay or lodge. We found quite a few good options for staying, if we ever visited again, but none served anything like crepes for breakfast, and all seemed surprised that we wanted something like it! The only options in hand seemed too expensive – not what we wanted at the moment!

Tiring of the ever increasing crowd at the promenade, we decided to abandon it and try one of the inner roads. At least they would be empty. On the Rue Dumas, we saw a flashy sign for Le Club, which promised ‘authentic French and Italian Cuisine’, but a peep told us that it wasn’t really our kind of place. Next door was a sign that said ‘Dumas Guest House’ and I walked in, without much hope in my heart.

The lady manning the reception spoke English with a French accent, and she smiled happily when my son said, “Bonjour”, showing off his scanty knowledge of French. My enquiry about crêpes brought another smile, and she told me that I had arrived at the wrong time. This was off-season. The place was packed with the local tourists making the most of the summer vacation, but the real tourists wouldn’t arrive until later, when the rains came. That was the best season to spend here, and that was the time the whole place would be filled with stalls selling all kinds of things, especially French food! As of now, we had no choice but to go to one of the larger hotels or a few select ones which served French cuisine throughout the year. However, if all we wanted were crêpes, we did have two other options – the first was La Terrasse, a restaurant barely five minutes away, where pancakes were served all through the day, and the second was the Alliance Française, located right opposite, which served the best breakfast in Pondy! She suggested we try the breakfast at the Alliance Café since we would not be leaving until after breakfast, and we happily decided to accept her advice.

So there we were, at the doors of the Alliance Française at 8:30 in the morning, their first customers of the day! The beautiful old building, with its wooden staircases, and the small garden enclosed by huge walls made us forget the rest of the world outside. As for the menu, there were plenty of choices, but our eyes were drawn just towards one word – crêpes!

Between the three of us, we managed to try out every variety of crêpes they could make this early in the morning – with cinnamon, bananas, apples and honey! My son has had pancakes before, but crêpes were a first for him, so he was rather surprised that it was so thin, unlike the pancakes he normally has. He looked at it with suspicion for a minute, but all it took was a bite, and he was won! He managed to finish off two by himself!

The Alliance Française de Pondicherry was started in 1897, and it was one of the first Alliances in the world after the one in Paris! The café de Flore on its premises is a recent venture, originally opened only for members. Unfortunately, the response wasn’t too good, and it was thrown open to the public, which is a big boon for us! The ambience and the crêpes made our day and we were able to leave happily with full stomachs for our next halt – Auroville!

Plan your visit to Pondicherry with Club Mahindra.  For details of our resort visit here

The month of fasting is nearly over and Muslims across the world are gearing up to celebrate Ramzan [also called Ramadan or Id-Ul-Fitr].  And there is no hiding that Food and Ramzan has a strong connection. Think succulent kebabs, delicious Biryani, rich curries and molten malpuas served at the best restaurants across the country and you have your excuse to dig in. Here is a heads-up on the Top 3 places across the country to visit,

Khoobani Ka Meetha

[Image courtesy Fullmeals.com]

If you have plans of visiting Mumbai, then this is the right time to go, for you are in for not only a visual treat but a gastronomic one as well. Mohammad Ali Road with its street side stalls and small hotels are overflowing with people eager to try some of the Ramzan specialities.  The kebabs [Beef and Chicken] are the show stoppers and the best ones are found at Haji Tikka, Khara Tank Road in Bhendi Bazaar.  However, if you are not the adventurous kind, then you should visit Khiri where you will find various rich meat dishes, especially beef. Another area in Mumbai that serves up quite a storm is Khau Galli in Central Mumbai, which comes alive post 9pm with streets brimming with people vying for a plate of Biryani or kebabs or the sweet dishes.

Haleem

[Image Courtesy - Zaika.net]

On the other hand, Lucknow has its pride in Tunday Kababi, a century old family-run restaurant  that dishes out plates of  Galouti kebab like nowhere else. Akbari Gate on the other hand is where you get the most divine glass of Kashmiri tea that is perfect before starting your food trail. Make sure to visit Haji Sahib’s shop for a slice of the traditional nihari and kulchha. Wait, its not over yet, you should sample the makhan malai, Lucknow’s own version of saffron-spiked ice cream before you can call it a day.

Biryani

Image Courtesy: Flickr

Ramzan is synonymous with Haleem and the best Haleem is available in Hyderabad only. Tasty and delicious Haleem here is a plate of minced meat cooked with ground wheat and oodles of butter. Pista House, near Charminar at the old City offers the 2^nd best Haleem in town. Biryani is another dish that is a must have during Ramdan season. Called Nawabi or Dum Biryani, No Eid is complete without this Biryani.  Take your pick from Lamb, Chicken or other meat, either way you are in for a treat like never before. Also order a side of mutton korma, mutton do pyaza or murgh musallam, and zafrani murgh to add to te beauty of the meal. Finish off in style with a plate of Kulfi, sheer khurma or sevayyian (which is vermicelli that has been cooked in milk topped with nuts),  khoobani ka meetha (apricots pureed cooked with sugar and topped with fresh cream) and the traditional phirni.

Kulfi

Image Courtesy: Recipes ebest

Let the celebrations begin!! Enjoy the treats no matter where you are…!!

Nameri National Park is one of Assam’s main national parks situated in its North-West boundary and bordering Arunachal Pradesh to the north. Unlike the rest of Assam’s national parks where the Rhinoceros is the highlight, the sensation of Nameri National Park is the ‘Great Hornbill’.

The Nameri National Park, located in the foot hills of the Eastern Himalayas is situated about 30 kilometres from Tezpur in the Sonitpur district of Assam. Innumerable streams and rivers criss-cross through the national park, but the main river here is the Jia-Bhoroli river. The Jia-Bhoroli snakes its way through one corner of the national park.

In fact it is the Jia-Bhoroli river that sustains this national park. It was because of this river that angling became popular here. The mighty Mahseer fish is found in huge quantities here. And it was these angling trips that brought tourism into Nameri National Park.

Today, rafting is done on the Jia-Bhoroli river both for angling as well as for birding. A huge number of migratory waterfowl can be found on the Jia-Bhoroli river in all seasons and especially the winters.

The popular waterfowl here are the great cormorant, Ibisbill, Ruddy Shelduck, Common Merganser and the Eurasian Woodcock. The Eurasian Woodcock is one of the rarest birds to be spotted here. I was lucky to see all of them during my recent visit.

Apart from these, I also spotted the following birds here: Great Hornbill, Red Vented Bulbul, Grey Headed Fishing Eagle, Hill Myna, Common Iora, Scarlet Minivet, Fulvous breasted Woodpecker, Lesser Yellownape, Blue winged Leafbird, Indian Roller, Blue Throated Barbet, Blue tailed Bee Eater, Green Billed Malkoha, Rose Ringed Parakeet, Osprey, Spotted Dove, Pin tailed Green Pigeon, Pompadour Green Pigeon, Paddyfield Pipit, Black naped Oriole, Black Drongo, Spangled Drongo, Lesser racket tailed Drongo, Verditer Flycatcher, Grey Headed Canary Flycatcher, Little Forktail, Chestnut Tailed Starling, Sultan Tit (calling only), Pied Kingfisher, Crested Kingfisher, Pallas Fishing Eagle, Adjutant Stork, River Lapwing, Little Egret, Indian Pond Heron, Common Stonechat, Plain Martin, White Rumped Shama and Lesser Whistling Duck.

All these birds were spotted either while rafting on the Jia-Bhorali river or while trekking through the multiple jungle trails available to the tourist.

In addition to the birds, I also spotted some mammals. They were the Asian Elephant, Malayan Giant Squirrel, Assamese Macaque and Rhesus Macaque.

The good forest tourist infrastructure, the vivid nature and jungles along with the rich birding and wildlife experience gives Nameri National Park a special place in India’s national park system. Whether, you are an angler, a birder or a wildlife lover, Nameri is bound to capture your heart.

Strange but true, Greedy Gulliver is a woman. Ahh! You seem to be a tad more interested now. Whatever your reasons, I’m here to honestly get greedy, sniff around, find those yummazing local flavours, dip my finger into everything possibly edible, burp in breaks, take that digestive pill and well, just move on.

In America, the best way to get around is to hit the road. Especially around the Fall. I believe, no matter how much you plan, some places are just meant to be part of your journey, some places that were nowhere on your itinerary. One hungry detour was to Sedona.

Sedona is a geological marvel of a place, characterised by red-rock monoliths named Coffeepot, Cathedral and Bell…even Snoopy – because of some striking resemblances! A wildly wonderful place that lies at the mouth of the Oat Creek Canyon, home to some of the largest Ponderosa pine trees and is just a little diversion enroute to Vegas, which is where we were headed. God bless the diversion. Camping and picnicking, nature walks, treks, fishing and boating, horseback riding, birding, golf, state parks, sightseeing, museums, shopping for antiques and tribal stuff – just choose your trail and let Sedona take over you. Trust me, you’ll happily give in. For the stay, my pick would have been the cozy inns or better still, the camps by the river. Much to my heart’s discontent, this was just a pitstop for us.

A constant roadtrip can leave you very hungry and someone like me, very greedy too! You come to a point where you want to stretch every muscle and just attend to belly needs. Beyond the magnificence of this place and the generous weather during the Fall, what really got me hooked about this place is a simple and down to earth soup in a bread-bowl! Of course we’d been having the bountiful beef burgers, mesmerising mexican platters, large hearted breakfasts at i-hop, pork and turkey sandwiches at the malls, but what really trapped my tastebuds was this simple and absolutely delicious presentation of perfectly made thick mushroom soup (in this case) in a bowl – made of bread!

So while you slowly savour the soup of your choice, you also get to scrape off the gooey soup-soaked bread with it. Now that may not sound very appetising, but you would believe me if I said it was simply sinful, wouldn’t you? Go love yourself and add that tiny dollop of butter and crush some peppercorns generously. A crunchy greek salad or a sandwich with it is my idea of a perfect lazy wintry meal.

The Wildflower Bread Company at Sedona would be happy to have you for its homestyle breakfasts, hearty soups, tempting salads, gourmet sandwiches, freshly tossed pastas and sinful desserts. A large appetite strongly recommended. Burp… from Greedy Gulliver!

Singapore has been a second home for me always. I don’t think I love the country too much, find it too manicured for my liking but yet I have some fond memories, food being the main one. There are days where I say I am craving food from Singapore siting in my kitchen in Delhi. Parents moved there quite some time back and spent few years there. Being a complete vegetarian family, Mom and dad were always on a look out for a new vegetarian restaurant.

That’s how they were able to find “fortune center building”. Situated right behind a temple, it’s the home to Buddhist vegetarian cuisine. We have been thankful to the Buddhist monks always for being part of the Singaporean culture as they bring in one of my favorite cuisines. Buddhist cuisine is an East Asian cuisine which is followed by certain disciples of Buddhism. It is primarily vegetarian; in order to keep with the general Buddhist principle of ahinsa (non-violence).The cuisine is known as zh?icài in Singapore.

Buddhist vegetarian chefs have become exceptionally inventive in mimicking meat using prepared wheat gluten, also known as “seitan” or “wheat meat”, soy (such as tofu or tempeh), agar, and other plant products. Because soy and wheat gluten are very versatile materials, they can be manufactured into various shapes and textures, and they absorb flavorings whilst having very little flavor of their own. With the proper seasonings, they can mimic various kinds of meat quite closely.

This is one of the winning entry for the trip of the lifetime contest. congrats to the winner

Ingredients:
400 gm sweetened condensed milk (1 tin Nestle Milkmaid)
¼ cup sugar
150 gm mixture of cashew nuts/raisins/almonds
½ cup cocoa
50 gm Unsalted butter

Method:

Pour Milkmaid into a thick bottomed pan.

Add butter, sugar, cocoa and nuts.

Swirl gently on medium heat till the mixture leaves the sides of the pan.

Pour evenly into a buttered dish and allow cooling and setting.

Cut into heart shape with a cutter and toss in icing sugar.

If you think you have a better recipe and you love fudge, here is a chance to win it ! For details visit Foodaholics or participate in the contest here

Germany is one land that knows its beer right. And especially if you visit Bavaria, you will be all the more convinced. Every beer brewery has a garden in the back yard. These beer houses are almost restaurants serving varieties of cheese with the varieties of beer they brew in-house. There are several beer breweries in Bavaria or South Germany though a handful of them are really big and brand market their beer.

In the North of Munich, my local friend took me to a local beer house. This one had a very old school charm around it and around 5 in the evening in early May, the crowd had gathered up for their first round of drinks. Though the crowd was a mixture of young and hep population from the nearby university campus, most others were grumpy old men playing card and sipping beer from their liter large mugs.

Yes, the small size beer in these beer houses is 500 ml. And an average German wouldn’t touch any less than a 1 liter mug. By the way, as an average Indian woman, I couldn’t lift the 1 liter mug with one hand to toast ?

Towards the South of Munich, the garden culture becomes more common as the graveled roads lead up to the square which houses famous breweries. Haufbrauhas is one such famous beer house. I loved the real atmosphere of Haufbrauhaus on a weekday evening with an old school band performing and good old men sitting in tables around us and chatting away their lives.

Tasting most things on house is a hobby I have. So there came Raddler beer, brown in color and tasting more of Barley and Cola; Weiss Bier, looking white and tasting like corn and the normal liter that was anyway ordered, after which I can’t remember much…

To me, this is the flavor of Bavaria you can savor than the Auto Museums, which Germany has always been famous for. By all means, visit the museums. But I would say, don’t miss out on the local life.

In the mood for a Quark Cheese-Cake Cup Cake – here is a recipe for the same ..

Ingredients

Quark cheese – 2 cups
Sugar – 3/4 cup
Eggs – 2
Vanilla extract – 1 tsp
Cornstarch – 2 1/2 Tbsps
Sour cream – 1 cup
Lemon Zest/Orange Zest- 1
Red Colour- Few Drops

For Base
Biscuit crumbs – 1 1/2 cups
Melted butter – 6 tbsps
Sugar – 1/4 cup

Method

1.Preheat oven to 180 C

2.Combine biscuit crumbs, melted butter, and 1/4 cup sugar together and press the mixture onto the bottom 10 Cup cake liners.

3. Refrigerate in freezer for 10 minutes.

4. Mix 3/4 cup of the sugar with Quark cheese until smooth.

5. beat in eggs, vanilla, and cornstarch until just mixed. Stir in sour cream until blended. Scoop equal amount batter into the cup cake liners.

6. In a small container take out few spoons and add red colour and pipe small hearts on top and any other designs.

6. Bake in a water bath for 30 to 35 mins until set.

7. Turn oven off and leave cup cakes in oven with the door ajar for 3 hours.

8 Once cool put in fridge for few hour and enjoy with your loved one!

As usual the time period between two posts is very long. So, I start writing again,promising myself that this time this will not be the case anymore.

As you must have already guessed by the title of the post I intend to talk about food, and since you can also see ” Part 1″ written alongside, there will be more stuff on similar lines.Anyone who knows me even remotely knows that I love to eat. I am not one of those who are very adventurous and will try out anything and everything that is served in front of them.I like to keep it safe and eat stuff that at least has something which I have tasted in the past or have some sort of confidence in.That ways I am always in a position to compare what I have eaten to some previous gastronomical experience of the same kind.The Best that I Have Tasted series will have my thoughts on what I think is the tastiest of that particular kind of dish. Although I am a non-vegetarian, I do have some all-time vegetarian favourites, so I think we should have an equitable distribution between the categories and to prove my case I will start with an all time favourite of a lot of people , The Samosa.

Courtesy : Flickr : DraconianRain

Now as most of us know, the Samosa is a deep fried, triangular patty shell which has a savory filling which might consist of potatoes, peas, onions , cottage cheese, chicken or in some cases even ground beef. Needless to say, for people who like eating fried food and who are okay with stuff dripping with oil, the aforementioned concept can only mean taste heaven. And the best part it is made well at quite a few places. So, the way it is cooked and the ingredients put vary from place to place. However, there is one particular place which makes it better than anywhere else.

It is a small shack , located in the heart of Heavy Engineering Corporation township Ranchi. For quite some time now, HEC has been declared a failed proposition, making huge losses consistently, outdated production techniques which have no hope of being revamped and absolutely no development in infrastructure. The general level of dilapidation lends a very subtle undertone of gloom to your mood when you get there. All in all, not a very inviting place to go to. However, right in front of the community hall Sector 2, there is one place which always has some bustle around it, ” Devanti Chat” and it makes the best samosas I have ever tasted and I am pretty confident that once you try that out , you will agree as well.
The first time I ever heard about it was in class Vll , when a few of my friends who used to stay in HEC said that there was this new place which makes better samosa than any other they have eaten before. Curious, I persuaded my Dad to come with me and buy some. It took some pestering , but finally managed to get him there. He bought me two and then….
I couldn’t have agreed with my friends more!! That was actually the tastiest samosa that I had ever eaten..or should I rephrase it and say that it is the best that I HAVE ever eaten. The patty is fried just right, and the filling inside is an amazing blend of mashed potatoes and spices, served with red “chutney”, it is a kaleidoscope of tastes as soon as you put it in your mouth. And it just doesn’t end there, if you want them to make it even better, they will serve it with chhola and onions, thus transforming it into an awesome snack. And I am surely not the only one who has had this feeling after tasting this delectable bit of fried heaven, people form traditional “samosa strongholds” like Allahabad and Banaras have also been astounded by the brilliance of Devanti. I have been a regular there since Class VII, and the best part is that the taste has remained the same. Many a times we see cases where eateries start to do really well and then they decide to expand and ruin everything. Fortunately that has not been the case and it still is the same place in front of the community hall serving unbelievable stuff. At times, the entire lot is finished off in less than an hour. This consistent excellence has also had a positive impact on the competition as they have had to improve their standards just to stay in contention. Ah!! What a sublime example of “Culinary Economics”!!
So , if you ever want to go to Ranchi , and if you are even remotely interested in eating fried stuff, Devanti Chat , Sector 2 HEC is the place to go. One bite of that majestic creation and I am sure you will keep coming back!! All this is making me hungry, where’ my food??