Know Your Kolkata Food Blogger - This week it's Amrita of Sweet 'n' Savoury and one of her recipes.

So I am back with the 'Know your Kolkata Food Blogger Event' and this week it is the very talented baker Amrita (of the Amrita - Vishal blogger duo) of the lovely blog Sweet 'n' Savoury. Amrita and Vishal are a husband and wife team who share the passion for good food and cooking good food. Infact this event is a result of her idea! While Amrita is the one who contributes to the Sweet part of the blog with her amazing bakes..its Vishal who balances the Savoury part with his lip smacking creations. Just saying that Amrita is a baker par excellence would be an understatement. She amazes me every time with her creations. I for one is someone who treads very carefully when it comes to baking...so she is truly an inspiration. A very unique quality of her blog is the proportion of ingredients that she uses ..they are not humongous , so you are not left with huge portions of your creations worrying how to finish them. 
Her blog is filled with some very nice recipes that can surely be tried by everyone. I have chosen a relatively easy recipe and given it a small twist of mine. Few days back she had posted a recipe of Masala Biscuits and I found it very interesting. Considering the two boys in my house are not too fond of spices like curry leaves and green chillies I just made a few changes keeping the basic recipe intact. Here's my recipe of Cheesy Masala Biscuits 

Ingredients:

Flour - 4 tbsp

Atta/whole wheat flour - 3 tbsp

Rice flour - 2 tbsp

Baking powder - 1/4th tsp

Baking soda - a pinch

Sugar - 1 tsp

Curd/yogurt - 1 tbsp cold

Butter - 2 tbsp - cold

Roasted cumin powder - 1 tsp

Cheddar cheese - 1 cube grated

Ginger - 1 tsp minced

Method: 


In a bowl mix together - flour . atta, rice flour , baking powder ,baking soda and sugar.

Add the butter and rub into the flour mixture till it resembles bread crumbs like texture.

Add the roasted cumin powder , minced ginger and the grated cheese.

Add the cold yogurt/curd and bind the mixture into a dough. Cover with cling film and refrigerate for 1 hour.

After one hour , roll out the dough into a thin sheet on a floured surface. Using your cookie cutter cut out desired shapes and place them on a baking tray that has been lined with a baking/parchment paper. 

Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius and bake the biscuits for around 20 mins - till they turn light brown in colour.

Let the biscuits cool so that they get crispy and then store in an airtight jar for few days.
Enjoy these delicious biscuits with your dose of tea/coffee.

 Notes : 

•  I skipped adding salt seperately considering cheddar is pretty salty and it turned out just fine.
• The addition of cheese tends to make the dough very soft while rolling ..so use enough flour while rolling out the dough.
• I used mini cookie cutters here. 

 Amrita hope you have liked my version of your recipe. Folks do check out their blog for some yummy desserts,bakes and much more -Sweet 'n' Savoury

Easy Dessert - Chocolate Mousse Shots

Who doesn't like chocolates! And when served up in style, even more. This recipe I am sharing today is the result of an experiment. I had baked a chocolate cake the other day and wanted to ice it with a chocolate ganache. But somehow it was not my day and the cake turned out quite pathetic. By then I had already prepared the ganache and didn't want it to go waste. Looked up the net and found a really easy recipe for Chocolate Mousse. So here's presenting my version of Eggless Chocolate Mousse Shots. Its light , airy and absolutely delicious.

 Ingredients:

Dark Chocolate - 100 gms ( grated)

Butter - 1 tbsp

Fresh cream - 100 gms

Whipping cream - 1 cup

Chocolate strands  - for garnish

Shot glasses - for serving

Method:

In a microwave safe bowl add the grated chocolate and the butter and micro for half a minute to melt the chocolate.

 Add the fresh cream and mix it well into a smooth sauce and keep it aside.

Beat the whipping cream till soft peaks form. Add the chocolate ganache mix into the whipped cream. Gently mix it together.

Fill a piping bag with this mixture and keep it in the fridge for 15 mins.
Take it out and fill your shot glasses with the mix. Garnish with chocolate strands or use grated chocolate on top. Or even some whipped cream.
Chiill again for 1 hour  and serve.

Note : If you like the mousse to be sweeter , you could add some powdered sugar to the whipped cream. But this version turned out just perfect.

CAL Bloggers Table - BONGOAN - A Taste of Goa in Kolkata

So a bunch of us from the Kolkata Food Bloggers team landed up at the not-so-old restaurant Bongoan for a review , as a part of the Chef At Large Bloggers Table. Initial research showed that the restaurant specialises in Bengali as well as Goan dishes - with Chinese thrown in too as a bonus - hence the justification of the name BONGOAN! This was one place we had seen enroute South City Mall many times but never really ventured in for a meal. The bloggers table seemed like the perfect reason to check out the place and taste some authentic Goan cuisine. Well how authentic ? we'll just find out! 

We all reached the venue at the scheduled time around 6.30 and on entering the restaurant found that we were the only ones which is perfectly ok given the time. The 7 of us settled in and the waiter was helpful enough to join the tables so that we could be seated together.Took a quick glance at the menu and unanimously decided to mostly stick to Goan food. The items listed on the menu seemed quite decent. For starters we ordered a portion each of Sesame Fried Prawn in Continental Style(Rs.300)  , Lottya Fry(Rs.120) and Spicy Chilli Baby Corn(Rs.90).

The Spicy Chilli corn was crunchy on the outside but it was so spicy that almost all of ours throat started burning.So after a few bites we had to give up.The Lottya ( Bombay Duck ) Fry - served with a side of French fries - I didn't try as i am not too fond of sea food but the others who ate it found it a bit too smelly and the coating on top was just too thick. The Sesame Prawns was perhaps the best among the lot - soft prawns coated with a very crunchy cover and fried to perfection. The spice levels was a bit on the hotter side but we did not mind that. However I felt that they should have served some sauce - maybe a sweet chilli sauce or even a tartar maybe by the side to enhance the quality of the dish.

For the main course we ordered a portion each of Mutton Vindaloo (Rs.250) , Chicken Xacutti(Rs.200) and Pork Bhuni(Rs.150) along with some steamed rice.Let me start with the Chicken Xacutti -one of the most popular goan dishes - it had a nice thick coconutty gravy with four pieces of chicken on the bone and had the correct amount of spicing and quite close to an authentic Xacuti.We all loved it. However the Mutton Vindaloo was kind of a let down. It was spicy ok but the tang of the vinegar in the gravy was a bit too much and it killed the taste. The Pork Bhuni - little chunks of pork mostly fat stir fried with diced potatoes,onions and tomatoes was average with the pork being a tad tough in texture.

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Pic Courtesy - Silence Sings

Finally we ordered some Bebinca(Rs.120)  - the most famous Goan dessert but unfortunately it was a total letdown. Three very thin slices of bebinca topped with something that tasted like a caramel sauce was served per portion and they were not even closer to the real ones. Also there were not too many options in the dessert menu which I am sure they can work on.
The evening ended with us celebrating our fellow blogger Kamalika's birthday(which was the next day) with an awesome cake that Sayantani baked for her. Take a look at the sinful cake below. We all simply devoured it. Awesomeness.

The star of the evening - cake baked by Sayantani for K's Bday

 

Summary - The meal at BONGOAN was a mix of hits and misses. More misses than hits as far as Goan cuisine goes. They also need to work on the service bit because considering it was a weeknight and there were hardly other guests, they were taking a long time to serve up. Overall an ok experience and I suggest you visit them for a meal only if you must.A meal for two would cost anything between Rs.600 -Rs.800 and they do not serve alcohol.



BONGOAN
Kalikapur Road
Kolkata




Find out what my fellow bloggers have to say about the place :

Kamlika @ Silence Sings

Sayantani @ A Homemaker's Diary

Sarani @ Cocoawind

Amrita @ Sweet n Savoury

Antara @ Antypasti

Disclaimer - I have reviewed this place absolutely independently and was not compensated for the review monetarily or otherwise. 

Recipe Revisited - Chicken Stew

When I started blogging about a year back I had shared a recipe of healthy chicken made with boneless meat. Today I made that dish again with chicken on the bone and it tasted very good. So I am sharing the same recipe albeit with better pics.

Ingredients :

Boneless chicken – 300 gms

Carrots – half cup diced

French beans – half cup diced

Potato – half cup diced

Tomato – 1 diced

Onions – 1 medium chopped

Garlic – 2 pods crushed

Ginger – 1 tbsp chopped

Pepper corns – 8-10 nos

Bay leaves -  2 nos

Kashmiri red chilli powder – 1tsp

Coriander powder – 1tsp

Chicken stock  - 2 cups or just use warm water

Salt – to taste

Butter -  1 tbsp

Method:

In a pressure cooker , add the butter, next add the bay leaves and peppercorns. Put in the chopped onion, crushed garlic and chopped ginger. Saute till the onions get a light brown colour.

Next add the chicken pieces and the chopped vegetables. Saute the veg and chicken for 5-10 mins till they turn a light brown in colour. Add in the dry spices – coriander powder and kashmiri chilli powder and salt.

Cook the masala for 2 mins and add the chicken stock or warm water. Once the gravy starts simmering put on the lid of the cooker and cook till 2 whistles.

Serve this with buns or just plain white rice – tastes yummy with anything.  If you like ur curry very spicy can add a few green chillies too!

Note: There are other recipes of stew that use coconut milk or plain milk. This is my version and my family prefers it without coconut milk. You could use it if you want ...gives a little sweetness and body to the stew.
This is a great way to make your child eat veggies!

Know your Blogger friend - Presenting Kamalika of Silence Sings and one of her recipes !

We at KFB are back with a new event "Know your blogger friend" and it is going to be a hit I know. Also so much fun as we will be picking up one blogger from Kolkata each week and try and recreate one of their recipes and talk about them. This week the featured blogger is Kamalika Chakraborty of the beautiful blog Silence Sings with Kamalika C


To talk about her I think I will have to talk a lot. Let me begin by telling you all that she is the founder member of the group Kolkata Food Bloggers - a group that brings all the bloggers residing in Kolkata together. I got to know Kamalika thorough a well known foodies group on FB...didn't know her personally then but would gape at her food pictures whenever she would post something there. Then by chance one day I started chatting with another blogger and she told me about KFB and added me to it. I am so thankful to her for doing that. Ok now coming back to the star today - Kamalika is a wonderful woman - super creative, organised,independent, emotional and above all very helpful. Her blog Silence Sings with Kamalika C is an example of sheer brilliance. Her photographs are extremely stylish and totally does justice to the super easy and yummy recipes that she shares. Photography is her another passion and she can always capture the essence of the moment. She is also an entrepreneur and has a home bakery from where she retails her goodies! I have found a great friend in her and she helps me with her valuable suggestions to improve my blog as well.  I think I can go on and on...but I will now jump to one of her recipes that I have recreated today. 

Few days back she shared a very easy recipe of Chicken Quiche - today being veg day for us just replaced minced chicken with sweet corn - Corn Cheese Quiche.

You can find the original recipe here

 

 Ingredients:

For the quiche :

Flour - 1 cup

Butter - 1 tbsp

Salt - 1 tsp

Egg - 1 small - slightly beaten

Water - to make the dough

Method: 

In a bowl combine the flour , salt and the butter. Add the egg and enough water to make it into a smooth soft dough.Keep this aside.

For the filling:

Egg - 1 no - lightly beaten

Cheddar cheese - 1 cup grated

Corn kernels - half cup

Onion - 1 small finely chopped

Mayonnaise - 1 tbsp

Sweet chilli sauce - 1 tsp

Crushed pepper - 1 tsp

Salt - a pinch

Butter - 1 tsp

Method: 

In a pan add the butter  and lightly saute the onions and the corn kernels. Add crushed pepper and salt and keep aside.

In a bowl take the beaten egg and add half of the grated cheese. Add the onion corn mixture , mayonnaise and sweet chilli sauce and mix well. 

Now we have to assemble the quiche. Grease a muffin pan nicely.

Make little balls of the dough and roll it out into round puris . Not too thin , with medium thickness.

Take each base and cover the muffin pan according to the size.

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Now add a tbsp of the filling to each cup.

Bake the quiches in a pre heated oven for 20 mins at 200 deg C. Once they start to get golden brown on the sides - take them out ...sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and bake for another 3 mins. Serve hot with ketchup.

 I would like to thank Kamalika for sharing such a fabulous recipe with her readers. This one is going to feature in all my tea - parties from now on. It is so easy to make and tastes just divine. Do visit her blog for some amazing recipes and some superlative pictures @ Silence Sings with Kamalika C

Visit Silence Sings

Joys from the kitchen garden - Jhinge Posto (Ridge gourd with poppy seeds)

I have a little kitchen garden in my backyard and I take a lot of pride in growing seasonal vegetables in it. The sheer joy of little plants blossoming and producing fruits and vegetables bring in a lot of joy. Over the last year I have successfully grown tomatoes,cauliflower,coriander,chillies..pics of which I have shared with you all from time to time. This season I sowed some seeds of Jhinga (ridge gourd) unsure whether it would blossom or not. It did ...despite the terrible weather conditions in Kolkata this summer. 

 Jhinga or ridge gourd also happens to be one of my favorite vegetables. There are many traditional Bengali delicacies being churned out with jhinga, the most popular being the Jhinge Posto - ridge gourd cooked with poppy seeds paste. It is also widely used in fish curries and goes extremely well with Iilish. Today I am sharing the recipe of Jhinga posto - all you need for this is diced jhinga , poppy paste and green chillies.

 Ingredients:

Jhinga /Ridge gourd - 4-5 nos - diced

Poppy seeds - 3 tbsp ( soak it in warm water for 10 mins and then grind into a smooth paste)

Paanch foron/bengali 5 spice mix - 1 tsp

Mustard oil - 1 tbsp

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Salt - to taste

Sugar - a pinch

Green chillies - 4-5 slit

Method:

Wash and clean the jhinga and dice them into small cubes.Keep aside. In a pan heat the mustard oil . Once the oil heats up add the panchforon and let it splutter. Add the diced jhingas.

Fry for 5 mins and add the turmeric powder , salt and sugar. Cover and let it cook for 6-7 mins. By now the water released from the jhinga would evaporate. Add the poppy seeds paste now and mix well.

 Cover and let it cook for another 5 mins. Add the green chillies and remove from heat.
Serve with plain rice.

Quick Review - Spaghetti Kitchen - For some cool Italian Food

It was my day out with a dear friend today and we did what girls love doing the most - we went shopping (what did u think..wink)!! We hit one of our favourite malls..infact the only mall in Kolkata that houses most of my favourite brands and stores. We simply shopped our hearts out and beautifully complemented each others shopping by encouraging to pick up whatever we felt like. However we also decided that its best that such sprees are restricted to once in 3 months or else our bank accounts would have to take a massive hit. We did not have much time at hand as she is leaving town tomorrow for a holiday and had to rush for some appointment. At this stage I was joined by the husband and the kiddo and I was famished for some food by now. So we headed to one of our favourite joints in the mall that serves some great Italian fare. Spaghetti Kitchen is one of those few places that has never disappointed us. Everytime we went there we have ordered a mix of tried and tested dishes and some new ones and always enjoyed the meal. Today also it was no different.
When eating out with the kiddo we always have to stick by with some dishes that he likes to eat and then order a mix and match of dishes that hubby and me enjoy. As soon as we entered we were ushered in by the maitre d ... and taken to our table. Almost immediately we were served water and a basket of assorted fresh bread with some butter.

The basket had an assortment of some pesto pinwheels ,multi grain buns and some crispies. Both me and the 5 year old attacked  and devoured the different breads with vengeance. They were extremely soft and fresh. There were a whole lot of condiments already at the table - sea salt and pepper - two kinds of tabasco and the usual suspects oregano, chilli flakes and Evoo.

The kiddo wanted to have a pizza so we stuck by with the original Margherita - thin crust.

It is originally served with some cherry tomatoes ,fresh basil leaves on a bed of a tangy tomato sauce topped with a lot of yummy mozzarella. However we requested to avoid the tomatoes to which they happily customised it. If you like thin crust pizza..this is the place to go to.On other occasions we have tried out other variants and those were very good too.This was served first keeping a hungry kid in mind. Very thoughtful I say.

Since we had to help finish that pizza, the husband and I decided to keep it light and order a salad and one main course.On being asked the Captain suggested that we opt for the Caprese Salad as it was one of the best. For the main course we decided to share a portion of Chicken Lasagne.

The Caprese, I must admit is one of the best I have eaten in a long time. Fresh tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella served with a drizzle of good quality Olive oil seasoned with some salt and pepper with a side of crunchy salad leaves - mainly rocket and some lettuce. The husband said it was very nice ...considering he is a hard core meat person, it felt good !

Next came the Chicken Lasagne which we decided to share. To be honest I really liked the taste of the sauce - a bit spicy and tangy but the lasagne was not really upto the mark. It was a bit dry and would have tasted better with a little more sauce. Minced chicken as it is tends to get a bit dry when assembled with the lasagne sheets so some extra sauce would have helped that.
We were totally full by now so skipped dessert though I know that they make some great desserts as well  like the tiramisu and the creme brulee !

I am not mentioning individual prices of the dishes, however a meal like this for two adults would cost approx Rs. 2000 without alchohol.

Over all a great Saturday lunch and we came back happy souls. If you are at Forum anytime soon  and get hungry after your shopping sprees - do try out this place.

Spaghetti Kitchen
4th Floor , Forum Mall
Elgin Road
Kolkata

Disclaimer - I have reviwed this place absolutely independently and was not compensated for the review monetarily or otherwise.