Thursday 29 August 2013

Masala biscuits


This month our Daring Baker's hostess Aparna challenged us with not one but two amazing challenges. There was this terrific Mawa cake(that I made into cupcakes) and two very traditional in flavour biscuits/cookies-Bolinhas de coco(Coconut flavoured semolina biscuit) and Masala biscuits. My personal hatred to coconut cookies made me jump straight to the Masala ones.
These biscuits(as I would rather call them over cookies) burst with very Indian flavours. These are just throw ingredients in the bowl kind of recipe. I rolled them extra thin to achieve such crisp and yummy biscuits and regretted trying just 1/4 of the recipe. The curry and coriander leaves along with roasted and crushed cumin seeds and black peppercorns with a dash of chopped green chillies lend such an amazing Indian taste to these biscuits. 
All it needs is a hot cup of strong milky tea and you will not be able to stop at just one. I personally had the most difficult time trying to save some to take pictures.



 Ingredients : I reduced the recipe to 1/4 and added whole wheat flour(atta)
  • 4 tbsp all purpose flour
  • 3 tbsp whole wheat flour(atta)
  • 2 tsp rice flour(chawal ka atta)
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • a pinch of baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp sugar, powdered
  • 2 tbsp unsalted butter, cold
  • 1 tbsp yogurt, cold(I used homemade dahi)
  • 1 green chilly, deseeded and chopped
  • 1/4" piece of ginger, grated
  • 1/4 tsp whole black peppercorn
  • 1/4 tsp cumin seeds
  • 2 sprigs curry leaves, chopped
  • 1 sprig coriander leaves, chopped
  • white sesame and nigella seeds for sprinkling on top

 Procedure
Add all purpose, whole wheat and rice flour in a bowl and mix with salt, sugar, baking powder and baking soda. 
Add cold butter and rub the flour in the butter till it resembles breadcrumb like texture.
Dry roast whole black peppercorn and cumin seeds and coarsely crush them.
Add chopped green chilly, grated ginger, roasted and  crushed peppercorn and cumin seeds, curry and coriander leaves. Mix well.
Add cold yogurt and mix well to make a dough.
Cover in a plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius and line a baking tray with parchment/butter paper.
Using little flour, roll out the dough to 1/8" thickness. (I rolled as thin as I could)
Sprinkle white sesame seeds and nigella seeds and press them lightly with a rolling pin.
Cut with cutters of your choice (I used a round cutter and a rectangular tart tin) and place on the baking tray.
Bake for 20-25 mins or till the biscuits brown up well.
Allow them to cool to get crispy.


This recipe is also a part of the amazing KFB blogging marathon that I am part of, along with my fellow members. Do drop in to check what they are doing here : 
A Homemaker's Diary
Silence Sings
My Food My Life
Recipe Junction


Happy Biscuit Eating
Amrita

Wednesday 28 August 2013

Mawa/Khoya Cupcakes


Daring Baker's challenge for this month was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and she challenged us with some amazing Indian Bakes-Mawa cake, Bolinhas de coco(Coconut Biscuits) and Masala biscuits. Traditional Indian cuisine does not boast of baking at all but you may find some adapted recipes which were introduced by traders, invaders and colonial rulers. 
Mawa cakes are typically associated with Irani cafés found mostly in Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad.These cafés, owned by Zoroastrians who emigrated to Mumbai from Iran in the 19th century to escape persecution of non-muslims, are famous for their good, honest, reasonably priced food and beverages. Some of the very popular food sold in these cafe's are ‘bun maska’ (bread and butter) and ‘paani kam chai’ (a strong Iranian tea), or khari chai (very strong tea), mutton samosas, and Keema Pavs, akuri (a scrambled spicy egg preparation), berry Pulao,  Veg/Chicken Dhansak (a spicy broth with lentils, pulses) and Biryani, cheese khari biscuits, shrewsbury biscuits...just to name a few.
Mawa, also called khoya, is made by reducing milk (usually full-fat) on low heat until all that remain is a mass of slightly caramelized granular dough-like milk solids. This is then used to make a rich and dense cake which along with cardamom and almonds gives it the rich and milky flavour.
I decided to make cupcakes and enhance the Indian flavours with some saffron infused milk that goes in the batter. Along with chopped pista and almonds on top, these cupcakes certainly are full of the true Indian essence.



Ingredients : I halved the recipe to yield 6 cupcakes and a 3 1/2" round small cake
  • 500 ml full fat milk
  • 1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
  • 5 tbsp packed crumbled mawa
  • 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp sugar, powdered
  • 1 egg
  • 2 cardamom pods, powdered
  • 1 cup cake flour (Add 2 tbsp cornflour in 1 cup measurement and fill the rest with all purpose flour)
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • Cashewnuts to top
  • Chopped pista-little
  •  few saffron threads

Procedure :

Mawa :
Pour milk in a heavy bottomed pan and bring it to a boil. Turn down heat to medium and keep cooking the milk till it has reduced to a quarter of the original volume, stirring frequently. This can take between 30-45 mins. By now the colour of milk will be light brownish.
Keep stirring till the milk solids take a lumpy appearance. This is called Mawa/Khoya. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
This yielded around 1/2 cup mawa.
You may refrigerate the mawa for 2-3 days and bring it to room temperature while using it.

Mawa

Cupcakes :
Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius.
Line cupcake moulds with liners or just grease them well. 
Warm milk and add 5-6 saffron threads and leave aside.
Beat butter, mawa (at room temperature) and sugar till soft and fluffy. I used my electric beater for it.
Add egg and the saffron infused milk(reserving the saffron threads to top on the cupcakes) and beat well.
Add cake flour, baking powder and cardamom powder and mix. 
Pour this batter in the prepared cupcake liners. (My batter was still in excess after filling 6 cupcake liners and so I prepared a 3 1/2" round cake tin and poured the leftover batter in it)
Place cashew nuts(I halved them lengthwise), saffron threads and chopped pista on the cupcakes and the small cake.
Bake for 25-30 mins or till a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Allow to cool and serve.



Sending this recipe to the event Little Thumbs Up  which is co-hosted by my dear friend Yen from Eat your heart out  
Photobucket

This recipe is also a part of the amazing KFB blogging marathon that I am part of, along with my fellow members. Do drop in to check what they are doing here : 
A Homemaker's Diary
Silence Sings
My Food My Life
Recipe Junction



Happy Mawa cupcake Eating
Amrita

Monday 26 August 2013

Four Season's Gourmet Indulgence !

With Abhay Kewadkar, Business Head (Wines) and Chief Wine Maker, United Spirits Limited

On entering the the classy venue at Park Hotel, Kolkata, I was immediately greeted with the options of a White and a Red wine. I spontaneously went for the red and after a swirl and smell reckoned it, without a doubt, to be the 'Barrique Reserve Cabernet Savignon'. The woody vanilla aroma was a clear indication of the wine matured in the oak barrels imported from France itself.

Such was the impact of information imparted by Peter Mitter, Regional Manager -Trade & Marketing of UB Group, on our last wine trail event held in Kolkata.


Earlier this month I was at one of the Four Season's retail outlet at a supermarket to buy the Barrique Reserve for someone who had come down from Canada, and who preferred wine over other spirits. In the outlet there was a couple who looked absolutely confused in their attempt to buy wine for a dinner party which they planned to host for their friends. Citing their bewildered look on their face, I offered myself to help, which they gladly accepted, and after a brief inquiry on their menu spread, which happened to be on the Mughlai cuisine with kebabs as starters, I was able to recommend them to go for Shiraz. If it was not for the Four Seasons Wine Trail Session, I would have been as lost as the couple I had helped in that outlet. The person from Canada, for whom I bought the wine, exclaimed that it was as good as any other international renowned wine.

Salads
The Gourmet Indulgence was a reflection of the world of wine that opened up in front of us in conjunction to the food journey that we have been on. It was a perfect union of great food and great wine with the Executive Chef of Park Hotel, Chef Sharad Dewan, preparing the exotic food spread, and Abhay Kewadkar, Business Head (Wines) and Chief Wine Maker, United Spirits Limited marking their presence at the occasion.

Abhay Kewadkar briefly shared with us the plans Four Seasons has to tie up with various restaurants and food joints beside their ongoing efforts to educate the larger audience into demystifying wine. In the past few years the wine consumption in the country has witnessed a steady growth although the current consumption level is still at its formative stage. The growth witnessed in countries like China does give a clearer picture of the future we can be looking at with regard to the increase in wine consumption and appreciation. Having wineries, like the one in Baramati, India has stepped into a global recognition of the new world wine producers and has matched quality with the likes of New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.  
The food industry has exploded exponentially in India over the past few years as well and it is obvious that eventually wine will too. The marriage of good food and great wine is as natural as the four seasons itself.


Starters

Chef Dewan's spread were like a breath of fresh air exhibiting both, the exquisite flavours and splendid presentation. The flavours were balanced to perfection without any isolated loudness of any specific spices in all the sets of three course service. It was exhilarating to see such an array of explicit dishes come together in a manner that complemented the choice of wine at its disposal. By explicit dishes I mean that each dish had an identity of their own with specific flavours and spices that could be paired with the range of wine that was being served.      

Main Course

Desserts

As I close this review I look forward to the time, in the future nearer than one would imagine, where the weekend home meal invitations would be seconded with the choice of wine in the offering. My home for sure is geared up for the same.



As a part of the Kolkata Food Bloggers group we wish to thank Ginger Claps for extending this invitation to us to experience the Gourmet Indulgence.

For more Details on 4 Season's Wine, check here & here.


This post is part of the KFB Blogging Marathon. Find what my other dear friends are making for the marathon in the following links :  
A Homemaker's Diary
Silence Sings
My Food My Life
Recipe Junction


Vishal & Amrita

Disclaimer: The reviewer was not paid for the review and was neither influenced to write positively or negatively.  The review is an unbiased honest opinion.
         

Saturday 24 August 2013

Dulche de leche Choco brownies


24th of every month is the sweetest day of our lives. Its a day that reminds us of the birth of our daughter, Vaanya. Today, it has been 2 years and 3 months of our lives full of joy and sunshine. She is growing sweeter and smarter each day. She surprises us with her knowledge that she gains from observing her surroundings and warms our heart with her very sweet words. She loves to sing her nursery rhymes esp when Vishal strums his guitar and she makes it  a point to include me in the fun. She picks up her Santa toy and swings it from side to side while singing her favourite 'Jingle bells'. Even though its not Christmas, Vaanya makes her's and our's Christmas everyday. In her ultra sweet broken pronunciation she sings the entire song in rhythm.
Today the 'Sweet day' on our blog is celebrated with double the sweetness as it is also our Amma's (Vishal's mother) birthday. She is the most amazing, caring, selfless and loving person that I know and I truly feel blessed to be called her daughter(-in-law). What I love about her, besides many more things, is her way of giving quality time to each and everyone. This also includes the number of animals we have as pets at our home in Allahabad. Today we wish her a world of happiness and lots of joy and countless birthdays to come and wish to express how much she means to everyone in our family.  
Dulche de leche was on my to-do list for a long time. I finally took the sinful plunge and could not stop myself from licking it non stop. These brownies were a must on the list to use the dulche de leche. This batch of brownies turned out a typical cakey type and extra yummy with the swirls of the sinful Dulche de leche.



Dulche de Leche - Adapted from David Lebovitz

Ingredients
  • 1/2 can (200 gm) Condensed milk (I used Milkmaid)
Procedure :
Preheat oven to 220 degree Celsius.
Pour condensed milk in an ovenproof glass dish (I used a Treo square dish)
Place this within the baking tray of the oven and add hot water till it reaches halfway up the sides of the glass dish.
Cover the glass dish with an aluminium foil and bake for 1 hour.
You will need to check the water level and keep adding hot water.
The condensed milk at the end of baking time should have become very thick and turn brownish.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Once cooled down, you may transfer to a tight fitting lid bowl and refrigerate till used.(Mine was good for 2 weeks till I used it all)

Dulche de Leche Choco Brownies- Adapted from David Lebovitz. I halved the original recipe and reduced the quantity of butter, chocolate and eggs.

Ingredients :
  • 50 gm unsalted Butter
  • 50 gm dark chocolate, chopped in small pieces
  • 2 tbsp cocoa powder
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup sugar, powdered
  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup dulche de leche, room temperature
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Procedure
Preheat oven to 170 degree Celsius.
Line a Square or loaf pan. I used my 9X4 loaf shaped pan.
Melt butter in a pan or microwave in 10 secs interval till melted. Mine was at room temperature and therefore melted in 10 secs. 
Add the chopped chocolate pieces and stir well till all the pieces have melted.
Whisk in the cocoa powder until smooth.
Add egg and stir in the sugar, vanilla and the flour.
Mix well so that all the ingredients get incorporated well.
Pour half the batter in the prepared tin. 
Drop spoonfuls of half measure of dulche de leche on the brownie batter.
Drag with a knife to give a swirl effect.
Spread the remaining brownie batter over.
Top with spoonfuls of the remaining dulche de leche and use a knife to swirl it.
Bake for 25-30 mins or till the center feels just slightly firm. 
Remove from oven and allow to cool.
Slice in squares and serve.


Notes:
  • If you want to make Dulche de leche in the pressure cooker, check here . The only problem is that you will have to use the entire jar. 
  • Once refrigerated Dulche de leche gets very thick. To use it, microwave in 10-15 secs interval till thin or add hot cream to it and mix well.

This recipe is part of the KFB Blogging Marathon. Find what my other dear friends are making for the marathon in the following links :
A Homemaker's Diary
Silence Sings
My Food My Life
Recipe Junction


This post is also linked to Little Thumbs Up   hosted by Yen from Eat your heart out
 Photobucket

Happy Brownie Eating
Amrita

Thursday 22 August 2013

Badami Murgh/Almond Chicken


F.R.I.E.N.D.S. Fight for you. Respect you. Include you. Encourage you. Need you. Deserve you. Stand by you.

We all need friends. Friends whom we can fall upon when we are in need, friends who we want to share our sorrow and happiness with, friends who can guide us, friends who can understand us...
Kolkata Food Bloggers (KFB) are my newest bunch of friends. And it gives me so much pleasure and joy to have found such extremely sweet and wonderful people. It is amazing to have found like-minded and very grounded food bloggers in my city. The best part about them all is the humility with which they keep blogging about  food. Humility to me is one of the most important virtues of a human being. And having found that along with the simplicity in their hearts gives me immense pleasure to be called their friends.
A get-together is therefore, always very eagerly awaited and we try and catch with each other as and when possible. Our recent meet was on Eid where we all got some scrumptious food for the Potluck party. I made this Badami Murgh and a Brownie Tart for all my dear friends. Needless to mention it was a very special meet with lip smacking food from all. 
This recipe is specially dedicated to all the lovely members of KFB.

 

Ingredients
  • 500 gms Chicken pieces, washed
First Marination
  • 2 tbsp ginger-garlic-green chilli paste
  • juice of 1 lime
  • salt and black pepper to taste
Second Marination
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • 3 tbsp Besan(gram flour)
  • 15 Badam(almonds), soaked in water
  • 3 tbsp hung curd
  • 1/4 tsp haldi/turmeric powder
  • salt to taste
1 onion, sliced
 
 

Procedure :

First Marination
Prepare the ginger-garlic-green chilli paste by grounding together  1 1/2" ginger, 6-7 cloves of garlic and 3-4 green chillies. 
Marinate the chicken pieces in this paste along with lime juice and salt & black pepper to taste for at least 1/2 hour.

Second Marination 
Take oil in a pan and add besan. Let it cook on medium flame till the besan gets cooked. Be careful as to not burn it. Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl.
Peel the almond skin and ground to a fine paste.
Add the almond paste to the bowl containing roasted besan.
Add hung curd and salt to taste. Add 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder and add the first marinated chicken pieces.
Let the chicken marinate for another 25-30 mins.

Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius.
Line a baking tray with aluminium foil and grease it with some oil.
Place the chicken pieces on the baking tray and bake for 25-30 mins or till the chicken turns lightly brown on top and is done. 
Reserve the leftover marinade.

Take oil in a pan and add the sliced onions. As they turn brown add the reserved marinade and mix well.
Add the chicken pieces and gently fold them in.



Notes:
  • If you do not want to bake the chicken, you may cook them in a pan with little oil over the gas flame. 
This recipe is part of the KFB Blogging Marathon. Find what my other dear friends are making in the following links :
A Homemaker's Diary
Silence Sings
My Food My Life
Recipe Junction


Happy Badami Murgh Eating
Amrita
 

Tuesday 20 August 2013

Choco-Cappuccino Biscotti with Roasted Almonds


Biscotti (plural for biscotto) are Italian biscuits and are described as dry, hard and twice baked cookies. The name is derived from 'bis' meaning twice in Italian and 'cotto' meaning baked or cooked. 
Traditionally Biscotti are almond flavoured and do not use butter or oil. The sticky dough is first shaped in a log and baked till firm. After a short cooling period, the log is sliced into diagonal slices and baked again to draw out the moisture and thus giving the characteristic crisp and dry texture. These biscuits thus have a long shelf life. 
Modern recipes use butter or oil to attain a softer texture and use endless variations. You can add any flavour, dried fruits, nuts, seeds  spices etc and can even frost with melted chocolate and top with nuts or coloured sprinkles.
Baking Partners challenged us with four different types of cookies from around the world. My instant pick was Biscotti from Italy being on my list for a long time. This was suggested by Sandhya who blogs from My Cooking Journey. I went wild in my flavorings and decided to add both chocolate(being my weakness) and coffee. I added some roasted almonds for that beautiful crunch in these cookies which are basically an avatar of our desi Rusks.
Enjoy them with your cup of tea or coffee as crunchy biscuits or dunk them in to soften them. These are such super simple and impressive biscuits mainly because of the variation you can bring into them.



Ingredients : I reduced the recipe by 1/4 to yield about 10 Biscotti
  • 1/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup whole wheat flour(atta)
  • 1/4 cup sugar, powdered
  • 1/8 tsp baking soda
  • 1/8 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp cocoa powder
  • 1 tbsp strong coffee, cooled(I diluted 1 1/2 tsp instant coffee in 1 tbsp of hot water)
  • 1/2 egg
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla essence
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp choco-chips
  • 2 tbsp roasted almonds, chopped


Procedure :

Roasted almonds
Boil some water in a pan and blanch the almonds for a min. Remove from heat and let it cool. Rub the skin off and pat dry the almonds with a kitchen towel.
Dry roast the almonds in a pan. 
Allow to cool and then chop.
Biscotti :
Preheat the oven to 170 degree Celsius.
Prepare a baking tin lined with parchment/butter paper.
Whisk together coffee, egg, vanilla and olive oil in a small bowl.
In another bowl, sift both the flours, baking soda, baking powder, sugar and cocoa powder.
Add the coffee mixture to the flour mixture and mix till incorporated.
Mix in the choco-chips and roasted almonds.
The mixture will be very sticky. Avoid adding any more flour.
Transfer this to the prepared tin and shape into a log with wet hands. (I pulled the ends of my butter paper and tied above to maintain the log shape.)
Bake for 25-30 mins.
Reduce the oven temperature to 150 degree Celsius.

My Biscotti after the first bake
Allow the Biscotti log to cool for 15 mins. 
Cut diagonal slices with a sharp serrated knife carefully, so as not to break the slices.
Arrange the slices on the baking tray and bake each side for 5-10 mins or till crisp and brown.


This recipe is also part of the KFB (Kolkata Food Bloggers) Blogging Marathon. Check out what my other lovely Blogger friends have to share at these links:
A Homemaker's Diary
Silence Sings
My Food My Life
Recipe Junction
Jayati's Food Journey
 
This post is also linked to Little Thumbs Up   hosted by Yen from Eat your heart out
  Photobucket
This post is also linked to the event, Little Thumbs up organised by Doreen from my little favourite DIY and me, Bake for Happy Kids, hosted by Yen from Eat your heart outat this post. - See more at: http://bakeforhappykids.blogspot.in/2013/08/quadruple-chocolate-loaf-nigella-lawson.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+BakeForHappyKids+(Bake+for+happy+kids)#sthash.QLcusnQ4.dpuf
This post is also linked to the event, Little Thumbs up organised by Doreen from my little favourite DIY and me, Bake for Happy Kids, hosted by Yen from Eat your heart outat this post. - See more at: http://bakeforhappykids.blogspot.in/2013/08/quadruple-chocolate-loaf-nigella-lawson.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+BakeForHappyKids+(Bake+for+happy+kids)#sthash.QLcusnQ4.dpuf
organised by Doreen from my little favourite DIY and me, Bake for Happy Kids, hosted by Yen from Eat your heart out - See more at: http://bakeforhappykids.blogspot.in/2013/08/quadruple-chocolate-loaf-nigella-lawson.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+BakeForHappyKids+(Bake+for+happy+kids)#sthash.QLcusnQ4.dpuf
This post is also linked to the event, Little Thumbs up organised by Doreen from my little favourite DIY and me, Bake for Happy Kids, hosted by Yen from Eat your heart outat this post. - See more at: http://bakeforhappykids.blogspot.in/2013/08/quadruple-chocolate-loaf-nigella-lawson.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+BakeForHappyKids+(Bake+for+happy+kids)#sthash.QLcusnQ4.dpuf

Happy Biscotti Eating
Amrita

Sunday 18 August 2013

Restaurant Review: Mocambo, Calcutta

I have been living in this City of Joy, Calcutta, for more than twenty three years, as of today, and have since scanned the length and breadth of the city in search of good food, which the city by itself is renowned for. Often, my overall experience has been at par with the expectation of the 'low price great food' tag that Calcutta has earned over these many years. However, apart from that minimum 'low price good food' requirement, I eagerly look for an above-the-average food experience. 

In my ever going process of the food hunt in the city I have somehow, shockingly, missed out on one of the must visit restaurants, the legendary Mocambo, located at downtown Park Street.

Coincidentally, the same story ran with my wife. Even she had never gone to Macombo in all these years of her life in this city. Having tied the culinary knot along with our matrimonial one and having the luxury of being relocated to Park Street since a year now and, moreover, being a husband-wife duo food bloggers, not visiting Mocambo was a foodie crime that we have been committing so far without being penalized for it.

The ambience at Mocambo wore a very classy English touch which replicated the 1956 AD established British Calcutta. The lighting was soft and adequate. The air was well circulated and didn't have intrusion of the pantry ventilation. The service staff were very courteous and polished. Overall a very pleasant ambience with a fine finesse. 



Coming to the menu, I was very pleased to find a not so usual menu card. What I mean by that is on any other regular continental restaurant I would find the usual steaks and fried fish with chips sort of menu. Though they might be great, I look for a 'never tried before' dish on the card. So the menu card, to start off with, was a pleasant change. I had to brain storm a bit to decide what I would opt for. 
                                             
                              
The entrée we decided to go for was Cream of Chicken Soup and Devilled Crab.

                        
       

The soup looked simple without any additional garnish or accompaniment such as soup stick or bread. It was of thick consistency and rich in cream. The chicken was very soft and tender. It was well seasoned. 

                                     

Devilled Crab was one of the three heritage  dishes we ordered. 

Heritage dishes are apparently the ones that was for the first time introduced in India by the very founder of Mocambo, Italian Chef/Manager Antonio Prande, back in its inception in 1956 AD. In the menu card those dishes are in the red coloured box. 
     
     
The crab meat in cheese and mustard sauce was baked in the crab shell itself. It had an interesting presentation as it came with a slice of boiled egg and lemon and semi fried parsley and a tomato wedge served on a banana leaf. Although I could not find the correlation between the lemon slice, sliced boiled egg, tomato wedge and semi fried parsley to the crab, I was nonetheless happy with the presentation.

                                     

The devilled crab was soft in texture with delicately diced button mushroom and an adequate cheese topping. As good as it was, I felt it could have been a shade better with more crab meat in it. Certainly worth every penny.

For the main course, we went for Fish A La Diana and Chicken Orientale Mocambo, both being the heritage dish of the restaurant.

I choose the fish dish because it sounded something different. The menu read 'beckty stuffed with prawn cooked in cream sauce'. Calcutta Bhetki (as I would spell it), is an amazing single bone fish that makes amazing fillets for steaks, fish fries etc. The idea of stuffing prawn, my another favourite, sounded like a good combination to try. 

                           

My wife decided to go for Chicken Orientale Ala Mocambo which was fillet of chicken in wine and cream sauce, served with rice.

                       
   
    
Look-wise, the fish won hands down over its chicken counterpart. It had a beautiful red gravy with an awkwardly cut carrots,which was acceptable, and green peas. The mushrooms had an appetizing effect on the whole dish.     


                          
    

The chicken looked disappointing and the presentation was somewhat on the lines of the Indian cuisine more than a continental one. It had a brown gravy on one side and rice on the other, divided by a cluster broken boiled eggs, which, I presume, they used it from the remaining portion after serving out the sliced boiled egg on the crab starter.


However, after digging into the dishes the weight-age changed substantially in favour of Chicken Continentale Mocambo as it truly tasted a class apart.

It had a beautiful balance of flavours and entailed a subtle yet pronounced trail of the chenin blanc wine. The rice, smeared slightly in butter, complimented extremely well. It was seasoned well and was truly a dish we had never tried before.

The Fish A La Diana was a huge let down. Firstly it was not the Calcutta Bhetky I was looking for. I presume it was the Bombay version of the bhetky which apparently tastes not one third as good as the original Calcutta Bhetky. Moreover, the fish was minced and then stuffed with prawn. Both the fish and the prawn was absolutely bland with no seasoning at all. The red sauce had a strong tomato acidity which not only didn't suit my palate but was also not in line with the overall ideology of the dish. I couldn't even finish half of it. Maybe it was one of those days when they got it wrong and on other days it would have been good but unfortunately I, as a reviewer, was at the receiving end on that day and I wouldn't ever go for it again.

Coming to the dessert, Amrita opted for baked Alaska.

The dish was very artistically incorporated and the flame effect from lighting the brandy poured around it was very dramatic. It had a beautiful layers of a sponge cake smeared with strawberry jam and loaded with fresh chopped mangoes topped with a scoop of vanilla icecream. All of this was covered with meringue which was baked. Our daughter, Vaanya, loved it as well and it was polished off in no time.  

                            
        
      
  

Overall, Mocambo was a very beautiful experience. Except for the disappointing fish dish everything from its ambiance to service time was very good. The bill came about around Rs. 1600/- which, for the two of us, was worth the food and the experience we had. I would generously rate it 6/10 with 10 being the benchmark standards kept at MasterChef Australia.

I would like to sign off the review by reiterating the famous Bollywood dialogue which reflects our dining experience here.
"Mocambo Khush Hua..!"


Vishal Tupper

PS: I apologize for the poor picture quality since it was from the mobile phone and the lamp above our table caused shadows.

Disclaimer: This is an independent and unbiased review. The reviewer was not paid and was not obliged to comment either favorably or unfavorably.


Happy Diners

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