Apricot Chutney

Every year I wait for the short window of time when fresh juicy apricots start appearing on fruit stalls, and when they arrive I pick up as many as I can like a greedy kid wanting them all to himself. The season for fresh apricots is so short that you blink and you've missed it and then you wait for another year. Some may argue on why worry when the dried varieties are there in stores all year around, but my friend, a fresh juicy apricot is a thing of joy and the dried variety will always remain a distant cousin. The variety of dishes both sweet and savory that you can do with Apricots are endless and no matter what you try, I can vouch that you will not be disappointed.

The summers are here and so are the Apricots. I have already made a few trips to my fruit and vegetable vendor to pick up this juicy fruit and turn it mouth watering delicacies. This time, I bring you a simple recipe for an Indian Chutney (Relish) made with Apricots. I must warn you though, that this is only the beginning, very soon you will see more posts, but till then try this chutney out and till my next post enjoy the fruit as is. 

Apricot Chutney

(Serves 8)

Ingredients:

Fresh Apricots, skinned, pitted and quartered - 200 gms

(To skin apricots, heat water in a large bottomed pan and drop in the apricots, as the water start to boil. Count till 7 and remove and put in an ice bath. The skin will peel easily now.) 

Onion, finely chopped - 1

Olive Oil - 2 Tblsp

Sugar, granulated - 57 gm

Honey - 58 gm

Raisins - 1/4 Cup

Cider Vinegar - 1/4 Cup

Red Chili Powder - 1 Tsp.

Method:

1. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan.

2. Add onions and saute till they turn translucent (4-5 minutes on low flame).

3. Add in the apricots and mix well. Cook for a minute.

4. Add in the granulated sugar and mix well. Cook for a couple of minutes.

5. Add in the honey and cider vinegar. Mix well.

6. Add in the raisins and red chili powder. Cook over medium heat for 20 minutes stirring, until the relish has thickened.

7. Take off flame and allow to cool.

8. Serve at room temperature or store in an air tight container ( in the refrigerator). It will stay for almost a week.

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Yeti - Restaurant Review

OVERALL RATING - 

Address- 50A, 2nd Floor, Hauz Khas Village, New Delhi-110016
Tel - 011-406 786 49
Credit Cards-Yes
Average Price - 900/- (Without Alcohol) plus taxes (VAT, Service Tax) and 10% Service charge
Alcohol - Yes (Beverage Menu attached below)

Try asking many a seasoned foodie about Nepalese, Bhutanese or Tibetan food in Delhi and chances are you will only hear them say Momos or maybe Thukpa, thanks to an overflow of eateries and roadside stalls selling these. But the cuisine from the Himalayan states is much more than Momos and much, much tastier. And it took me a visit to Yeti, the Himalayan restaurant in Hauz Khas village complex to discover it.

Now this visit to Yeti almost didn't happen. Personally, my experience with the Hauz Khas complex hadn't been to great before Yeti. Till last year, I had never been to the Hauz Khas Village side and my friend and ex-colleague Mojo (yup that's what we call him) got me to visit the Complex for the first time. Mojo is a foodie when it comes to eating out and knowing the best places to grab a bite in Delhi or having a nice drink. So, when Mojo volunteered to take me to this great restaurant that he knew, I jumped and grabbed on this opportunity. We went to this shack of a place on the rooftop and I ended up having the spiciest of food at prices I wouldn't call Value for Money. Apparently the place was a big hit with the expat population and as I roamed around Hauz Khas Village, I found that the entire place was full of the snooty so called chic crowd looking for ethnic pieces which had driven almost everything sky high on price. Burnt Tongues and a bad stomach made me vow never to step inside the complex again. A few months and one Old Delhi Nihari visit later, Mojo and I decided to go to Hauz Khas Village complex again. This time we decided on Yeti. I expected the worst and how wrong I was. This 50 cover restaurant is an experience waiting to unfold and take you on a journey to the Himalayan Kingdoms via the culinary route. Last Sunday, I took my better half, kids and my old college buddy Abhineet and his family. We had a blast stuffing ourselves with food and each dish elicited more oohs! and aahs! than the previous one.

Yes, they do have momos on the menu (Thukpa too) and much more. As you are seated, your steward serves you with a complimentary starter of fried chickpeas tossed in spices and also places two bowls of chutney, one absolutely fiery red one full of chillies and an orange one which is less spicy but spicy for sure.

We ordered the veg snacks platter (300/-) which consists of Wai Wai Sadeko  (dry wai wai noodles- a brand of noodles, tossed with onion, tomato, green chillies and lemon) , Aloo Sadeko (sauteed potatoes marinated in tangy Nepali spices) and Bhuteko Chana (Stir fried chickpeas in Nepalese spices). This is served with Tingmo (steamed Tibetan Bread) and chutney. If you want you can order these starters separately, but I just order the platter as I loved each one of them and the Tingmo has been a revelation. Apparently, they serve Tingmo with everything, and it goes just great with the spicy food.

For us meat lovers, we ordered the Shapta (300/-) which is thinly sliced buff (buffalo for the uninitiated) sauteed with onion, garlic and spices served with tomato and greens and a plate of Gyuma - Tibetan Sausages (350/-). Gyuma are the finest things I have tasted in a while now. Buff sausages wrapped in membrane and fried till they are crispy and yet retain their solid bite, they are the perfect accompaniment to cold beer. They were perhaps the reason Abhi and I had a few pints extra. And oh yes! we did order chicken momos (250/-) too, which I found a little tough and below standard. All these starters except the momos come with tingmo, so you can stuff yourself with more bread.

Our main course consisted of Kokra Ko Ledo - Chicken curry (350/-). We ordered plain rice (100/-) with it and this aromatic and delicate curry goes so well with plain rice. We also ordered crispy fried spinach (250/-) and it was heavenly, melt-in-your-mouth, like no one has ever done before preparation. Now please be sure to order "crispy" fried spinach and not fried spinach. We ordered fried spinach (thinking it to be crispy) and all we got  was a blanched tossed spinach preparation that tasted bitter. We pointed this out to our server and he promptly replaced it with the heavenly dish I wrote about a few lines earlier.

The service was good and the setting neat. The portion sizes are huge and considering the cost per dish it is not only a value for money but a steal. Be sure to book in advance, if you plan to visit during the weekend as this place has a huge waiting, especially during Lunch hours on weekends. We booked an hour in advance and we still had to wait for 15 odd minutes. Luckily the place is open throughout the day, so you can always land up for brunch or late lunch. Believe me you will not be disappointed ... I haven't been on three occasions...and going by Abhineet and Suparva's look, they weren't either :)

FOOD - 

SERVICE - 

AMBIENCE - 

Note: They have apparently also opened an outlet in Malviya Nagar, I haven't gone there so I cannot comment on how much their standards are compared to the Hauz Khas outlet and this review shouldn't be taken as a blanket review for all Yeti outlets.

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United Coffee House

Address:
E-15, Inner Circle,
Connaught Place, New Delhi
Tel - 011-2341 6075 /2341 1697 / 98106 66044

Credit Cards - Yes
Average Price - 2500/- for 2 people
Alcohol - Yes


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Connaught Place used to be the ultimate shopping mecca, before the mall craze took over New Delhi and most of India. A weekend well spent meant going to Connaught  Place and roaming around from one block to another, eating some good food and then making your way towards India Gate for a lazy late evening by the garden enjoying Limchoo (Lime Ice Lolly). Every visit to Connaught Place made me pass the United Coffee House, but I never made it pass its entry doors (I never even gave it a second glance). I was always looking for one fast food joint or another when I was a kid, and then in my college days and younger days at work, I always made it to the most happening watering hole or sports bar. 

It was the same idea a couple of months back, as my good ol' college friend and I met up at Connaught Place. It was the mid-point for both of us, as he was coming from Dwarka and I from Noida. Post our customary Hi-Hellos, we set about to walk down to the nearest urban watering hole, it was then that we crossed the United Coffee House and decided to walk in. This Sunday, I did the same thing by taking my better half and kids to this Culinary Landmark in New Delhi. 

As you make it through the doors, it feels as if you have just gone through a time warp and been transported many decades back. This 2 storeyed, 138 cover restaurant, high Ceilings with gilded work and Viennese Chandeliers preserve the old world charm and the Staff, in colonial club steward uniform complete the experience. 

The Menu is a story in itself - a story of how this establishment, opened in 1942, as an outlet, selling tea and coffee in the evenings with some snacks has changed over the years (just as Delhi has). They offer an Indian section, an Oriental Section (with Chinese, some Thai and Japanese delicacies thrown in) and a European, Continental and Mediterranean section. They also have a section for Tea and Coffee snacks complete with a pakoda platter, chicken cutlets, Keema/Regular  Samosa and South Indian tifiin items (Idli/Vada/Dosa) and a section devoted to Omelettes and one for sandwiches. All the sections have traditional favorites and it made me extremely happy to go through the continental section and find old 1950's & 1960's classics such as Mushroom Stroganoff(445/-), Chicken A'La Kiev(545/-), Poulet Alexander(545/-) and hold your breath Lobster Thermidor (1595/-). 

Today we ordered the Cheese Balls (175/-)which is listed as their signature favorite and their claim to have sold over a million and counting and Baluchi Aloo (295/-) for starters. The Baluchi Aloo were one of the best stuffed tandoori aloo in the Capital stuffed with a host of different nuts, raisins and the occasional pomegranate seeds, which my son excitedly pointed out. The Cheese balls elicited exclamations of surprise from all of us, given the huge size of the balls, but they left us a little disappointed. We were all expecting them to be gooey and stringy from inside but these were dry doughy balls and strangely had an after taste of egg. 

Next for the main course was Chicken A'La Kiev (545/-) and Hampstead Fish n' Chips (545/-). The chicken looked great when it arrived, on a bed of mashed potatoes with an assortment blanched fresh vegetables and french fries neatly arranged around it. We loved the cheesy buttery taste of the chicken and the vegetables tasted wonderful. But the real winner of the day was the fish n' chips. Served with Tartar Sauce,  a bread basket and herb butter, the fish was firm and flavorful. It tasted so fresh that one would think that this restaurant was on the banks of a water body. 

The portion sizes are huge and by the time we finished the fish n'chips, we had no place for a dessert, even though the apple pie with cinnamon ice cream on the next table looked extremely inviting. Our bill with taxes came to a little over 2400/- (colas and mineral water thrown in ...no alcohol ) of which 400/- were only taxes and we felt that it was worth the experience. 

During my last visit, we enjoyed the chicken cutlets (which were more of an escalope) and Chicken Salt n'pepper (425/-). We could have done without the bbq chicken wings (345/-) which had a funny sauce coating and a generous sprinkling of sesame seeds. Interestingly during both my visits the place was crowded, and things moved in slow motion (service is a little slow)- just so you can savor each and every moment. Even the lighting, especially on the 1st floor, makes you feel as you if you are seeing things in Eastman Color. I will personally recommend sitting on the ground level - more spacious and good natural sunlight.

This was my second visit in as many months and I look forward to many more visits, just to go back in time and enjoy the classic culinary gems and an era gone by.

Note: This restaurant is a culinary landmark and I have restrained myself from rating the place.

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Asafjahi Korma

The erstwhile Royals of India were known for their fondness for all the good things in life. Of these, music and food were the most patronized, and often used to showcase their superiority over one another. I think, it would be really good, even today to settle so many issues between nations or states over a culinary battle or a song duel. Only if it were this simple. Going back, the culinary secrets were often guarded closely, not even written down for fear of landing in the enemy hands, and many gastronomical gems have in the due course been lost, as they were not documented.

The Asafjahi's were a dynasty that ruled the state of Hyderabad (now in the state of Andhra Pradesh,India) since 1719 till India's independence. They were appointed the Nizams of Hyderabad (Nizam was a shortened form for Nizam-Ul-Mulk meaning Administrator of the Realm or Country) on behalf of the Mughal empire, and when the Mughal empire crumbled post Aurangzeb's(Mughal Emperor)  death, the Nizam's declared Independence and formed their own kingdom. The Asafjahi's were extremely fond of their cuisine and it is no wonder that Hyderabad even today is known for it's food. 

Though the Kulcha (Indian Bread) was the official emblem of the dynasty, it has got more to do with the legend that while on a hunting trip, the first Nizam was offered a Kulcha by a holy man. The Nizam could eat seven of those Kulchas, and thus it was prophesized by the holy man that seven generations of his family would rule the state.

Even though I stayed in Hyderabad for 2 years, I never ever came across the Asafjahi Korma, even once. Infact, there was a lot of the Asafjahi Cuisine that I did not sample, except of course the popular ones, whose cheap imitations are even available in Delhi. I'm sure the Asaf Jah's were keenly watching over me from their tombs, and wanted me to sample the real fare and do something with it. So, here I was, lazing around in Delhi, going through the newspaper, and I come across this recipe for Asafjahi Korma. One look at the photo and a quick read of the recipe, with all the richness bursting through the print had my taste buds on an overdrive. Though, it was from a book written by an erstwhile ruler on Indian Princely Cuisine, I also found the recipe on a few Pakistani sites (word by word similar). My version is a wee bit different in how I assembled it in the end and some more cooking. I liked it and hope you do too.

Asafjahi Korma


Ingredients:
Mutton/Lamb, boneless, cut into 1" cubes - 500 gm.
Yogurt, lightly hung (for about 2 hours) and whisked  - 250 gm
Onion's, chopped - 60 gm
Green Chillies, deseeded and finely chopped - 25 gm.
Red Chili Powder - 1 Tsp.
Black Peppercorns - 1/2 Tsp
Garam Masala Powder - 1/2 Tsp
Sugar - 6 gm
Ghee - 110 gm.
Ginger Paste - 12 gm
Garlic Paste - 12 gm
Almonds, blanched and sliced - 12 gm
Raisins - 12 gm
Coriander Leaves, washed and finely chopped - 1 Tblsp
Saffron, soaked in 2 tblsp warm water - A Pinch
Salt - To Taste


Method:
1. Heat half of the ghee in a pan. Fry the almonds and Raisins separately, one after another, till a golden brown color. Drain and keep aside.
2. In the same ghee, now add the chopped onions and fry them to a golden brown color. Add in red chili powder, garam masala powder, black peppercorns, sugar and green chilies. Add in 2 tblsp water and cook till water dries up.Take off the flame and allow to cool.
3. After the mixture has cooled down, put it through a food processor to make a paste. Keep aside.
4. Heat the other half of the ghee in the pan. Add in the ginger and garlic pastes and fry till they start to turn golden.
5. Add in the meat and salt. Bhunao the meat and add little water to cook the meat. Cook till meat turns tender and the water dries up.
6. Add in the onion-chili and masala paste. Mix well and cook for 2-3 minutes.
7. Add in the whisked yogurt and mix well. Cook till the oil starts to appear on the surface.
8. Add in the almonds, raisins, saffron and chopped coriander. Stir well. Simmer for another 5 minutes on low heat.
9. Serve hot with rice or bread.

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Sweet Potato Soup

This post comes a little late as winters are almost over and the best part of winters must be sitting at home in the evenings and having hot soup. Since I have discovered the joys of sweet potato this season, it was but natural to have a sweet potato soup. It is hearty and comforting for a cold wintery evening and you must try it out either immediately before the summers have set in totally or for the next time winters set in. 

Sweet Potato Soup
(Makes 4 Portions)


Ingredients:
Sweet Potatoes, - 3-4
Onion, chopped - 1
Leek, chopped - 1/2 Cup
Carrots, peeled and chopped - 1
Celery, chopped - 1/2 Cup
Garlic, chopped - 2 cloves
Red Wine - 1 Cup
Chicken Stock - 2 Cup
Black Pepper, freshly ground - 2 Tsp
Olive Oil - 2 Tblsp
Cream - 1/2 Cup

Method:
1. Prepare the Sweet Potatoes - Put the sweet potatoes in a large pot and cover with water. Add 2 Tsp of salt and put on flame. Bring to a boil and simmer till they are soft. Take off flame and drain the water. Allow to cool. Once they are cool, peel them and cut them into quarters.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large pot. Add onions, celery, leek, garlic and carrots. Cook them till they are cooked.
3. Add in the red wine and cook till the wine evaporates. Scrape any brown bits stuck to the pan.
4.  Add in the sweet potatoes to the pot and then the stock. Bring to a boil and then simmer on low flame for another 20 minutes.
5. Take off flame and allow to cool. Put into a processor and Puree until smooth. Pass through a strainer.
6. Return the pureed soup back to the flame. Add in the cream and seasoning.
7. Serve hot garnished with sweet potato chips or straws.

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