This Akshaya Tadige check out the new Kumudini collection at Ganjam, Vittal Mallya Road, Bengaluru!

Indians have strange traditions and beliefs. It depends on the individuals to follow or not to follow the customs. Akshaya Trithiya is always a favorite topic of discussion for many when newspaper ad columns are filled with exciting offers. The majority believes that buying gold on Akshaya Trithiya is very auspicious. Past few years I made it a ritual to follow the same.

PC: Ganjam

With Akshaya Trithiya/ Akshay Tadige round the corner, Ganjam launches Kumudini collection which showcases the 127- old heritage in each skillfully handcrafted collection. With pear and round shaped, ‘F’ VVS quality diamonds in 22 kt gold, the exquisite collection is inspired by the lotus flower and you will see this in every piece which is handcrafted elegantly. The collection includes necklaces, earrings, rings, and bangles. 

The motifs have been carefully designed to capture the gentle unfurling of the lotus leaves in a still pond. I was dumbstruck to see the luxurious design collection with the traditional touch. The Kumudini collection is already launched on 21^st April and is available at the Ganjam’s flagship store located on Vittal Mallya Road, Bangalore.

Another collection which caught my attention was their precious stone designs in 18 kt gold. These stylish designs are perfect for the classy women.

About Ganjam

Ganjam is a 127-year-old heritage jewellery brand, widely admired and respected for the unmatched quality of its products, exquisite designs, and superb craftsmanship, combining the timeless values of the traditional and the modern. Currently, in the seventh generation, Ganjam has built upon two centuries of trust and commitment for giving the customer only the finest. After being jewelers to Indian royalty, for the last 127 years, Ganjam has grown to become a luxury jewellery brand, with an international presence. From the use of only ‘f’ colored, VVS diamonds, choicest of handpicked precious stones and purest of metals to excellence in craftsmanship, Ganjam has retained exclusivity in every aspect. Over the last few years, Ganjam has done collaborative work with well-known Indian as well as international designers and continues to produce fine jewellery that is born in India and designed for the world. With awards from Perles de Tahiti, Platinum Guild International, The Gold Virtuosi, and De Beers; the brand Ganjam is popular across the world. Ganjam has three stores in India -in Bangalore, Mumbai, and Delhi.

Address:

Ganjam

#22/12, Opp UB City

Vittal Mallya Road

Bengaluru - 560001

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Three cool summer drinks recipes - You gotta try it!

Summer is a great time to test your culinary skills. It is very important to keep your body cool in this extremely hot weather. With very minimal ingredients you can do magic in your kitchen. Here are three refreshing drinks recipes which you can try/ diy at home. These recipes are tried and tested and are very healthy ones. Try adding fresh fruits/ fruit jellies/ fruity ice cubes made of strawberry/ kiwi/ berries in your lemonades and smoothies. This will add more flavor and nutrition to your drink.

Wheatgrass Mint Shikanji (Lemonade)

Servings: 2

Total time: max 20 mins

Ingredients

Wheatgrass | 1 handful (if you are using sachet, use 2 gms)

Lemon | 1 no:

Mint leaves | 10 leaves

Black salt | 1/4 tsp
Pepper (crushed) | 1/4 tsp or less
Roasted cumin powder - 1/4 tsp
Chia seeds (soaked) - 2 Tbsp
Soda - 2 cups
Sugar / Honey - according to taste

Directions

1. Blend 7-8 mint leaves with wheatgrass, squeezed lemon juice, black salt, pepper and raosted cumin powder and sugar/honey.

2.If you are using the sachet, add the wheatgrass powder to the above mix.

3. In a glass, add wheatgrass mix and chia seeds (1Tbsp each). Fill it with ice cubes and chilled soda.

4.Garnish with mint leaves/ lemon wedges before serving.

Mango - Soya milk smoothie (Vegan drink)

Servings: 2

Total time: max 15 mins

Ingredients

Mango | 1 no

Soya milk | 2 cups (chilled)

Chia seeds (soaked) - 2 Tbsp
Sugar/Agave/Maple syrup - according to taste

Directions

1. Peel the mango and cut it into small cubes.

2.In a blender, add the mango cubes, soya milk, sugar, and blend this well.

3. Arrange two glasses, add chia seeds (1Tbsp each) and fill the smoothie. You can add ice cubes (optional).

Note : I always add 2-3 drops of homemade bitters in this and the smoothie tastes so flavorful. You can also replace soya milk with almond milk.

Strawberry Yogurt smoothie

Servings: 2

Total time: max 10 mins

Ingredients

Strawberry | 1 packet

Yogurt | 1 - 1.5 cups

Sugar/ Honey - according to taste

Directions

1. Clean the strawberries.

2. In a blender, add strawberries, yogurt, sugar, and blend this well.

3. Take out two clean glasses and fill the smoothie.

 

Note: You can convert this to a breakfast smoothie bowl with fresh cut fruits and muesli/ corn flakes. Check out my Mango breakfast smoothie bowl pic.

 

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A weekend family outing at Flechazo, ORR, Bengaluru!

Never judge a restaurant before visiting that place. I don’t know why on earth I was thinking Flechazo is another fancy buffet place with some entertainment sections for kids. Maybe I came to this conclusion after seeing some pics of kids making pizza with the help of Chef. Flechazo located at Marathahalli was on my list for quite some time as it’s very close to where I live. Recently my friend and I, along with our respective hubbies visited Flechazo. Our booking was done for a Sunday afternoon which apparently was a festival day, Holi. I expected a peaceful lunch with almost an empty restaurant on a festival day afternoon but the shock of my life came right in front of the reception where people patiently was asking for a table. As my table was pre-booked, I didn’t go through the waiting period.

The colorful ambiance, funny posters, bright lamps and well-decorated tables will be the first thing to notice. We spent so much time there and there were no staring eyes indirectly asking to leave the place. The restaurant was jam-packed and still, staffs were so attentive and polite.

We came to know from the manager that weekdays the restaurant will be full with the corporate crowd and weekends it will be families, as this place is famed for their kids friendly atmosphere. They believe in MediterrAsian cuisine (Mediterranean and Asian both), so you have an option to choose from wide variety of dishes in that category.

We started off with some cocktails –

A juicy scandal- I’m not a fan of rum, but ordered this by seeing the paan flavor mentioned in the menu. This drink was a fine choice.

Herb lemonade (lime, thyme, parsley, basil and pineapple juice) – Ordered this refreshing drink at the end of my meal hoping to burn some calories.

Wild Ginger Smash – My hubby’s whiskey love made him order this whiskey cocktail. It was strong and good.

Mai Tai – The classic drink which my friend ordered.

There were 6-7 varieties of starters each in veg and non-veg menu. I limited my veg options and concentrated more on the non-vegetarian dishes like Multani Chicken, Grilled Cilantro Fish, Chicken Shawarma, Prawns in Soya Garlic Chili etc. I couldn’t completely ignore my favorite Cajun Potato and Grilled Pineapple. The delightful starters along with three accompaniments just vanished from my plate in few seconds.

They have live stations for Pizza and Pasta, chaats, Liquid nitrogen infused ice creams and Jalebi. For short-eats, you can just pick veg and non-veg Sushi, Pani puri, Watermelon with cheese, canapés or dim sums from the ‘Food shots’ counter. We first went to the pizza station where my friend Nishita joined Chef and made a good Four farms pizza for us. We also ordered a Cajun Shrimp exotica pizza which was extremely tempting and tasty.

I usually avoid soups at buffet places. The reason is simple -I like appetizers and desserts mostly. The soups section was very inviting. I couldn’t resist myself and ended up tasting the Lemon- coriander soup. I picked up a piece of Lavash from the bread counter to have with the soup.

By now there was no space for main course or desserts but we decided to stuff ourselves as next thing to do on a late Sunday afternoon was sleeping. I had a small portion of veg dum biryani with Kashmiri Gosht, Dum ka Murgh, Beetroot salad, raitha and pappad. My choices were great indeed.

Dessert counter was so colorful and there was enough selection of desserts to please any palate. The piping hot Jilebi (Jalebi) was interesting with rabdi. Macaroons, Liquid nitrogen infused coconut-mango ice cream and Strawberry Swiss roll could’ve been better.

Overall I loved this place and this will be in my buffet place list. A meal for two would be ₹1200 (approximately). They also have a valet parking.

Address:

Flechazo

1st Floor, Above Surya Nissan,

VRR Orchid, Doddanekundi

Marathahalli, Bangalore

For more information and bookings, contact - 080 45128758

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Chemmeen Puliyilayittathu - Banana leaf wrapped Prawns with Tamarind leaves (steamed)

World Health Day is round the corner (on April 7th), and Licious along with Plattershare is having a contest for Home Chefs in multiple cities for celebrating WHD 2017. Summer is the best season for most of the seasonal fruits in India. Fruits like jackfruit, mangoes, and melons will be available in abundant. When I came across this contest, I wanted to do something different yet healthy recipe. Tamarind is widely used in our country and India is the largest producer of Tamarind. Mostly people use the fruit and it has got plenty of medicinal values. Similarly, Tamarind leaves also have lot of benefits- one which is that you can use this for cooking. I thought of doing an experiment and this recipe came out as one of the best recipes of mine. It’s similar to Parsi dish Patrani Machchi. Do try this recipe before the summer season gets over and I’m sure you’ll love it.

 

Servings: 3-4

Total time: 1 hour (prep time) + 20 mins (cooking time)

Ingredients

Prawns (medium size) | 250 gms 

Tamarind leaves | ¾ cup 

Coconut (grated) | ½ cup 

Green Chili | 6 no’s 

Shallots | 4-5 no’s

Garlic | 2 cloves 

Coconut oil | 2 Tbsp 

Salt | as per taste 

Chili powder | ¼ tsp

Turmeric powder | ¼ tsp

Banana leaves | for steaming

Directions

1. Wash and clean the prawns. Devein it carefully. (I got cleaned and deveined prawns from Licious)

2. In a bowl, add prawns, chili powder, turmeric powder and a pinch of salt. Mix well and marinate for 15-30 mins.

3. In a mixer, grind the cleaned tamarind leaves, grated coconut, chilies, shallots, and garlic. Do not add water. Add coconut oil and salt while grinding the masala.

4. Mix this paste with Prawns and keep it aside.

5. Cut banana leaves into square shapes and use the stem as a thread for tying the packets. Heat both sides of the leaves on medium flame. This will avoid tearing off leaves while making the packets.

6. Place the marinated prawns (3-5 no’s) in the center of each leaf and fold and tie it carefully.

7. Keep water for boiling in a steamer and once the water is hot, place all the packets in the tray. Cover it with a lid and steam it for 15-20 mins.

8. Once it’s ready, remove from the tray and serve it hot with rice/millets or Indian bread.

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