#summerfood

I am sure we all have beautiful memories of our summer vacations, be it grandparents or any vacation spot. Besides the location and people, every place on this planet has food that is specific to summer. Growing up, I spent most of my summer vacations in Mumbai and the rest in Goa and Mangalore. We would wait the whole year to relish that summer special food.

India being the most diverse country in terms of food and culture, some of the foods have become a lost treasure and forgotten in the name of fast and fusion food. This summer, the food festival at Novotel Chennai Chamiers Road is bringing out those lost treasures and forgotten food. I am super happy to bring some of those specials from multiple regions of India. This season, five (5) inspiring women, who are passionate about their regional food, besides their career, have curated a menu for us to enjoy this summer cool special.

Special mention to Chef Nitu and team at Novotel chamiers road, without whose incredible support this summer food festival was impossible. How fast the entire team adapted to new recipes, techniques and ingredients was such a pleasure to watch.

Kavitha Bothra, hails from Rajasthan, settled in Chennai, a jewellery designer by profession whose love for food made her a home chef and recipient of many awards such as Super Chef Chennai, Creative Chef award, Jito MasterChef, Home Icon etc. Kavitha runs a cloud kitchen in the name of Blend Town. All her dishes are self-curated, unique and out-of-the box recipes. She makes healthy and creative fusion dishes which are not only appealing to the eye but scrumptious also.

Nithya Franklyn, a doctor by profession with an MBBS, DNB (Paediatrics) and Fellowship (Sleep Medicine) is a MasterChef Tamil Season1 Runner-up. Coming from Southern Tamilnadu she grew up on Pandya Nadu and Nanjil Nadu cuisines which have influences from Sri Lanka and Kerala and this uniqueness was showcased in her dishes.

Smita Premkumar, a German Translator and Teacher, a Goan from Mumbai settled in Chennai has brought in some authentic Goan and Maharashtrian food. Her venture Kokum, blends traditional methods, regional local ingredients and heirloom recipes in every meal.

Hyma Sakhamuri is an Entrepreneur, Educationist turned Chef, her passion for preserving heirloom recipes motivated her to start Andhra Deli, a Cloud Kitchen specialising in Andhra Cuisine. Andhra Deli over the past 3 years has been serving homemade Andhra speciality dishes. Creating fusion recipes with traditional methods are also her speciality.

Harshini Diya, belongs to a family in which food was at the core of everything. She credits her vast culinary knowledge of Kongu food to her upbringing and grandmother, and her grandfather a renowned hotelier from Kovai. Despite majoring in International Business, she joined Le Cordon bleu London, to learn the techniques used in modern day restaurant cooking. With a combination of inherent kongu living and modern-day technique, entered into culinary ventures in Coimbatore, like Corner Kitchen, 10 biryani mandi and Sree Vidya meals room and the legendary Kovai Alankar Vilas.

The menu changes every day but what we had on day 1                                                   From Hyma’s Andhra Deli Kitchen – Perugu Vada (Dahi Vada) and Mamidikaya Royyalu (Prawn mango curry) Special mention about the perugu vada that was so refreshing and had the flavour of mango ginger hit the right note.

From Harshini’s Kongunadu kitchen – Ragi Kali (soft finger millet ball), Keerai Kadasil and Vazhaipoo Vada (banana flower vada). Ragi cools the body and gives the body nutrition required in summer, special mention to the texture and flavour of the kali.

From Nithya’s Tamilnadu Kitchen – Kayalpattinam Kalari Kari, Nungu Sarbath and Palapalam Payasam. Loved loved the Sarbath because it was so cooling with the temperatures so high outside.

From Kavitha’s Rajasthani Kitchen – Rajasthani kadi and Badi ki Sabji the kadi was just how it has to be for a summer afternoon.

From Smita’s Konkan and Maharashtrian Kitchen – Sol kadhi and Raw Jackfruit Dangar. The jackfruit was crisp from outside and soft from inside with the perfect blend of masalas and Sol kadhi is not only a Summer drink but also the most amazing digestive drink.

If you are looking at homestyle food made using heirloom recipes by the home chefs you just need to head to Novotel Chamiers Road, Chennai. The menu changes everyday but you will find at least 10 dishes from the home chefs till 28th May.

Food From The Northern Hills Of India❤️

Food from the northern hills of India by the beautiful Miss Shimla runner up Chef Sherry Mehta.

I am a big advocate of the fact the new exotic food is the homestyle regional food.

This time it was from the northern hills of India, by  chef Sherry Mehta

What I liked about the food was the richness and simplicity of flavours, each dish had an unique flavours and a story to tell. 

This marriage of Punjabi and kashmiri food for me was purely made in heaven. The  Dham ( festive food of Himachal Pradesh) curated by chef Sherry had very minimal spices I tasted the real flavour of every ingredient/ produce used and that for me is real good food.

Adraki panje(Lamb ribs with fat, milk, whole spices, and ginger)

Chamba Chukh Chicken Tikka (Tangy spicy Himachali chilli marinated chicken tikkas grilled to perfection in Tandoor)

The soft Matara Kulcha with stuffed tikki gave a run for a sour dough bread, I am sure we discovered sour dough much before anyone did!

Siddu, the traditional fermented stuffed steamed bread was another favourite of mine. This is available with lamb stuffing, vegetable stuffing and sweet ( coconut jaggery) stuffing.

A special mention for the most famous Himalayan trout that was absolutely fresh and cooked to perfection. This sure was a treat for us in Chennai!

Some of my favourite main course dishes were the Chaa  Gosht  (One of the most popular dishes from Himachal cooked in buttermilk and roasted gram flour based    gravy)

Channa Paneer Madra (Chickpeas slow cooked in a yoghurt based gravy along with cottage cheese and nuts, a star of any Himachali dhaam)

Gobi Ka Palda(Cauliflower cooked in yoghurt-based gravy thickened with rice flour)

Seb Aur Bhein Ki Sabji(Local vegetable dish made with apples and lotus stem)

Kale  Chane Ki Maahni (Dried raw mangoes from the hills are cooked with black grams to create this unique Himachali dish)

Sepu Wadi(Urad daal fritters cooked in a luscious spinach gravy was once a humble rural dish and now am ambassador of mandiyali dhaam)

The finale is always sweet with the most simple yet rich food and lovely people around! Budane Ka Meetha With  Rabri it was! (Any dhaam is incomplete without this sweet dish which kick starts any dhaam experience)

What did one day at Kozhikode look like!!!

It was a very unplanned trip, we were in Coimbatore thinking if we should or shouldn’t go for the tharavad festival, keeping my mother in law’s health condition in mind. It was the once in a year tharavad ( family temple) Pooja and we are just 3hrs away by train, the night before we decided with loads of prayers in our hearts to make the decision to go.

4.30am out alarm rings and we started getting ready to hop into the cab to take the intercity train at 6am from Coimbatore station. We decided not to carry breakfast with us since we have had breakfast at shoranur station before and it was always so good. 7am and we were at palakkad and we couldn’t resist the call from the station outside ” vada, parapu Vada, pazham pori” our eyes widened and we ran outside to get one pack of it. Disappointed, the parapu vada was rock solid, the pazham pori was full of thick soda mixed batter with a thin slice of nendra pazham ( Banana) that barely had any taste or flavour and the medu vada was just like there! We took some pictures cause well they looked good and it went straight to the bin after one bite. Now we were waiting for Shoranur for the most awaited breakfast that we have always had few years ago. 8am Shoranur and we are ready to get off the train to get a pack of the breakfast with chaya. I excitedly open the pack and see 3 beautiful looking idlys with one vada. Hungry and happy next I open the sambar pack that smelt good, poured it next to the idly, next opened the chutney pack and ohh it was just plain sour green water with some salt and there started our disappointment, the whole packet of 3 idlis, Vada, sambar and chutney after one bite goes to the bin, I really feel bad to waste food, but this tasted off and couldn’t help but trashing it the tea was equally bad. Our memories of Shoranur station breakfast just shattered. Our plan was to get off at Calicut station and try out some nice breakfast near the station, but our cousin had other plans for us, he surprised us at the station and droves us straight to his house for the soulful appam and payar curry, our search for good breakfast ended at 10am at beypore, Calicut.

It was the tharavad festival and we headed to the temple soon after the breakfast. The Pooja had started a day before and it was a typical small town fare that I really love and miss most of the time. I was visiting the temple after a long time, the last time I was here, there was nothing only a few deities and stones. Must say my mother in law and husband have been instrumental in getting the temple into shape by supporting them with whatever they really needed each time, like few years back they wanted a well to be dug and they happily did it and ofcourse monetarily supported every initiative. We were glad we could atleast be there for a day to witness this splendid Pooja, wait as it unfolds.

The afternoon started with women chanting Amma narayana, Lakshmi Narayana and ended with various gods and goddesses showcasing their presence and blessings till wee hours of the morning, 6am to be precise. The community lunch was vegetarian Kerala food made using wood fire need not mention anything further it was divine.

The next morning after few hours of sleep and a sumptuous breakfast at home we decided to visit pappan ( our uncle, father in-laws younger brother) who due to his health couldn’t attend the temple festivities. We stopped buy a local bakery to pick up some goodies for pappan and I really wanted to eat it all, but resisted since I had a Big break of ottappam and chicken stew at home.

On our way back from visiting uncle/ pappan we stopped by a very small place that makes pappadam, this is so different from appalam made in tamilnadu and papad made in rest of India, this one puffs up like poori and is so delicious when fried using coconut oil. Spent sometime with the person making these and to my surprise they don’t individually roll them they take a big pile and pat it till thin like paper, ingredients used urad dal, salt, papad soda also know as papad khar and tapioca flour to pat it. Watching the process of making the papadam and packing it was soul touching. Special mention to the packing part the papadam were put into a plastic cover and sealed using candle flame and packed again in a newspaper. Life is so simple yet we make it complicated.

On our way back we also stopped by to buy some special kaima rice from a store I assume it’s the same as jeera samba but this one I hear is grown in the Malabar region. Hence wanted to try kaima rice from its birth place.

Came home to the flavours of Malabar briyani in the back yard. Our cousins had decided to surprise us with wood fire Malabar biryani. We surely were running out of time and did not know if we had the time to relish this one and hence decided to pack it for our train journey. We felt so bad that they took so much efforts to make the biryani with so much love for us and we were like why all this trouble after a sleepless night, they said “this is our way of showering love to the people we love the most” and that for me was definitely the highlight of this beautiful one day trip to Calicut/ Kozhikode!

Grateful that we could make the best of these 24hrs that was gifted to us! We are thankful to every person we encountered during the best 24hrs is Calicut/ Kozhikode! Looking forward to spend a few more days to really enjoy so much more that “God’s own country” has to offer us!

Bangalore Days at Taj Yeshwantpur!

Calm in Between the Chaos

I would call this stay at Taj Yeshwantpur home away from home!

After 15 days of being away from home we decided to take a short break to visit family in Bangalore.  Since this was an impromptu decision we had to book our stay one hour before we reached Bangalore. The best ever decision we made for a last minute booking at Taj Yeshwantpur!

We cannot stop talking about the impeccable hospitality that we received from each and every person at Taj from Rajeev Khanna to Ajay Sawe to Anshu Ukey, Dinesh Verma to Sundar to chef Jose, Aditya and Amrik. You have created that space in our hearts forever.

Our room was beautiful with the most precious view of Bangalore City! The service was such that even before we think of what we wanted it was at our door. This 327 rooms hotel is definitely a pride to the city and Taj hotels!

Conjee was my favourite
Waffles with Nutella
Wheat poori
The tasting tiffin!

Bangalore if you are thinking of any place to celebrate your New Year just check in here and have the time of your life with friends, family and loved ones!

At the pool side!

Kove for the love of Coimbatore/ Kovai❤️

The Manchester of South India is weaving a new Coimbatore. My first visit to this little city was in 1998 when I married a young man from here. Our reception was held at the most iconic Annapoorna, I was told this was one place where many of the coimbatorians get hitched!

Mandatory

Our visits to this city continued over years and stories about how my husband and his friends use to hang around Annapoorna was something I got used to hearing often and at times the stories kept on repeating as friends who are all around the world kept coming to Coimbatore for their vacation. By now it had become a household name for me who came from Mumbai. The morning coffee and breakfast was a ritual everytime we came to Coimbatore from Chennai. We hosted and attended many weddings over the years!

Few years back when we saw the place closed for renovation, we were a little disheartened but at the same time excited and waiting for it to open. Little did we know that the wait was totally worth it. My heart swelled with Pride and happiness to what I witnessed today!

Coimbatore you have arrived should I say more! The structure, the food, the ambience, the service and the warmth was class apart!

Would I have ever thought of me seated in a vegetarian restaurant and enjoying the most amazing cocktail along with my family few years ago in Coimbatore???and today I was right here in this place enjoying Nannari Negroni & Jalapeno Mojito, really what – a – what -a !!!

Nannari Negroni
Jalapeno mojito

And wait, vegetarian did I say? Let me correct myself progressive vegetarian restaurant, because most of the dishes that we experienced today are specially curated for kove and kove alone by Gourmet Sage Hospitality Solutions who also are the principal consultant for this project.

We started our meal with Tortellini soup and Singhada makkai shorba. From Italy to North India the soups were spot on with the right flavour, taste and presentation.

Singhada makkai shorba
Tortellini soup

The brocolli Thai cold salad sure was a pleasant twist to the salad experience. The Asian fusion to the south indian curry leaves the cream cheese Rangoon to the karuvepillai baby corn the journey kept the flavours intact.

Karuvepillai baby corn
Cream cheese Rangoon
Brocolli Thai salad

The yam urandai kuzhambu ( yam balls) in South Indian gravy served with ghee rice was as good as the Nasi Goreng that was our main course.

Nasi Goreng
Yam urandai
Yam urandai kuzhambu

The mocktail shoots definitely intersting not only for the eyes but the palate too!

Mocktail shoots

The finale for this meal sure had to be exceptional. The nanari Sorbet was a refreshing palate cleaners and the best friend to someone who is vegan! The lucky Irishman was my favourite since I love Bailey’s!

Nannari sorbet
The Irishman

Kove at ikon, Annapoorna is definitely a place to visit for the sheer experience of something very very special, it is an experience not to be missed along with family and friends! A place to make memories thinking of the old, cherishing and embracing the new! And raising a toast with cheers to new beginning!

Homemade Konkan food in Chennai ❤️

My hands are trembling with joy when I am writing this Blog. This is the food I grew up eating and have been wanting to have it in Chennai. Specially now during lockdown since I couldn’t travel to Mumbai or Goa due to the pandemic.

Deepika and me have been having discussion about konkan food and we started the discussion last year when lockdown was announced. Have been following up with him every other week and he kept telling me soon. Finally the dream is a reality.

Konkan food ( Goan and Konkan) has its own unique flavour of spices, coconut and kokam. The Flavours are very comforting and not too rich. The sol kadhi has its own soul and it’s the best! We ordered the fish thali and the chicken thali.

The fish thali had bangda/ mackerel rava fry, prawn curry with kokam, kismur ( typical goan salad made using dry fish), kosambir ( veg salad), steamed rice and sol kadhi ( spicy kokam juice in coconut milk) it is a digestive. Like south indians have curd rice end of the meal people from the konkan region have a small portion of steamed rice with sol kadhi.

The chicken thali has malvani chicken curry with either rice bakri ( rice chapati/ roti) or vadi ( rice puri) kosambir ( veg salad) and sol kadhi. Packed with Flavours right from the Konkan region.

A must must try meal it has its own charm and this one will definitely not disappoint you. If you have had Konkan food before go for this, if you haven’t tried Konkan food before you have to experience this Flavours. Very limited uncomplicated menu. Btw they buy their produce fresh everyday. Available for delivery in Chennai , call +91 9930503526 order!

Flavours of Odia now in Chennai!

The city of Chennai has been exploding with flavours from all around India and the world. Who are giving us these delectable food? They are the kind hearted and loving home chefs who share food from their home kitchens!

Home chef Abhipsa has been in Chennai for awhile now and has been conducting quiet a few live cookery shows on instagram and Facebook. We have been encouraging her to start sharing the Flavours of Odia in Chennai for quite a long time now. The trigger for starting her small food delivery is the food exchange we had 2 week’s ago through our community group Eat Pray and Love that gave her the confidence that she could start taking baby steps towards her food journey!

we were lucky to be part of the first week of food going out of Abhi’s cafe. We had two style of meals one with
Ghee rice
Luchi
Dhaba style dal tadka
Alu potala bhaja ( pointed gourd fry)
Pithau bhaja ( rice coated veggies tawa fry)
Bilati baigana khata ( sweet tomato chutney)
Odia style malpua

Another with Ghee rice
Luchi
Dhaba style dal tadka
Chuin besara bhaja ( drumstick fry with mustard paste)
Saga bhaja ( green stir-fry)
Dahi bhendi ( ladies finger in yoghurt)
Odia style malpua

Paneer kobi tarkari ( paneer n cauliflower curry)


Chhanka tarkari ( odia style mix veg curry)

Machha Besara( fish in mustard gravy)


Kukuda jhola ( chicken gravy with potato odia style)

For people who want to know. Odia food like Bengali food is cooked using Mustard oil
Odia Cuisine is the cuisine of the state of Odisha. It has developed over time with local culture and agriculture and hence has its distinct items and practices. Odisha borders both north Indian states and south Indian states and consequently is similar to the cuisines of South and North India ( wiki)

For us it was totally delicious home cooked comfort food that came with the best ingredients and flavours from Abhipsa’s home kitchen. The Flavours were definitely extra special because it was loaded with love and affection. If you are in Chennai and looking to taste the Flavours of Chennai. Please reach out to Abhipsa on +91 99401 28965

Traditional Central Tamilnadu food cooked on firewood at Manjal, Chennai.

Manjal ( turmeric) is such an important part of an indian meal and so is this restaurant that serves the best of traditional food cooked on firewood. The food here is from Central Tamil Nadu.

Manjal

We all know that food cooked on firewood has a flavour and taste that cannot be matched by conventional cooking. The theme of this place is to serve traditional food the traditional way. The meal comes in plates laced by Banana leaf.

Firewood cooking

The vegeterian meal is as interesting as the non vegetarian meal keeping tastes and flavours intact. Both meals are unlimited Manjal has a whole variety of side dishes like the crab curry, brain fry, mutton chops, chicken fry, fish fry, prawn fry vanjaram fry that is served along with the meals. The biryani both mutton and chicken are available on the menu too. The vegeterian meal is priced at 450 plus tax and non vegetarian meal at 575 Plus tax. Remember it’s unlimited.

Vegeterian and non Vegetarian meal
Crab curry
Country chicken shredded ( nattu kozhi) in traditional Tamil Nadu masala
Prawn tokku
Liver masala
Vegetable meals
Mutton biryani

What makes this place special is traditional food cooked on firewood with nostalgic feeling of eating at some small town, fresh ingredients, no fuss food, eat to your hearts content.

Rustic interiors
Breakfast menu
Lunch menu

Manjal opens their door for guests on Christmas with a hearty breakfast and lunch.

Manjal is located at
Old no 17, ,New no 4, kasturi estate, 1st street Poes garden, Chennai-18

Quaint place in Chennai to spend time with family and friends❤️


The most amazing evening  at a beautiful location, outdoor seating, chic interiors and awesome food. You can find it all at “Meraki”  at Neelangarai.

We started our early dinner with two unique soups. The Cream of chicken was bursting with flavour when the carrot and cumin was subtle and yet touched our soul.

Appetizers were a fusion of South, north and continental.
Munthiri Parappu  / dal Vada with cashew nuts did take the Vada to a different level all together, the salsa that went along was a total treat.

The vegeterian Platter was a mix of beetroot kebab, this sure was my favourite, it just melted in my mouth, the brocolli was yummy and the truffle mushroom bharwan was excellent.

The non vegetarian Platter was a combination of fresh fish in green masala, prawn with coconut was my favourite flavour since I personally love coconut and the chicken kebab was moist and subtle on flavour.

Gongura with black and white paratha was a treat to our eyes and palate

Grilled fish chimichuri was served on a bed of fresh vegetable salad. Huge chunks of mahi mahi was fresh and loaded with flavour.

By now we were full and made a little place for some rice and mutton gravy. The ghee jeera rice bursted with the ghee flavour and the tender mutton gravy complemented it very well.

Things to know – like every other industry they too are slowly crawling back to the new normal, the desserts menu is not totally available. Parking here is on the streets, though it is not a busy road, hence not very difficult. Good news they have open dining space on the ground floor as well on the terrace. One reason we opted to try this place.

Covid safety and precautions- please wear your mask all the time except when you are eating or taking pictures. Wash/ sanitise your hands well. Social distancing has to be maintained. If you find it difficult to follow the safety measures, you could order food from them or do a take away.

Here is how you reach there https://g.co/kgs/Zr6swW