Wok | Restaurant Review |Koramangala

  “Within the rounds of a wok, are memories etched for eternity”- Noorain

I, believe in those memories which are usually concocted up in the kitchen. They retain for the longest of time. Casually passing by, I noticed a bright neon board which said “Wok”, & out gushed those memories. 

About Wok : It’s a small place, which relies on deliveries and takeaways, rather than dine-ins. They specialise in Indo-Chinese street food, but with so much more authenticity. You might get a little baffled seeing the place and might even think that it wouldn’t be on par with your expectations, but be prepared to be pleasantly surprised. 

The Grub Story : With a raging appetite, here’s what we ordered. 

• Mushroom Manchurian & Broccoli Manchurian (Rs. 125/-): I, personally loved the spice level in these. Take it from a person who loves her food bland. The mushrooms and broccoli really made it! With the veggies batter fried and enveloped generously in the sauce, these starters were the best I’ve had at a qsr 👍🏻👍🏻

The noodles are made to order and customised as per your taste. You get to decide what and how much you want to pay for your bowl of happiness. Please do bear in mind that the portions are huge, when you order for Regular size.

• Udon in Saigon sauce : I’m a huge Japanese Udon fan. To find it over here, was nothing but elation of my joy. I, customised my bowl with mushrooms, babycorn, bok choi and broccoli. The Saigon sauce, was your run of the mill “Black pepper sauce”. The peppery Garlic profile of the sauce, actually worked well with the Udon. The combination proved to be delightfully yum. 

• Udon in Beijing sauce: This one, was added with chicken, prawns and topped with black & white sesame. The Beijing sauce, on its own didn’t really click too well, but it was fair enough. The generosity of sesame toppings, actually surprised me. It’s a huge big tablespoon, if I’m not wrong. That’s all the calcium that you need for the meal. 😁

Verdict : A great place, to try the unconventional street food Indo-Chinese. Where, Udon & Buckwheat usually graces the shelves of star kitchens, you find them easily over here, for 1/4th the price. Rates high on VFM & taste as well.

 A well deserved 4 star for getting Udon & Buckwheat out and out. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Gōngxǐ Fā Cái – Easy Delicious Chicken Wontons

Guys!! You need to check out this extremely talented friend of mine named “Anu” from Mauritius. She’s a dream, her blog is just amazing, with the most ambrosial visual treats for you. Check her latest post!! I bet her blog will get you salivating. 

Enjoy!!❤️❤️

Happiness and Prosperity! The Spring Festival, also known as the Chinese New Year, is the most important traditional festival for our brothers and sisters of the Sino-Mauritian community. It has more than 4,000-year of beautiful history linked to it.All around the Island, our dearest Chinese friends are already in the festive mood to welcome the New […]

http://peachytales.com/2016/02/06/gongxi-fa-cai-easy-delicious-chicken-wontons/

Shammi Kabobs, a ritual.

Everyone, has a certain favourite from their mommy’s kitchen, a good, delicious shammi kabob is one of them. 

I, fondly remember, mum making these kabobs atleast once a month. She loves everything fresh, from the spices to the produce. She used to make her own chilli powder, garam masala & all that, she still does. The house would be filled with warm aromas of the spices & we instantly would know that, tomorrow would be the “Shammi Kabob” day. 

The “Shammi Kabob” day would mean, takeaways & fries & Nintendo , the whole day. How super exciting 😁😁 Mum, would be slogging the day off, with the mixer going on & off, aromas in the house & huge platters of uncooked circular Shammi kabobs, getting ready to be frozen. She would make it by the kilograms, so that it could last a month. Though, I’m in the process of turning into a vegetarian, I sorely miss this one & sometimes, I do cheat & gulp one down. 😱😱

There are so many kinds of mince kabobs, but the all time favorite kabob, has to be this deliciously blended one with a mix of yellow Bengal gram and meat mince.

It boasts of giving your meat a well deserved transformation. If you haven’t developed a taste for shammi kabobs, now u surely will after trying this recipe.

SHAMMI KABOBS ON A BED OF LETTUCE

INGREDIENTS:

• Lamb mince or chicken mince- 500 gms 
• Yellow Bengal gram lentils a.k.a.chana dal- 250gms
• My secret garam masala- 1 Tbsp
• Coriander powder- 1 tsp
• Roasted & crushed cumin (we already have cumin in the garam masala)- 1 tsp
• A small bunch of coriander leaves and mint leaves.
• Juice of about 1 lime.
• Red chilli powder as per taste
• Garlic paste- 1 Tbsp
• Ginger paste- 1 Tbsp
• Greek yogurt- 1 Tbsp
• Small sliced onion-1
• Salt.
• Oil for frying
• A few cloves of garlic.
• 2 eggs

METHOD OF PREPARATION:

1)After having prepped for shammi kabobs, you will first need to boil the Bengal gram well enough. Make sure the Bengal gram is boiled to a stage where it’s a la dente. Overcooking the lentils, makes it oily upon frying, as overtly soft lentils tend to absorb oil.

2)Boil the mince with a few cloves of garlic, till tender.

3)Next add all dry ingredients and after a nice mix with the spatula add yogurt, ginger paste and garlic paste with 2 eggs. Later add the mix into a food processor and once it’s nice and homogenous, add coriander and mint leaves with finely sliced onions and a juice of lime.

4) With your bare hands shape them into small circles.

5)Freeze for about an hour before frying.

6)Deep fry the shammi kabobs till golden brown.

DIFFICULTY: MODERATE

PREPARATION TIME:45 -50 MINUTES

SERVINGS: 7-8 PERSONS

7 Plates,HRBR Layout- A restaurant review

I was actually on my way to “Bet You Love It”,but this restaurant caught the glimmer of my eye. While I had even started the Italian maincourse in my mind,the red signboard didn’t deter me from not entering here. 

7 Plates isn’t a newbie. They have been around for quite sometime now. Where they had focused mainly on takeaways,now they’ve upgraded to a small yet comfortable dining section sans a washroom. 😐 I mean, I’m a total washroom kinda person. I love retouching my makeup,checking myself out in the mirror about how good or bad I look,making sure my hijab is in place and most importantly… Washing my hands with running water,even if I do get a finger bowl. Ahem.. Yep!! That’s just the weird me for you. So,no washroom thing kinda struck me hard. All I could think of was,”how can there be no washroom?why?”.

Well,after much predicament.. I decided to stop the whining and got down to business of devouring. Where they set me back with no washroom,they made up for it by the triples with exemplary service. Not only were the waiting staff extremely friendly and warm,they also were good with their serving skills.

 Lemme just tell you how nice I felt. They had these Steel handwash bowls called ” Täsh” in Urdu. The tradition goes that,when a guest comes home the host or his family,help the guest in washing their hands in that bowl. The host pours water & the guest washes. This gesture was really a sweet one,though it’s born out of necessity at 7 plates. I really hope they don’t change that. 

  

  

The decor is minimalistic & just had the necessary things. Table,chairs,A/C,lighting & some vases. It gets a bit queasy in here,if it’s packed to capacity. 

  

  
Here are the things we ordered:

• Murgh Malai Tikka : I,literally fell in deep love with the plating. The delectable tikka came on a black rock slab. Like how superb is that. Served With some raw salad & green mint chutney. The tikka was just the way I love it. Thick with sauce and cooked throughly. I hate the medium rare kinda chicken. It pisses me off,but this one was just cooked so beautifully. Nice and juicy inside & charred on the outside. The combination of the Malai tikka with the mint chutney was just explosively yum. I totally recommend this.

  

• Lemon Chicken : I’m a huge fan of all things citrusy. Lemon chicken is without a doubt one of my favourites. The citrusy punch with the blandness of chicken spells a recipe for success. The Lemon Chicken here was no different. Stood up to its name,punch packed with tang and beautifully coated. It did go down well with me,but I’ve had better. 

 

• Naans: The Naans were buttery soft and delicious. Yes! I like them all melt in the mouth kinds. 

  

• Chicken Fried Rice: Totally nailed it. They just made an absolutely no nonsense and yes filled with just the right amount of flavour kinda rice. The CFR was a generous portion with chicken bits prevailing in every bite. Again a recommended dish.

  

• Chicken Biryani/ Biryani Rice: The biryani was a good one. A bit too spicy for my liking,but nonetheless my hubby & mum who love things a tad bit spicy loved it. Much better than your normal fare of biryanis everywhere & certainly in the good league,7 plates biryani scored good brownie points with my family. 

  

On the whole,it was a pleasant experience. Loved the food and these guys make the most awesomest rolls ever.   

I’ve tried them before and I personally loved them for the quantity stuffed in a roll and also the quality offered.  

The restaurant is a total VFM. Works great for tight budgets and even more wonderful if you’re not on a budget. Who doesn’t love surprises now? 

So,yes!! Go ahead, give it a go.

Ragú alla bolognese- An Indian Version for the spicy soul.

Let me tell you a little secret, I am a fanatic when it comes to Italian cuisine. And a sucker for pastas in general. I have a ” PASTA FETISH”.. It’s not very different from any other fetish. I live by the motto ” I need them all”. When I’m in a supermarket,I’m checking out the new editions,stocking up on the old ones and very aptly skimming thru the “oils and vinegar” section.

People don’t quite understand my infatuation with PASTA.. They think ” oh well!! How does a fettucine differ drastically from linguine,it’s from durum wheat manh.. How different can it get”

 * gulp*

Spare me the horror.I am,but pretty sure that you and your sibling differ drastically,though you’re the same parental DNA?? * hopes to make a point there*

Any ways,the farfelles,the rigatonis,the fettucines,the tagliatelle, the pappardelle,the linguines,etc… Heaven to just hold them. Even saying their names has a certain oomph to it 😁😁

Once I have the pastas in my hand,I’m thinking of sauces to go with it. Do I do the carbonara,neopolitana,Alfredo, bolognese or the aglio olio??

And once I’ve decided that,the water’s on a rolling boil and I’m chopping away to glory. I’m a strict follower of the traditional recipes…with a few exceptions of course,to suit my tastes and lifestyle. I don’t prefer indianizing any versions,but then that is met with discerning nods telling how unspicy the dish is or how some extra ginger garlic could’ve done wonders. 

Though this dish,will get the ITALIANS putting up their hands in dismay at the mutation. I will still brave the odds and proffer to you a ” DESI” /INDIAN version. If Barbie can have an Indian version,the Ragú  must have one too.. Btw,Ragú beats barbie hands down.. * smirk*

So,for all of you,who like things in life a little extra spiced..This version is dedicated to YOU: (this Ragú holds good for 400 gms of pasta,roughly a double of the amount of mince)

Ragú alla Bolognese( Indianized):

Ingredients: 

• Chicken or mutton mince-250 gms
• Tomatoes chopped – 2 medium ones.
• Onions chopped finely- 1 large one.
• Spring onions finely chopped- half a cup.
• Carrots chopped- 2
• Vinegar- 1 tbsp
• Ginger garlic paste- 2 tbsp
• Red chilli paste/ red chilli powder- 1 tsp 
• Green chillies chopped fine-1 or 2 
• Basil chopped finely- a few leaves.
• Mint chopped finely- a few leaves
• Chinese salt( MSG)- a pinch [optional]
• Some Oregano
  
• Salt.
• Oil- 2 tbsps

  

Method:

• First,boil carrots till soft. Let it cool down. Add the carrots with basil,oregano and mint into a jar&whip it till it’s a nice paste. Keep aside.( I can see you say ” whaat?? Is she crazy?? Trust me this does wonders)
• Take oil in a large skillet, heat it up for a few minutes. Add the sliced onions and fry till transparent.

  

• Add the chicken mince and let it change colour.
• Next add the carrot paste and give it 2-3 minutes in the skillet.
• Add the ginger garlic paste and swirl it around for a few minutes till you start getting faint whiffs of it
• Add the red chilli paste,Chinese salt(if using) and salt. Swirl again.

  

• Add the tomatoes and keep stirring continuously till the whole mixture is a mushy mass.(I know that sounds ewww…but this maximises the flavour)

  

• Now add the vinegar. Add the green chillies & spring onions at the last. 

  

• Add your cooked pasta and let it soak up the Ragú.. 

Your Ragú alla Bolognese in an Indian avatar is ready.. 

  

This dish is super quick and is a total favourite with the family. I used the elbow macaronis because they really capture the Ragú well in the bends.

 I tried to keep the dish as close to the original as possible,but doing the carrot purée is something wildly different. Just the purée with those herbs give the Ragú a very distinct nuttiness to it and also gives a hint of sweetness. 

You’re more than welcome to try it without the purée. Happy experimenting with flavours!!