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Friday, November 2, 2012

Great Eggspectation

Mushroom and Cheese Omelette

Eggspectation: One of the best breakfast places in the Montreal Downtown area. The food tastes good, the place is clean and the service is pretty good.. Their pankcakes and sandviches are worth a try. Tea not so good. If you are a desi tea lover like me... bring your own tea bag and ask for a reheat when they bring you hot water for your chai :P 

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Go Brazil :)

My sister's bin raving about this brazilian bar-b-q for the longest time. She tells me its a real treat and that we'll go there whenever I visit her in the US.... Unfortunately, I've bin stuck in Canada for one reason or another :P

This past weekend, she and the kids came to visit me while I was in in Toronto and she mentioned again this oh-so-amazing "carnivore heaven" where they live....  I made a mental note of trying to find a similar place asap nearby ... and find, I did :)

So this place is called the Copacabana on 150 Eglinton Ave. East, Toronto. And this place ROCKS. Its expensive and one needs to make a reservation on a weekend (not sure about the weekdays) trust me, it is worth the money and the wait.

It was a sunday and we tried to make a reservation online which did not work. So we called instead but ended up with the busy ringtone that went on and on. We decided to go there and see if we cud be accomodated and if not, then act on plan "B". Plan B being any other decent place nearby :).

We reached around 6ish to a very crowded restaurant and asked for a table for two. We were asked if we had a reservation... on hearing that we did not, she said that we would have to wait. We would have to wait for 1.5-2 hours. My husband looked at me with a questioning looking, "wanna wait that long"? and I was like 'Hell Yeah!'. So she wrote our name down and we went out for a stroll... found this really great place selling discounted books and spend something close to an hour over there. Then it was time so we headed back and sure enough there was this really big party (20 or so) people leaving the restaurant.. we got seated immediately. I went to check out the salad bar... and cud not resist trying some of the stuff. There was a huge variety of salads from green leafy ones to tuna, crab, mushroom, potato, etc etc.. there was soup, there were different kinds of pasta and there was different kinds of bread. I tried a couple of salads... tasted pretty good. Back on the table, we were give this card (photo insert) the flames one meant: "bring it on" and the smoke one meant: "time out" :P



So the food started pouring in, one after the other. The guys would bring bar-b-qued meat still  on a metal skewer, out to the tables and ask if you wanted some.... and then they would cut out as much as you wanted and then move on to the next table.

They had all kinds of meats.... Beef, chicken, shrimp ... tender, succulent different parts of the meat in different sauces. Among other yummy goodnesses :) It was Amazing :) Seriously :) The Service was excellent as well :) Besides the food, the entertainment was pretty good as well... there was live music, salsa dancing and singing.

It was wonderful combination of great food, great entertainment and great service.

Perfect night out :)

Monday, March 5, 2012

Applebee's

So, I'm out of town again... Over the weekend we went to Applebees for lunch. We ordered the hot Artichoke and Spinach dip, which was pretty good. I ordered the Cajun Shrimp Pasta... which was okay. A little too bland for my south-asian tastebuds to be honest. And my hubby ordered the Mexican Cheesy Chicken ( I don't really remember the name ) which was okay too. The cheese was a bit over-powering :P I guess after the appetizer, the entreez did not seem too appetizing.

Note to self: Order an appetizer only if there are more than two ppl eating out. Or order one appetizer and one entree. So that justice can be done.

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Cajun Shrimp Pasta

Mexican Cheesy Chicken

Monday, February 27, 2012

Pakora Kari


Years ago, when le him and I were getting to know each other:

"So, what's your favorite food?", I asked him.

"I'm not too picky when it comes to food." he said.

"Pher bhee (still) name a few". I insisted.

"Well, I like X Y Z.. and once I was invited to a certain someone's place and his wife had made the most awesomest Pakora kari".

"Hmmm..." I said.

And that was that. :-)

A few months later I decided to make it for him... which din't really turn out the way it was supposed to... so, me made a mental note never to bother making it again.

But then, recently I was out of all ideas as to what to make for dinner and he suggested the dreaded pakora kari. To which I told him I dint know how it's made... he found me a couple of recipes on the net. Looking up the recipes, I realized I din't have a couple of major ingredients... he went out and bought them for me.

Seeing that I still wasn't all fired up... he actually volunteered to make it for me...The thought of him asking me where what is every two seconds, and not find it even after I tell him where it is, and then me going back and forth handing him stuff, giving my opinion if "this is enuff" or if "this lookes okay", not to mention the clean up afterwards ... was enough to trigger me into slaving away.

It actually came out pretty good :o)

Pakora Kari with Boiled Rice


Here is how it was made :)

Ingredients for the Pakoras:
1 cup chickpea flour (Baisan)
Salt and chillie powder to taste.
2-3 cups of oil for frying
Water

Ingredients for the Kari:
1 cup Yogurt
3/4 cup Chickpea flour
2 tablespoons of ghee or oil
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon cumin
half a teaspoon of fenugreek seeds (meethi dana)
2 whole dried red chillies
half a teaspoon of red chillie powder
1 teaspoon of salt
3-6 cups of water.

Ingredients for Bhagar:
2-4 whole dried red chillies
half a teaspoon of red cayane pepper
1 tablespoon of oil.

Procedure:
Mix dry ingredients for the pakoras and then add water little by little, to make a smooth batter like paste. Let it sit for a bit. Heat the 2-3 cups of oil in a wok and use a teaspoon to drop little batter balls into the hot oil ... fry till they turn a golden color. Then take them out and set aside.

Add the salt and the red chillie powder to the chickpea flour, and then mix the yogurt and the chickpea flour in a large bowl. Adding a little water bit by bit, till it turns into a smooth paste sans lumps. In a cooking utensil, heat the oil and add the cumin, then the methi dana then the whole red chillies and bay leaves. Fry for a bit and then add the yogurt-chickpea mixture to it. Let it cook for 5-7 minutes an then add the rest of the water and let it simmer for 30-40 minutes.

When the mixture thickens... Put your fried pakoras in a bowl filled with regular tap water and soak them for a minute. Then take them out, squeeze the water out and put them in the simmering mixture.
Let it cook for another 5-7 minutes and then cover it with the bhaghar.

For the Bhaghar you have to heat the oil in a frying pan... add the whole red chillies and half a teaspoon of cayane pepper .. remember to add a wee bit of water to this so that the red chillie powder does not burn... and then pour this on top of the kari. You can use onions for the bhaghar as well.


Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Cafe de Khan

Starting from the farthest: Peshawari kebabs, Fried parathas,
 chicken tikka and chicken seekh kebab. 

The Ultimate Duo

I spent most of my childhood in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Once a month we used to hop in our car and drive all the way to Dubai (1.5-2 hrs away) for one reason or another. And every single time we ate at the same resturant called the "Chicken Tikkah Inn". After eating there for more than 2-3 dozen times, I started disliking it to a point that my parents got me a meal from Hardees or any other place I wanted before we headed in that direction. Then we shifted back to Pakistan and years went by and I got married. Stopping over in Dubai on our way to Canada, I took my husband to this place and after eating there, we both agreed that this was the best bar-b-q we had ever had. My parents were on to something all along :) So long story short: In search of similar tastes, we tried numerous bar-b-q joints in Canada (GTA to be precise) Some were good, some were okay and some were downright horrid... Then came Cafe de Khan... and I felt like I was back in Dubai with family, seated in this tiny resturant eating chicken tikka dipped in immli ki chutney coverd in a piece of fried paratha.... makes my mouth water even as I write :)

Their Bihari and Peshawari kebabs are pretty amazing as well. The Lamb Karahi, Matka gosht and Biryani are so-so. They even have the green colored Pakola for the nostalgic :) Oh and the chicken seekh kebab is better than the beef one.

One of the authentic desi restoz in Mississauga that should be a must try on your list. The place is small and the decore is generic. But their consistency of serving the same level of yumminess over and over again will surely lure you back for more again and again.