Brews And Bourbons

Hey y'all,

Breakfast for me is always Dosa and occasionally semiya/sevai/upma. And very rarely do I take cornflakes/chia seeds pudding/maggi. It has been so very long that I wanted to go out for breakfast on a Sunday. But I have to get back home after church before the closing of  my favorite mutton stall. Last time when I went out for breakfast was in Darjeeling at the legendary Keventers. There are many cafes in Kolkata, which provide scrumptious breakfast - The Whistling Kettle, Soul cafe, Eat me good and it would be a sin if I miss the legendary Flury's. There is even a book about this tearoom.


So this week our Sunday started on a crispy note, as we were getting ready to go to St. Paul's Cathedral after almost 2-3 weeks. After finishing our mass, we headed to Flury's for breakfast (Mutton was taken care of!). Coming to this cafe, this cafe was started around 1930's by the Britishers and this place still has a vintage aura around it.

I have been to this cafe thrice in the last 2 years, once with William, once with my mom and once alone. But every time I go, it feels like visiting the British era all new, thanks to those big round pillars, black and white chequered marbles, the glass walls overlooking the street, the chandeliers,etc. The place serves you authentic English breakfast with Ham and Cheese stuffed omelette and beans on toast as their Heritage favorites.

What we ordered:
Will ordered English breakfast and Assam tea for him and I ordered French Toast with watermelon juice for me. Coming to the menu, English breakfast has 2 toasts with butter and jam, 2 eggs - sunny side up, 1 roasted tomato, 2 hash browns, 2 bacon rashes and 2 sausages. The rashes are long, medium-rare and juicy pieces. The sausages are one of the best I have ever had. They don't taste like old frozen cuts, instead they taste fresh and tender and very soft. I would have loved mashed potatoes with this but hash browns filled the spot.
My French toast had 2 long egg battered cinnamon cakes with some fruits and maple syrup. When I saw what was on my plate, I was so sure it would not be a filling one. Alas, when I finished my first toast, it was almost filling! I had to share the next one with Will.



Experience:
The experience was not that great mainly because of the waiting time. After being used to 20 mins waiting time at Flury's, 40 minutes was exhausting. You read that right, 40 bloody minutes!! You might want to argue about the vibe of the place but enjoying the vibe for 40 minutes is little too much. There were many angry customers who left the place after waiting for a ridiculously long time. So this time my experience was not pleasant, but very irritating. The careless waiters don't seem to notice even if you wave at them. I already started dreaming about my soon-to-be lunch Mutton Biryani :( When I started getting this irritated stares from William, even I wanted to get out of the place but thankfully the meal came before that.

If paying the bill could be counted as an 'experience', let me warn you about burning hole in your pocket. The prices are insanely expensive. English breakfast was for Rs. 580 and French toast was for Rs. 450. After GST, it felt like having the breakfast with Mr. Modi and Ms. Didi.

Overall, it was good food if the experience is ignored. Once in a while, there is nothing wrong in treating yourself at this tearoom. Flury's as a bakery is top notch and no body in this city can compete with the pastries of Flury's, but, as a restaurant, Flury's should not sit back relaxed and enjoy the legacy. There are other vintage cafes catching up with better hospitality and cheaper price. Whistling Kettle serves you authentic English breakfast all the way from Darjeeling's Keventers. Serafina offers you original Italian breakfast with great hospitality. The Country House Cafe doesn't burn a hole in your pocket. Milee Droog cafe and Bistro offers are good. So Flury's should keep this in mind and serve their customers with a happy grin :) :) Would love to visit this place again but not in the near future.

Much love,
Sindhura.

Hey peeps,

Back from the Pujo hangover? Its indeed Navratri time and people gather together to worship, greet, celebrate and of course take pictures and upload it on social media with hashtags. I did it; posted so many videos and pictures on my IG stories and introduced 'Pandal Hopping' to my Tamil friends. Coming to these posts, hashtags are inevitable, right? Ever heard, 'Yo mama so fat' jokes? Some of them are so dark and hilarious as well. I am a sucker for dark jokes. High-five if you are one too. Well, a new hashtag something on the lines of 'Yo mama so fat' jokes are trending and I am sure even you are guilty of using these. If you are not and wondering what those hashtags mean, let me do the honour of decoding those hashtags as well. So next time you see one of these, you know the meaning already.

1. #MyMomIsBetterThanYours
I could use her for #HappyMothersDay. Otherwise no fucks given.

2. #MyFriendsAreBetterThanYours
We tag each other in memes.

3. #MyBroIsBetterThanYours
I want better rakhi gifts than what my friends are receiving. Mind you.

4. #MySisIsBetterThanYours
Surprisingly she let me use her dress and makeup.

5. #MyNieceIsBetterThanYours
Not in terms of IQ; Only she eats my dress.

6. #MyNephewIsBetterThanYours
Little stud on his way.

7. #MyBaeIsBetterThanYours
Dumbass. Only in bed. Period.

8. #MyHusbandIsBetterThanYours
Remember that fine piece of jewellery, I want it.

9. #MyWifeIsBetterThanYours
She shouts louder when bargaining with the street vendors.

10. #MyDogIsBetterThanYours
That's a Siberian Husk for which I paid 40K and it cannot live in a tropical country like India.

11. #MyInstagramFollowersAreBetterThanYours
I want likes. Prove yourself guys.

12. #MyGrandparentsAreBetterThanYours
Who really cares? I want to look senti-types.

Thank me later.
Signing off with much love.

Hey peeps,

Long time, no see! My sincere apologies!! This is an unintended food post again,thanks to my food cravings. A post about my favorite meal has to go up on my blog! So let's do this.


                                           

Tasted penne pasta for the first time in life at Hardrock Cafe, Bangalore. Man, it was heavens!! The white sauce oozing out of the penne, the luxury of parmesan cheese mixed with tender chicken, its a different feel. From thence, chicken penne in white sauce is my must have at all the Continental/Italian kitchens I go to. In Kolkata here, I chanced upon visiting this small vintage cafe called "The Country House Cafe" and there I built the order Chicken Fettuccine in Alfredo with herbs and corn, broccoli and mushrooms; took me to a different world. #VeraLevel. We are regulars now there just for the Chicken Fettuccine and the watermelon juice with mint syrup. And one day I was tired of visiting the place (only because, my schedule was too tight), a bizarre idea struck in mind. Why not making the pasta in your own kitchen, instead of  shelling out lots of money? I was too scared of cooking the pasta sauce myself; what if I ruin the sauce and hate pasta forever? So I went to market and bought the readymade pasta sauce. I think its Alfredo sauce from Dr. Oetker's; came home with all the excitement, I was ready to roll. I asked my maid not to enter kitchen for a while, Concentration boss! Started cooking pasta by myself erm,,,, follwing the instruction on the carton actually. Yes, in between I came out of the kitchen to remind William how grateful he should be, coz his wife is saving his money opting to cook some exotic Italian dish in the kitchen by herself. So after all this tantrums, I finished cooking, dished out the food in a nice glass bowl and tatsed it. Reaction after my epic meal: My eyes watering, my tongue looking for honey, pasta turned out to be sooooo sour as if tasting the buttermilk after 4 days. It was so bloody sour. Looking at my reaction, William ran away fearing the offer. It was a colossal failure :(

Now after 2 months after seeing lots of videos, I decided to make pasta again, this time without store bought pasta sauce and making the sauce by myself. If you are following me on IG, you would have seen the dish that I made. Yes, it was a huge success. I didn't follow a particular recipe. This is sourced from tens of Italian cooks series with my customization. I am glad that it worked well this time. So let's do it.

No. of servings - 2
Ingredients for sauce:
Butter - 2 tbsp
Garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
Refined flour - 1 tsp heaped
Milk - 1 cup
Mixed herbs ( thyme, rosemary, basil, oregano) - 1.5 tbsp
Cheese ( processed/cheddar/parmesan/mozarella) - 3 tbsp grated
Pepper powder - 1 tsp
Chilly flakes - 1/2 tbsp
Leftover starch water from cooked pasta - 2 tbsp
Parsley - 2 tbsp chopped
Salt to taste.

Ingredients to cook chicken
Butter - 1 tbsp
Boneless Chicken (either small cubes or thin long strips) - 200 grams
Orange juice - 3 tbsp
Mixed herbs ( thyme, rosemary, basil, oregano) - 2 tbsp
Pepper powder - 1 tsp
Chilly flakes - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste

I. Lets cook pasta first.

First bring water to a rolling boil
Add salt
Add pasta of your choice (penne/fettuccine/shell/macaroni)
Let it cook for 6 minutes
DO NOT add oil.
Strain water and set aside. Do not drain water, save the water, you might need it later.

Cooked Pasta

II. Lets cook chicken now.

Add butter
Add chicken pieces and other ingredients except orange juice. Let them cook for 6-7 minutes.
Whenever the water given out by chicken dries out, add orange juice. This gives out a sweet citric fkavour into your chicken. Cook for 5 minutes.
Now chicken is fully cooked, spoon out the chicken and use the same pan to make pasta sauce

whisk whisk

Cooked Chicken

III. Lets cook sauce.

Add butter in the same pan you cooked your chicken
When it starts to bubble, add garlic paste. Cook for under a minute to avoid the burnt taste of garlic
Add refined flour and saute it with garlic paste.
Add salt to taste.
Its time to add milk; while adding the milk don't forget to whisk the pan to avoid any lumps. Keep stirring, keep stirring, keep stirring.

Soon after adding the milk, add herbs and cheese of your choice. I used cheddar cheese and parmesan cheese.

Shredded Parmesan and Cheddar

In goes, herbs, chilli flakes, pepper and cheese

 Stir until the cheese melts away. Now mix your chicken and cooked pasta in the pan with cheese. I have also added cooked corn into the pasta.
If you feel the sauce is thick, add the starch water to thin the consistency.
Sprinkle some chopped parsley for extra flavour. Your pasta is ready to serve.
Enjoy!!

Chicken Alfredo Mac & Cheese

Foot notes:
Why starch water?

• When you use normal water to thin the consistency of the sauce, the flavour reduces, you might have   to add the little salt and in this tiny step, your dish could collapse. So use starch water. 

• Starch water helps in gluing the sauce to your pasta. It gradually brings sauce to your desired consistency - thick or thin.

Why I used Parmesan and cheddar?

• I personally prefer parmesan since it's rich in taste. Feel free to use any cheese. If you like it gooey chewy, then go for mozarella. If you like it bit sharp, go for cheddar.

•         Cut those sides *eeww*
•          Spread unsalted butter on both sides
•          Toast the bread on both sides on a hot tawa for 40 seconds on each side.
•          Stack those bread toasts sideways and generously pour condensed milk on them.

Enjoy!

the actual space

my hack!!!

But wait, the driver brakes the bus and before you realize this, your head bangs on the handle bar and you slide zuuuuing to the front with your bum hitting the front seat after your cheeks. So let's stick to being the one who is kind enough to offer the aisle seat.