Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Chaphati!

After sitting next to my colleague, Smitha, during countless lunches and nibbling some of her lunch away (of course)... I finally asked (sweetly) whether she would be willing to give yours truly an introductory lesson on basic Indian cooking :D She graciously agreed.

So one fine Saturday morning, Jianfei (another colleague) and I made the gruelling trek up the slope to the humble abode of our "Mistress of Spice". It must have been the first time that I witnessed how 5 dishes could be whipped up in the space of 3 hours or less! Spices flew and a good amount of onions and potatoes were peeled :) Lots of chatter went on too as we had to decipher the names of the ingredients from Hindi to English to Mandarin!

One of the dishes I was greatly looking forward to was the humble yet wonderfully appetizing chaphati (if it can be described this way). It does not have a grand taste of its own but serves instead as a simple base to the rich curries and myriad tastes found in the Indian cuisine. Somewhat like a bowl of freshly cooked Jasmine rice, I suppose.



How chaphati is made: Knead wholewheat flour, water, oil and salt into a smooth dough. Shape into balls. Roll. Cook on a HOT iron skillet (made for chaphatis). Spread a little ghee for a yummier finish. Voila! Fresh and good to eat :D



A fulfilling lunch of (L to R): Raita (homemade yoghurt with vegetables), Chaphati, Chicken curry (this was simply delicious!), Paneer with veggies and (missing) Pulao (basmati rice cooked somewhat like briyani).


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Snack Attack!


Was on the lookout for the limited edition KitKat Sakura chocolate but came across the Lemon Cheesecake and Fruit Parfait flavours instead!

stormiii at 1:11 am

3cups of tea

Sunday, July 02, 2006

ProjectShop Cafe


ProjectShop Cafe (#03-41/44, Paragon Shopping Centre) has been raking in good reviews since it opened slightly over a year ago. Part of a rising trend where couture shops start serving up gourmet food right next to their clothes racks, it has done well enough to open a second cafe: PS Cafe at 28B Harding Road - which has received a fair share of food blog reviews too for their fabulous brunch!

I'd been wanting to check both out as soon as I read that Australian cafe dishes were served - how I've missed those clean, colourful and light flavours :D You're right in thinking if you can't recall any famous Aussie dish, unless you start thinking of kangaroo or croc meat or even their infamous damper bread and billy tea with vegemite! Being a largely immigrant population, Australia has come up with her own brand of East-West fusion cuisine; fuss free and good to eat. Those interested can check out cookbooks by celebrity chefs such as Donna Hay, Bill Granger and Kylie Kwong :)



Chicken Tofu Burger - one of the signature dishes, chicken fillet is sandwiched between two pieces of tofu and drenched in sesame and Szechuan peppercorn dressing.



Eggplant Stack - the combination of grilled eggplant, capsicum in pesto sauce and risotto cake made this dish a sure winner :D



Key Lime Pie - an Aussie twist to an American favourite, I enjoyed the thick Graham cookie base :D While their desserts were pricier than average, at least they were yummy!



The Mango & Banana Crumble (with vanilla ice cream) hit the exact sugar spot after a delightful and savoury meal. Hmmm.

stormiii at 9:56 pm

3cups of tea