New Menu @Skylit, Citrus Hotel - Cunninghamroad, Bengaluru

Hi Friends, Skylit-Citrus welcomes you to  enjoy the exquisite and luxurious new menu. A mix of mughlai, mediterranean and asian cuisine consisting...16 starters, freshly baked breads, followed by a king size buffet and delectable desserts. 

The rooftop setting makes it all the more inviting and wonderful spot for an Indian culinary experience. Service was efficient, waiters were impressively knowledgeable about every aspect of the menu, and gave some very good recommendations for drinks.

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We started our tasting session with a cocktail called tequila sunrise followed by bread basket.  

Focaccia, Nachos herb butter and dips..

Grilled Vegetables

Bharwan Murgh Tikka: Stuffed pieces of chicken morsels spiked with tandoori masala and grilled.

Crispy Fried Prawns served with mint chutney..

Mewa Mawa Ki Sheekh: Indianised version spicy fried milk..

Bagha Crabs: Crabs shells stuffed with spicy crab meat and topped with cheese and grilled.

Amritsari Macchi : Boneless filet of fish spiked with spices and grilled on coals.

Grilled Halomi Cheese: Cubes of salty halomi cheese marinated in yogurt based masala and grilled on coals.

Borek: Pastry sheets filled with spinach caramelized onion and cheese and baked..

Herb Butter Grilled Fish..

BBQ Chicken Supreme..

Some Millet Breads...Makki ki roti

Subj Shammi: Soya Based Shammi Kababs..

Ice golas as palate cleansers..

Tawa Ghost: Meat grilled in iron skillet..

Achari Mushroom and Cheesy Broccoli: Mushroom grilled in pickle spice and broccoli grilled with cheddar cheese..

Jalapeno Frittata..

Buffet Spread...

Chicken Biryani, Mutton Rogan Josh, Paneer Butter Masala, Ghobi Mutter, Schezwan Noodles, Baked Corn Florentine, Veg Pulao, Dhal Palak, Veg Pulao, Curd Rice...

Salad Bar..

My Plate..

Dessert Spread consisting of 16 desserts including icecreams and Cut Fruits...

 Strawberry Mousse..

 Shahi Tukda..

 Black Forest Cake..

 Rossogolla..

 Caramel Custard..

 Mango Cake..

 Tiramisu

 Plum Pudding..

 Apple Pedas...

Kaja..

My Dessert Plate..

Overall the new menu has amazing mix of 8 veg and 8 nonveg starters and drinks. Table booking is recommended if your planning a weekend visit...cost 750/- + taxes per person. I enjoyed the ambiance and company of my friends. Citrus-Skylit has always been our favorite place for meetups. 

Thanks to Citrus-Skylit and PR company for inviting me. For more info please click on zomato spoon backs.

WEBLINK:http://www.citrushotels.com

 

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Lalbagh #vidyastravel #vidyascooking #bengaluru #karnataka #myblr #vidyastravel

A photo posted by Vidya Lakshmi (@vidyascooking) on Jun 30, 2016 at 12:16am PDT

"CREATE FRENCH BOX" FROM CAFE NOIR

Hi Friends, Cafe Noir introduces FRENCH BOX comprising of products ranging from exquisite croissants and French macaroons to authentic quiches and baguettes. 

To enjoy authentic french bakes all you have to do is log on the to weblink http://frenchbox.cafenoir.co.in/ and click on "Create My Own Box" option add the products you want pay and exit. The products are delivered to your doorstep. 

Home delivery timings are between 7 am to 9 pm. One can also choose the time for the products to be delivered. If you pre book your order by 9 pm choose best time for products to be delivered next day and it will be shipped. All products are freshly baked everyday.

The online service had received a positive response from Bangalore residents, expatriates, and travelers. After collecting feedback from their customers, the FRENCH BOX Team is now adding two new and exciting features to their website; One Time Purchase and subscription box options.

Why subscribe to FRENCH BOX?
1. SET FREQUENCY
How often do you want your FRENCH BOX? Set yourself up for weekly or monthly deliveries of your favorite French foods.
Skip the ordering process and prepone or postpone a delivery with a few clicks!

2. SET DURATION
For how many weeks/months do you want your FRENCH BOX?
Get an extra one for free at each multiple of 6, along with a special surprise!

3. PAY UPFRONT & SAVE
You can choose to pay at each delivery. But you can also save 1% for each week/month of subscription,

up to 12% savings, when you pay your subscription in full on your first delivery.

I was contacted by the PR company who sent me a selection of products to taste and review. We personally liked all the products sent to us. 

If your a person who loves entertaining people this french box would be a wonderful add on to your existing food display like macaroons or quiches.

Some details cafe noir has to note is the packaging. Few products which was sent to me were mangled during delivery and I was unable to display on my blog. Individual packed boxes for tarts and few delicate products is recommended. 

Since there is a ban on plastic its getting tough for the food delivery industry to supply few product to their customers I can totally understand the issue but if a customer is organizing a event he or she would like to have perfect looking tarts and cookies.

Other than the packaging we had no issues with the products quiches were so tasty my dad and mom loved them. Here is what we tasted...

Pain aux Raisins (Danish Raisin)

A golden and lightly sweet pure butter puff pastry with raisins, cinnamon and one of the finest French crème pâtissière. Danish Raisin bread was packed with cinnamon flavor was flaky and very tasty with ginger chai. This is a tea time/breakfast product.

Quiche des Vosges

Quiches (pronounced keesh) are a type of open pie. Quiche des Vosges is an oven-baked savory dish filled with peas, green beans, red and yellow bell peppers, eggs and milk or cream in a puff pastry crust.

French Baguette

French Baguette tasted excellent with olive oil and balsamic vinegar...Perfect for people who enjoy wine pairing and cookouts...

Large Oats & Orange Cookie again an excellent tea time snack it has pure butter and raisins...

Daddy enjoying goodies from FRENCH BOX!

We enjoyed all the products. Thanks to the PR Person and Cafe Noir for sending us some goodies :)

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Feeling blessed to receive...Cinnamon rolls, cookies & quiche from café noir #cafenoir #bengaluru #frenchbox #frenchfood #vidyastravel #vidyascooking

A photo posted by Vidya Lakshmi (@vidyascooking) on Jul 6, 2016 at 10:50pm PDT

Crispy Basa Fish In Chilly Basil Sauce

I'm a huge fan of modern pan asian cuisine and recently tasted chilly basil fish at a restaurant its an excellent side dish for noodles or fried rice. We can also serve this dish as a starter. This recipe can be altered by using mixed vegetables or chicken instead of fish. 

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Ingredients:
500 Grams Fish Fillets Basa or Salmon we can also use prawns in this recipe.
1 Cup Washed and Chopped Spring Onions
1/2 Cup Washed and  Chopped Coriander with Stems 
1/2 Cup Basil Leaves Washed and Chopped
1 Whole Garlic Peeled 
1 Tbsp Peppercorns
5 to 6 Chilies
2 Tbsp Beaten Egg
4 Tbsp Corn Flour
4 Tbsp Black Bean Sauce or Soya Sauce
1/4 Tsp Pepper Powder
Salt as per taste
1/4 Cup Sesame Oil
Sunflower Oil for frying
1 Tbsp Lime Juice or Vinegar 

Prep Up:
Wash all the greens thoroughly allow the excess moisture to drain in the colander. Roughly chop the greens and measure using measuring cups reserve. Wash the Fish fillets chop into bite size cubes reserve.

Prepare Basil Sauce:
In a mixerjar add garlic, chilies, pepper and shallots grind to form a coarse paste. Add greens little at a time and grind to create a coarse paste...reserve. 

Heat a wok with sesame oil on medium flame, add the ground paste to the oil and fry for a minute. Add black bean sauce or soya sauce fry until the oil surfaces on the sauce check for salt add if needed remove from heat and allow to cool.

Bottle the sauce and use as required we can serve this sauce instead of ketchup its yummy and very tasty when served with veg cutlets or french fries.

Chilly Basil Fish:
Add the washed cubes of fish to a mixing bowl. Add beaten eggs, corn flour, salt and pepper mix well allow to marinate for 5 minutes on kitchen counter. 

Heat oil in a wok for frying. Gently drop the fish pieces one at a time and fry until golden in color. Drain excess oil and reserve the fish until entire batch of fish has fried. 

In a pan add 3 tbsp chilly basil sauce on medium flame add lime juice toss the fish in sauce and serve right-away...Enjoy :)

Paruppu Urundai Kuzhambu Recipe (Southindian Lentil Dumplings in Spicy Gravy)

Lentil Dumplings are popular across India. The recipe varies according to region, In south we prepare these dumpling gravy in three versions. 

The dumpling recipe remains the same where as the gravy recipe changes. We prepare a tamarind gravy or coconut based gravies and add the cooked dumplings to the gravy. 

Normally this dish is served with rice or dosa, we can also serve this curry with parotta. I like this curry the next day, the dumplings soak up the spicy curry and is very juicy to eat as it is.

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To Prepare Dumplings:

2 Cups Split Chick peas (Channa Dhal)

1 Large Onion washed peeled and finely chopped

Fist Full Mint and Coriander leaves washed and finely chopped

1 Inch Ginger washed peeled and chopped

1 Tsp Fennel

2 Pods Cardamom

1 Inch Stick Cinnamon

3 Cloves 

8 to 10 Green Chilies add depending as per heat

Salt

To Thicken the Curry:

1/4 Cup Coconut

Fist Full Coriander

For the Gravy:

1 Large Onion peeled and sliced

1 Large Tomato washed and chopped into cubes

2 Large Potatoes washed peeled and Cubed

2 Tbsp Green Chilly masala paste

1 Inch Cinnamon

3 Cloves

1 Star anise

3 Pods Cardamom

2 Tbsp Oil

1 Tbsp Ghee

Salt as per taste

Click Here for Green Chilly Masala Paste Recipe

Method:
Start preparing the dumpling batter first. Wash the split chickpeas thrice soak in enough water for 1/2 hour or until the lentils double in size. 

Once the lentils doubled in size drain excess water and reserve. Add spices, chilies and ginger to a mixer jar and grind to form a coarse masala. To the masala add the soaked lentils little at a time and grind till coarse consistency do not add water.

Reserve the batter to a mixing bowl. Add the chopped onions, salt, mint and coriander mix well and form lime size roundels.

Steam cook the roundel dumpling using a colander or in a steam cooker for 15 minutes on low flame. After 15 minutes insert a sharp knife or toothpick the batter should not stick to the object thats when the dumpling is cooked. Reserve the cooked dumplings.

Heat a heavy bottom pot or wok on medium flame to prepare the curry. Add ghee and oil. Once the ghee and oil smokes add whole spices and allow to splutter. 

Add onion, tomato and green chilly paste fry till onions and tomatoes soften a bit. Add cubed potatoes coriander and turmeric powder fry till raw flavor from the spices have gone add enough water to cook the potatoes cover and cook till well done.

Once the potatoes have cooked add sufficient water for the gravy along with salt as per taste and the prepared coconut masala stir and bring to rapid boil.

Allow the curry to boil until raw flavor has gone add the prepared dumplings to the gravy stir and reduce for 5 to 10 minutes garnish with lime juice and coriander leaves. Serve hot with steam cooked rice...Enjoy:)

Lentil dumpling curry traditional south Indian cuisine parrupu urrundai kuzhambu #southindianfood #southindia #vidyascooking #bengaluru #chennai #welovetoeat

A photo posted by Vidya Lakshmi (@vidyascooking) on Jun 15, 2016 at 3:38am PDT

TASTY INDIANISED PIZZAS FROM PAPA JOHN'S

I was offered to taste pizzas from PAPA JOHNS, via a known PR Company. I was practically ecstatic for all the free Pizzas, I'm gonna taste. 

I make a note of all the pizzas i wanted to order, like BBQ Chicken pizza, Corn and mushroom pizza and so on and kept dreaming about the order entire night. 

Next Day somehow ended up changing my mind completely and wanted to order only Indianised Pizzas. My quest was to find out if they have nailed all the flavors as mention on the pizza menu. 

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When it comes to western cuisine (specially Italian), they love flavors, natural taste and textures. I've tasted Pizzas at many places where the pizza sauce has basil flavor and topping would have garam masala this combination is something I've hated. 

Coming to papa johns order...I ordered spicy pepper roast pizza, Zaffran chicken Pizza, Slice of mumbai pizza, Chicken Fingers and Bread Sticks. We also ordered Lava cake and Chocolate mousse for dessert. 

Papa Johns Pizzas have tried their best to preserve the originality of the dish by using all natural and quality ingredients for their pizzas but by adding few ingredients to adapt local flavors and taste.

Next day my mail reached the PR and they made sure to ship out my order for lunch. The order reached us on time. 

We started to open the small packages containing starters. I also had a huge batch of tomato soup which we reheated and ate along with the pizzas.

Papas Chicken Strips: Pieces of chicken breast Slightly coated with bread and baked till crisp makes it a healthy starter its served with BBQ Sauce. 

We enjoyed these crispy chicken nuggets it was sightly moist inside bit bland for my taste. I was really surprised with the packaging these nuggets did not get soggy and were crispy.

Garlic Parmesan Breadsticks: Freshly baked breadsticks are a favourite snack at my house. Topped with signature Garlic sauce and Italian Parmesan seasoning and served with signature pizza sauce for dipping. 

Bread Sticks tasted amazing the crispy yet soft centered bread sticks went really well with some soup that we already prepared.

Spicy Chicken Pepper Roast Pizza: Is constructed using signature tomato pizza sauce topped with Chicken Tikka, fresh red onions, green capsicum and finished with 100% mozzarella cheese with a special spicy capsicum roast topping. 

This Pizza comes in (Regular 6 inches- Serves 1, Medium 9 inches- Serves 2, Large 12 inches- Serves 3)

Typical southindian flavors packed with garlic and chicken did not have overwhelming garam masala we also topped this pizza with generous sprinkling of chilly flakes and garlic onion seasoning which comes along with the pizza.

Zaffran Chicken Pizza: Topped with Mozzerella Cheese, Fresh Green Capsicum, Fresh Red Onions, Chicken Keema and Chicken Tikka topped with unique Zaffran sauce. 

This Pizza Comes in (Regular 6 inches- Serves 1, Medium 9 inches- Serves 2, Large 12 inches- Serves 3)

Chicken was added 2 ways tiny pieces and keema format. I enjoyed the mildly flavored zaffran chicken could've been bit spicy I liked it.

Slice of Mumbai: Is prepared using signature tomato based curry sauce, loaded with freshly cut tomatoes, topped with onion and 100% mozzarella cheese.

This Pizza Comes in (Regular 6 inches- Serves 1, Medium 9 inches- Serves 2, Large 12 inches- Serves 3)

I would suggest to add some extra toppings on this pizza. It was just a fluffy bread with curry sauce and cheese.

Chocolate Lava Cake: This cake was bursting with rich chocolate sauce it was all gone in minutes.

Chocolate Mousse there is no comments on the desserts it was excellent.

Overall enjoyed the fluffy bread pizzas. Toppings and sauces matched it was truly tasty. We also enjoyed the starters and Desserts. My order was for 2000/- its worth every dime we had enough leftovers to snack on for the next 2 days.

I must thank the PR company and Papa Johns for their generosity. Disclaimer there is no harm in eating free food and suggesting few details to brands. Readers and Public please respect the food blogging community. For further business please contact me at vidyascooking@gmail.com

Zaffran murgh pizza @papajohnsin #papajohnsin #Betteringreditsbetterpizzas #bengaluru #vidyascooking #pizzatime #karnataka

A photo posted by Vidya Lakshmi (@vidyascooking) on Jun 15, 2016 at 7:23am PDT

Thanks to Papa Johns Pizza Yelahanka for the Service...

Chicken Baida Roti @Iftar Street Food Festival

Bidding adieu to Ramadhan Iftar Street food festival 2016. Chicken Roti or also known as baida roti- A shallow fried Indian bread stuffed with minced meats and shallow fried in egg was our favorite dish this year at the street food festival- Frazertown, Bengaluru. 

Bombay Duck (Bombili Fry) Recipe

Bombili is normally a dried fish which we prepare at home occasionally. "Just the other day" at my local supermarket I was surprised to find fresh bombili. We have never seen or tasted fresh bombili before. 

I dont even know how to prepare it when its fresh. After few calls to my friends and cousins I got complete info about this fish how to prepare etc. 

We thoroughly enjoyed this fish its very light and tasty almost like basa fish very easy to clean and prepare in a jiffy. For just around 200 bucks 500 grams we had 10 generous portions of fish.

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Ingredients:

500 Grams Bombili (Bombay Duck)

5 Tbsp Vinegar or Tamarind pulp

1 Tbsp Turmeric

1 Tsp Garlic minced or Powder

3 to 4 Tbsp Chilly Powder

2 Tbsp Corn Flour

2 Tbsp Maida (all  purpose flour)

2 Tbsp Whipped Eggs

Salt as per taste 

Oil for frying

Method:

Wash the fish thoroughly drain the excess water using a colander and reserve the fish. In a mixing bowl add chilly powder, garlic, turmeric and salt mix all the ingredients first add vinegar and prepare a spreadable paste. Smear the masala paste on the fish cover and allow to marinate for 1 hour for best results allow to marinate over night refrigerated.

Just before frying add corn flour maida and egg to the fish mix thoroughly to coat reserve. Heat oil in a wok for frying on medium flame. Once the oil is hot gently drop fish pieces in oil and fry until golden brown. Drain excess oil and serve hot with lime wedges and onions...Enjoy :)

My 2 hour walk ended at more megastore and now busy cleaning and prepping for lunch #vidyascooking #vidyastravel #bengaluru #yummy #moremegastores

A photo posted by Vidya Lakshmi (@vidyascooking) on Jun 24, 2016 at 1:10am PDT