Zomato Restaurant Review - The Eatery - Four Points by Sheraton Bengaluru Whitefield

 

This is our second visit to this restaurant. I got a 50% discount from Dineout.com and that is why the buffet rate came down to Rs 400. We thought that would be a great price and we went there one Saturday evening. But we were rather disappointed to find that the food quality has been diminished. The no. of starters were less but that was noted in my earlier review also. This time we found that chicken non-veg starters were oily and taste is not good. The fish preparation was much better. The main dishes were ok but then again the pulao was slightly undone and dry. Here also the fish salana and another one was better tasting. The live pasta counter was great though. My son and husband greatly enjoyed. The desserts were good in numbers but apart from the ice-cream nothing was great. The fruits were fresh but the pastries were average. The only excellent thing about our whole experience was the service. Mr. Girish was taking good care of us and he was very amicable, prompt and accommodating. The ambience was another salvageable point. Overall 3.5 rating from my side.

Tilapia Sorshe Jhal - Tilapia curry in mustard sauce

Tilapia is highly valued as a seafood source due to its many beneficial qualities, which are attributed to its wealth of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals, including significant amounts of protein, omega-3 fatty acids, selenium, phosphorous, potassium, vitamin B12, niacin, vitamin B6, and pantothenic acid. But I love large Tilapia fish as a Bengali fish lover w/o thinking about its benefit. Generally it is difficult to get fresh Tilapia in Bangalore. But this Saturday was my lucky day and I got a really large and fresh Tilapia. I could not resist buying and cooking the same. This is the recipe I followed to cook an authentic Bengali sorshe jhal (curry with mustard seeds) with Tilapia.

Preparation Time: - 15 min

Cooking Time: - 25~30 min 

Servings: - 2 persons

Ingredients:- 

1. Tilapia fish – 1 whole large fish cut into 4 pieces (approx. 500 gm.)
2. 1 medium Onion
3. 1 juicy medium Tomato
4. 2 tsp Ginger paste
5. 2 tbsp Mustard paste ( Here I used 2 tbsp Sunrise yellow mustard powder )
6. 1 tsp Kalonji / Nigella seeds
7. 1 ½ tsp Turmeric Powder
8. 2~4 Green Chili silted horizontally (you can use whole red chilli also according to your preference)
9. 1 tsp Kashmiri Red Chili powder (optional)
10. 3 tbsp mustard oil ( This is cooked in authentic Bengali way and so I prefer mustard oil – if you find the smell appalling then you can use Sunflower or Canola oil but taste may be less pungent. )
11. Salt to taste.
12. Sugar to balance the taste (optional)
13. 1 cup warm water
14. Few chopped coriander leaves for garnishing.

Preparation:-

1. Wash the fish thoroughly and rub with 1 tsp turmeric powder and salt. Keep aside for 15~20 minutes.
2. Chop Onion and Tomato. Remove the seeds of Tomato for health reason.
3. Prepare mustard paste from mustard powder mixed with little warm water and salt. I use the Sunrise yellow mustard powder which removes the upper layer of mustard seeds and thus more healthy. You can prepare the paste by grinding the black mustard seeds also.  Keep the paste aside for 20 min.
4. Heat 2 tbsp mustard oil in kadai or non-stick pan in high heat.
5. When oil starts smoking turn the burner to medium setting and shallow fry the pieces of fish till they turn light golden. Keep aside.
6. Add 1 tbsp oil with the remaining oil in the same kadai and heat again.
7. Now add the Nigella seeds and one green chilli. If you want it spicier you can add whole red chili also.
8. When started spluttering then add the onion pieces. Continue frying till they turn translucent and brownish. 
9. Add Ginger paste into it.
10. Mix well and add chopped Tomato.
11. When oil is separated from the texture add the mustard paste to it.
12. Sauté for a couple of minutes.
13. Add a cup of warm water, little bit of turmeric powder and salt to adjust. Add Kashmiri red chili powder now.
14. When the mixture starts boiling add the fried fish pieces.
15. Stir to mix uniformly. Simmer for some time.
16. Adjust the gravy amount according to your preference. I prefer it thick and that is why I boil for little more.
17. Turn the burner off and garnish with coriander leaves and a green chili.
    

Serve this side dish with hot steamed rice. I prefer Bengali style brinjal fry and Alu Posto ( poppy seeds curry with potato ) to go with this.

As always please feel free to comment, criticize and seek if any help is required. I am all ears.

Best Wishes for Valentine's Day - Enjoy

Happy Valentine's Day - Enjoy!!!!!

Best wishes for my readers for festival of Maha Shivaratri

Hope Lord Shiva fills your life with fulfillment and joy this year on the occasion of Maha Shivaratri

 

How to make Kadhi - a delicious Vegetarian dish

Kadhi or karhi is a north Indian dish. It consists of a thick gravy based on chickpea flour, and contains vegetable fritters / pakoras, to which curd / yogurt is added to give it little sour taste. There are several regional varieties of this dish – Punjabi, Gujrati, Rajasthani etc. I have modified the Punjabi version of it and added some Bengali twist to make an yummy dish. Hope you like this recipe.

Preparation Time: - 15 min

Cooking Time: - 35~40 min

Servings: - 8~10 persons (depends upon personal capacity)  

Ingredients:-

For the Pakora / fritters

1. 1 ½ cup split Chickpeas / Chana dal (approx. 350 gm.)
2. ½ cup fresh curd / yogurt
3. 1 medium Onion
4. 2 tsp Ginger garlic paste
5. 8~10 corns of whole Black pepper
6. 2 tsp Cumin (Jeera) seeds
7. 1 chopped Green Chilli ( you can use Red Chilli if you are spice lover)
8. 2 tsp Garam Masala
9. Sufficient vegetable oil to fry

For the Gravy

10. 2 cups fresh curd / yogurt
11. 3 tsp Besan (Gram Flour)
12. ½ tsp Cumin seeds (Jeera)
13. ½ tsp mustard seeds
14. ½ tsp Methi (fenugreek) seeds
15. A few curry leaves
16. 1 Green Chili slited
17. 1 tsp Turmeric powder
18. 1 tsp Coriander powder
19. 1 tsp Kashmiri Chilli powder
20. 2 tsp grated Ginger
21. ½ tsp Ghee or clarified butter (optional)
22. 2 tsp Sugar (optional)
23. Salt to taste

For Garnishing

24. 2 tsp finely chopped Coriander leaves
25. 1 Green Chili slited

Preparation:-

1.     Soak the Chana dal for minimum 4~5 hours.

2.     Crush the black pepper corns with the help of mortar and pestle. You can use the readymade pepper powder also but the taste would be better if you use pepper corns.

3.     Grind the Chana dal in a blender with ginger garlic paste, black pepper, chopped green chili, Garam masala, salt along with curd. Make a smooth bater. You can use water instead of curd but curd makes the pakora / fritters soft and enhances the taste.

4.     Chop the onion.

5.     Mix the chopped onion and whole Jeera (cumin seeds) with the batter.

6.     You can add a pinch of baking soda for making the fritters fluffy but I do not prefer it as it is not healthy for kids.

7.     Heat sufficient oil in a round shaped Kadai.

8.     Take a spoonful of batter in between your fingers or in a spoon and carefully drop in the oil.

9.     Deep fry them until medium brown and crispy. I fried 7~8 pakoras in a single batch. Your batch size may be different according to your kadhai size.

10.  Drain the excel oil in kitchen towel and keep aside.

11.  Follow the same procedure for the remaining batter.

12.  Take a bowl and beat curd and gram flour together. You can use hand blender to make it smooth and avoid lumps quickly.

13.  Add 1 ½ cup of water to the mixture and pour turmeric powder, salt, Kashmiri chili powder and coriander powder. Blend again with the hand blender until smooth. The idea is to avoid the lumps.

14.  Heat 2 ½ tbsp. sunflower / canola oil in a non-stick pan in medium flame.

15.  Add mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds and cumin seeds.

16.  When the spices crackle then add curry leaves and grated ginger.

17.  Sauté for 30~40 seconds and add the batter prepared in step 13.

18.  Cook on medium flame until the raw smell of gram flour goes away. This would be about 8 minutes. Stir frequently so that the bottom portion does not become sticky. You may add a little bit of water if the gravy becomes thick.

19.  Add the deep fried pakoras in the gravy and mix well. Cook for 3~4 min.

20.  Add sugar if you like. I added it as all Bengalis are sugar-lovers. If you like the tanginess of the gravy then you do not need it. In fact, it all depends upon the degree of the tanginess of your curd.

21.  Now add Ghee to have a nice aroma. Mix well and switch off the burner.

22.  Garnish with coriander leaves and green Chilli.

Your yummy Kadhi is ready to be served.

This is a side dish that goes well with steamed rice ( Kadhi Chawal as in Punjabi dish) or Tandoori Roti. It can go with Jeera rice as well. Kadhi, a vegetable dish and a glass full of Lassi is a good idea of wholesome dinner.

As always please feel free to comment, criticize and seek if any help is required. I am all ears.