Mush(y)room Masala

I love to cook not always but randomly just like that.  Mom had prepared Chapati for  Dinner and as accompaniment made Onion and Tomato gravy (thakkali chutney). So i planned to meddle with the same. And Voila my very own Mushyroom masala was invented. 

Ingredients

Mushrooms  10-12 big ones medium sliced

Onions 2 nos diced

Ripe tomatoes 2 nos diced

Red Chilli Powder 1 teaspoon

Curry Chilli Powder 1 teaspoon

Sugar 1/2 teaspoon

Curry Leaves

Mustard seeds

Oil (sunflower oil)2-3 tablespoon

Olive oil 2-4 tablespoon

Salt to taste

Tomato sauce (ketchup would do)

Aloo mash  ( readily available dessicated potato)  mainly to thicken the gravy

Cream or beaten Curd about 1 cup (200ml)

Tomato and Onion Gravy (Mother’s Recipe)

Heat oil in a deep pan(kadai) and fry curry leaves and mustard seeds, then add the diced onions and tomatoes and cook until the onions turn translucent. Add a pinch of turmeric, followed by  half teaspoon each of red chilli powder  and curry chilli powder. Add salt and half a cup of water, cover and simmer for 5-6 minutes. Add half tsp of sugar and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes and let it rest.

Mushroom Masala ( Yours Truly)

Heat olive oil in a pan and add the mushrooms to it, fry the mushrooms until they reduce in size. Add diced green chillis and fry. Then add half teaspoon each of red chilli and curry chilli powder, sauté until the raw chilli smell fades away, add salt to taste. Now, add the tomato and onion gravy to the pan and add about 2-3 tablespoon of tomato sauce.  Mix and simmer until the oil starts to separate, then add a cup of beaten curd. Simmer for further 2-3 minutes, taste for salt. Now add aloo mash as per your requirement to make it from a semi gravy to dry dish. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve it hot with Chappati or Roti, could be used to make Masala Dosa or as masala in Sandwich.

Kabul - Too far from taste, just like the distance between Chennai and Kabul

Friday night returning from work, I suggested going out for dinner. However, Wifey was in no mood so decided to do a takeaway from Kabul. Kabul has moved to the new location from TTK road, to Radha Krishnan Salai, its right by the Royapettah –Mylapore flyover near the signal.

We ordered a Keema Biryani, Naan, Masala Paratha, Butter Chicken Masala and Dal Makhani.

Sorry totally forgot to click the pictures, was too hungry to focus on clicking photos.

Naan and Masala paratha were good both in terms of texture and taste. Just make sure its hot while you eat.

Butter chicken masala was nicely prepared not spicy at all with strips of shredded chicken bit on the oily side, no complaints though was a good accompaniment for the breads we had ordered.  Portion was good enough to serve three people.

Dal makhani, well any good restaurant wouldn’t get it wrong and Kabul didn’t screw it up.

Coming to the last dish of the day Gosht Dum Biryani aka Keema biryani or should i call it red rice with shredded mutton sheek kebab. This is where i feel a picture would be worth a thousand words. Don’t ever and never order the biryani, reason i say is not because it didn’t taste nice... its just not biryani. More like a greasy mutton sheek fried rice with lot of red color.  They definetly have got this one wrong and with a hefty tag of 300 bucks, total and utter disappointment.

Total bill came to 920 Rs, Biryani 300, Butter chkn masala 245, Dal 165, Naan 40 and Paratha 45.

Kabul is located on Dr.Radhakrishan Salai at the  Junction before Pizza Hut

Food 6/10 (mainly because of the pretentious biryani else 7.5/10)

Ambience NA

Service NA

Price 5/10

Would I Recommend?   Not really. if you're tired of other Punjabi restaurants then maybe,  not recommended for Biryani. I can think of numerous biryani outlets that can offer much better and cheaper alternatives.

Hotel Town Bus

I have passed through this hotel many number of times; and everytime with one thought should try this one and i did this time. Me and my mom where coming back home from Vadapalani, when i suggested we have dinner over there.

Earlier my dad had mentioned that the tiffin items on this hotel is good.  What’s most striking about this place apart from its name. They have a cut out of town bus plastered above the entrance. 

Entrance - Picked this pic from internet

Name itself “Town Bus” is a term that you would hear once your out of Chennai, very common name across Tamil Nadu and a term people can easily relate to.

This is not a fine dine restaurant and its a Hotel in its true sense, as one would expect a hotel to be.

Ambience is just how would you expect, its got clean tables and a typical small hotel decor.  We ordered a Parotta  (Malabar parotta) and Masala Dosa. You get served pretty and quick.   

Parotta

Parotta was  like in other places two small ones served with Vegetable Kuruma, Channa sort of gravy and Onion raitha.  Parotta was soft, fluffy and nicely cooked and so were the accompaniments, just right and tasty.

Masala Dosa

Masala dosa was served with Sambar, Tomato Chutney, Coriander Chutney and  Coconut Chutney, it was again good to taste. Would definitely suggest those who go there to try their chutney. 

Finally we ordered  a Coffee, which was a let down too milky and less of decoction.

I personally have a quirkiness that if i go to any of the hotels of this type that serves tiffin items need to wash it down with coffee and for a non-veg hotel like Safari (typically any mallu muslim hotel)  wash it down with tea.

The bill was 72 rs, and totally worth it. They also have North Indian, Chinese style dishes and Chat. I would prefer to stick to South Indian dishes at similar hotels.

Hotel Town Bus is located on Arcot Road on the right from Vadapalani towards Kodambakkam.  You cannot miss the huge bus above the entrance.

Food  8/10

Ambience 4/10

Service 8/10

Price 9/10

Would I Recommend?   Yes, don’t expect fine dine.

Dine @ Escape Cinemas, Chennai

My First of the many posts to come, i sincerely hope to add more to the list.

It had been quite some time since we (me and moi wife) visited Express Avenue (EA) a stone’s throw away from our home.  So, we decided to go there on a Friday evening and catch dinner at one of the many outlets over there.

First we went in for Cafe Pascucci, we were turned off by the strong odour of paint or varnish and decided to head up for the food court. That’s when my wife suggested we check out the restaurant in Escape Cinemas. 

Dine - A view from our table

I had no clue about the food they serve nor their prices, so was relieved to see the Menu card at the entrance of the restaurant. Not much of an entrance actually, its what you end up, if you miss your screen entrances. Was  greeted by nicely dressed waiter who seated us, i was expecting it to be quite noisy, it wasn’t and there was just another family seated in the restaurant.  However, at the time of show intervals, it gets a bit busy so try to get seated away from the crowd unless you plan on a putting show on for the audience. I am probably being too dramatic but guess you get the drift of it. 

One more thing worth mentioning is the fish tank called “SWIM” filled with Corals and the brightly coloured coral fishes in it, which is good but it has its sets of visitors mainly kids running around your table unattended.

Menu card is a comprehensive mix of Indian and Continental food, however, they do not have a variety of soups. It’s the Soup of the Day – a vegetarian and a Non-vegetarian. It was Tomato soup that day, and funnily enough the waiter asked us if we wanted a Chicken Tomato Soup or a Vegetarian.  This is probably the first time i have come across Chicken tomato soup at a restaurant, unless i have overlooked the menu at the hotels i have been. We went for the Veg Tomato Soup, which was one of the best tomato soups i have had in Chennai. It was creamy thick tomato soup probably with grounded lentils in it. It tasted yumm.

Tomato Soup -Veg

We had no intentions for starters, they did have a good  list of starters both veg and non veg that were reasonably priced.  Going by the smell of those that were ordered by others should have been tasty.

For the main course my wife ordered the Garden  Veg Burger and i went for the Chateaubriand Tenderloin with Horseradish Sauce.  It was good to hear from the waiter asking  “ How would you like your beef  Rare, medium or well done?”   i went the medium way.

Burger was served with fries , built with a veg pattie which is quite thin and decked with lettuce, tomato, cucumber , caramelized onions and cheese. The burger bun was also quite good, the only complain being the base of the bun was shredding into pieces even before you are halfway through with the burger. Then again, i am yet to come across a burger bun that hold well till you finish it in Chennai.

Garden Veg Burger

Chateaubriand that i ordered was perfectly done, with little bit of pinkishness as you cut through the pieces.  Three medallions of beef were served on an oddly shaped mash potato with horseradish sauce, i found the sauce nice and would have preferred a more liberal dose of it. I like more of sauce or gravy in my dishes, it was sided with a grilled baby corn, broccoli and shredded mix of vegetables. Though the portion looked small, it was quite filling and i thoroughly enjoyed it. Full points for the chef on this.

Chateaubriand with Horseradish

We did not have dessert  though they did have quite a  tempting line up on their menu, we wanted to  try it at the food court for other options  Gola , Cotton candy etc.

Totally it rang up to 475 Rs, with Soup for  75, Garden Burger for 125 and the lovely Chateaubriand for 275. No Taxes or service charges added to the bill.

Dine is located within Escape Cinemas at EA, as you enter Escape walk towards your left all the way to the end. Dine, Escape Cinemas -EA

Food  8/10

Ambience 7/10

Service 8/10

Price 8/10

Would I Recommend?   Absolutely yes, highly recommended.