Taj Mahal Tea House Bandra

#Su's Food Venture..

Taj Mahal Tea House.... A perfect place to spend your lazy Sundays and Holidays ....

Few of the old bungalows in Bandra has been converted in to cafes and restaurants.. One of them which has opened up recently this month on St. John Baptist road is Taj Mahal Tea house... The place is huge around 3,500 square feet and the ambience is very cosy.. ideal for a lazy Sunday break fast or a brunch. You can visit the place with your family, friends or single... 

The interiors has a look of a charming old colonial house of a Maharaja..... with wooden celing and flooring.... Some portion of the walls are designed with Antique marbled tiles and antique furnitures kept all around the place. The place has a reading corner and WiFi connection.. and a cosy ambience to work, read and spend hours together without any one disturbing your privacy. You can comfort yourself in any corner as the area has been divided into many several small sections....

The Indian classical music follows with the ambience of the place and few musical instruments have been displayed. One of the instrument which has been displayed is the tabla used by Ustad Zakir Hussain as he is the brand ambassador of Taj Mahal Tea. Few of his pictures holds the pride position on the walls.

There is a take away sales counter from where you can buy tea and bread. 

   One of the menu card says all about different types of tea which is being served there like Saffron, Mint and Curry leaf iced tea,  Organic and Green tea, Chai smoothies and Chai lattes and a  filter coffee too. I loved there chilled Kashmiri saffron Chai latte... but a bit of sweetness could have been added in the latte, but no worries, I added  sugar to my taste. 

The other menu card says all about  food being served there right from breakfast, lunch, nibbles, high tea, sandwich, soups, salads, dinner and desserts.
Food is excellent and worth the price as a boutique restaurant,  although one of the item which I had there Homemade savoury waffle, sandwiched between Mediterranean vegetables, I felt was a bit overly priced as to the portion served.  

A  must have dish was Arabic fritter chaat with tamarind tulsi chutney... we ordered for a second plate. 

House made egg benedict and was another dish worth the try.  Rest of the dishes we had there and was also good was Belgian waffles with choice of apple compote, home made jam, chocolate, caramel sauce, honey or whipped cream, Parsi brun maska with homemade jam, Paneer and spearmint samosa with plum and kokam chutney,  Triple deck egg sandwich and Dhokla millefeuilles with asparagus, portobello mushroom and chickpeas ragout.

The people in the Tea House was very friendly and the service was very prompt. 

Wah Taj!!

Chicken stuffed with Cheesy, Garlicky Corn Spinach served with Lemon, Garlic Sauce

Chicken stuffed with Cheesy, Garlicky Corn Spinach served with Lemon, Garlic Sauce

For the Stuffing
2 cups Spinach finely chopped
1 cup Corn boiled
2 tbsp Garlic Minced
1/2 tbsp Chilli flakes
1/2 cup Cheddar cheese grated OR Feta cheese
Salt to taste
1 tsp Olive oil

Method
Take a  wok, add oil, heat the oil. Add garlic, sauté it for few seconds.. Add the corn, spinach, salt and chilli flakes. Cook the spinach till all the water dries up. Cool the spinach. Coarsely grind the spinach... Some corn should remain whole. Add the cheese and mix it well.

Chicken
Ingredients
Take 6 Chicken breast
Salt to taste
1/2 tbsp Pepper crushed
1 tbsp Lime juice
Stuffing
2 tbsp Oil

Method
Marinate the chicken for an hour with all the above ingredients. Take a piece of the chicken breast. Slit the piece half way through. Spread the chicken piece on a chopping board, beat and flatten the chicken with a blunt knife. Take 2 tbsp of the stuffing at one end of the chicken. Roll the chicken with the stuffing. Chill the chicken for 10 minutes, drizzle oil on the chicken. Grill the chicken at 200 degrees for 15 minutes. Turn it and grill again for  15 minutes or till cooked and brown in colour.

For the Sauce
Ingredients
1 tbsp Garlic minced
6 small sweet bell pepper slit
4 Lime leaves
1 tbsp Lime juice
1/2 tbsp Oil
1/2 tsp Butter
Salt to taste
2 tbsp Gin (Optional)

Method
Take a pan, add oil and butter. Heat it, add the garlic, sauté it for few seconds... Add the gin and the gin will burn off (optional)... Add the lime leaves and small bell pepper. Add 1/2 cup water, lime juice ang salt. Let the sauce simmer. Add the grilled chicken and simmer for 2 minutes. Take the chicken and slice it into thick pieces. Arrange the chicken pieces and pour the sauce over the chicken. Serve it hot.

Red Velvet Cake with Almond White Chocolate Mousse Shots.......

Red Velvet Cake with Almond White Chocolate Mousse Shots.......
Red Velvet Cake
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups of All Purpose flour
2 tbsp Cocoa powder
1 cup of Caster Sugar
1 cup of Butter / Oil
1  tsp Baking powder
1 tsp Soda bicarbonate
1 cup or more Butter milk ( 1 cup milk + 2 tbsp Curd)
1 tsp or more Red colour
1 tsp Vanilla Essence

Method
Take a mixing bowl, add sugar and butter and beat it well till light and fluffy. Sieve the flour, cocoa powder,  baking powder and soda bicarbonate. Add half the flour and half butter milk and beat it. Add rest of the flour and butter milk till thick dropping consistency is  achieved. Add the colour and essence and mix it. If requires add more colour to get red colour batter. Grease a baking tray. Pour the batter in the tray. Bake the cake at 180 degrees celcius for 25 to 30 minutes in a pre heated oven.  Cool the cake and make crumbs of the cake. Keep it aside.

Almond White Chocolate Mousse
Ingredients
2 cups Whipping cream
1 cup grated White chocolate
1/2 cup Fresh cream
1 tbsp Veg Gelatine powder
1/ 4 cup Hot water
1 tsp Almond essence
2 tbsp Almond flakes

Method
Beat the whipping cream till soft peakes come. Take the cream and heat it up. Add the chocolate and mix it well till the chocolate dissolves. Take hot water in a bowl, sprinkle the gelatine powder , mix it till the gelatine dissolves. Add the gelatine to the chocolate and mix it, add the essence and almond flakes, mix it. Let the chocolate cool a bit, then slowly add it to the whipping cream and mix it. Keep it in the fridge till half set..

Red Velvet Cake with Almond White Chocolate
16 shot glasses
Red Velvet cake Crumbs
Almond White Chocolate Mousse
Almond flakes

Method
Take a shot glass. Fill 1/4 of the shot glass with cake crumbs. Mix the white chocolate mousse. Take a piping bag, add any big round nozzle, add the white chocolate mousse in the piping bag, fill up 1/4 of the  shot glass with the mousse on the cake crumbs. Fill up the remaining shot glass with cake crumbs. Press the crumbs to the level of the glass.  Add a blob of mousse on the top. Sprinkle the cake crumbs and almond flakes  on the mousse. Chill it and enjoy...

Happy Onam 2015 Instant Baked Vattayappam (Baked Rice Cake)

This Onam may the spirit of King Mahabali spread prosperity and Happiness to all.... I wanted to make some floral rangoli and celebrate the festival with sweets... I thought of this dish where it  should be traditional as well.. Instead of a cake base I made Instant Baked Vattayappam  (Baked Rice Cake) as a base and then decorated it with Coconut cream... Floral design on top of the rice cake... 

Instant Baked Vattayappam  (Baked Rice Cake)
Ingredients
2 1/2 cup Rice flour
1 1/2 tsp Dry Yeast
1/4 cup Luke warm Water
2 cup Coconut milk
1 Mashed Banana
1/2 cup Or more Sugar as per taste
1/4 tsp Salt
2 tbsp Raisins
2 tbsp Cashewnuts
1/4 tsp Cardamom powder

Method
Take  yeast, 1 tbsp sugar and lukewarm water in a mixing bowl. Keep it for 10 minutes or till it rises. In a separate mixing bowl,  add the coconut milk, sugar, salt and Cardomon powder, mix the ingredients well till the sugar dissolves. Add the liquid to the yeast, gradually add the rice flour and whisk it till no lumps remain. Add the mashed banana, raisins and cashewnut. Mix it well. The batter should be thick dropping consistency. Keep it for 10 minutes. Take a baking tin, grease the baking tin. Pour in the batter in the tin. Let it rest for 20 minutes in the baking tin. Bake at 180 degrees celcius for 30 minutes...

Tawa Kaleji Masala

Tawa Kaleji Masala
Ingredients
500 grams Mutton liver cut into pieces
2 Onions Finely Sliced
1 tbsp Garlic paste
2 tsp Green Chillies chopped
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp Cumin Powder
1 tsp Coriander powder
1 tsp Garam Masala powder
1 tsp Red chilli
1/2 tsp Pepper powder
1 tsp Dry Mango powder
2 tbsp Oil
1 tbsp Green coriander finely chopped
1 tbsp Lime juice
1 Onion Sliced for Garnishing

Method
Heat a skillet, heat oil. Add garlic and sauté it for few minutes. Add the liver, sauté it for 2 minutes. Add onion slices, cover and cook. Stir it occasionally. Cook for 5 minutes on low flame. Add turmeric powder, red chili powder, cumin powder,coriander powder, black pepper, garam masala powder and salt. Stir fry till the liver is cooked and the ingredients have combined well. Add dry mango powder and mix well.  Sprinkle chopped green chillies and chopped green coriander leaves on top. Add onion slices. Serve hot Tawa Kaleji with chapatti or paratha or pav.