Coconut Groove: Salt n Pepper

Whenever I start thinking of doing a budget plan, a new hoarding will appear right across my door of some new restaurant chain. The latest addition was Coconut Groove, the mid-range eatery serving keralite cuisines.

On my first visit to the place, I ordered Appams with Meen Mappas, Idiyappam with Chicken Stew and Panni Varuthathu.

Appam

Idiyappam

Fish (Meen) Mappas

Chicken Stew

Appam went well with the Meen Mappas (a light red fish curry). It also made an excellent combo with the Chicken Stew. Idiyappam, was disappointing even with the pinch of pepper corns added to them. Panni Varuthathu (Pork Dry Fried with Onions) is a must-try for all the Pork Lovers. Though a little spicy, it tasted awesome.

Coconut Groove provides a wide range of traditional keralite delicacies. I will also recommend the Motta Porotta (Egg Porottas) and Prawns Biriyani.

A decent variety meal for two will cost your around 700 INR.

Address: Coconut Groove, Next to South Indian Bank, Opp Ittina Souparnika, Sarjapur Road, Bangalore.

Pasta with Onions and Sausages

Last night was Pasta Night. I had a pack of Fusilli pasta and arrabbiata sauce. I've kept it really simple for the fact that I don't want to spend more time in the kitchen!


Ingredients:

Oil as needed
One Pack of Fusilli (Cork Screw Shaped Pasta)
Arrabbiata Sauce
Two Chicken Sausages
One Onion
Tomato Puree
Red and Green Capsicum
Basil Leaves
Salt as needed

PS: You can do it either with the Sausage cut to dices or with the wrap removed.

How to:

0. Cook the Fusilli as per Pack Instruction and Keep aside.
0. Boil the Sausages and Keep aside.
1. Heat oil in a pan.
2. Add nicely cut onions and stir fry till golden brown
3. Add in the dice cut capsicum
4. Pour in the tomato puree
5. Add the cooked pasta to the pan
6. Add dice cut / sausage content to the pan
7. Add in Arabbiata Sauce
8. Salt if needed
9. Mix well
10. Add in basil leaves
11. Simmer and Serve Hot

Down the memory lane: Chilli Stuff at Mamma

Back in the mid-90s, Dining out was a once-in-a-while family tradition for us. Me and my brother will be really excited when Dad stops our mighty old ambassador by the well lit parking lot of any of our regular diner. I still remember those tastes. It was exquisite, Out of the world and nowhere comparable to what we are getting now in the name of indian chinese! Our dinner date menus were pretty much preset and regular. Sweet Corn Chicken Soups, Vegetable Fried Rice, Nans and Chilli Chicken. Well cooked chicken pieces in a light and red viscous gravy along with green chillies and capsicum. The taste is unexplainable. It satisfied every single bud in my tongue. As time passed and with more and more hotels and fast food counters, the above said taste was somehow lost. The chicken pieces became a last minute add-on to the thick buttery spicy gravy and Chilli Chicken started tasting like any other Chicken in the menu. Traditions became memories.

Last month, I was traveling in and across Cochin on an assignment when my senses unexpectedly flew back down the memory lane. We stopped at Hotel Mamma in Tripunithura for our lunch, Well we got the exact same Chilli chicken I was talking about earlier (Note for dummies: not the exact same stuff, that wouldn't be edible after all these years!).

We (me & my brother) ordered a Portion of Chilli Chicken,Chilli Beef, Chilli Pork , Butter Nans and a plate of Mixed Fried Rice.

Fried Rice with Chilli Chicken.

Naans with Chilli Beef.

Naans with Chilli Pork.

All of these were awesome and not that expensive. We spend the next 1 hr there eating, drinking and refreshing our memories!

Discovering the Hainanese

Our visit to Singapore Universal Studios was a Semi-Disaster due to the unexpected bad weather. We hardly went on outside rides but made sure that we are in the Jurassic Rapids, the best ride in the park. We had to wait in the queue for about an hour (which is usually considered fast moving there) and had an exciting Jurassic Water Adventure.

I was quite hungry after all the waiting, animatronic dinosaurs and water splashes. So we decided to have lunch at the Discover Food Court.

The place, though heavily crowded (most of them were there to escape the rain), reminded me of the Visitor Center in Jurassic Park.

There was a huge queue to the food counter. We could see only two items on the display board from there and hence decided to go with it . The Hainanese Chicken Rice Set and the Roasted Chicken Rice Set.

The Hainanese chicken rice set had Sliced up Grilled Chicken, Sweet Potatoes, Rice and Onion Sprouts.

"The chicken is prepared in traditional Hainanese methods which involve the boiling of the entire chicken in a pork and chicken bone stock, reusing the broth over and over and only topping it up with water when needed, in accordance with the Chinese preferences for creating master stocks. This stock is not used for rice preparation, which instead involves chicken stock created specifically for that purpose, producing an oily, flavourful rice sometimes known as "oily rice" with Southeast Asian pandan leaves added sometimes. Some cooks may add coconut milk to the rice, reminiscent of the Malay dish nasi lemak." - Wiki

The Roasted Chicken Rice set had a No-Frills Roasted Chicken , Flavored Cabbage Slices,Rice and Onion Sprouts.

Being inside the park, the food was comparatively expensive at 10.50 S$ each.

Don't ,by any chance ,miss out on the Hainanese Chicken Rice set, if you are anywhere near Malaysia, Singapore or Thailand. It is definitely worth a try.

Inside the Jewel Box

This place was on my wish list for a long time but never got a chance to go there till the other day. Was on my way back to bangalore when we made our last pitstop at the Koshy's for a Meal.

Had to wait outside for a while as the Jewel Box a.k.a the posh lounge of Koshy's wasn't open. The Paradise Cafe a.k.a the regular Koshy's cafe was crowded even at that odd time. We soon moved in to the Jewel Box.Well lit, warm and Cozy , the Jewel Box stood up to its name.

Inside Koshy's Jewel Box.

I ordered a Sangiovese Wine to start with.

Sangiovese Red Wine (INR 110).

For the Meal , we ordered the Famous Pineapple Steak with Spring Onions and Grilled Pork.

Pineapple Steak with Spring Onions. (INR 275)

Grilled Pork. (INR 275)

Both tasted awesome. The Steak was well cooked, soft and juicy and was served with a slice of Pineapple,which went well with a fork of steak. Pork was delicious but the occasional bone encounters were tough to handle.

As usual I needed to have a dessert to consider the meal complete. I chose the Caramel Custard.

Caramel Custard. (INR 90)

A nice place to hang out with some great food. The well behaved Keralite staff were so helpful in Menu Decisions. Definitely a Must-visit.

Address:

No. 39, St Marks Rd, Bengaluru

The Continental Taste of Benitos, Bangalore

I would call myself heart(tongue)less, if I wait any longer to write about this place. My (almost) everyday hangout , Benitos. A decent continental restaurant located in Sarjapur Road, Bangalore.

As I said, I am a frequent visitor and a huge fan of the place. The truth is that I cant live without a juicy steak at least once a week. And when it comes to it, where else to look than right across my street.

I wouldn't say the menu of Benitos has much variety to offer, but what they have there is worthy for an entry to your system. I would always start my course with either a salad or a soup. Then I would go for a house special and will close the deal with a dessert.

I am suggesting a (my favorite) menu that you could try once you are there.

Chicken Salad with potatoes/ pasta / sweet corn.

House Special 1: Mixed Grill Steak / Sizzler ( For All-Meat Lovers).

House Special 2: Chicken Parmegean (For Chicken Lovers).

House Special 3: Thai Curry Rice ( For Seafood Lovers).

Dessert : Tender Coconut Souffle.

Well, this is not the end of it. The list goes on and it goes on good. Other items worth mentioning are the Lasagna, Chocolate Crepes, Chicken & Leek Soup and the Fish Sizzler. Don't miss out on the Tender Coconut Souffle though, its without a question one of the best desserts I've had in Bangalore.

Beach Road Scissor Cut Curry Rice in Singapore

For the first 2 nights of my Singapore visit ,I had to stay at the CityHub hotel in Jalan Besar. The Dinner at hotel was so bad that I had to go out and eat once again at 11 PM.

Right across the street was the famous Beach Road Scissor Cut Curry Rice shop. I saw people standing there patiently waiting for their turn to taste the delicious scissor chopped meal at midnight.

Beach Road Scissor Cut Curry Rice Shop.

On my way to the top of the queue I saw pretty interesting stuff set out in the shelves.

Fried Larvae

Drumsticks

When I arrived at the Cut Centre, the man with the scissors asked me " yo whataa dhu you needth"? ( I am no Russell Peters and I don't do very good impressions.)

Honeslty i didn't knew the names of most of the items laid down before me. Some where black, some green and some where brown. I just went with my instincts and pointed everything in an order which seemed appropriate to me. He took everything and made small cuts out of it with his scissors and put those in a bowl of rice. Threw in some gravy and gave me the plate.

Scissor Cut Rice Plate.

The plate with everything chopped on it was 3 S$. It had beef, pork, fish, chicken, squid and almost everything that I've ever eaten, all together. But the combo was pretty good. Fish cakes were well cooked. The red and white meat were neat and juicy.

But the quantity wasn't that great. I was still hungry and wanted to try a few more items in the shelf.

The Shark Egg.

The Ultimate Combo. Drumstick, Grilled Shark and Meat Sausage with Chilly Paste.

In my 5 day-long Singapore trip, I've had 5 Plates of Scissor Cut Rice. I think that pretty much sums it up!