Thai Street Food Festival At J W Marriott

What I like best about Thai street food is that it is cooked fresh in your presence; it is spicy, fresh and contains exotic vegetables. The dishes are less likely to be spoilt by cheap meat like in other restaurants.

 Some years ago, during my visit to Bangkok, I had an opportunity to attend Thai food workshop. I learnt few tricks there and that has benefited me a lot. It is easy to prepare, convenient, very beneficial especially when the unexpected guest arrive and the meal has be prepared in a jiffy. I had developed the taste for Thai food then and presently, it is my preferred and favorite cuisine.

So, when the street Thai food festival comes to my town, how could I miss it?

I had the pleasure of meeting Chef Suriya Phus irimongkhonchai at Spice, J W Marriott. I asked him how Thai food was different from Chinese cuisine. He said that it was less oily, contained more fresh exotic vegetables and he preferred to use roasted meat. Thai cuisine also contains fresh herbs like holy basil, lemon grass, kaffir leaves, that gives it that peculiar taste, other tropical ingredients like coconut milk and fresh fruits bring out its rich flavors.

Almost all Thai dishes are balanced in flavor; they are spicy, sour, salty and have sweet after taste. All the taste buds are aroused with every bite.

 Thai cooking is not only about the right amount of ingredients but also about correct levels of heat and the method of preparation. For instance, papaya salad has to be prepared on the spot, stir-fries tastes good only when served immediately; grinding chilies and garlic with a mortar and pestle really makes a difference in bringing out the flavor of the ingredients.

 Spice at J W Marriott was all set for the festival with different live counters in buffet style serving authentic Thai cuisine.  There were fruits and vegetable carving showcased at different cooking stations. Tuesday, being my strictly veg day, I only ogled at exotic veg food but silently drooled over non-veg dishes.

 I started with Mango salad. Perfectly prepared, (sweet and sour) it transported me back to the narrow lanes of Bangkok. Normally peanuts are used for crunchiness, but cashew nuts lent a richer taste.

Evening passed, trying out the various vegetarian dishes. There was great variety to choose from. Curries, soups, pastas, BBQ, stir fries, exotic salads There was a bigger variety of non-veg food, but I am glad there was limited selection for me or I would have over eaten.

 My favorite was Pad Thai. I stood at the cooking station and watched him prepare, directing him on the quantity of sauces and ingredients as per my taste.

This is how he prepared.

On a huge flat pan he stir-fried the soaked rice noodles, kept them aside

Fried par-boiled vegetables like broccoli, onions, cauliflower, bean sprouts, green beans, and carrots.

Added Pad thai sauce to it

Mixed vegetables with fried noodles

Added peanuts and chili flakes

Squeezed lime-juice on it.

The authentic taste is in pad thai sauce that contains tamarind paste, fish sauce, soy sauce, chili sauce, cayenne pepper, white pepper and brown sugar.

 And finally the plate of exotic fruits with traditional Raum Mith

Worth a visit!! Thai food festival is on from 15^th November to 1^st December at Spice, J W Marriott, Juhu.

The Shahi Spicy Dip

I cannot remember eating dip during my growing up years. There were chutneys and pickles but never dip. 

The closest thing that resembled dip was Raita that mom made regularly. Sometimes she added roasted brinjals, and sometimes boiled Spinach, other times it was cucumber and sometimes fried bhoondi. Mom was very creative and she would experiment with different combinations on food and try to change my ‘dislike’ of some vegetables into ‘likes’ by inventing new dishes.

For example, I did not like Kadhu and its whole seeded family, and mom knew it, so she would hide (that’s what she believed that she could make me eat the vegetables that I disliked if they were disguised) Kadhu with lots of Chana dhal or mix it with other vegetables and make kofta. Many times, she would ask me after I have eaten her disguised meals if I knew there was Kadhu in it. Ah well….

But coming back to dips, I was first introduced to dip during my trip to Spain, where I was invited for a ladies party. The dip was served with neatly sliced carrots, cucumber and radish, cut in long strips. The flavor of sour and spicy dip with fresh vegetables did the trick and I soon became interested in learning more about these dips.

On Googling and on visiting various blogs, I realized that dip is just the chutney with hung curd. 

Haha… 

So actually it is curd with water squeezed out and ground with different ingredients, mom would love this…..wish she were alive…

Anyways, I have inherited few of Mom’s traits and creativity is one of them.

So here is my creation of this Shahi spicy dip that I made during this Diwali festival and distributed to my friends and cousins who don’t appreciate sweets.

 Shahi Spicy Dip

Ingredients

200grams curds

6pcs of almonds

6pcs of pistachio

6pcs of walnuts

12pods of garlic

6greenchilies

6red chilies

50grms basil leaves

1tbsp of grated cheese

1tsp 5spice powder

1tsp lime juice

4tbsp olive oil

1tbsp sesame oil

Method

Step 1

Tie the curd in a cloth and hang it for an hour till all the water drains off

Step2

 In a mixie grind the dry fruits and keep it aside

Step3

 Grind together garlic, chilies, basil leaves

Step4

 Add the hung curd, cheese and ground dry fruits

Step5

 Add a teaspoon of 5spice powder

Step 6

Add salt and lime juice

Step7

 Add sesame seeds oil and olive oil

Step8

 Before serving, mix it well, transfer in a serving bowl, add 1tbsp of olive oil and serve with corn chips.