Home Chefs Of Mumbai – Part 27 – Tania Bhel

Somethings we take for granted. Home-cooked meals for example. Its delicious but nothing to rant about till somebody else comes visiting us and appreciates our cooking. 

Back then, cooking was for people who couldn’t score good grades in school. If you are intelligent then pay attention to studies, there is no need to waste time in the kitchen. “Go beta, mamma will cook for you.” Was the common phrase used for children who showed some interest in the kitchen. If you insist that you wanted to help, you would be given few raw vegetables and asked to prepare salads. Children asked too many questions and they had no time for that. “When the time will come, you will learn cooking, right now, there is no need.” They would say. As the results, many women would learn cooking only after they got married.

Cooking is a passion, there is no age for learning. You may learn from your elders, from your friends, or just from U-Tube. But for deeper knowledge and proper techniques, you have to learn from professionals. There are many short term cooking classes and many degree catering colleges too. The more serious one will go to popular culinary schools as distant as to USA, Australia, Italy, Switzerland, London. These school prepare chefs for mental discipline necessary to perform well under extreme pressure and stress. Once you pass out from Le Corde Blue, there is no looking back

Like Tania Behl, an artisanal baker, who custom bakes the most artistic and beautiful cakes for every occasion. 

Tania Behl (of TheDessertsCobyTania fame) used to be a production designer, she has styled and done the set design for several TV shows , her last media project was a feature film . After which she decided to take some time off as she had been working her entire  adult life. (although she was really passionate about her work as a production designer too). 

“Food for me is centre of all emotions. I packed my bags and took off to Le Cordon Bleu London to  do my grand diploma in French cuisine and patisserie . After coming back I’ve settled down to starting my home bakery , which has since been developing.” She said, expressing her desire to pursue her passion for food. 

The DessertsCobyTania specialises in fancy cakes and pastries, although her heart belongs to the good old fashioned pound cake, which she feels is the most versatile cake, can be eaten on its own, with tea or coffee  or drizzled with some chocolate or strawberries to make it fancy. “It never fails to impress.” She confirms.

Her most beautiful memories are of the times she spent with her grandmother, Biji, and the important lessons that she learnt from her during her growing up days. 

“My love affair with food started off when I pretty young, and it wasn’t any particular dish, it was with the process of cooking.  I used to watch my grandmother cook food and would always wonder as to how a vegetarian person like her could make the most amazing non veg dishes . “How do you cook without tasting ??” She told me that ‘You  don’t cook with only one of your senses, you use all your senses, touch  your food, don’t marinate with a spoon, use your fingers, put the spices in your food with a sprinkle of love, never leave your dish unattended, watch for that moment when the masala releases its oils , it will release an aroma, you’ll smell the flavours, you’ll look at your food and  know if putting dhania on it will make it more appealing, if little shreds of ginger would make a difference’ I was in awe !! Of course all of this was told to me in punjabi and it sounded even more poetic !! But it’s a good memory I live  by. Many years later, these exact words were echoed to me by my training chefs at Cordon Bleu and I smiled inside and gave a thanks to my Biji, for starting me out right .”

She is happy to share the recipe of Pound Cake 

1. Line a loaf tin with baking paper. 

2. Pre heat oven to 180 degrees. 

3. Sift 150 gms A.P. flour, 1tsp baking powder, 1/4tsp salt together in a bowl. 

4. Set aside. 

5. Place 3 large eggs(at room temperature), vanilla essence, 2tbsp milk in another bowl. 

6. Lightly whisk with a fork to blend the eggs and milk 

7. In a large mixing bowl , using a hand blender (or the bowl of your stand mixer ) add the 150 gms butter and beat for a 2 mins till a little pale. 

8. Add 150 gms sugar to this and beat for 3-5 mins until its nice ad fluffy . 

9. Slowly add in the egg mixture (from step 6) , in three turns , making sure to scrape down the sides and the eggs are well incorporated each time . 

10. Once all batter is well blended add in the flour and beat only till incorporated (do not beat this for a long time ) 

11. Pour the prepared batter into the loaf tin , using your spatula smooth the top of the cake .

12. Lightly tap the tin on the table surface to remove any air bubbles

13. Place in the pre heated oven and bake for 40-50 mins  or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake come out clean . 

14. Remove the cake from the oven , allow it to cool for 10 mins in the tin and then turn it out on a wire rack

15. Allow it to cool completely before slicing Into it 

16. The cake is best enjoyed at room temperature. (You can dress it with frosting for a special birthday)

17. You can store the cake in an airtight box for a couple day. 

Follow her Instahandle at thedessertcibbytania

Call her at Watsapp 98201 44330

Home Chefs Of Mumbai – Part 15- Binal Valand

In good old days, whenever the food was served, the first thing we did was to join our hands in gratitude to ‘Annadhata’ the Goddess of food and thank in our prayers for giving us our daily meals.

Today, what do we do?? We immediately scramble for our cameras.

Whether the food is delicious or bland, it is important that it should be clickable. If it is curry, we capture the right shade of reddish maroon ingredients swimming with glow of oil clinging the sides. If it is salad, then it is the artistically arranged, a balanced combination of colours carefully aligned, if it is a dessert, then we are excited by some drama of molecular gastronomy on the narrow neck of the glass, the props are rightly placed, we search for proper lighting, sometimes, might even want to take it to the balcony to drop a natural look, like a gift from the skies.

Hungry family members don’t understand this passion of a food photographers, they just want you to eat as soon as it is served. Granny is amused to see you bend down to click that rustic vessel (which seems quite ordinary to her) and that dhal and bhakri roti (what is so unusual about it?) She laughs at your foolishness and nags you to hurry up because the food is getting cold. And when you finally settle down to eat, you patiently explain to her about the latest trends of sharing the photographs on social media, and about how the lost traditional recipes are making a come back. She feels happy when you start to curse hamburgers and pizzas, french fries and sausages, and start appreciating her food that is cooked with love and care. You, then continue to follow your own passion because good food photographs really capture the banquet in their most artistic way.

If you have seen the photography-inclined, Home Chef Binal Valand, you are likely to drool.

Binal Valand is an artistic person and there is elegancy in everything that she does. She started off her career as a flight attendant on Lufthansa airways, got interested in food photography and food styling, liked the food that was behind her lens, fell in love with exotic spread, then learnt to bake the sourdough bread/desserts and finally, now a home chef, Wow!   

While growing up, she had never stepped into her home kitchen although her mom is an excellent Indian cook who cooks everything ‘Aandas sey’ the indian way of cooking. Her love affair with food started when, as a flight attendant, she started travelling internationally, she discovered new cultures, collected lot of food stories from the strangers she met on her flights, specially when she had lay-over for some days in strange places, she would go exploring the city on her own. 

She specially remembers the moment , when she was held back at the Paris airport (there is sometimes long wait for attendant to get discounted seats and have to wait at the airport) 

“The sad part is that we are always on wait-list, so I had to change two airports to get the flight that leaves,, I was almost in tears when I finally got a flight. But while I was waiting at the airport, I came across this beautiful ‘Laduree Champs Elysees’, very unique this shop that represents the ‘French Art de Vivre’. Till then. I had only heard of Macarons, never tasted one, This beautiful shop was kind of beckoning me, It was a french luxury bakery. I ordered a ‘Pistachio Macaron’ and a ‘Caramel Macaron’. I clearly remember, it was something I fell in love at the first bite. It was an exclusive experience, that I can say, that was the day I fell in love with French Cuisine.”

As a Home Chef, she specialises in cakes and French desserts that are rich in flavour, have rustic look and are not laden with too much cream and butter. She has got interested in Sourdough Bread. She understands the science and technique behind it, and the sheer joy of seeing it rise in the oven. During this lock-down she has perfected the skill of baking Sourdough bread so much so, that now she is confident of her product and is proud to add it to her menu.

It doesn’t end just there. (remember, she is multi-talented) She has been conducting online workshops on photography and food styling, and has clients from across the seas, as far as Europe and Middle East.  She keeps them engrossed with her tips and tricks of food photography and her experiences on food styling. As a food stylist, she pays special attention to the minute details of the products shown in the ad-videos.

She is happy to share her recipe of Butter Milk Biscuits

1. Cut 140 gms of butter into small cubes, and stick in the freezer till it rock hard. 

2. Chill 1/2 cup butter milk. 

3. Mix 2 cups all purpose flour, 1tsp baking powder, 1tsp castor sugar, 1/4tsp baking soad and 1/2tsp salt. 

4. In a food processor, add the all dry ingredients and chopped cold butter. (step 1+step 3). 

5. Pulse it a few times, till the mixture resembles bread crumbs and the butter is chopped in pea-size. 

6. Add the chilled buttermilk,(of step2) don’t add all at once, reserve a little and add only if needed. 

7. Your mixture will now look a little wet and a lot dry, flour still in dry form. 

8. Bring the mixture on a floured surface, and gently comb till it all comes together, 

9. DO NOT KNEAD  the dough. 

10. Get help from a bench scraper if need be to form a square from the dough. 

11. Touch it as less as possible. 

12. Cut the dough in half, that leaves you two equal parts. 

13. Mount one part on another and roll in a square again, very lightly. 

14. Cut the dough in one inch squares and Lay on a baking tray lined with baking paper. 

15. Stick the tray in the freezer and wait for 20 minutes 

16. Now this is where you can pre-heat your oven to 200 C or 400 F. 

17. Brush the tops with mixture of 1tsp Butter and 2tsp whole milk. 

18. Bake the square for 20-25 mins, or till you see a light golden top.

Binal Valand was awarded Home Chef and Baker's award 2020 for the contribution to India's Home chef & Baking Industry in the category of 1-2 years

Follow her Instagram handle at binal_valand

Watch her Food Styling Videos at

  Light Bulb Motion Pictures.

Home Chefs Of Mumbai – Part14- Shilpa Seth Bhambri

Our parents and grandparent hardly ever went on diet, they ate everything, Ghee, Mithai, Malai, Samosas, Bhajiyas, Briyanis, Badam Puris, Kulfis. Kheer and celebrated every festival with a rich variety of food. No fuss, no guilt nor shame in choice of food, no restrictive food rules. And yet they were quite healthy, their skin glowing with happiness of life lived well.

Now these diet fad! So what is the difference?

It’s the sedentary lifestyle we live today. We have 24 hours live-in helper at home. All the bills are paid online, we get home deliveries at the dwindling of the thumb, and we always use lift to go upstairs. We tire easily because we have lay-back attitude, we are always on phone, checking endless messages and forwarding the silly ones, crouched on couch like a potato, ordering junk-food, watching endless TV serials AND we give big head ache to our parents, with continuous jargon of words like ‘can’t eat this’ ‘don’t want that’ ‘I am watching my diet’, ‘this is too fattening.’ and the endless ramble of the latest trends.

Poor parents, they love us too much, so they tolerate all our NaatakBaazi

But luckily, we have home-chefs, who care for our health and create healthy cakes/Ice-creams that everybody can eat guilt free. Bindass!

Shilpa Seth Bhambri is the home chef who understands it all.

Shilpa Seth Bhambri is baker and trained chef practicing her expertise over 28 years. She has mastered the craft of baking and cake decorating by learning from some of the best International and local culinary artists. She is founder of  ‘The Cakeline,’ a customised cakerie with extension to all things sweet. The recipes have been curated and developed with lot of research by her. She has added a healthy range of confections and desserts that are endorsed by her own philosophy of nutritionally enhanced eating. She also works as a culinary advisor to ‘Baskin Robbins India’ and has created a line of products in their range. (Remember the Icecream cake at Baskinrobbins?..Her creation!) She also works as a food photographer, stylist and recipe developer.

She specialises in cakes and desserts with a focus on egg-free, low calorie products. During lockdown2020, she is personally baking a limited range to offer all a safe and risk free menu, taking utmost care to prepare  clean and hygienic bakes.

She is always fascinated by her Mom’s style of cooking ‘Andaaz Sey’-the Indian way of weighing by sight method of cooking. Her Mom is a pure vegetarian, cleans meat/seafood with tongs but cooks wonderful dishes for the family. Her Mom’s hearty wholesome cooking forms the base and her large part of her food memories that include Doodhwalla Mutton, Pishori Cholle with Aloo Puri, being her classic favourites till now.

The best eureka food memories are from the corridors and kitchens of the Taj Mahal hotel, Mumbai.

“When I trained in its banquets and kitchens, I tasted some of the best culinary creations made by its senior chefs. From Pate de Fois, to Caviar on Blinis, hand churned Ice creams, Devils on Horseback, Baklava to the finest chocolate creations, Duck l'orange, Peking Duck with pancakes. Always encouraged by my mentor to taste what was cooked and served. My fine sensory palate was formulated in these initial years of my culinary school training.”

She is happy to share the recipe of Ragi Banana Cake 

(This is one of her oldest signature recipes which is “Maida free, Sugar free, Egg free”. She has replaced refined sugar with Jaggery and made this delicious ‘anytime healthy tea-cake’.

1. Sift both flours (100gms Ragi/Nachni flour) and (100gms whole wheat flour) with ½ tsp baking powder, 1 ½ tsp baking soda and pinch of salt. 

2. In the warm/melted 100gms butter, add 150gms Jaggery powder. 

3. Mix well with a spatula. This will help the jaggery to dissolve. 

4. Add 150gms whisked yoghurt and 120gms banana pulp(about 2 ½ bananas). 

5. Mix well. 

6. Mix the sifted flours into the butter mixture (of step 2).

7. Add 1tsp Cinnamon powder and 1tsp Vanilla extract. 

8. Do not over mix. 

9. Pour batter into a greased and lined 7x7inch tin. 

10. Bake at 170 degrees Celsius for about 35-45 minutes. 

11. Cool cake completely before cutting into slices to serve.

Shilpa Seth Bhambri was awarded Home Chef and Baker's award 2020 for the contribution to India's Home chef & Baking Industry in the category of 10 years+

Other than that she is also an avid food photographer and food stylist. Her new venture curates an expression of all her learning in the food world that is passionately expressed in the series of food tales in the form of mini video stories featuring home chefs, foodies and passionate cooks. You can view them all on her U-tube Channel at foodtaleswithShilpa.

 

 You can order her signature items on preorder; DM or call at 9930987989

Follow her at Instagram at Shilpasethbhambri

Mexican Food Festival

‘Eat-What-You-like-How-Much-Ever-You-Like’ is a very complicated concept for me. I have a small appetite therefore it’s very difficult for me to try everything that is at buffet tables. So the first thing I do before I start my dinner is to make a round of all that is available and is visually pleasing to my eyes.

 This is exactly what I did last Saturday when I was invited for Mexican Food festival at Lake View Café at Renaissance Mumbai Convention Centre Hotel. Chefs Guadalupe Monterroza and Chef Narciso Alcazar have been flown from Mexico especially for this festival and they have done justice to the food by preparing their authentic Mexican cuisine.

On my rounds, passing through the live food stations of Tacos, fish, Cactus leaf, Panela cheese, I stopped by the stall that prepared pickled fish and also ordered some watermelon juice for me.

The Cancun Escabeche (pickled fish cooked with cilantro, tomato, lime, red onions) was delicately cooked and the chilies added extra flavor to it. (There were five different varieties of red pepper, I had asked him to add three of them.)

 Slowly does it. To digest food one needs to walk, admire the ambience and enjoy the Spanish music that was playing softly in the background. Walked over to the table containing large range of salads and a wide array of Salsas such as Molcajete, Mexicana, Guacamole, Chipotle, Borracha and Habanero.

Returned to the table with 2 types of salads containing squids, fish, chicken and few sauces. Mexican culinary contains beans, cheese and red pepper in most of their recipes. It is spicy and pungent; the flavor comes from the variety of red pepper used in their recipe. The chef returned to our table at regular interval, presenting us with different assorted plates made especially for us.

Moving on to main course on Mexican vegetarian delicacies included Chile relleno,  Arroz jardinera, Oaxaca cheese(Rice stuffed chili, oaxaca cheese), Calabazitas (Panela cheese stuffed squash), Molotes (Mushroom fried quesadillas) and non-vegetarians were Pescado Veracruz (Tomato, onion, red and green pepper, green olives), Pollo con mole negro(Chicken with a chile chocolate salsa) and Barbacoa de Borrego(Beer, tomato, green tomato, onion, avocado leaves, guajillochile), amongst other appetizing dishes.

I have never eaten black chicken (Pollo con mole negro) cooked with chocolate and chillies that contained nuts and sesame seed. It was delightful dish with chicken so tender that it melted on the first bite leaving behind the sweetest, spicy, chocolate taste. I am hoping that chef (he promised) will share with me the recipe of this dish. 

Dessert was the feast to the eyes. Churros, Tres Leches (Three milk cake), Arroz con leche (Rice pudding), Borrachitos(Mexicantequila cake), Flan de Rompope (Eggnog flan), Ponche (Punch). The churro con chocolate and soft delicious cakes brought back the fond memories of Spain.

Fun evening spend with friends who enjoy food as much as I do.

The Mexican festival will be on till 3^rd July at Lake View Café at Renaissance Mumbai Convention Centre Hotel. at Powai.

Quite A Treat At Icing On Top

Frankly speaking, I do like pastry, cakes, cookies, but cannot eat too much. Just one spoonful is enough, more than one is a cardinal sin. Therefore when Icing on the Top offered me some of their delicious goodies, I visited their site to see what they have on offer.

On their webpage, I did what anybody else would do….drool!

When their gourmet hamper arrived with miniature range of pops, shots and desserts, I needed somebody to share these goodies with me.. Why should I sin alone?  I selected the day, when I would have visitors at home. Their goodies arrived right on time, when I had guests from Curacao.

Happily I removed box by box of goodies to try from the gourmet hamper they sent.

G screamed when she saw Red Velvet cake. Creamy spongy, it just melted in the mouth and disappeared from the box in a blink.

“Hey! That’s good!” she exclaimed, “didn’t know they make such stuff in India.” She squealed in high decibels.

One by one, I opened the box, starting with handcrafted miniature cookies. There were Lemon, Cinnamon, Chocolate chips and Oaty Caramel Crunch.

One particular type that delighted G and was reminded of her granny was cinnamon cookie. “Nankatai, Nankatia”, she exclaimed with joy as she popped one by one into her mouth, “This is really good. She took a bunch of the cookies and put in her friend, P’s mouth too.

Now P was also getting interested. “What else do you have?” He asked So we tasted - those small tiny ball cookies.

They liked cinnamon cookies the most, Oaty Caramel Crunch tasted like breakfast oats, crunchy and sweet, perfect to go with the morning cup of coffee. However they didn’t like lemon cookies, it was too powdery.

Next was the cake pops that looked like big lollypops.  A creamy Orea in the center with sponge on the outside was good; one bite was enough to flood the mouth with chocolate.

There were three shot glass desserts: Chocolate, Hazelnuts and Blueberry.

“If you like sweet and sour, Blueberry is the best, but for me, I liked the nutty taste of Hazelnuts.” Said G as she tasted spoonful from each glass.

However the best of all was the Chocolate Mudpie, extremely delicious, spongy and soft. I saved it in the fridge and it was fresh even after four days.

I would sincerely recommend this to one who has a sweet tooth. 

They have special goodies for vegetarians that have exotic flavors – passion fruit with basil seed, raspberry with star anise, saffron with pistachio to name just the few.

It is perfect for weight conscious people too, because it satisfies the craving of sweet and because it is miniature, it limits your intake, thus ensures minimum calorie intake.

Established in 2009, Icing On Top is a culmination of one girl’s passion for baking. Trained in the pastry kitchen at JW Mariott as well as at Indigo Deli (Palladium) and Indigo (Colaba), Ayushi Shah (The Owner) quotes a love for food as the driving point behind her success. A strong vegetarian upbringing shines through in the completely eggless menu offered, is a rarity in itself.

Drool more on ‘Icing On Top’ or at their Facebook Page.

Dined a Spanish Cuisine at Olympic Village at Barcelona

When in Spain, eat what Spanish eat, no?

The fun part of travelling around the world is to taste the local cuisine. During my last visit to Bangkok, my family and I headed straight from the airport to a restaurant to take our first bite of fried rice. Even the guests who visit me in Mumbai go crazy on batatawada, pani-puri, ragda pattis. I don’t blame them, they crave for the local food and they would go wild if there was no fear of bad stomach.

There are many countries where we have to develop a taste for that particular cuisine. When I went to Spain for the first time, I found the food very bland. There was no spice or chilies in the food. Many times I would carry a chilies sauce in my purse when I went out to eat. But gradually I developed a taste for it and now when I visit Spain, I do try some local cuisine.

On my last visit to Spain, I stopped by Barcelona for four days. My hosts took me out for lunch to try a typical Spanish cuisine. Twenty years ago, Barcelona was the host for Olympic games. An Olympic village with apartments and restaurants were developed at the seaside. Here was the venue for rows of restaurants serving all kinds of cuisine. The place was well lighted and there was much activity till late evening.

It was raining and the weather was chilly. As soon as we entered the restaurant, we were surrounded with the warmth and the happy atmosphere. Tourist and business people occupied the large round tables that were evenly spaced out. Transparent plastic curtains enclosed the area to keep out the rain. On the backside, behind the transparent curtain were the bar and the kitchen.

The service was quick and the waiter was alert. The olives and freshly baked bread coated with garlic and tomato appeared on the tables before even we could decide on the menu. The order would be the mixture of vegetarian and non-vegetarian.

To start with, I opted for Sangria, a fruit cocktail mixed with red wine with a bit of bubbly soda. Unfortunately, during the meal, with many more variety of food appearing at our table, I accidently dropped off my glass of Sangria and was not able to enjoy this after few sips.

But the rest of the meal was quite enjoyable.

I stretched my fork to pick up Jamón Ibérico de Bellota. This ham, (cured for more than 36 months, I was told,) is from free-range pigs that roam oak forests (called dehesas), and eat only acorns during this last period. The exercise and diet have a significant impact on the flavor of the meat. Salty and crisp, it tasted best went combined with freshly baked toast.

Gambas a la ajillo, the shrimps stir-fried with garlic in olive oil were tender and sweetish in taste.

Calamars a la Romania, the ring shaped squids, coated with egg flour batter and deep-fried. These were crispy and tender.

 I had never tasted Chiperones, which is actually small deep fried fishes, “have this, you will like the crispy, crunchy taste” said my BIL, but we were served baby octopus instead, I liked that as well.

When the Paella arrived I was taken by surprise. Now I had never known the existence of black rice. This is the specialty of Valencia and the black color is from black squid ink that is used during preparation. The rice was salty, crisp and well grilled filled with assorted seafood and chicken.

For the vegetarians, there was goat cheese salad, vegetarian paella and vegetable pinchitos, (the grilled chunks of cucumber, white gourd, brinjal and tomatoes).

Spanish meal is never complete till it ends with liquor and dessert. I was too full to order anything. However the liquor is good for digestion and the tiny glasses were too attractive to give a miss. We finished it with the piece of cake coated with cinnamon and powder sugar.