Dunkin’ Donuts Comes To My Town

I am having spongy, melt-in-mouth chocolate donut, stuffed with dripping hazelnut cream; dusted with Dunkin’s special sugar and I am immediately transported to another world. When was the last time I tasted this delicious bite? I think it was in Europe.. oh yum!! I am so glad that now I don’t have to travel abroad to get the taste I like, it is now in my home town, so close to my house, that I can feast as often as I want.

Yes, Dunkin’ Donuts is on my mind and it has opened its doors at Linking Road (actually two restaurants on the same day-10^th May2014). It is the world’s leading baked goods and coffee chain hub where young adults can relax and munch on delicious ‘wicked’ wraps and sandwiches, or get ‘whipped, cut up, baked, and be so imperfect” for the brief time when they stretch their minds at their donut outlets.

Speaking at the grand opening, Mr Ajay Kaul, CEO, Jubilant Foodworks Limited said, 

“We are encouraged by the appreciation Dunkin’ donuts has received from consumers right from the time we opened our first restaurant in Delhi. This opening of our restaurant in Mumbai marks the beginning of this exciting journey for us. We are confident that with the differentiated, all day part food and beverage menu that we offer, consumers in Mumbai will love Dunkin’ Donut”

Dunkin’ donut does not only boast about its big variety of donuts that range from classic to shell to ring donuts, it also has sandwiches, burgers and wraps too.

I tasted the ‘tough guy Burger’ that had spicy and succulent meat patty in the bed of salad and coated with creamy mustard sauce. I was happy with the rich taste of the sauces that is perfect for Indian taste. Most of the restaurants have food that is initially very good but it loses its luster after some time but Mr. Dev Amritesh, the President & COO, cleared my doubts by saying that their products have always tasted the same at all their outlets.

I just loved the wraps. Wrapped in Multigrain tortilla, they were just plain wicked. The crunchiness of nachos, the sweet tang of raw mangoes, the spicy jalapenos and chipotle sauce..It was superb!!

And then came the great Stirr’accino, the one of its kind, a unique brand. One cup with two coffees- Espresso shot of dark roast Arabic beans for strong coffee experience and original blend of light roast Arabic beans for mellow fruity flavor. I didn’t need sugar, the sweetness was just right for me.

Okay, my tummy was protesting.. “STOP” it grumbled… but still I went for ‘Spiked Iced Tea’….

The tea is actually brewed with fragrant sweet spices. It was very refreshing. It was a good experience and I am sure I will be spending many more evenings at Dunkin’ Donuts for sure!!!

You and Me and Cuppa Tea

I have seen Prasik hill many times from a distance, on my way to my SBP Special School at CBD but never really ventured that far. Yesterday, my friend suggested we go up the winding path to admire the view from the top. It’s a beautiful drive up the narrow snaky lane with a panoramic view of the city below, a beautiful temple, some interesting villas and now an artistic tea store called You, Me & Cuppa Tea.

I was utterly besotted by the entrance itself. Cluster of umbrella, Warli painting on the walls, large jute curtains, and teacup designs everywhere. The ambience was good. The mood was set perfectly to relax on wooden tables.

It is a large place suitable to socialize during ladies tea party, or high-octane social events, or even have small lit-groups and there are smaller cozy rooms with floor furniture for private gathering to write, compose and bring ideas to life.

Everything revolves around tea, not the cutting chai, mind you; the Rs5 cuppa chai that you get at every Mumbai street, Nah! This is a place for tea ceremonies. This is the place where you can experience a wide range of assorted tea of around 170 varied flavors that are fruity, minty, peach, chocolate, citric etc. and different types of tea like oolong, blooming, rooibos, herbal infusion, green, black, mate, etc. of different seasons like winter, fall. It’s a place where there are different pots for brewing different types of tea, in different shapes of cups/mugs and different bites of snacks with every sip.

We left the choice of selecting the tea for us to teaologists, who knew how to brew a special blended tea for us to have a different experience.

He brought blooming bud and inserted in the transparent pot containing warm water. It was fascinating to watch the bud open in the glass teapot and bloom into pretty colored flowers as the bud seeped in.

This is called artisan or flowering teas. They were hand tied by tea artists and include some flavor of fruits and jasmine along with a beautiful design.

The saffron tea was served in tiny glasses that contained almond scrapings. The flavors were very refreshing

We had cookies and cakes with tea, but on their menu card there were some interesting sandwiches and pizzas, maybe next time when I am more hungry

 “TEA LOVERS SOCIETY” Now that is what makes this place so interesting! A community where like minded people and Tea Lovers from different walks of life share experiences, Art, Culture and Business, this is one of the prime objectives behind the conceptualization of "You Me & Cuppa Tea".

Rating ; good

Ambience; good

Bathrooms: unclean, needs improvements

Address:

Everest Housing Society

Parsik Hill, sector 26,27

CBD, Belapur.

Navi Mumbai

Thai Cook-Up at APBCookStudio

I have made many trips to Bangkok and each time, Thai food hogging starts immediately after landing, catching the first bite at the airport, stopping at street stall for a second bite and ordering the third meal at home.

The romance of Thai cuisine dates back many years ago, in another century, when relishing food was purely aping the taste of my cousins. They liked so I liked. During my long summer holidays, my cousins in Bangkok would take me to narrow food lanes, in the interiors of the city, thick with fragrant smoke. We would sit on plastic furniture and eat the most unique dishes, sometimes slimy stuff, sometimes deep fried critters, and sometimes sea-food infused with herbs, rich in taste, so spicy that I had tears staining my cheeks. The taste was enchanting and whenever I asked what I was eating, they would say “Just eat, don’t ask”

Thai food is the riot of flavors of sweet, sour, salty, bitter and spicy, all in balanced proportions. On another holiday in Bangkok, I had attended Thai cookery class to learn the basics of Thai cuisine. Most of my knowledge on Thai authentic meal comes from learning from house help in my cousin’s home. But for travellers, I am told, there are number of premier cooking schools introducing rich Thai cuisine heritage, offering personalized, individual, family and group culinary courses. It will be interesting to get insight into the unique art of Thai Cuisine.

Some of the major hotels like Oriental hotel, Dusit Thai hotel and some more popular hotels provide cooking course for their visitors based on creditable choices of the menus served at their restaurants.

I have many good memories of Bangkok and those memories were refreshed this week, when Rushina Munshaw invited me to her APBCookStudio for Thai Cook-up by Tourism Authority of Thailand.

The feast began with a lemon-grass drink, followed by Thai bhel and then a cooking demonstration for making Green and Red curry paste, chicken in basil and Thai curry. We were then grouped in pairs, to cook up the Thai dishes at our own cook stations.

It was a fun afternoon, cooking, eating and enjoying the morning, meeting other food lovers, was happy to meet Raynah Coutinho, Public relation manager, who shared her experiences of living in Thailand informing us about different point of interests.

I am happy to Share with you the basil chicken as demonstrated by Rushina.

Please note, for vegetarians, mushrooms can be substituted for chicken

Kai Phad Kaphro (Basil Chicken)

Courtesy Rushina Munshaw

Ingredients

250gms boneless chicken breast, cut into small pieces

2tbsp oil

3 cloves garlic, crushed

2-3 red chilies dissected and chopped

2tbsp fish sauce

pinch of sugar

20 Thai Basil leaves +12 deep fried for garnish.

Method

Heat oil in wok, add garlic and chilies, stir fry till golden brown

Add chicken, stir fry till it changes color

Season with fish sauce and sugar and continue stir frying for 3-4 minutes

Stir in the fresh basil leaves

Garnish with fried basil leaves and sliced chilies and serve with white rice.

Rushina had given me some freshly made red and green Thai curry paste to take home. Sunday was a treat time for my family and they loved the Thai curry that I made for lunch.

This is how I made Thai Curry

Ingredients

500gms Chicken thigh cut into strips

100gms coconut powder dissolved in 2 cups of warm water

½ cup green curry paste

3tbsp vegetable oil

5-6 Thai chilies; cut slantwise

5-6 kaffir lime leaves

2tbsp tamarind juice

½ cup Zucchini, diced

½ cup button mushroom, halved

½ broccoli diced

4-5 basil leaves

1tbsp fish sauce

1tbsp palm sugar

1 chicken stock cube

Method:

Stir-fry chicken thigh strips till fragrant

Add a cup coconut milk and chicken stock cube

In another wok stir-fry green curry paste and sauté till fragrant

Transfer the curry paste mixture in the chicken coconut broth and continue to stir gently till it is mixed.

Add mushrooms, broccoli and Zucchini.

Leave until cooked and then add the remaining coconut milk

Adjust the seasonings as desired using fish sauce, sugar, kaffir leaves, basil leaves, chilies, tamarind juice and sugar.

Serve hot.