Crimson Chakra - For the nth time

So, CC launches a new menu and having been asked to be part of a group to give feedback on how this was, I can only say I was impressed.

There was a good number of vegetarian dishes, a lot of paneer amongst that. I loved every dish on the menu except the basil vegetable fried rice - which I loved a little less for want of more basil :)

The menu card was neatly rolled and tied with a satin ribbon. We began with a drumstick charu. I quite thought it was going to be like sambar but was pleasantly surprised that it was very light on the palate.

There were three veg starters, all of which had paneer in them. The paneer was soft and delicious and CC has nailed the paneer dishes.

On to the main course, the breads were soft even when they weren't hot, so much so that some of them couldn't wait for a fresh serving and gobbled the not-so-hot naans and kulchas. The veg jalfrezi was excellent and we ate a whole bowl without the breads. The pita bread was fresh and the filling sumptuous (more paneer)

The dessert was the quintessential Indian kulfi. Need I say more. It was the perfect end to this delicious meal.

As a side note, CC @ night caters to those night owls who stay up late and have a midnight craving for some amazing food. I've ordered from them and have had a fantastic experience. You can reach them on +919962996116. The menu is available here.

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Food and Social Media

It was yet another dinner with CFG; but for the first time it wasn't so much about the food (partly because I was fasting today and couldn't eat out despite the choice of venue being Crimson Chakra).

We had the opportunity to meet and interact with Rebecca Subbiah, registered dietician in the UK and US, an avid food blogger and most importantly a social media coach. She loves interacting with people and making new friends through the most important medium - food. She has also developed a recipe application for the iPhone.

The group bombarded Rebecca with questions and she was patient enough to talk and interact with everyone, amidst the excellent dinner (I was told the food was great today, and we can't expect anything less at Crimson).

There aren't any pictures on this blog; for once I didn't want to shoot.

Meeting Rebecca today has given me a spark on the what-next in terms of this hobby of mine. :-)

Stay tuned to this space for more updates.

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The Baker Showcase - Chennai - Grand Finale - 2

All those weeks leading up to this day - this very day, and finally those few hours were all that decided what we call a successful event!! I'd decided I wouldn't eat anything here today (Shhh.. I'm on a diet) and told my friends as much.

But.. but... who can resist those yummy macaroons or the cheesecakes or the pannacotta or the cup cakes - Boy.. we bought, ate, bought, ate and did nothing else!

Preethika and I landed at Crimson Chakra (venue partner) at 3 pm sharp. Some tables were ready to go, and a few diners were mulling over their lunch, wondering why these mad folks (Oh that would be KP, Nikhil, Preethika, Nanditha and myself) were running around like crazy!

The bakers started coming in, and we started helping them set up the tables. Uma and Preethika helped set the tables, Aarti was the bouncer (not letting anyone in before 4 pm), and Nanditha and I were running around to check if anyone needed anything. The 2 bald gentlemen (no offence) Nikhil and KP were at hand getting things organized.

I quickly stepped out to get some air, and I witnessed this. The crowd, patiently waiting, had actually formed a line (almost gave me a feel of Vaikunda Ekadhasi Sorga Vaasal and all we had to do was a "jerugandi" :P :P)

3 hours flew and we were running pillar to post to find out if the bakers and customers needed anything - from getting change for Rs 100 (Rashmee, I hope that helped) to reuniting a crying baby with her mom who almost forgot her daughter in a desperate attempt to buy the goodies before they were sold out ;-)

The bakers had whipped up a storm - lots of exotica and sinful delights - I think I am going to have run that marathon to burn off all that calories (Good luck Rashmee and Sangeetha for the Dec 2 marathon)

It was a fantastic team effort and a wonderful show yet again by KP Balakumar and Nanditha Sashidharan - keeping their sanity intact amidst a lot of insanity and craziness. Equally amazing was the enthusiastic show put up by the bakers and some absolutely organized & disciplined crowd.

A big thanks to Crimson Chakra and Nikhil - The Owner, The Man, for being the venue partner.

A sizeable amount was contributed to the NGOs - Deepam and Sahaayika. All the bakers contributed 10% of their sale, and thank you Ekta for contributing your entire sale amount today. That was super generous!

Obviously, there's lots more that went behind the scenes - today and all other days leading up to this event, and to that, a big toast to KP and Nanditha - Here's to lots more of these super successes! Cheers!

That just about sums up the entire event and the evening! (It goes without saying that some of us had dinner at Crimson Chakra :D)

PS: All photographs will be uploaded to the Guild. 

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Girls, Gossip, Dinner - CC on KNK

After a very successful gossip session at Rajdhani, EA, earlier this week, the girls decided to have some more fun. And a dinner marked the beginning. (Oh, there are many more to come; Shall be revealed when the time is right)

Many of them had not been to the KNK branch of Crimson Chakra, so decided to head out there after checking out the By Hand, From the Heart sale at Isphani Center. (I couldn't make it to the sale)

Kamalika and Preethika had to drop out but the rest of us decided to go ahead. Aarti, Tasneem Aunty, Jenny and Nigar (And yes, this group, including KK and Gans, is called Drama Queens :P)

Jenny had never tasted the famous elaneer souffle and her main intention on this trip dinner was to eat that.

OK, so here goes the order (and we confused ourselves and the waiter)

a. Curried Mushroom and Corn Sacks (and we thought it was a gravy! :O )
b. Fried Baby Corn in curry leaf batter
c. One Potato salad that came with some huge banana flower leaf (vaazhapoo)
d. Mushroom soup (by 2) (Nikhil / Naveen  - where is the tortilla soup that's available in the Adyar outlet? :O)
e.Smoked rice (Aswin Rao - everyone was talking about you when ordering this; am sure you'd have porai erified so much today)
f. panneer paranthas
g. lasagne
h. cheese stuffed ratatouille basilica (!? and this came super cold - so had to send it back to be re-heated)
i. elaneer souffle (by the boat loads)

Now, what can I say. Everything was perfect - food, service, ambiance! Except for that slight problem with the basilica thing and a pretty sour salad, every other dish was CC trademark. The potato salad had sour cream but it did feel a tad too tangy!

After a hearty meal and a decent bill, we walked out with a heavy tummy and some heavy bags with loads of tomatoes (courtesy Tasneem Aunty). Now I am looking for tomato recipes! Anyone?

And Naveen - Thank you. We had a great time and I hope you have a fun vacation in Colombo!

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Dieter's Delight - Dal Kichdi

Yes I am on a diet, notwithstanding the fact that I dined at Crimson Chakra tonight. I had soup and dessert (the elaneer souffle, of course; too bad I couldn't resist this one) and I didn't miss my workout. (And I stepped into Gormei Market to say hello to Sriram and he goes - 'I thought you were on a diet?')

This is one of my all time favorite one-pot dish. Absolutely easy to make and tastes pretty good. The below recipe is a variation of the Gujarati Kichdi (served usually with kadhi, achar and roasted papad). Kichdi is a comfort casserole, more like our paruppu sadham or pongal, but loaded with the goodness of dal and vegetables.

This recipe serves 1.5 people ;-)

Wash and soak half cup of moong dal, about 2 tsp rice and a few tsp of masoor dal (red lentils).

Chop vegetables of your choice - typically onion, potato, cabbage, beans, carrot & peas. Saute them in a teeny bit of oil, along with some cumin, one bay leaf (optional), some cloves (optional), salt, 1 chopped green chilli, a pinch of red chilli powder, 1 tsp coriander powder and some turmeric. I also added the left over sprouts & mushroom mixture from last night's dinner.

Now, add all this to one big pot, add about 2 1/4 cups of water, some salt and pressure cook for about 7 - 8 whistles or more. I keep in the electric cooker for 30 mins. Let it rest for a while. Mix (or should I say mash) well and garnish with finely chopped coriander.

Can be served as is, or with raita or achar / papad / vegetables.

Suggested serving: Add a tsp of ghee over the kichdi and watch it melt away into the gaps and make the dish yummier by leaps and bounds ;-) And that's my lunch box in the picture! 

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Crimson Chakra + Home Bakers' Meet = Heaven

A gloomy Saturday and a full day power cut and yet am grinning ear to ear - All thanks to an amazing lunch at Crimson Chakra (yeah twice in 2 weeks now). A great initiative by KP, to get the bakers and enthusiasts meet offline and put faces to the names that we have all been interacting with only on Facebook. And of course, the Chennai Chapter partner, Nikhil Moturi for extending his support as always!

A big thanks to Ali and Nishanth for dropping by and inviting everyone for CFG's 8th anniversary on Sep 29th.

Some interesting conversations revolved around baking, fondants, gelatin and the proportion of ulundu to rice for Idli - Oh yes, I am not joking. Sangeetha says 1.5:7 for a wet grinder and 1.5:4 for mixie ;-) - Tip of the day :D :D

Too bad some of us were far apart and couldn't really catch up much. But then, good in a way that the veggies were seated in front of the table, so we got our food fresh and hot. (Ha! Effect of constant complaining to Nikhil ;-) ) And yay - the all time favorite - elaneer souffle - perfect way to end a meal, always and forever.

Absolutely loved every minute of the lunch - the food, the gossip, the chatter - a Saturday afternoon well spent. And here are the pics

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