3 Cocktails that Made me Dizzy!!!

Finally the rains have set in today, on the great northern parched lands of India. The capital was simmering hot and just these 2 days of drizzle is all we get before another bout of simmering heat takes up its place. It’s the time to live, sprout and give fragrance to all dryness around. I am new to this climate. In fact in Mumbai the stretch of monsoon sometimes took devilish look with flooding, water logging and what not. Here it’s not the same. Day long showers are a distant day dream. Yet the nightmare of water logging and flooding continues. The roads are like a battleground- a driver here screaming her lungs out because her car’s tyre got stuck into a flooded man hole, or another honking to glory as he is stuck in a big jam behind her. An elderly auto driver trying to help, but the lady feels unsure of his intentions. Basically it’s a typical day of the capital. And rain definitely brings out the worse in everyone here on a busy weekday. I wish the rainy season continues till the weekend for the simmering Delhites to enjoy the weather better.

To continue with my traditional Mumbai rainy marvels, I plan to set up a barbecue this weekend. I know, Delhi has its own barbecue season during the cold winters. But there is something really grand about a barbecue during the rains. The wind, the wet smell, and the hot soft morsels of flavourful meat- a match made in heaven. And to cool it all down, I need to make 3 of my most favourite drinks in the world. 3 Mexican inspired cocktails which will blow anybody’s mind away. These are customised drinks which were created for me by a very talented mixologist, Peter Sethi. I loved his imagination. All I had told him was to give me something that would surprise my taste-buds in directions impossible. And he very well managed to do that. My interaction with him occurred during my visit to Sofitel Mumbai; he was their star mixologist at that point of time. And he with the sommelier really kept me in a good company filled with knowledge throughout the evening. We ate and drank and had a wonderful time in the state of art wine cellar of Sofitel hotel. So without any further ado, here are the 3 amazingly delicious yet so unique cocktails for you to enjoy all year long, and for me to have this weekend!!

Wasabitini

This one was my favourite. Being bred as the quintessential mustard loving bong, I adore the taste of wasabi much more than anyone I have ever seen (throw in a couple of japs too). Wasabi with tequila is a beautiful mix, and the pungent flavour just blows your mind off!!

Ingredients

60 ml tequila

½ tbsp. wasabi paste

15 ml of lime juice

10 ml simple sugar syrup

2 stick cucumbers juiced

Method

Mix everything together with a lot of ice in a shaker. Shake well

Strain and serve in a chilled glass.

Curried Coffilla

If you think the name got your attention, then you can’t even imagine how much the ingredients are going to boggle your mind. Imagine curry leaves with coffee. The confusion that it would create on your palate would be very much worth all the efforts put in making it.

Ingredients

45ml tequila

15 ml Kahlua

15 ml lime juice

10 ml sugar syrup

5 pieces of curry leaves

6 pcs of coffee beans

Method

Pound the Curry leaves and Coffee separately till it’s mushy and powdered respectively.

Transfer it onto a shaker filled with ice, and add all the rest of the ingredients.

Shake well and strain it on to a chilled glass.

Serve it cold.

Li diavola

This one was named by Peter himself, and he insisted that I keep it at that only. I played along, partly because I found the name quite cute sounding and, partly because I have no clue what it means in Mexican!

La Divola on the right with traditional Margarita  

Ingredients

6 chunks of preserved jalapeno

60 ml tequila

15 ml lime juice

10 ml sugar syrup

Pinch of salt

100 ml pineapple juice

Method

Mix everything together with a lot of ice in a shaker. Shake well

Strain and serve in a chilled glass.

Cheers!! Hic hic!!

Literally chilling in the wine Cellar of Sofitel Mumbai BKC

Peter with all three of the drinks! 

Paired- Cocktails & Malvani Food Festival

Husband has been out travelling weeks long at a stretch. Complaining about the rich hotel food. At least quality was a check in the 5 star property, but even the diet food would contain huge amounts of Extra Virgin Olive Oil. How much can a 30 something take in on a daily basis?

I start this article with a lot of personal rant. It’s no fun keeping away from home and home cooked fresh simple food. We realised it the hard way! And then, Sofitel decided to do something about it. It created a menu for the very first time that was curated by 2 homemakers, to be served in the Pondicherry café. I figured, it couldn’t have come in a better time as this. Being one of the two luxury hotels situated in a busy business park; it was a great initiative. It made perfect sense in my head as this would mean 2 things- foreign guests would be fortunate enough to taste authentic Indian food, while the Indian guests missing ghar ka khana would be able to taste that as well. I am all in for this concept by a business hotel of this virtue. And I hope many more such hotels; especially the one my husband has perched himself in, should as well.

I went on a busy Saturday of the Malvani Food Festival, and saw a jam packed café. The ladies who curated the menu were sweet, polite and quite proud of their achievement. The smiling chef who got this idea and helped them with this rather impressive feat was beside himself with joy. The food was done exactly as the ladies liked; and after tasting, I knew they liked their vegetables more than the meats. It was simple yet hot and rather tasty. All in all a great evening spent.

But I went there with an agenda. To find the perfect pairing cocktail to the awesome malvani spread that we ate. The newly appointed star sommelier, Sagar Nath; took it as a challenge, and devised three perfect cocktails for the evening which went awesome with the spicy fare as the malvani food boasts of. He kept the flavours clean, sweet and spicy together. These drinks will go very well with any of our Indian cuisines, especially the dishes with heavy amounts of coconut and spices.

Pineapple-Velchi Martini

45 ml ketel one (vodka)

3 pcs of cardamom crushed

10 to 12 fresh pineapple pieces

Muddle the crushed cardamom and pineapple well. Top it with ice and shake well.

Pour the vodka in a chilled rimmed martini glass. Double strain the muddled mix in the glass.

Stir and serve!

Was perfectly paired with the spicy vegetarian food that was served. The cardamom (velchi) was a wonderful addition and complimented the flavours of the food well. And the addition of sweet pineapple cut down on the hot quotient of the food pretty well. This cocktail would pair well with Punjabi hot tandoori kababs or spicy goan sausages as well.

Rum Zuniper

45 ml Dark Rum

15 ml Amaretto

10 ml Simple Syrup

15 ml fresh lime

1 hot green chilly slit, depending on the hotness-the seeds could be removed.

Muddle half the chilly in a shaker and add all the rest of the ingredients in.

Shake well and serve on the rocks, decorated with the other half of the chilly.

This goes well with Puri/Wade/Luchi and red meat curry; a combination that Indians love from the bottom of their hearts. It’s a warm hearty drink on ice, served to chill your palettes. The sweetness can be adjusted according to taste.

Espresso shots

1 shot of espresso coffee

45 ml Gin

15 ml chocolate syrup

Put all things in a shaker full of ice, and shake it well.  

Serve in a chilled sherry glass.

What a perfect way to end your rather heavy and spicy Indian dinner. Who could have thought gin could be transformed into a liqueur so well.

All these cocktails would be a great addition to your Indian themed Christmas parties. Cheers!!