Attention! Attention! Attention!!

A quick media post to inform all my readers that this humble blog was chosen to be amongst the top 6 Indian Food Blogs. And I cant stop beaming at that!! :) :D

Read for yourself....

Link To Baggout Article- http://blog.baggout.com/2015/07/31/top-15-food-and-drink-blog-post-of-last-month-june-2015/

Excerpt...

6. Zouqh

Antara roy has shared a pasta recipe which she is confident can cure depression. She has shared a vegetarian version of it while it can be converted into a non-vegetarian one also. From this we can be assured of the power of Indian food and spices. If you want to look at such a powerful preparation, you must look at this post.

Weekend Trail- Bread Baking and Sartori!!!

Social experiments truly pave way to new beginnings. And since I relocated, I have been constantly testing myself in kitchen with projects that are equal parts exciting and enterprising. In my quest to quench my ever increasing appetite of testing and tasting, I conducted a small exercise this weekend which took a deliciously divine turn and led me to try my hands on bulk baking. It started as a small discussion on 2 popular forums, where we were talking about home-made, preservative free breads made with whole grains like whole-wheat and finger millet. Everyone seemed quite excited about the idea, and urged me to deliver it to their houses. And I did so. Sunday evening, I went over to each house to deliver a freshly baked bread and I was greeted with smiles and encouragements. I already received a few e-mails urging me to continue as the quality, texture and feel of the bread suited the buyer’s expectations. I too enjoyed myself in this whole exercise. The smell of fresh bread permeated through my house and both my boys were beside themselves tasting hot soft breads out of the oven. The only part I need to figure out is the delivery, as every weekend, as much as I wish, I really can’t travel around the city delivering breads. So thanks everyone for such an amazing response. I truly loved every bit of this weekend and the nice drive that it ended with. I would be most obliged to get your feedbacks so that I can come out stronger than this! Thanks a ton!! 

And my companion for this baking time was this new find- a bottled cocktail made with vodka and absinthe, named 'Sartori Absinthe Classic'. As a review to the drink, well, it was quite sweet yet had a kick to it. I felt it was a good breezer substitute, but for me it lacked the oomph of the green fairy. 

A Honey Diet to be Remembered!!

Diet/dieting is such a misleading word with a wrong interpretation. In our day to day parlance we have started using the word to talk about a restriction of food in order to loose weight. But really, the father of the English when made this word, all he intended it to mean was the usual amount of food and drink of a living being, including an animal or an insect. It was not to take a drastic makeover of such heights. Alas, he might be turning in his grave quite violently; but today all we associate while hearing this word is restriction of food. And it’s only when we add 'balanced' to the 'diet' that we mean what it was supposed to be meant!!

Oh, I am with you. I know it’s confusing. But before you get very stressed and pressed about the word, I have got you covered. However, whatever it means, you just need to mean one thing while eating- HEALTHY EATING. It doesn’t have to be only about salads, trust me you need that elusive carbohydrates too. And sugar isn't your enemy. Your body needs everything that nature provides to you and the habits you have grown up eating with. It just means you move around those things and have a healthier option instead. Like if you love bread, and can’t live without it; restricting yourself of this treat would be much more harmful. In the absence of it, you would start craving it more and hence 1 fine day you would end up eating a whole loaf of it, rather than a slice. Similarly, if you have sweet tooth, eat something sweet twice to thrice a week. Don’t completely devoid yourself of it, rather opt for lesser sweet and more fibrous wholesome sweeteners like natural honey, jaggery, brown sugar etc.  

Today, I write for Dabur, who has recently launched a campaign called Honey Diet. And I have a few recipes that I have made with honey, replacing the sugar and gaining a more earthy flavour out of it. These three are my favourites, and all I want is for you to try this healthy recipes.

First up is my whole-wheat bread/pizza dough. This is a great alternative for white bread in your breakfast and has potential of being overly addictive.

Recipe- http://antaras-zouqh.blogspot.in/2012/05/pizza-i-have-theory-indians-like-and.html

Next in line is my Baked Apples. Another great breakfast option as well as a healthy dessert snack to satisfy the sweet craving.

Recipe- http://antaras-zouqh.blogspot.in/2012/08/my-rustic-self-baked-apples.html

And to end this lovely honey diet, try making my Whole-wheat Honey and Banana Muffins.

Recipe- http://antaras-zouqh.blogspot.in/2012/06/whole-wheat-and-honey-muffins-with.html

Hope these Recipes gave you a great idea to start with this new diet. In case you need more gyaan on healthy eating, follow the link here-http://antaras-zouqh.blogspot.in/2015/06/equality-dinner-plate.html 

For more information Dabur's Honey diet, follow the link here- http://www.daburhoney.com

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Work and food dilemmas!!

It’s not a new story... age old!! I have work to do so I can’t cook, lets order in today!! And this kind of becomes a repeated story for months on it. Yeah there is an easy Indian option to hire a cook. But that comes with its own pair of strings, not to mention the cost. And then, you don’t have strict office timings, when do you ask the cook to come in?? So the easy home-made solution to these woes- Maggi and others of its kind. It’s unhealthy, and hence you decide to put it off for the next New Year resolution to start eating healthy. If this is you and you have read till this point, you might want to continue on as I have figured out a great solution to these woes...

First of all, let’s look at the problem.

•         Time: You never seem to have enough of it to look for pots and masalas on the kitchen counter.

•     Energy: always tired to go in the kitchen... Really!!

•     Now Nigella Lawson and Jamie Oliver both did some inspiring work on this front. But we dont get their food. We want our desi stuff!!

So here are the solutions to all these problems, in THREE words- PLANNING, MARINATING & REFRIGERATING!!

To read more, and I know you do want to as there are many tips and tricks that you cant forgo; click here- http://www.smartindianwomen.com .

I See UC Browser!!

Internet woes are the worst to overcome. A bad connection coupled with a broken un-updated browser, and you are in for the most irritated ride in the world. I live by the internet and for me, a fast healthy connection is of utmost importance. Wifi helps to some extent, but the rest is gauged by the browser I use. Till now I was content with chrome. Firefox had lost its sheen long time back, and chrome had taken its place beautifully. But since a few days now, a faster squirrel of a browser is spreading its magical tail on internet, claiming to be the fastest till now.

A tech illiterate like me was asked to review it. I mean yes, the company had its reasons. I am pretty much all day on the internet, browsing through innumerable numbers of videos and sites and blogs. I use a smart phone too, and the chrome browser doesn’t connect my phone to laptop screen. So basically I am the perfect target for UC browser to seek. And hence, I started trying it out yesterday. It’s faster than chrome no doubt. And I am in love with its feature of connecting my mobile to the laptop. It’s so hassle free and I keep reading the particular blog, in and out, switching the devices. But I have saved the best for the last. You cannot even imagine how fast it downloads, and gives me an option to check up all my downloaded history, including…. Shh… don’t quote me ever… but really including torrents. I am no cricket fan, but Yuvi claims that he has a cricket corner especially for you guys who live and eat cricket. After so many good things, I feel it’s definitely worth a try. I haven’t yet managed to find a flaw, but well I have just used it for 2 days yet. So try and let me know if u feel there are things to be changed and features to be banned. I would most definitely try to connect you or convey your comments to the right ears. I am still a tech illiterate, but the cute colourful squirrel with its walnut is killing me with acute cuteness.

For downloading the browser, follow the link here- http://www.ucweb.com/

And for the cricket lover like you, here I throw in a small surprise where Yuvi talks to you directly. Do check it out on the UC Browser.

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How to Tackle Fussy Eaters, My Way!!

Rant of a tired mommy...

I am a mommy of a 2 year old toddler. And somehow this designation goes hand in hand with being tormented and eating leftover for every meal. Kids these days are majorly fussy about anything that you wish to put in their mouth. And these fussy episodes last for more than an hour, 3 times a day. So what do you do in situations like this? Strictly follow your principles of no TV/videos during the meal time? Or give in to the lesser evils in the wake of nutrition for his growing years? Authoritarian principles of keeping them frightened of parents are a philosophy of the bygone era. And frankly with these little brats, I hardly think it will work as well. They understand our weaknesses even more clearly than us. They are smart, and all they like to play with are things that adults use, like vinegar in the kitchen; and petroleum jelly along with my vermillion powder in the bedroom. Imagine the mess Ansh created when he kept the bottle of vinegar in the place where we store bottled water; or when he mixed my petroleum jelly with vermilion powder and smeared it all along the bedroom walls. I can say that he really painted the town red with it. 

Now there are 2 approaches to tackling this. And none of it involves scolding, screaming and spanking frankly. In fact I was talking to a brother who was really naughty and had been beaten quite mercilessly when we were young. Now he is a grown up man of 23 years, and is still nursing many of those wounds in his heart. He despises many of my family members and cousins, and chooses to be an intoxicated introvert. After meeting him, I am more convinced than ever that it’s important to be a Buddy Parent than having a dictatorial reign in this era of complicated life stories. Fussiness and naughty play time is a part and parcel of growing life. And frankly it is what we as mothers get as a gift from our labour of love.

I don’t particularly scold him much. I instead punish him by closing him out in a planter balcony where ‘dinosaurs’ live. Or treat him when he does something extraordinarily well. Punishment without a treat is meaningless, and apart from giving him home-made goodies, I occasionally handout a few pieces of Kellogg’s chocos.  Somehow these kids have a way of understanding what mummy wants to feed, to what they don’t. And so keeping a few treats close to hand out to them during these episodes, really pays. My child is a fussy eater, and has days of not being interested in food at all. So for those days, I always keep a packet of mix grain baby food and Kellogg’s chocos to coax him into eating some fruits and veggies.  I have clearly surrendered rigid principles to lesser evils. After all, he is a child who needs to know the importance of eating and eating healthy at that. It’s his time to sit back and enjoy a few occasional treats. These little episodes of #KhushiKePal while eating really helps restore his faith back into food. After all that’s what the Bachpan is all about. And in fact, both of us are learning it together with each other!!

And oh before I end, and before someone starts judging me to be the worst mom in the world to be pumping copious amounts of cocoa and sugar in his tiny body, let me give you another trick I use on him. Now that I have realised that his little brain thinks that anything brown in colour with slight sweetness is chocolate, I trick him into believing Nachani ka aata is ‘choco’ for its colour. And a porridge made with it is cherished to the last spoon possible. I sweeten it ever so lightly with jaggery, and he is a happy child. He has never had a chocolate as a bar to be enjoyed. But instead, I give him chocos with whole wheat or a brownie made at home with properly sourced raw materials. I am no saint, and I don’t want to be one. It might be wrong to trick his little mind, but it works for me as nutrition is far more important to me in this day of fussy non eating kids.  

This is written as a part of the series- #KhuljayeBachpan by Kellog's.  https://www.facebook.com/mychocos 

If you are seeking recipes for these little guys, follow the below links.

Baby Steps: An Indian's Guide to Baby Food

Toddler Steps: An Indian's Guide to Toddler Food

And for a laugh- Conflicts for a New Mommy!!!

Cheers!!

Depression Vs One Pot Penne, Indianized!!

So now that Indians have agreed on being the most depressed and the most addicted to chocolate, it is time to change that. Change because I feel a chocolate with its dark colour and addictive quality gets me more depressed, and oppressed, and stressed; and all pressed at the same time, every time (hee hee, yes I can’t stop saying this sentence again and again!). I hear you when you say cocoa has power to solve anything and everything, but this wonderfully vibrant pot of pasta have powers bordering supernatural which can cure even a broken heart. And I say so with a lot of conviction because a friend indeed with a broken heart was mended with this very pasta dish. Infact that was the birth of this recipe, a birth I cherish the most after my toddler’s. So this had be the star of the anti-depressant series that we are working on.

Now to talk about the recipe a bit, you will notice that it is quite an Indianized version of our Italian favourite pasta. If we have our own version of spicy Indo-Chinese cuisine, then we rather have a delicious version of Indo-Italian cuisine too. And this my friends, is my ode to the great new cuisine I am giving birth to. The idea is simple; the fusion is made to ensure we use ingredients that are easily available to us in our own kitchens. And obviously, the Indianized version appeals better to our palette. Its fast, it’s easy and its perfect for breakfast, brunch, lunch, snacks and/or dinner. I have kept the recipe completely veg, but if you want a non veg version, just thrown in some bacon or sausages in it.  

A cup more liquid than this!

Ingredients

500 gms Durum/whole wheat pasta

2 small onions sliced

2 medium capsicum

3 big cloves of garlic peeled and chopped

A big pinch of roasted red pepper flakes

A bigger pinch of dried oregano

A handful of coriander leaves chopped

A handful of olives, chopped

3 big tomatoes, puréed

A splash of red wine vinegar

A splash of apple cider vinegar

A splash of balsamic vinegar

A splash of basic tomato ketchup

A splash of extra virgin olive oil

Salt, sugar and pepper to taste

And enough water to submerge the pasta in.

For the Process as to how to make it, Click here- http://www.smartindianwomen.com

More from the series-

• Depression Vs Sandwiched French Toast!!
• Depression Vs Strawberry Oats Bars!!

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! 

Social Media & Antara!!

Social media is the only thing that is constant these days. And its a wonderful platform to meet and connect with individuals of similar interest. Now that I am busy writing this series upon depression, these social mediums suddenly gained more importance in my eye than ever. Its actually a great way to meet and interact with new people, controlling all the information that you would like to give or take. Blogging helps too, but Microblogging through your twitter Instagram and Facebook profiles are far easier and better. So, if you havent already, do subscribe onto my profiles to get many foodie updates. Feeling doubtful? Then check what all happened up there while you were not following me (and doubting me.. Sob* Sob*)...

To start with, lets start with this picture where I finished a whole handi of delectable biryani with the serving spoon.... Really I was that hungry!!!

And then the biggest #breakfaststories over a plate of Mushroom and cheese omlette and a potato hash tikki. 

And then the cheesy quesadilla or 

This spicy pickle of Bhut Jhalokia, which very sadly is missing out of my kitchen and I am desperately trying to find another one.... 

So you get the point right? There is a lot happening up there. Do LIKE, SUBSCRIBE and FOLLOW me on -

Twitter- AntaraZandC

Instagram- AntaraZandC

Facebook- Zouqh, the Taste of Being.

FoodVood and What Not!

The other day I was shopping at a hyper-super store in my neighbourhood. It had everything starting from grocery items to pillows to rugs, every damn thing under sun available. As we made our way into the grocery aisles, I saw this young couple with a paper in hand, strutting from one rack to the other. A bit of a busybody that I am, I had to curiously overhear their conversations. The lady was diligently going from 1 rack to the other to find all Mexican things in the store. The guy was given tasks one after another to find an ingredient from the aisles surrounding them. It was fun to look at them. Finally the great Punjabi vein of the guy gave off the big words, “won’t it be better to make some samosas instead of enchiladas?” He was positively bummed, not the most fun part of a Saturday I believe. Plus the cost of every ingredient added up to a huge bill for him. After leaving the store, all he wanted was a samosa, and nothing else at all.

If this is a story that you have lived through a couple of times in your life, then you know how irritated you become after such a visit. And those ingredients that you bought in full packets of 500 gms to 1000 gms are still rotting in your cupboard, never used after that very first time.  So the need of the hour is to have these food delivery systems up which gives out pre portioned neat packets of raw materials, perfect for a couple who need to make and eat exotic, but don’t want to spend a weekend amassing the raw materials; and then storing the unused materials to rot. These delivery guys get you exactly the ingredients required to make a perfect candlelight dinner, without any hassles.

The owners of 1 such delivery system in Gurgaon got in touch with me for a review. They came with samples of many lunch ‘dabbas’ of exotic nature that they deliver to various offices nearby. But I was most excited to look at the kitchen kit that they bought along. They got me a kit for Mushroom Risotto, with pre portioned Arborio rice, mushroom, unpeeled garlic, salt, white pepper etc. The young owner seemed very enterprising. It was lovely catching up with him over a cuppa and homemade crackers. His food was decent, not at all oily. But the spicy quotient was a bit unbalanced which left many of the dishes flat. Fat and slim salad had an overload of garlic, and so I rather have that on toast as a bruschetta than alone as a salad. Similarly, the chilly paneer was really hot and needed something sweet to cool down! But I was most interested in the kit that was given. Arborio rice was of good quality. But the recipe card, though quite detailed with pictures of each step; had given a wrong recipe. Risotto for me is to be cooked bit by bit, splashing a ladle full of simmering stock. Not at all by cooking the rice first and then adding into a white cream based sauce. Never the less, the quality of ingredients really stood out. I just feel they need a bit more thought into the recipe. But for a start-up I think they have done better than usual. It is a good option to pre order lunch from their website, especially when in office you crave a new dabba now and then. They deliver in Gurgaon and can be reached at Foodvood.com.