Goa is one of the most exotic places I have ever been to. With it’s beautiful beaches, warm sunny weather and colourful culture, what else attracts me about Goa is its food.
With different cultures in India, comes different cuisine. And Goan cuisine is one of my favourites!
After a long day’s bike riding and dog walking, I didn’t particularly feel like cooking a gourmet dinner but my body was craving for some meat and fresh salad.
With my homemade bread I made this morning, I thought an easy quick salad might make for my perfect dinner!
I know that ingredients like cucumber and cherry tomatoes aren’t really winter food favourites but the sun was shining today, and my craving was influence by the anticipation of spring…I suppose!
This crisp and fresh salad has a refreshing combination of ingredients that would not only give you culinary satisfaction but also provide you with some nutrients that your body needs. It can be easily used as a side dish or a main meal served with some bread or even zesty couscous.
Wrap it in a tortilla for lunch boxes or fill it up in a pitta bread for quick snack – Zesty chicken salad will serve you well!
Ingredients:
For the chicken:
Chicken breasts
Oil
Salt
Black pepper
For the greens:
Lettuce
Rocket
Cherry tomatoes
Cucumber
Bell pepper
For the dressing:
Finely chopped onions
Crushed garlic
Mayonnaise
Finely chopped basil leaves
Lime(s)
Dijon mustard
Black pepper
Salt
Method:
Chop all the greens appropriately and set them aside in a bowl. In another bowl, make the dressing by mixing all the ingredients together.
Next, cut the chicken breasts into thin slices and marinate them with salt and pepper for about 10 mins or so. Then in a hot pan, heat up the oil and fry the chicken until cooked and golden brown. I like mine slightly crispy.
Place the greens on a serving bowl, add chicken on top. Add some dressing either on the side or on top. EAT!
Tips:
To make it healthier, substitute mayonnaise with yogurt. Vegans can use tofu instead of chicken.
For a fruity flavour, add some pomegranate or grapes. Yumm!!
Smoothie could’ve been pinker than his cheeks
If you are anything like me you struggle with breakfast every morning!
This smoothie recipe is perfect for your breakfast or any meal that you can’t be bothered with.
It is also good for post-school snack to keep you/kids going until supper is ready!
So, the sun showed up today and we got lost in one of our dog walking adventures! Obviously, we came home tired and totally parched! It was one of those moments when water just won’t do the trick.
Kids and I put together a few ingredients and this is what we came up with:
Ingredients:
1 banana
Handful of mixed summer fruits (frozen)
Handful of oats
2 tbsp of yogurt
Splash of milk (soy/almond/cow)
Honey to taste
Method:
Put all ingredients together in a mixing bowl and blend it (I used the hand blender) or if you have one of those fancy smoothie makers, by all means use that. Add honey as per your preference. Blend and serve. Drink slowly, relish it (make sure not to get a brain freeze)!
Tips:
If you don’t have frozen fruits, use any fresh fruits add a bit of ice. I am sure it would be perfectly fine without any frozen items too. It’s got fruits, yogurt, oats – what can really go wrong!
Today was that day of the week when my fridge had odd bits of vegetables and meat, that traditionally don’t go well together (I mean I even committed the Italian cookery crime of mixing different pasta’s together). But,since I couldn’t be bothered to go out shopping, with some creativity and instinct I made this experimental recipe which actually turned out to be delicious.
There is no real quantities or measurements as it is cooked from scraps.
Ingredients:
Quarter of a butternut squash
One bell pepper
One leek
4 sausages
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1tsp worcester sauce
1 tbsp soya sauce
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Splash of red wine (leftover from last night)
Oil to cook
1tsp corn flour
Pasta ( I combined different shapes including lasagne )
Cheese
Milk
Butter
Salt to taste
Method:
Pre-heat the oven for Gas Mark 7.
Brown the sausages on a pan and then halve them before popping them into the oven for cooking. In the same pan, add all the vegetables cut in slices and cook for about a minute or so. Transfer the veg into the oven along with the sausages (use the same tray). Then add flour (sprinkle half a tsp), red wine, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, mustard and worcester sauce.
Cook until all the juices are absorbed by the veg and the sausages are cooked. Takes about 20 to 30 minutes.
Macaroni:
Simply cook the pasta in boiling salt water. For the roux, in a pan melt the butter, add the rest of the flour. Fry for a few seconds and then add the milk. Whisk it until all the lumps disappear. Add the pasta & Cheese. Voilà!!
Serve hot with a sprinkle of black pepper or chilli flakes! Enjoy!
Something kids look forward to and parents despair! Half-term holidays are here and we don’t know what or how can we keep the children entertained.
Key to looking after children is to understanding the dog psychology a little bit. The more they are excersized, the better they behave. Once mentally and physically stimulated, they keep themselves entertained indoors, speaking from experience!
So here are my top 5 things to do with your children this holiday in Margate :
1. Family fun tea dancing @Morgan’s Margate – 17th February, 2014
Morgan’s Margate is hosting a fun filled tea party for adults and children. Dress up, show off and enjoy some tea and cakes along with some dancing.
Children can have scones and cream, grown ups who wish to start early are allowed to have some sparkling Prosecco.
The tea party start at 2pm. If you cannot make it on Monday, they are running them throughout the week. So checkout their website for more details.
2. Pick n Paint a Pot – Tuesday, 18th February, 2014
Children love to mess about with colours and, oh how they like to often break crockeries! Here is a chance for your kids to pick a crockery of their choice from the shop and paint it. Something they can learn to look after, hang on the wall and show off. That should keep them busy and I am sure parents would love to dip in their fingers as well (in the name of supervising of course).
The workshop runs from morning 10.30am – 12pm.
3. Turner Contemporary – Colours and Shapes – 19th & 20th February
Cut paper’s legitimately, make a mess but see them turn into some abstract artwork in the style of Helen Frankenthaler at Turner Contemporary’s art workshop.
The workshop runs from 1pm to 4 pm. No bookings required!
4. Storytelling at Powell – Cotton Museum – through out the week
Over the years, I have realised that all kids enjoy stories. Whether you have a kid who likes to play with made up camp sites indoors, or a wiz kid constantly playing computer games or watching television. Traditional African stories never fail to grab your attention. Enjoy some African stories at the Powell – Cotton Museum in Quex Park, Birchington. Oh and there is also a surprise element, that is making masks (I would imagine inspired from the stories). So get in there!
The storytelling runs from 11am – 2pm.
5. Amusements & Arcades
We tend to take something(s) that are sea-side staple for granted because we live here. It is like one of those things, ‘kids who live closest to the school arrive the latest’.
So, why not give our seasonally struggling Arcade’s a chance and let our children run riot for as little as couple of quid or more (up to you).
I know I said five, but how about spoiling the kids and yourself with a big, delicious and creamy ice-cream at Morelli’s Gelato in Broadstairs with some friends. If worried about cold, enjoy some hot chocolate. For almost over a year, I had no idea that you get a refill for your drinks at £1 each. How cool is that! So don’t miss out on a second lush, hot chocolate for £1.
There are many more things to do in Margate despite the bad weather. Here’s wishing everyone a very exciting and happy half-term holidays!
Margate is booming, and it is quirky, colourful and full of energy. Gone are the days when it was a big old trash can in every sense of the word. We have artists moving down here from London, small businesses using Margate as a platform to establish themselves and there is quite a comical mix of different cultures, people and their interests.
So here are the top 5 things to do/ visit/ shop from a quaint little sea – side town of Margate in Kent . Every tourist must use this as a guide – so I say it myself!
1. Haeckel’s – Made of Margate
Dom Bridges provides a feast for your nostrils with the smell of seaweed. Founder and owner of Haeckle’s, Dom Bridges has discovered a variety of range of skincare and beauty products made out of mostly – seaweed. I love the idea of a seaweed perfume and a body cream without smelling fishy at all.
“Haeckels is Margate’s own local premium organic seaweed skincare and treatment range made from hand-harvested wild seaweeds and other wholesome local natural ingredients, its not just made in Margate its made of Margate!”, Dom Bridges.
2. RG Scott Furniture Mart Margate
RG Scott is a grown ups treasure chest . If you want to buy someone a present and don’t know what, then visit RG Scott’s and you will not come out empty handed, but maybe with an empty pocket. It is one of those unforgettable guilty pleasure trips!
This is one of the many must visit places in Margate!
Pop- up Margate is exquisite little place located on the high st with 15 odd independent retailers selling their handmade and crafted products ranging from clothing, accessories, furniture to baby products etc under one roof. It is colourful, chic and inexpensive place to shop without becoming one of those “everyone’s got the same stuff”. Bet you won’t find these products anywhere else!
4. Shell Grotto
Do you like caves? Do you like shells? Most of all, can you spare an hour or so? If you don’t/can’t, you don’t deserve to be in here. It is a place to be devoured, to be explored, walked around in wonderment. Located in a rather odd corner of the town, Shell Grotto is an ornamental festival of Shell’s from inside. It looks like a cave dressed in jewellery made out of shells. There are various passageways and chambers full of mysterious shell mosaics. It is not like visiting a museum, it is an experience in itself!
Morgan’s Margate is a new vintage dance hall, that is always hosting live performances ranging from jazz to house music. They organise events that will make everyone dance, even those with two left feet. It is also a great venue for hen nights, birthday parties and even wedding receptions. They also run various dance classes during the week. They are busy! It is one of those places that provides complete entertainment with food and drinks. If there is nothing else going on in town, go to Morgan’s, they will look after you!
From creative, mad like artists, shabby chic to daring explorers, Margate is for all but for the faint – hearted! You cannot just visit the place, you have to live the place. Proof is in the pudding, trust me!
Mathew McConaughey might be taking home the golden statuette at the Oscars next month for his remarkable performance in Dallas Buyer’s Club.
Inspired by a true story, Dallas Buyers Club is a zesty drama about HIV/Aids, Homophobia and FDA regulations. The film revolves around Ron Woodroof (Mathew McConaughey), a part-time rodeo and an electrician based in Texas. Woodroof is portrayed to indulge himself in all kinds of pleasures, slightly hedonistic in his thoughts. Yet, the rodeo side of him, forces him to show distaste towards homosexual’s almost homophobic.
Ron Woodroof, finds himself stigmatised socially, when his flu lands him in the hospital and he is diagnosed HIV positive. Based in 1985, people in those days believed that Aids was exclusive to only homosexuals and one only had 30 more days to live. In fear of death, Ron Woodroof tries to get hold of AZT, anti-viral medication which was still being trailed; and then smuggling some other alternative medication from Mexico which was not approved by the FDA but showed impressive results, and helped people survive Aids longer by building up their immune system.
During his fight, he makes an unlikely partnership with a HIV positive transsexual man, Rayon (Jarred Leto), who helped Woodroof set up the buyers club that was selling monthly membership, as a result of which the members would get illegal supplies of alternate medication for free. It was all a big scam but it helped many fight the virus. It was a fight of public v/s FDA whose major concern was that the alternate medication would do more harm than good.
The director Jean Mark Vallee successfully portrays Woodroof as a fighter and not a pathetic victim. He keeps the pace of the movie going by bringing out the fun in the victims.
Mathew McConaughey, as Woodroof is brilliant with his accent and flamboyance that suits him in Dallas Buyer Club more than in his previous performances in mediocre romcoms. Recently, with Magic Mike and The Paperboy, McConaughey has shown his acting skills develop immensely but his performance in Dallas Buyers Club is outstanding. Both Mathew and Leto, have delivered an award winning performances .
Dallas Buyers Club is a combination of a good script and impressive performances, making it a good four star film which doesn’t come by very often.
I celebrated my valentine’s day a week in advance when my lovely valentine took me on a surprise visit to the Roadhouse for a heart-throbbing experience as it says on the poster’s of the show Fuerzabruta.
If you like circuses, raving and kafkaesque complexity running in your heart and mind – this show is for you!
As you go into the theatre, the standing audience is greeted by very upbeat Argentinian performers playing drums, singing and dancing noisily on the stage in a dark corner.
The crowd moves inwards and back and all around the theatre throughout the performances, driven by the movement of the show itself, as beautiful girls rollick above your head in a plastic pool like mermaids, creating beautiful ripples in their wafer thin tops and bikini bottoms – before starting to bang and stomp the plastic walls of the pool quite aggressively as the suspended pool descends down to head level (it made me think of the fishes in the aquariums, of how they must feel when people touch the glass).
The lights fade, and a highly vaunted man, clad in a white dinner jacket, walks and runs frantically on a giant treadmill that moves faster and faster, as he storms through brick walls; two girls crawl and then run on the billowing silver walls of the theatre, racing around the audiences calling out at the man in a chaotic manner making one feel quite anxious.
The mood segues to a more carnival like atmosphere with the performers dancing and getting the audiences to dance with them.
There is a fair share of audience participation as they get drenched slightly in rain, couple of audiences are put on harnesses up on the plastic sky to run and dance excitedly above the rest of the audiences and in the end all the performers who so far seemed quite unapproachable and were playing tease with the audiences come down right in the middle of the crowd dancing and making everyone dance on some tech-no/carnival like music.
With impressive visual effects and acrobatic stunts, Fuerzabruta is indeed like a dream far away from reality, where everything is so chaotic and fast paced and none of it really makes any sense but there is motion and you just can’t help or wake yourself up from that dream. It is a dream worth living though!
The only criticism I have read so far is that it lacks a narrative, that’s true but then there is something called ABSTRACT! and why not?!
Fuerzabruta, was the best – selling show six years ago and is back to the Roadhouse after globe – trotting for 100 performance finishing on 2nd March, 2014. Grab your valentine and engage them for an hour and 15 minutes of absolute madness!!
For more info visit http://www.roundhouse.org.uk/whats-on/2013/fuerzabruta/
Mughlai Chicken is an old favourite of mine since my childhood. I have fond memories of going to Persian Restaurants with my daddy and enjoying some biryani and of course Mughlai Chicken.
Mughlai recipe’s are often very rich in spices and creamy in texture. It is cooked with a lot of flavours, cream of coconut, cashews, almonds etc. It is mild and very satisfying.
Here is my version of Mughai Chicken:
Ingredients:
2 – 3 chicken breasts
4 sliced onions
5 – 6 cloves of garlic
ginger (umm it should be 50/50 with garlic basically)
1 tomato (optional)
2 tbsp yoghurt
2 chillies (or not)
2 tsp cumin seeds
Coriander and Mint leaves (use your instincts)
1 tsp tumeric powder
1tsp chilli powder
1tsp sugar
1 cinammon stick
5 cardoman pods
1 star Anise
2 bay leaves
half a can of coconut cream
Tbsp (Almond or cashew or sesame or poppy seed paste )
Salt to taste
Method:
Fry the onions till brown in a pan. Then blend it with ginger, garlic, chillies, 1tsp cumin seeds, tomatoes, cardamon pods, a few mint leaves and coriander. Form a fine paste.
(If you have the time marinate the chicken with the paste and yogurt for a couple of hours)
In a pan, heat the oil. Temper the rest of the cumin seeds with bay leaves, cinnamon stick and star anise. Then add the chicken, brown onion paste and yoghurt (or the marinated chicken). Add turmeric, chilli powder, sugar and salt. Cook for a while then add coconut cream and almond paste.
Give it a good 15 to 20 minutes. Then garnish with some more coriander and serve with plain basmati rice.
Tips:
It can also be served with Naan Bread or pilau rice. Make a quick Raita made out of yoghurt, cucumber with a dash or sugar, salt and lemon juice. Yumm!!
P.S: Picture above isn’t great (my camera is dead, and phone make it look a big mess but try it out for yourself)
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