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Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Husband joins the act!

Being the busy wife of an even busier investment banker sure has it's perks!

After an impromptu lunch date, I was seriously taken aback when the husband (who, in a strange turn of events, had reached home by 7pm) informed me that he'll be cooking dinner. Now, I don't know  exactly what prompted this declaration but I not complaining for sure!

So when I entered the house at a relatively late 9pm, the vegetables were out on counter, knife was poised and the chef was set to get to work! The tables had definitely been turned coz when I asked him what's on the menu, he said, "no idea!"
I must confess I was a tad worried that I would end up doing the cooking. However, my fears were unfounded. Right from the chopping to the cooking to the serving, the husband had it covered!

What followed was a wonderful meal of (ready-to-eat) dimsums, wine, mixed vegetables and (ready-to-eat) alu parathas!

And now I have to ask him for the recipe!
More power to men who cook! And yay for husband!

Update - I have just been informed that it's my turn today, so it's back to the kitchen for me!

P.S. - Now that he knows how happy he made me, I hope he shall cook again soon. This post shall constantly remind him of that! <devilish grin>

Candies in pumpkins

How do you know it's Halloween?

Google tells you, how else?! Have you seen today's Google Doodle? If you haven't then GO. SEE. IT. NOW and turn into a witch! 



And in case you missed the doodle, you also know it's Halloween when you help yourself to marshmallows from a pumpkin shaped candy box in office! ;)

 Happy Halloween everyone. Get scared, get very scared!!

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Impromptu lunches

 
Impromptu plans are great plans. And impromptu lunches are the best lunches!

The husband called up out of the blue, "Are you busy right now? Want to meet for lunch? I'm on my way." 

How could I say no to that?! 

The weather in HK is so wonderful right now - enjoyed a stellar al fresco, salad-pasta lunch at Divino Patio and a breezy, wind-blown-hair walk back.

Yay, I love lunch dates!

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Weekend excitement!!

Last weekend was like a mini holiday for us in Hong Kong. We visited new places, went on a hike, had great food in beautiful restaurants on beautiful promenades, saw Disneyland fireworks and went sailing. It was perfect!

Beautiful Discovery Bay. At any point on the promenade, 
we had this on one side and
 this on the other.
Magical! And then we walked a few meters and were are greeted by this. 
And we walked some more, decided to go on a hike up to the golf course and were rewarded with this for all our efforts. 


And it was great to come back to this
 and this,
and enjoy this
while viewing this!!!! 
After intense conversations fuelled by good food and a number of glasses of this
at Zaks and Hemingway's by the Bay, we reached home well past midnight after walking past this. Christmas seems to come early at Discovery Bay!
And woke up the next day to rush to catch this (Aqua Luna to Stanley promenade)



as we sailed past this (Ocean Park)
landed at this
and went and enjoyed this at Classified
and later in the day, bought this
and watched this,
and then went to this.
Perfect weekend! 

Let's see what this weekend holds for us... Heading to this right now.

Happy weekend everybody!!

Restaurant Review: The Chinnery, Mandarin Oriental

It always surprises me that the best Indian food in Hong Kong is served at The Chinnery, a place with a decided English old world charm. While I expected the food to be less spicy and not really appealing to an Indian palate, I was in for a surprise on my first visit and have loved The Chinnery ever since.

And what's not to love about the place?  The ambience is great and very relaxed - just sitting in one of the booths makes you feel less stressed.
The staff is friendly - they arranged drinks for us which are not on the menu, encouraged us to stick around even after it's time for them to wrap up, brought us a mug of beer (in pewter mugs!) on the house and always had a smile.


The cocktails and recommendations are just right and the food is well worth every penny! Over a couple of visits, we've had Chicken Tandoori,


Prawn masala with rice

And some excellent garlic naan
The bit I look forward to the most - when cookies or chocolate sticks appear on the table after the meal! All in all, The Chinnery is a place for happy times and worth looking forward to for our monthly visits.
Are there any restaurants which have taken you by surprise? Would love to know more!

The Chinnery
Mandarin Oriental
5 Connaught Road, Central, Hong Kong
Phone: 2825 4009
Email: mohkg-chinnery@mohg.com

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Science and cooking!


So looking forward to taking Harvard's 'Science and Cooking' online classes. Thank you edx and Coursera for such fantastic open courseware. Now there is no end to learning indeed!

Although, I joined the class a little late, really excited about learning some new cooking techniques and about the science which makes food so yumm! 

The best thing about free online courses? There's no such thing as 'being late for a class' - do it at your pace, whenever you want, wherever you want!

Do you know the science behind your favourite cooking techniques?





Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Facebook Page... and a BIG thank you!


There's No Secret Ingredient finally has a Page on Facebook!!

Thanks to all your encouragement, feedback, support and interest in this food blog, the Page has reached 100 likes in less than 10 days! Having a Facebook page is exciting and, a little scary. The real high is seeing somebody I don't know, 'like' the Page!

Today, I would like to give a BIG shout-out to:

My friends, Akshay, Rohan and Kopal who encouraged and pushed me to start writing about food. They were the first ones to really taste my cooking outside of my family. Their effusive compliments made me laugh but also encouraged me to experiment more and share my experiences.

My sister, Anisha, who is my copy-editor, sounding board and idea-generator (excellent copywriters usually have excellent ideas!). 

My husband, Vishal, for his patience and willingness to be the guinea-pig in all my experiments and for motivating me to keep at it. He is my favourite 'sous chef' and the only one allowed into the kitchen while I'm cooking - he earned his place by having great ideas and inputs! 

All my friends from school who I had lost touch with but thanks to Facebook, would get back and say they liked a particular post or a recipe. They don't know it but the positive feedback in the early days kept me blogging, and cooking!

My friend, Gitanjali, for her recipes and advice and for instant Google search for things she didn't know about.

My teacher, Jay Oatway, for believing in my blog. And for his words - "Even with your job, make sure you keep at your blog Aditi. Don't give up on it. It is important to stick to it, and write. Make a schedule, make sure you live by it - if you have to write a post on a Wednesday, you have to write a post on Wednesday. Nothing should change that. Believe in yourself and keep your voice strong."

Papa, my father-in-law, for being sooo patient while I served up strange 'khichdi' and 'poha' and 'alu paratha'; for his tips and inputs and for telling everybody that I cook well!

And most importantly, my parents - the unique Raisurana-Dudhoria combination of food lovers! Mummy for making such awesome food and trying her hand at all recipes/ cuisines even with limited availability of ingredients. She makes sure a meal is always an 'event' in our family. My school friends rave about her cooking till date and make me want to be a 'mini celebrity' too!

Junu, for his great love for great looking and great tasting food. His passion for new food, desserts and cuisines keeps mummy on her toes! He always encourages us to try new things (in life in general, not just when it comes to food) and it is his good taste that I have acquired. His openness to experimentation is probably something I have imbibed.

Thank you to all of you.

With those words, here's looking to many more posts, more comments and more sharing in the days to come!

You can visit my Facebook page by clicking here. Do leave your feedback, thoughts, ideas, comments behind!

See you on the Page!

Monday, October 21, 2013

How to make Scrambled Eggs & Vegetables in 4 simple steps!

Eggs. One of the most versatile food items ever. Like potatoes, eggs are always readily available in the house and don't take much time to cook.

One of my favourite egg recipes is scrambled eggs with vegetables (anda bhurji) to be had with 'paratha' or bread. It's easy to make, it's healthy, it's filling and it's delicious and fluffy! So here goes the recipe -

Ingredients -
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 medium sized onion
  • 1 green chilli
  • 1/2 capsicum
  • 1 tomato
  • Asparagus
  • Salt
  • 1 teaspoon red chilli powder/ chilli flakes
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

Four simple steps -

Cut the onion, bell pepper, tomato, green chilli and asparagus in cubes and keep ready.


Break the eggs, pour them in a bowl and beat them till frothy. Add 1/2 spoon olive oil to the eggs.


In the meantime, take 1/2 spoon olive oil in a pan and heat it.  When it is hot enough, on medium flame, add the vegetables and stir for 2 minutes till you can smell the onion and the bellpepper cooking.

Add salt, chilli powder/ flakes and mix well.

Once the vegetables are soft (but not squishy), pour the egg mixture into the pan. The pan should be on low heat.

The eggs will start cooking very fast so don't let the egg run together. Keep stirring to break up the egg. 

Let it cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally and your eggs are done!

This makes for the perfect snack/ breakfast or meal. You can make it as spicy or bland as you want. I like it slightly dry, some people prefer it runny or moist. It's totally up to you to make it the way you want to! :D

Let me know if you liked this recipe! And if you would like to know any more egg recipes. Also, how do YOU like your eggs done??

Scrambled eggs & vegetables / anda bhurji in 4 simple steps!

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