Royal High Tea at Taj Falaknuma Palace

I want to share with you all my very spectacular and memorable second visit to the Taj Falaknuma Palace which was …An evening filled with grandeur being invited for a tour of the palace and high tea. It is a memory to cherish, with the warm hospitality of Taj welcoming you, with a shower of rose petals from the floor above, as you enter the +Taj Falaknuma Palace in a royal way. 

We were welcomed with fresh Ginger tea, peppermint tea.

 And then began our tour of the palace.

The palace is a beauty draped in white with its heavy Italian influence, evident in the intricate details inside the palace. The ceiling was mesmerizing with fresco paintings making an illusion. The painted glass windows bringing in natural rays.

An antique Clock

They have a huge collection of art, manuscripts, rare books, statues and antique pieces which are worth seeing.

We were served champagne while we saw the various parts of the palace. Another amazing site was the official dining hall which had a table that can seat 100 guests and is 108 feet long, the tableware was made of gold, silver and crystals which was really unique. 

A lavish spread awaited us with an Indo-Western arrangement, the way the English porcelain tea set and Indian tea cups merged together was beautiful.

The spread included fresh juices and healthy shots,(in which the Ferrero rocher shake is worth a try).

Sandwiches, (there were many options, the salmon and Philadelphia pinwheel sandwich was scrumptious),

The mini bagels and croissants with cream cheese were interesting & for vegetarians avocado pita wraps and tomato & mozzarella sticks deserve a special mention. Hot Indian snacks like kheema bun, boti lukmi, haleem bruschetta, bun maska received great remarks from the guests.

~I loved these chocolate cigars! So creative and Delicious~

There was an array of pastries, cookies, Indian Sweets and Bruschetta (khubani ka meetha, walnut and banana cake, bitter chocolate truffles, macaroons and, Fruit tarlettes, orange cures salmon etc) to choose from. I loved the almond and hazelnut cake with cream cheese frosting.

My plate of snacks :D 

I enjoyed the view from the verandah of the palace sipping a hot cup of tea with nature all around and the entire city in sight and peacocks roaming around in the garden below. There was jazz music playing in the backdrop...It was just so refreshing, you could sit there for hours together. It was a great experience.

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It’s a tour of 2000INR + taxes per head and it is absolutely worth it! I highly recommend a visit to Falaknuma Palace anytime you are in Hyderabad, The architecture, surroundings, art, music, grub, hospitality, the tranquility and peace will mesmerise you.

Dhokar Dalna

After a weekend full of meat and calories, I take a recluse every monday (for religious reasons) & turn into a complete vegetarian, some people are strict vegans (no milk or animal products, with no consumption of onions and garlic)

So friends today I am sharing a recipe that was handed down to me by generations in my family & finally I am sharing it with you all !, It's a East-Indian Recipe (from Bengal).

It is made with Split bengal gram (lentils- chana dal) -Dhokar Dalna

This can be eaten with puri (deep fried flat bread), paratha or even rice. If you are dieting  you can opt for Roti (Indian flat bread) instead of puri and paratha.

Ingredients

• Chana dal: 500 grams (soaked over-night)- Bengal split gram

         

• Ginger: 1 inch
• Cumin seeds: 1 tsp
• Turmeric: 1 tsp
• Fennel seeds: 1 tsp (sauf)
• Jeera powder: 1/2 tsp (cumin powder)
• Coriander powder: 1 tsp
• Red chilly powder: 1 tsp 
• Medium sized tomatoes (chopped and made into a fine puree) : 3
• Bay leaves: 2-3
• Ghee: 1 tbsp 
• Oil: 3 tbsp
• Salt and sugar according to your taste.

Garam Masala (mixture of spices) that need to be grounded and kept aside:

• 4-5 regular small Cardamom (elaichi)
• 3 cm- Cinnamon (dal chini)
• 5-6 Cloves
• 4-5 Peppercorns 
• 1 big Black cardamon

Procedure

• First grind the soaked Chana dal properly with salt and sugar in a mixer or grinder.

• Now steam the dal (lentil) paste for about half an hour in a pressure cooker.

• Take it out. Let it cool. Make square shaped cakes as in the picture and shallow fry it properly in oil and keep it aside.
• I have made a dry paste of cumin, ginger and fennel seeds.
• In a separate pan heat the ghee and add the above paste along with two bay leaves fry it properly then add turmeric, chilly, coriander and cumin powder along with salt & fry for another 5 minutes in medium flame
•  Now add the tomato purée and cook further till oil comes up. You can add 1 cup of water, if there is a need.. Let it boil properly 
• Then add the fried chanadal(lentils) cake and let it simmer for another 5 minutes.
• Lastly add the freshly ground Garammasala and stir carefully so that the cakes don't break.
• Before serving spread ghee from top.

Tips:

If you don't want to steam the dal(lentil) paste, you can also fry it in the wok/kadai till it gets tight  (firm) but don't forget to add chick flour in that case which will act as a binding. But I like my dhokar dalna to be steamed.

~ENJOY!~

Kadi Pakodi (North Indian Delicacy)

This is a Gujarati (Gujarat is a western province in India) delicacy which I learnt from my sweet neighbours in Surat. During summertime it's really a relief to have this and is best enjoyed with white rice and fried papads.

 

Ingredients: 

For the pakodi: What is a Pakora?

• 150 gms of gram flour (besan)
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• A small onion chopped
• 1/4 tsp of red chilly powder
• 1/2 cup of water
• Oil for frying

For the Kadi (gravy):

• 400 ml of sour curd
• 75 gm of gram flour
• 3/4 tsp of red chilly powder
• 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder
• 1/4 tsp of fenugreek seeds 
• 1/2 tsp of cumin seeds
• 1/4 tsp of mustard seeds
• 6-8 curry leaves
• 2 dry red chillies
• A pinch of Asafoetida (hing)
• 800 ml of water
• 1 Tbsp desi ghee (clarified butter)
• 2 tsp of sugar
• Salt according to your taste

Method:

First we make the pakodi:

• Mix the gram flour and other ingredients that are mentioned above for the pakodi and whisk them together in a mixing bowl to make a thick batter.
• Heat oil in a kadai ( saute pan/wok ) and make small balls of the thick batter that we just made and deep fry them till golden brown. Drain the excess oil using a paper towel/ tissues and keep it aside.

       

Fritters(pakodi)

Now we make the Kadi (gravy):

• In a deep bottomed vessel, whisk together the curd, gram flour, water, red chilly powder and make it into smooth thin paste and Keep it aside.
• Heat ghee (clarified butter) in a saute pan (kadai with a lot of depth). 
• Now add cumin seeds, mustard seeds, red chillies, curry leaves and fenugreek seeds to the ghee, when it starts spluttering add the hing and turmeric powder and fry it for 1 minute.
• Now add the whisked curd mixture to the wok and churn it well.
• Add sugar and salt and keep on stirring so that no lumps are formed.
• Cook for around 15 minutes in medium flame.
• When it starts bubbling (up to boiling point) add the pakodi (fritter balls) into the gravy and cook for another 5- 10 minutes and turn off the flame.

~Enjoy~