Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Aloo Gobhi

Friday, September 18th, 2009

Aloo Gobhi

(Potatoes and Cauliflower pan fried together with tomatoes in a dry masala curry)

Ingredients:

Cauliflower – 1 whole (wash, cut into florets and keep in warm salted (1/2 tsp) water)

Potato – 1 large (skin removed and chopped into cubes)

Onion – 1 small (chopped finely)

Tomato – 4 small (chopped)

Ginger Garlic paste – 1/4 tsp


Mustard Oil – 4 tbsp

Cumin seeds – 1/4 tsp

Curry Leaves – 1 sprig


Turmeric – 1/2 tsp

Cayenne Pepper – 1/2 tsp

Kitchen King Masala – 3 tsp


Water – 1/2 cup


Salt to taste

Coriander leaves – handful (chopped finely)

Proceed:

1) Heat oil in a non-stick kadai on medium-low, once hot add cumin seeds wait for few secs to splutter, add curry leaves, fry and add chopped onion and fry until light brown.

2) Add ginger garlic paste and potato pieces, mix well and fry for 5 mins.

3) Add turmeric, cayenne pepper and k’k'masala, mix well. Immediately add tomato pieces and cook until they becomes mushy or soft.

4) Add cauliflower florets, mix well and add 1/2 cup of water, bring to boil and simmer for 15 mins.

5) Add salt to taste and chopped coriander leaves and cook away for 2 mins and switch off (check wether potatoes are cooked or not and then switch off).

Serve with Rice, Yoghurt and Mixed Vegetable Pickle on side. Even goes well with Roti.


Tip:

If you don’t have mustard oil then use rice bran oil, instead of cumin seeds add mustard seeds same amount. But, I recommend mustard oil :-)

cheers

Rajani Rayudu

amma-cheppindi.blogspot.com

The Food Show Auckland Record Numbers!

Monday, August 17th, 2009

Record numbers of foodies turned up to the The Food Show in Auckland this year, with a massive 41,548 people turning up to the event on 30 July – 2 Aug this year.
That’s 5,000 more visitors than a year ago.

Not even a glimpse of the ‘Recession’ there!

Dona White, the Founder & owner of The Food Show, is delighted with the show popularity, which has been running for a decade now. Dona says: “Our culinary confidence as a nation has increased enormously over the last decade, and The Food Show is proud to have been part of that exciting evolution.”

Well done Dona & the team at The Food Show – we LOVE what you do!

100+ restaurants, bars & cafes closed over the past 9 months in NZ

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009

Over one hundred cafes,  restaurants and bars have closed since October last year, according to The Hospitality Association.  How the individuals are coping within the industry depends on “where you are, how good you are, how you respond to the market” says HANZ CEO Bruce Robertson.

Aunt Daisy’s Boathouse, New Orleans Dinner Club, and Calypso Cafe have all closed in the Wellington region recently.  A lot of other places are limiting hours and shutting their doors for parts of the week.

“Bottom end” eating establishment that would once have been able to trade through rough times and then sell up, are being forced to shut down because there are no buyers, according to Mr Robertson.  He also says that “Part of the closures have been the result of unrealistic rents.”  Landlords are raising rents because they feel pressured to make properties look valuable to prospective investors.

During winter, people have a tendency to stay at home when it’s cold.  The cold snap came early this year so restaurateurs have to find ways to entice people out of their cosy homes, he said. “A lot of people think they should be conservative, when they can afford not to be.   It’s a matter of giving them an incentive.”

The owner of Auckland’s Horse and Trap Restaurant, Warren Stewart, said reward systems were now quite standard along with specials & events to keep the regulars returning.  “It’s now a buyers’ market in the hospitality industry. If people shop around, they’ll see good benefits.”

Suburban restaurants are now picking up according to Mr Stewart, and that was gradually flowing-on into the “party areas”, however most businesses were already “doing things smarter”.

On average, the worldwide restaurant industry average for restaurant turnover, is twenty months, according to Mike Egan, the well respected Wellington restaurateur and Restaurant Association President.   He pointed out that while there may be an increase in closures, those restaurants and venues leave behind them fixed equipment and furniture, making them easy pickings for new business entrepreneurs.  Egan thought it likely that new entrants would be of better calibre due to more stringent scrutiny on the part of banks and suppliers lending credit.

“It’s a good thing. When times become good again, I hope we are running our businesses with the same leanness and strategies, so we’ll keep doing it.”

Source: The Dominion Post22/7/09

Kiwi Fish ‘n’ Chips from polluted Mekong Delta – oooh!

Tuesday, July 7th, 2009

It’s apparently a case of ‘you get what you pay for’ when purchasing ‘cheap’ fish at some NZ fish & chip shops.Vietnamese catfish or ‘basa’ is an ultra-cheap species of fish farmed in the highly polluted Mekong Delta. Since March 20, MAF Biosecurity has approved imports of the cheap fish.

In June 2009, 15,000kg was imported by Shore Mariner, one of New Zealand’s largest seafood suppliers, and has been largely bought by fish & chip shops and producers of ready-made meals and crumbed fish.

Director of “Talley’s” Andrew Talley, campaigned against the imports, saying basa is farmed in the “most putrid and polluted waters anywhere in the world”.

“It’s harvested with slave labour, with no environmental regulations and no health and safety regulations, which enables them to produce a product at about a third of the cost of New Zealand product.”

He said Vietnamese catfish was sold as orange roughy, sole, tarakihi and also ling in various countries, which meant that people could be eating basa without knowing it.

NZ Herald reports that none of the fish and chip shop owners in Auckland they spoke to said they sold basa.

Basa-free zones includes John Dory’s in Herne Bay, who only use fresh john dory, tarakihi or snapper. Also Happy Takeaways in Westmere offer frozen hoki and higher priced snapper & tarakihi.

Source: NZ Herald.co.nz 5 July 09

Chef of Killer Prawn in Whangarei wins award

Saturday, June 27th, 2009

Owen Sinclair, executive chef and owner of the Killer Prawn in Whangarei has won Regal Salmon Innovative Northland Chef of the Year.   Owen beat 9 fellow chefs to win at the 2008 Mataariki Industry Awards.

Owen says  “I feel honoured to be rewarded for all my efforts over the past 15 years.  It’s also great for the whole team to be recognised – I rely heavily on my staff to support me and drive the restaurant.”

Source: www.foodworks.co.nz 22 June 2009

Wellington bars best in the world

Saturday, June 27th, 2009

Two of Wellington’s  nightspots were voted amongst the best bars in the world.   Motel on Forresters Lane (Tory St) and Matterhorn on Cuba St were voted 7th & 12th place respectively in the annual survey released by Australian Bartender magazine this week.

These two bars were the only New Zealand ones in the top 20 from the Asia-Pacific region.

Last year, Matterhorn won “Bar of the Year” for the third year running, at the 2008 NZ Bartender magazine bar awards.  Motel was the winner of “Cocktail Bar of the Year” at the same awards.

Source:  www.foodworks.co.nz (23 Jun 09)

Recession favours Restaurant Brands KFC, Starbucks, Pizza Hut . . .

Saturday, June 27th, 2009

KFC, Starbucks & Pizza Hut franchise operator ‘Restaurant Brands’ told shareholders on this month that  its annual profit is expected to be about $12 million.

“The current economic environment, whilst challenging, has not impacted our sales as adversely as originally anticipated,” said chairman Ted van Arkel.

“There is life in a recession and Restaurant Brands’ performance in 2008/09 is testimony to that,” was the comment from CEO Russel Creedy.

The successful profit was driven by a strong performance from KFC.   Mr Creedy said a new agreement with franchisor Yum! Restaurants International allowed much more flexibility in closing under performing Pizza Hut stores.

Source:  www.foodworks.co.nz