Art ,Action and Drama in our kitchen

Coming back to my Saturday kitchen was very interesting. After all these years it has become like a second skin for me. I live on the excitement,the high adrenaline and the action.Those who do adventure sports such as wild river rafting or sky diving would understand what I mean. The calm and peace gathered in the short break to India flew off like pigeons after a gunshot! I was back to my primal state. There were new chefs to be trained and hungry customers to be fed.Service in those peak hours take you to a different level of concentration . It brings the best and worst out of the team. Its fine art created amidst heat, sweat and blood . The pain of anticipation in your guts when order tickets are piling up and plates are getting stacked are second to none. Your senses are open and you are drunk with passion. The sweat on the brows and the aching backs stand witness to our toil. The joy of seeing a finished plate and the thought of your art being appreciated is also second to none. My chefs say that working shifts with me is baptism in fire. You are either this side or that side and mediocrity is not an answer. I wish somehow our customers understand what it takes to create what they are enjoying on their plates. It will enhance the dining experience even further!

Culinary rendezvous in India.

The most memorable destination amongst all in my culinary rendezvous this time was the South Indian City of Hyderabad. It is the I.T hub of South Eastern India and also a mecca for food lovers. I was impressed by the depth and intricacy of flavours and spicing in Hyderabadi cuisine. I had heard a lot about the famous Hyderabadi Biryani. Now was the time to experience it. The scale of production of this delicacy in this city is astronomical. Its something that is seen to be believed. The Biriyani restaurant was almost like a mini food festival! In fact encouraged by my Biriyani adventures, I did something even more radical. I went for a late night food foraging session with some local friends! We got up at four in the morning and visited the old cities’s famous eateries. It was as if time stood still there amongst the imposing and impressive Turkic and Mughal architecture. I felt as if I was transported back 500 years to times of Qutub Shah the founder of the city . All around me were people relishing offal of animals at dawn just before sunrise. I must admit I was impressed and intimidated at the same time. My hosts ordered tongue and sheen followed by kidneys and brain! And all this was being lapped up with thick Hyderabadi bread.We ended the meal with some warm saffron tea...A great aphrodisiac...

I am carrying the spirit of the regal Hyderabadi Biryani back to Margate. Wouldnt it be simply amazing to set up street side eateries with people enjoying warm exotic delicacies!

Foraging for herbs,spices and inspiration in India

It is time to get inspired. My travels are most of the time culinary adventures into the hinterland of exotic cuisine. This time I am foraging for two mysterious flavours. “Black stone flower” and Cubebs pepper”. Both spices are rare and unknown to most connoisseurs today. I have come across them now and then being used by traditional chefs throughout India.My hunt for these rare herbs will take me from the bustling western coast of Maharastra to the serene and quite foothills of the Himalayas.

Black Stone Flower" is a rare dried flower. It has a strong woody aroma and flavor and resembles lichens.Cubeb (Piper cubeba), or tailed pepper, is a plant cultivated for its fruit and essential oils. Cubeb came to Europe via India through the trade with the Arabs.In Europe, cubeb was one of the valuable spices during the Middle Ages. It was ground as a seasoning for meat or used in sauces.

The Ambrette flower blossoms

The Ambrette seems to be in full bloom now. We feel a new buzz around the restaurant with the new look and feel. My intention was to change the menu slightly to introduce a few new main courses and starters. Local Ramsgate crabs were an excellent discovery. Crabs have a special place in my list of preferred ingredients. It brings some mouthwatering memories back from childhood days in India. My mother makes the best crab in the world. Crabs in India are smaller and packed with flavour. I would compare them to the famous Cromer crabs in the UK. It was a sense of pure joy to recreate her recipe in the crab jus with mustard oil.The wedding season has been great at The Hannah Dining Suite at Quex Park.

My heart goes out to the flood victims in Pakistan. The sight of human suffering melts way conditioning and blocks in our hearts. Petty voices of political opinion and dislike die out and gives way to feelings of compassion . We feel the pain as if we are all connected by this invisible thread of humanity.

Thanet is special!

Taking Thanet produce to Earls court in London.

It is a matter of great pride to show case produce from our area at National forums. The Real Food festival at Earls court in London was great fun. Quex Rapeseed oil was our star product. There is a buzz around Rapeseed oil . It seems as if it is the cooking oil of the future.Cold pressed oil from our fields produced using environment friendly farming clearly stood out in the crowd for the most distinct flavours. Its the fertile soil of Thanet after all!

The sky is the limit!

A big thank you to dearest dada (Big brother).Thursday was one of the greatest escapes I had since months. Flying is addictive. It is a strange sense of freedom...almost as if it is intrinsic human nature to be air borne. May be the exhilaration comes from being able to challenge your intrinsic natural capabilities. I do not know as yet .Perspectives change in the cockpit and you realise how insignificant our day to day pursuits are in the bigger scheme of things. The most mind blowing sight is our coast. Its pristine. It looks like a perfect piece of art by the greatest artist in the universe.Canterbury looks like a chess board with the mighty cathedral as the centre piece. The most amazing sight is the landing at Headcorn . You feel transformed back in time landing amongst sheep in the flat lush green meadows of Kent.

Promoting Quex Park , Thanet and specially Margate at Kent 2020

Hi everybody.


Kent 2020 was an interesting experience. I am not an early bird. In fact sometimes I forget what the wee hours of the day looks like. Anyways this was a exceptionally early start. Nick Hewer the man from the TV series The Apprentice was our special guest of honour. His speech started with a comment on Margate and how the challenge of reviving our town was extremely difficult. The rest of his speech was the story of The Apprentice and Sir Alan Sugar. A few of the other speakers indulged in some more Margate bashing .I felt some how the isle of Thanet had the status of an unknown and uninhabitated island in the agenda of most speakers.Anyways, I believe any publicity is good publicity and Margate got a fair share of it! I was lucky enough to introduce myself to one of the speakers later on in the day. I said we are a michelin recommended restaurant and we serve fine food and draw people from all over the county. "So where are you based?" he asked. "We are in MARGATE sir" I said with mixed feelings of pride and humility.

Air travel chaos,No Nile Perch, Kent 2020 , Lambs heart etc

Hi
The day started with no supply of my favourite Nile perch from Tanzania. I love the fish for its firm texture and subtle flavour. Its also fully traceable and reduces pressure on demands of local fish some of which are overfished. So the Icelanding Volcano Eyjafjallajokull (God knows how its pronounced!) is hitting us hard in sunny Margate. Anil is still stuck in New Delhi. I was glad to see an email from him today. The highlight of the day was the return of a full alcohol license for the restaurant. I would personally extend a heartiest "Thank You " to our licensing manager and his team in Thanet district council. I spent most of the day at Detling preparing for the Kent 2020 with the team from Quex Park. I am looking forward to be a part of the event tomorrow.

Travel chaos, Sugar free fig pudding

The chaos in air travel is taking its toll. Its amazing how events happening in remote corners of our planet touches lives across borders and continenents. A small splinter has a domino effect and ends up in a conflageration somewhere else. Anil my head chef is stuck in India. Work load compelled me to cancel a charity dinner with students of King Ethelbert school. We were trying to raise money for an aids orphanage in Goa ,Western India. Any ways, its an opportunity to get back to the stove and indulge... I have been working on refreshing the dessert menu since the past few days. I stumbled upon this simple but amazingly tasty pudding in my search for a new dessert. The most important thing is its sugarfree! Let me share the recipe.

Sugar free Fig pudding.

Cook 200Gms of dry figs in boiling water for about five minutes. Drain and puree them in a food processor. Keep aside. Heat three tablespoons of ghee or clarified butter in a heavy bottomed pan,add half a cup of powdered almond and saute over medium flame for about two minutes.Add the pureed figs, 1/3 cup milk powder with 1/2 cup of water and cook for about fifteen minutes stirring continuously.Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon green cardamom powder and mix well. Serve hot.

Its as simple as that! Enjoy.

Its time to fall in love again.

Hi everybody

I am sure all of us go through this. I am not the only one. You do something regularly for a certain time and then the joy goes out of it. We all crave for inspiration from time to time. Moments of love in what we do are rare sparks in life. In my case these are bursts of intense creativity with ingredients, textures and flavours . Ideas about food and new culinary experiences fire me up. I am experimenting with some new flavours for a new spring menu. We are working on ways to cook rabbit in three different ways. I have never had more respect for the beautiful animal in my entire life. I have found a way of using every part of the animal. Spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg lift the sweet gamey flavour of the meat to divine proportions. A sugar free fig pudding is also turning out well. I have plans to serve this with an unique betel leaf ice cream. I feel its time to fall in love again...

Dev ,the Michelin dilemma and Thanet

Hi friends! The Indian Princess finally got recommended in the Michelin guide this year. However the excitement was shortlived as the initial jubilation was drowned in a series of events that followed. First it was rumors of The Indian Princess closing down followed by a follow up visit by an anonymous Michelin inspector who wasnt happy with the building and location of the restaurant. The final blow came as an enforcement by the local licensing authorities on the alcohol license. I had a taste of local bureaucracy neat on the rocks. Life all of a sudden turned very dramatic. I remember waking up one morning and thinking "Why is it so difficult? What is going to hit me today? My heart goes out to all the people who came out to stand by us during these turbulent times. I received help from unexpected corners. Genuine people and real friends who follow section 27 of "The Common sense Act". Thank you Mariette, Tim, Liam Louise and all other friends and well wishers in TDC. The story of The Indian Princess is getting more and more interesting as months go by. My determination to stay and serve customers in Margate is also getting stronger.

February, Valentines and Aphrodisiac herbs

"Aswagandha & Basil tea "

Ashwagandha – Withania Somnifera. It is considered the king of Indian herbs.Another natural herbal aphrodisiac, an herbal miracle that works mainly on the reproductive and nervous systems as a sexual and an energy tonic with a rejuvenating effect

"South Indian sea food extract “Rasam” made with fresh local Scallops, tiger prawns and rope mussels flavoured with asafoetida."
Asafoetida: It is a well known Indian aphrodisiac (in laboratory studies, it has been compared favorably to sildenafil, known by the brand name Viagra).

I have been busy brewing herbs to create an unique aphrodisiac sampler on Sundays this February. I wish to offer my guests a very different dining experience where they are trying the real herbs rather than just remnants of flavour lost in a variety of other strong ingredients.
In this process I have realised how common and intrinsic aphrodisiacs are in the social fabric of a country that potrays itself to be highly conservative.

Warm Memories
“It is the myriad colours on a bright day, the sultry mid afternoon heat, the mysterious aromas in the evening, the distant noises of laughter and cries” These are the memories that unlock themselves when I think of my adolescence days in India. On retrospection it seems amazing how there is constant struggle between the intrinsic forces of human sexuality and the serious and sombre moral gurus of society trying to cover it up.

Aphrodisiacs in day to day cuisine
Like most other things with Indian culture, aphrodisiac ingredients enjoy a sort of immortality in time. The skills and knowledge of using them is never lost. They just flow incessantly from generation to generations. Indians have a very different approach to food compared to the rest of the world. Most people just enjoy them without asking any questions. Traditional chefs are these strange groups of mystic men who secretly guard their knowledge and keep it to themselves. They have no fear of losing their skills as the rest of the world is not interested to grasp them. Chewing a betel leaf before bed time or serving a glass of milk laced with saffron before the wedding night are examples. There is a strange sense on beauty even in the prohibitions. As a child I spent a lot of time in Orissa, a land with some parts magically lost in time. The temples are covered in highly erotic and beautiful carvings of men and women from the Kama Sutra. Sometimes even in groups!! I have never seen such an energetic celebration of the sexual energy. These temples were built in the pre Islamic periods when people enjoyed sexual freedom in society. These stone sculptures used to baffle my teen age mind. “If sex is sinful and ungodly, then how come the abode of the Gods are covered with sexual impressions”

India has a thousand years of lost culture of beautiful sexy people and incredible exotic aphrodisiacs . We are compiling some amazing recipes with aphrodisiac ingredients on Sundays this February. Lets celebrate!

Woodcock and Sika Deer

I am back to serious cooking after a short break. There is a surge in woodcock population in the Deal area and a local game dealer had a record catch. He in fact got seventy five birds within a few hours! I have never cooked Woodcock before.My initial reluctance turned to curiosity and I ended up buying thirty birds. It turned out to be pure magic. The bird has a unique rich taste and a "melt in the mouth" flavor. I plan to match the breasts with allspice and nutmeg. Flavour or ingredient matching is a fascinating science but needs in depth research. I spent the entire night yesterday trying to crack flavors to match with the highly prized Sika deer. We all understand that the sense of pairing comes from similar flavors in different ingredients.However ,where should one start? Is it the diet of the animal that decides the flavours of the meat? Or is it the molecular or chemical structure of the meat? Sika deer is the "champagne" of venison. It is a taste of Japan in England. The first few deer were introduced by the Victorians to the tiny island off poole harbour. They thought they will develop a confined sanctuary for the deer on the island. What they did not know that these Japs are excellent swimmers! The next morning all the deer were in mainland England! Dorset boasts of the purest breed of Sika in the country. I am planning to match this amazingly flavorful meat with Gremolata ( parsley, garlic, lemon jest,black pepper) and cinnamon ...maybe a bit of dark chocolate too!!!

2010

2010 is finally here. For me the new year crept in rather quietly this time. Usually I start getting quite thrilled towards the end of December with a child like anticipation of a chance to start things fresh in the coming year. This year was different. It felt like the end of a voyage when you finally come ashore. On retrospection, 2009 was a year of whirlwind happenings. It started in the midst of thick recession and stormy down turn. Overnight customers thinned and I was compelled to change focus and direction. The business was no longer a business but became more of a life boat. The team here were like a group of defiant sailors unwilling to give up. By the mid year we had started coming to terms and began accepting the new market .We did have a few irreplaceable and precious casualties in staff members. The end of the year brought fresh and new openings . A short trip to Mumbai to see Mum refreshed things up for me. India has taken giant steps towards a homogeneous global world but the powerful undercurrents of culture, values and customs still run strong. Back in the UK , I was excited to start work with Quex Museum on function and wedding caterings. Some close friends and advisors warned me that the nature of the work in the new project might be monotonous and unappealing. I think I can weave a dream around the venue. It is mysterious and secretive, sort of hiding in the Kentish country. Looking back , I think it has been a really long and winding year...