Event: Lanch of Bushra Collection by Shubhashini Ornamentals at Buzzaria

This Saturday was unlike many other in Delhi. For all the jewelry lovers in town we were to be presented with the colors of the festive season as they begin soon with Eid and Rakshabandhan coming up, in our accessories reflecting joy and happiness. This was the theme on which was designed the Bushra collection by none other than the very talented designer Akassh K Aggarwal. Bushra the word in Arabic means "good news or omen", a perfect name for the season that has just begun. 

As you would see in the pictures below this collection has a very fine design using the filigree motif technique on the bright gold and silver, has light weight metal sheet work embossed with flora and fauna all of which makes it come alive. 

So here is a photographic journey into the Bushra Collection. The collection has in majority mostly earrings and neckpieces, also a few bracelets. Since I am an earring person I have been biased and taken single shots of the ones I loved the most. Which one did you love the most? Tell us in the comments below?

The event was graced by gorgeous ladies of Delhi including Neelima Azeem. You too can grab this collection at Buzzaria, Lado Sarai, New Delhi. For regular updates about their activities you can connect with them on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Buzzaria/info?tab=overview

I also got an amazing gift from the organizers and I loved it. Isn't it just aesthetic?

I thank Akassh K Aggarwal and Nidhi Gupta for very warm hospitality.

Can There Be a Ever a Delight That is Guilt Free?

Can there ever be a guilt free dessert, so that I can relish it as much as I want without spending hours muling over it, repenting....I asked.

I looked around and searched where can you find these? The sad part only at very few places which had ultra limited menu.

Going for some I realized you could always feel the difference. The sugar free dessert would never taste as rich as a sugary one. I just was sure that was the case with every place. So when Le Meridien Delhi told me they had a huge collection of sugar free desserts for the conscious soul, I was sure it wouldn't be as great as the sugar ones that Longitude so lovingly serves. With a set mind I went to taste them.

We were warmly welcomed to the space where water falls against the glass creating patterns that soothes the soul, called longitude. The time being perfect for coffee what we saw was an icing on the cake, yes 'coffee art" where they tried to create India on coffee. Beginning with Delhi's pride, The India Gate, followed by Taj Mahal, on my demand and the best one was The face of "Buddha" which looked so lovely that we just took photographs. We didn't wish to spoil or even move the cup to disturb what was so lovingly and artistically created.

India Gate: Delhi on your cuppa...

With Love...A warm natural cuppa...

An attempt to create the Taj Mahal, the pride of the nation....Yes on your coffee...

Lord Buddha......The cup you adore.

                                                        And finally my cuppa....

Now was the turn to taste the delights and hoping to be guilt free. We were served Blueberry Cheese Cake, Fresh fruit flan, guilt free chocolates and cookies.

All the items were of soft and fresh. They just melted in the mouth but best part of all, if you weren't told they were sugar free you just couldn't guess that. The chef had not only made a good sugar free dessert but had taken care of the fact that satiety wasn't compromised. His hours toiling in the kitchen trying to optimise the right concentration of ingredients so that you do not have sleepless nights worry about your waistline later, were 100% success. Not just me but nobody could say without knowing what we had here was indeed sugar free. We were awed , amazed and happy for finally after searching for a lot of options around Delhi, here was something truly guilt free! Its not a lot of times that one is happy when one is proved wrong, but there I was.

                                                       Sugar Free Delights :) :) :)

We enjoyed the delights double and chatted with each other till late and left guilt free, only to be friends for a long time. I was personally touched by the hospitality of Le Meredian Delhi, This is one more reason I prefer to go there when given a choice. I wish the entire team all the best with their new experiments and I am sure you would explore them soon to have a guilt free time.

                           Healthy sugar free cookies to go with your tea& coffee


The following are the items now available on their menu at all times.

                  Cake         

·         Blue berry Cheese cake                                              kg        1700

·         Mocha and milk chocolate cake                                 kg        1800

·         Fresh fruit flan                                                               kg        1650   

·         Orange Raspberry delight                                          kg        1650

·         Black forest roulade                                                   kg        1750

     Pastries

·         Green tea Mille feuille                                               pce      250     

·         Orange & Quinoa Bavarois                                  pce      250

·          Pecan Raspberry ganache tart                                  pce      250     

·         Key lime ten grain pie                                          pce      250

                Praline

·         Amaranth & almond rock                                        pce      55


Do share your experiences if you have tried these...

I thank Mounisha Chakraborty from LinOpinion for the

 warm invite & hospitality.

Demystifying The North Eastern Cuisine

Sneha Lata Sakia armed with pots and pans is all set this Sunday onward with her pop up on Northeastern (NE) cuisine, to live her dream of getting more people acquainted with the food from the region she belongs to. Being someone who loves food since childhood, she has tasted all kinds of cuisine including rarest type of meat like wood worms and fried wasps which hardly any mainstream Indians have heard of. 

Romance with food turned into a serious affair when the food lover decided to go a step ahead, into cooking what she loved to eat. She loved experimenting, trying a different batter for conventional dishes, but her attempts were laughed at, at home. However it was at work when her lunch boxes were often stolen and snatched, she found her first encouragement. Motivated she started reading cookery books and trying the recipes. She says “My cooking improved over time and here I am today, yet I do not like to call myself as an expert. All I can say is I love cooking and the and am still learning.”

Most of the of the North Eastern dishes have zero oil. There also is less spice but lots of herbs in their diet. In a festival called "Bihu", 101 varieties of Green herbs are consumed, so for a health conscious generation Northeastern food is undoubtedly the right choice. It not only cuts calories but also provides internal cleansing like a spa therapy does externally because you consume natural herbs. If you don’t trust me just try it once.

Sneha Lata Sakia with her friend Karen Yepthomi from Nagaland who runs a popular restaurant serving the cuisine of the land; Dzokou – The Tribal Kitchen, have come together to solve the myths and mysteries around their cuisine and give us healthier diet options. When asked about her motivation behind the popup Sneha Lata Sakia states “Ever since my childhood days, people used to ask me whether we eat snakes and dog meat. As a child it used to irritate me as I never saw mom cooking snakes and dog meat at home. Still when I meet people, few ask me about my daily diet. One of my friend once told me that she doesnt like Northeastern food as it stinks and she can’t eat bamboo shoots. My popup event is to break this barrier of mindset that our food is way more than bamboo and eating snakes etc” 

    The Venue: Dzokou - The Tribal Kitchen - Hauz Khas

The USP of this Popup however is the fact that there is no discrimination against vegetarians (like me) as they will also be served a full meal lovingly cooked by the ladies who wish to delight the taste buds of their vegetarians friends as well. NE cuisine does include many interesting vegetarian dishes like curries made with Banana Flower, Colocassia leaves and stem, Banana stem , Yam , Rongpuri Potoato ( red colour baby potatoes), Ashgourd , Bottle gourd and Pumpkins. I am really looking forward to it.

Talking about future plans Sneha says “My journey of showcasing my cuisine to the mainstream has just began. I used to invite my friends who are keen to know about my cuisine, at my home ( in small batches). This pop up among large group is encouraging me do more such events in future. I will keep promoting unexplored Northeastern cuisine till my last breath."

So food lovers in Delhi give your soul a shower of food cooked Northeastern style with herbs this Sunday at the Popup event at Dzokou, Hauz Khas Main Market. More details about the venue is here: https://www.zomato.com/ncr/dzukou-tribal-kitchen-hauz-khas-delhi

Further details about the popup can be found here:

https://www.facebook.com/events/1409422409350724/?sid_reminder=5541647709045260288

Lets make a hygienic burger with Burger King!

On 8th of November 2014, a day before Burger King opened its Indian outlet for people bloggers were invited for an in detailed to cum review of their burgers. While my review will come in the next post what i would love to showcase the health and hygiene conscious generation of mine how a burger is made at Burger King for I made one my self. In retrospection I made the first burger that day at burger king.

Burger King: Second Floor, Select City walk Saket.

Post dividing us in into veg and non-veg teams where Rocky (of Rocky and Mayur foodies fame) was our team lead ensuring everything goes as per plan, and to boost our morale with his cheerful and energy packed attitude. As people started stepping backwards, myself, Deeba Rajan (well she needs no introduction, and for novices she is the most aesthetic food bloggers) and Anubhav Sapra (who is more popularly the founder of Delhi Food Walks) went into the battle ground to make one. Here are the steps we were made to follow:

1. Wear the head cover and apron before entering the kitchen (I wore mine while listening and laughing).

               All smiles...imagine the fun with action!

2. Remove all accessories on your hands. Wash your hands for 30 seconds with soap, scrub the spaces between your fingers with a scrubber (pre-dissolved in antiseptic) and wash with water. Post drying with a tissue paper apply a sanitiser. Wear disposable gloves.

                    The survey security too tight to be surpassed...all eyes on my hands.

     Hands washed, wiped and sanitiser applied,cant touch anything now....gravitating towards gloves.

3. Listen to the instruction by the demonstrator (we got them just once). Each burger has very specific instructions right from the bun being toasted to a precision of standardized number of seconds, to the application of ingredients on the crown/ the base. The burger should weigh right, taste right and made correctly in under thirty seconds. An ideal whopper is made by them in that much time to a precision of 280 grams.

  Looking at the process with every possible angle.

Zooming in....we would have surely got the most attentive team awards, what say?

4. Its time for action! I began with toasting the bun specific to my burger for precisely 14 seconds and add the ingredients in the right order.

Don't miss the team spirit here!

5. The packing is as important as the making. It should be wrapped in a manner that it doesn't come off and yet is easy to handle while opening. Remember how well packed your burgers come? Can you do it? Think Step 1....Oh there is hope    

     Step 2...With perfection in mind....

Step 3: Rocky's smile tells me I am on the right track

           And finally done satisfactorily.......

5. Would you like a Burger...King?

And that is how hygienically and rapidly a burger is made (of course more rapidly than I could). So next time you go to Burger King with your friends or family, be rest assured of one thing - hygiene!

This post is dedicated to my amazing team mates especially Deeba Rajan and Anubhav Sapra. I really had fun with you at the hands on session. Cheers to the veg team!

I wish to thank Jayati Yaksh and Vani Ganesh from Perfect Relations for this amazing experience and my decision to go ahead with my commitment despite of ill health. Ofcourse I look stunning even when not well ;) Do try the Burgers at Burger King and tell us how you liked them?