Sussegado - Just Like Goa!! @ Spice Haat, Hyatt Regency, Teynampet, Chennai

A trip to Goa is what you can expect through this Goan Food festival at Hyatt Regency... Take a drive down the beaches, sample some of the fresh seafood, or maybe grab a beer and dig into the veg biryani and the mushroom gravy at one of the cozy cafes, you will find them all here amidst the lavish buffet at Spice Haat in Hyatt Regency. And this festival is on till the 14th Sep only... So, here is your chance to taste the flavours of Goa and meet the Chef who has come down for the festival!!

The evening opened with an introduction to the Chef-  Chef Edridge Vaz and his take on Goan food. He spoke about how North & South Goa have completely different set of spices and flavours, some are spicy while others are quite mild and simple. There are a few which are made with Peri-Peri sauces, while others use basic ones to achieve the same flavours. 

The meal kicked off with a Mocktail, perfect for the warm evening following which came the three starters- 2 non veg and 1 veg.. I being the solo veggie in the group got to taste the vegetable Jeri -Meri, which was quite nice and made with a mix of veggies. The guys dug into the Peri-Peri prawns and Rava Fried calamari happily. 

For the main course, we were told the Goan dishes were part of the regular buffet except they had a distinguishing name card with a small image of Goa on it. There were a few veg and non veg dishes.. Almost all were quite mild, simple flavours, and a touch of coconut/coconut milk on them as well. 

The highlight of the evening were the desserts- the layered Bibinca [is a type of pudding and a traditional Goan, East Indian and Mangalorean dessert. Traditional Bebinca has 16 layers], Dodol [ an halwa of sorts made with black jaggery & rice flour] and the rice pancake with black jaggery +coconut filling with a drizzle of honey and roasted almonds around it, called  Alle Belle..  I washed it all down with some coffee before calling it a night! 

Price:

Sussegado - Just Like Goa! is part of the dinner buffet at Spice Haat which is priced at Rs 1550/- plus taxes. This food festival is on upto 14th of September as a part of the Dinner buffet at Spice Haat.

Disclaimer: The reviews posted on this blog are based on my personal experience. Also remember these were just my views!! Remember, no two palates are the same. Bon Appétit :-)

Srilanka Food series- King Coconut

When I touched base with a friend asking her for inputs on Srilanka, where to go what to do etc, she shared her thoughts and inputs! The day I was travelling, she shared in our group - "Do have a King Coconut for me aaroo".. I did not know what this King coconut was, but knew it had to be something edible/drinkable. Forgot about it until our driver brought it up one day when we were on the road to Yala and it was freaking hot outside. We were gulping down water, and were parched. He asked us "you want to have King Coconut?". Both of us nodded and asked him what  it was. He pointed to one of the many shacks along the road that had these huge orange colour coconuts hanging on them and said that was it. Umm, back home we call that Coconut and Tender Coconut [ elaneer], but the coconuts are usually green in colour. They become orange, we throw them out thinking they are dry. 

But here in Sri Lanka, it is their pride and joy, the King Coconut. I then told him about our tender coconuts and he laughed "you have in India also?" This convo went on, references to food and fruits, almost to a point of competition between the two countries..hehe.. 

So, anyways, he stopped at a shack, and we each one King Coconut each. It was quite good, fresh and sweet water. The lady manning the shack, also cut it open and gave us a little sliver to scoop out the tender coconut flesh from inside. Umm, made me think about how back home the guy would actually scoop the whole thing out and give the sliver to be used like a spoon[ yes we are spoilt indeed].. Each costed 50LKR but was well worth it as they had nearly half a liter water inside them. 

 

There was music coming from somewhere behind the shack, and the lady pointed to the small house few yards away and said that was her house.  She also sold other fruits and bottled fresh honey... 

As we left the place and got back to the Air conditioned car, I wondered how much money she made in a day, esp since there was not much traffic on the road and it was mega hot.

When you are travelling around Sri Lanka, you will see these all over, and I am not exaggerating!! 

Goanese Potato a la Chellam

Yes, Goanese potato.. Now stop flipping through your cookery books, this is a different recipe[ kinda sorta maybe] and no the Chellam is not Trisha from Gilli or other movies featuring Prakash Raj, what can i do if this lady is called Chellam...

Anyhow, here is the post- go away, stop distracting me already....

Granparents wait for 6pm, for the power to return[ cos we have powercut between 4 & 6pm- yes, daily], and they attack the TV, well, actually the remote. Evening 6pm is time for the cookery show on Jaya TV[the earth may shatter and winds may blow, but if they are home, they are glued].. Everyday there is a different person hosting the show and my gramma's favorites are - Menu Rani Chellam, Anita Kuppuswamy and Revathy Shanmugam [in that order].

So, yesterday it was Chellam's show and she made a Goanese Potato dish, the minute i heard the name, i plonked myself on the sofa out of sheer curiousity. Mom makes a Goanese potato and it is yumm, and spicy and well, yumm..  This one looked different and so i stayed there for about 10mins.

Chellam is revered at home cos they all love her cooking, mom & few aunts have attended cookery classes conducted by her and they believe her recipes will not fail..

Today morning, i woke up and waltzed into the kitchen only to find gramma getting a whole bunch of ingredients ready, and subsequently she ordered[ well, you cant reallly order her anything... more of a request actually] the cook to grind them before she leaves.

And for dinner, without waiting for gramma to come[ she was reading the Bhagawad gita, daily evening ritual] and mainly because i dint want to miss the CSK IPL match against MI, i got about making the dish. Was almost done when she walked in and was surprised... :-) It was delicious and before i could take photograph, well, it was settling down in our tummies... :D

What you need:

Potato - 4 to 5 [ 1 small per person]- peel and slice like you would for French fries
Green chillies- 2
Cloves- 4
Cinnamon- 1 stick
Tamarind- 1 tiny piece
Turmeric powder- 1 tbsp
Red chilli powder- 1 tsp[ optional]
Salt- to taste
Oil- to cook
Water- to cook the potatoes in

For the masala paste*:
Red chillies- 2
Black pepper[whole]- 5 to 10
Fenugreed seeds[ Vendhayam] -1/2 tsp
Coconut- 1/2 cup
Rice- 1 tsp

How to make it:

1. In a pan, add oil, cloves, cinnamon, green chillies and the chopped potatoes.
2. After a few mins, add the Turmeric powder, salt and Red chilli powder
3. Once potatoes have sauted for about 5mins, add enough water to cook them [till they are soft]
4. In another pan, without any oil- saute the ingredients for the *masala paste. Allow to cool.
5. Grind all the ingredients to a paste [add water if reqd]
6.  in a 3rd pan, heat some water and add the tamarind to it - proceed to make a paste [1 tbsp]
7. Once the potatoes have cooked, add the masala paste and tamarind paste/water
8. Add salt if required
9. Allow to boil till flavours come together

I made myself a few rotis, but grandparents ate it with idli... It was yumm, quite spicy but lovely flavours~