Friday, January 30, 2015

SKY HIGH DINING AT VERTIGO GRILL & MOON BAR

Nothing quite beats the romance of sky-high dining with a tantalizing to match. Located on 61st floor,” Vertigo” has been named after Alfred Hitchcock’s famous thriller. This elegant restaurant sits on a former helipad (now rooftop) and comes alive at sunset for a matchless view of the Thai capital. To sit we had three options, a private party lounge, Moon Bar under a canopy of stars and a dining courtyard. We chose the latter. It was simply amazing to look around at glittering landmarks of Bangkok like the Grand Palace, Royal Chapel, Chao Phraya River, Wat Pho Temple, National Museum and the Emerald Buddha. Ordering the meal is easy with recommendations from the waiters. As we waited for our food we dug into the fresh, warm breads and olive oil. The lobster bisque was a delight with its slivers of fried shallots for added flavour.
The spicy Thai tuna ceviche was wonderfully married and to die for! The Rosemary Scented Oven Roasted Rack of Lamb is a specialty here. Roasted for over 6 hours, a generous portion is served with Tabouleh and capsicum, complimenting the tender meat. Another specialty is their fork-tender, pan-fried tenderloin of Black Angus beef with tarragon, sabayon and balsamic sauce.
Dessert was a dip into the pool of divine decadence. In essence, there is no wrong menu choice- the Vertigo chefs consistently offer superlative cuisine. We enjoyed the attentive service as we dined while taking in the interesting mix of people around us with our wine selected from over 200 labels. For its renowned hospitality in the skies and engineered seclusion from city noise, it isn’t a wonder that Vertigo has won a number of worldwide awards.
FAST FACTS
Banyan Tree Bangkok, 21/100 South Sathon Road, Thungmahamek, Sathon,
Bangkok, Thailand; Tel: +662 679 1200. Timings- 6.30 p.m. – 11 p.m. (The Moon Bar is daily open during 5 p.m. – 1 a.m.)


published in Statesman

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Basil at the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit, Bangkok

Rupali Dean has started up a new YouTube channel with friend Sailesh Ghelani , editor of renowned Minority Review.  

Eat Stay Chill with Rupali & Sailesh (India’s first show on YouTube for travel/food/leisure video reviews) will bring you unique reviews of hotels, restaurants, leisure spots and interviews with celebrity chefs and more on their journeys of ESCape. 


Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Rossini's at the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit, Bangkok

Rupali Dean has started up a new YouTube channel with friend Sailesh Ghelani , editor of renowned Minority Review.  

Eat Stay Chill with Rupali & Sailesh (India’s first show on YouTube for travel/food/leisure video reviews) will bring you unique reviews of hotels, restaurants, leisure spots and interviews with celebrity chefs and more on their journeys of ESCape. 


Friday, January 23, 2015

Dining In The Dark (DID) at the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit, Bangkok

Rupali Dean has started up a new YouTube channel with friend Sailesh Ghelani , editor of renowned Minority Review.

Eat Stay Chill with Rupali & Sailesh (India’s first show on YouTube for travel/food/leisure video reviews) will bring you unique reviews of hotels, restaurants, leisure spots and interviews with celebrity chefs and more on their journeys of ESCape. 


Monday, January 19, 2015

NUTRITION FOR YOUR BABIES


Mother’s milk is best because
  • It is the natural source of milk.
  • Human milk is good for humans from every point.
  • Many anti-infective properties present in mother's milk saves the newborn
    from many infections, which he is prone to.
  • Mother's milk is always available without any preparation to be followed.
  • Mother's milk is the only thing, which the newborn can get at the right
    temperature, which again is best for the health of the new born.
  • If at times mother is not in a state to feed baby then the only source to
    feed baby is with milk powders readily available in the markets according to
    the age of the baby
    .



The food that your child consumes during the first few years of his life would surely affect his growth, energy levels, resistance to disease and ability to concentrate and do well at school. None of us follow healthy eating patterns most of the time. But you could definitely plan your baby’s menu at least for the first two years of his life, because it does get difficult to monitor your child’s diet once he/she starts going to school, birthday parties et all. So, I guess as parents we all should do that for our little ones. Did you know that babies are not physically ready to eat solid foods until they are about 4 to 6 months old? Reason being the baby’s digestive system is so designed that baby needs only mother’s milk during this time. A baby has only learnt how to suck and takes a bit to learn tongue movement. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, whose guidelines state that best time to feed babies is closer to 6 months especially if the baby is being breastfed and also that Solid foods should not replace breast milk, they should complement it.  ‘Normally it is always advised that the new born should only be fed after-6 months. Prior to this age they should only be on mother’s milk, which is best for them’ says Dr S K Nakra, Pediatrician, G M Modi Hospital, Saket. ‘Newborn babies should always be fed on demand that is only when they are actually hungry.  In the first few days (2-4 days) they should be given 8-10 times of feed and then after that the new born should be fed 7-8 times in every 24 hrs’, further adds Dr Nakra.
And after your baby is ready to eat solid food after an ok from your pediatrician try and make the first time a real special one for your baby, even though the baby would consume only a tea-spoon or two the first time. Firstly the very first time you try and feed your baby should be in the morning or early afternoon, because some babies may have an allergy or get gassy at times and Iam sure you wouldn’t want any of that happening in the middle of the night would you? And secondly try this when the baby is not too hungry or he’ll probably hate this unfamiliar eating method. Make the baby comfortable and use a plastic spoon, keep the temperature of the food lukewarm and most importantly smile when you feed your baby (can be trying I agree). ‘It is always advised to start with cereals, all sorts of pulses, juices and if possible mashed fruits. One should always start with small quantity and then should increase the dosage gradually. One should always stick to the same food for few days instead of changing on a regular basis because sometime the food may pose some kind of difficulty for the newborn, which can be in any form and can be dangerous also sometime’, says Dr. Nakra. The best and most nutritious food for babies is freshly prepared home food and with modern electrical gadgets like a blender or food processor it’s easier to puree most foodstuffs. 
I would in this case recommend the KitchenAid food chopper, Cordless Hand blender or the new Diamond Blender that KitchenAid has just launched as the plastic is BPA free and very safe to make warm baby food as well.  

SUGGESTED BABY FIRST FOODS
  • Mashed Ripe Banana.
  • Mashed potatoes.
  • Homemade cereals like suji ki kheer, porridge.
  • Cooked sweet potato.
  • Khichdi.
  • Yogurt 


Another important thing to remember is that when the baby starts consuming solid foods, it increases the load on the kidneys and therefore it is required to add some water also to the baby’s diet. As for how much quantity a baby is required to eat Dr Nakra says, ‘As such the quantity cannot be measured.  If the baby is fit and fine with the dosage of food being given to him in any age, then one should stick to the same pattern of food habits for the new born’. So parents let’s gift our babies a healthy future.

Sunday, January 4, 2015

LOHRI – THE BONFIRE FESTIVAL

The celebrations generate a lot of bonhomie as family and friends sit around the bonfire, singing, dancing and praying for prosperity, while making offerings of peanuts, jaggery, popcorn, beaten rice and Sesame seed gajak to the rising flames. 
Northern January is immensely cold, there’s fog and everything seems rather at a standstill but one thing brilliant about nature is that the fields look promising and is a good enough reason to celebrate as it is also the resting period before the cutting of crops. It is also customary to celebrate this festival with pomp and joy for newlyweds; houses blessed with a newborn baby or in fact any happy event in the family. For agriculturists it is also the beginning of a new financial year. It sure is enticing to find an apparent wave of activity going on amongst People for Lohri celebrations- the long-awaited bonfire festival, which is celebrated on the 13th of January every year. Interestingly at the same time “Pongal” is celebrated in Tamil Nadu, “Bihu” in Assam, “Bhogi” in Andhra Pradesh “Sankranti” in Karnataka, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and “Utraan” in Gujrat.
PUNJABI RITUALS
“De Mai Lodi, Jeeve teri Jodi”, “ Sundar munderiya ho. tera kaun vichara ho. Dulha bhatti waal aho…”etc can be heard in the morning on Lohri day as it’s a ritual for children to demand “Lohri” from elders in the form of money, sweets, peanuts, Gajak, Sesame seed Rewadi, popcorn, jaggery etc. Interestingly “ Dulha Bhatti Waala” was the Punjabi Robin Hood and that is the reason children sing his praises as a custom on Lohri as he was also known to have saved the life of a girl and giving her in marriage as his own sister”. The main event in the evening is making of a huge bonfire, which is symbolic of the homage to the Sun God for bringing in warmth around which people sing and dance and throw puffed rice, Lohri related sweets etc. in the fire that sanctifies one’s endeavor for a good life on the one hand and destroys evil spirits on the other.
MY PLAN
Like every year we will light a bonfire in front of our house and gather around the rising flames, and throw munchies into the fire, singing folk songs with the family after which we’ll have our traditional dinner of makki-ki-roti and sarson-ka-saag. Here is a recipe that I learnt from my mother and she feels it’s so much easier these days…thanks to the KitchenAid Diamond Blender at home.
SARSON DA SAAG
Serves- 4 portions
Ingredients
Mustard leaves: 1 Kg; Spinach: 250 Gms; Methi: 100gms; Bathua: 50 Gms; Green chilies: to taste; Ginger: 40gms; Garlic: 25 Gms; Salt: to taste; Makki Ka Atta: 20 Gms (as reqd): Red chilli powder: to taste; White Butter: 250 Gms; chopped Onions: for tempering; Juliennes of ginger: for tempering.
Method:
] Clean, wash and roughly chop leaves and the tender stems.
] In the KitchenAid Diamond Blender roughly chop 2/3rd of the ginger, garlic and green chilies.
] Put all the leaves and the ginger, garlic, green chili paste in a handi or pressure cooker and simmer until tender.
] Remove and drain excess liquid if any and keep aside. Little by little put the drained vegetables in the KitchenAid Diamond Blender coarsely puree it. (But make sure not to make the puree too thin).
] Return the pureed vegetables in the handi/pressure cooker and add red chilli powder and makki ka Atta with the drained water, (you may add some butter too) slowly and steadily and keep cooking on slow fire, stirring occasionally till it stops bubbling. Adjust seasoning. Remove from fire.
] For the tempering in a pan melt butter, add onions & ginger juliennes and when done pour over the simmering saag and have it with makki di roti.