Destined to do, and eat.

One thing I aspired to do in my free time was to read the auto-biographies of both Adolf Hitler and Mahatma Gandhi. Both men stand on either ends of the spectrum when it comes to their contribution to humanity; and I was curious about how both functioned as leaders in their time.

When looking up the introductions, there’s a startling find- both came into this world in unusual circumstances. Adolf Hitler was the fourth of six babies born to his parents. All older siblings died as toddlers, succumbing to measles or diphtheria. The one that survived becomes the Hitler we know. In Gandhi’s case, his father married 4 times, and Gandhi was the youngest of four children from the fourth wife. Despite the challenges, they both went ahead to do what both had to do.

So here’s the point- if you have a reasonably good life and upbringing, notwithstanding challenges, you should be able to do whatever you aspire to do- but be nice. We know the legacy both have left behind.

 --------------------------------------------------------------------

For the weekend eat-out my wife and I decided to try out something new. We were at the Select City Walk mall in Saket and happened to walk past a place called Mamagoto. This place is positioned as 'fun Asian eating'. The restaurant is colorful and the food looked good on the menu. The attendants outside tried explain to us what we found interesting on the menu. Since we understood very little, I turned to my wife and said, ‘Whatever, let's try it out.'

Certificates from various eat-out guides decorating their entrance. Inside, the decor is set with Japanese Manga-style graphics. Attendants here wore headgear to prevent hair falling into the food. Now this is something we have been noticing in most restaurants these days. If it’s a new thing on the checklist from various health inspectors, it’s a good one. The attendants were patient with us despite the place being full up. We browsed through their colorful menu which looked like a scrapbook and photo album put together. After much deliberation, we decided to try out two things- first up was Hunan grilled fish which came with sticky rice. This I thoroughly relished and could have easily ploughed through another serving. Next came the Soggy Thai basil fried rice. Since it came in a large bowl, I had to help my wife finish it.

This place is totally recommended on various counts - great food, well-mannered staff and friendly décor; more so if you happened to be non-vegetarian, particularly fish-loving, maybe Manga-comics-adoring graphic designer. Ok, just kidding go on and try it!

Destined to do, and eat.

One thing I aspired to do in my free time was to read the auto-biographies of both Adolf Hitler and Mahatma Gandhi. Both men stand on either ends of the spectrum when it comes to their contribution to humanity; and I was curious about how both functioned as leaders in their time.

When looking up the introductions, there’s a startling find- both came into this world in unusual circumstances. Adolf Hitler was the fourth of six babies born to his parents. All older siblings died as toddlers, succumbing to measles or diphtheria. The one that survived becomes the Hitler we know. In Gandhi’s case, his father married 4 times, and Gandhi was the youngest of four children from the fourth wife. Despite the challenges, they both went ahead to do what both had to do.

So here’s the point- if you have a reasonably good life and upbringing, notwithstanding challenges, you should be able to do whatever you aspire to do- but be nice. We know the legacy both have left behind.

 --------------------------------------------------------------------

For the weekend eat-out my wife and I decided to try out something new. We were at the Select City Walk mall in Saket and happened to walk past a place called Mamagoto. This place is positioned as 'fun Asian eating'. The restaurant is colorful and the food looked good on the menu. The attendants outside tried explain to us what we found interesting on the menu. Since we understood very little, I turned to my wife and said, ‘Whatever, let's try it out.'

Certificates from various eat-out guides decorating their entrance. Inside, the decor is set with Japanese Manga-style graphics. Attendants here wore headgear to prevent hair falling into the food. Now this is something we have been noticing in most restaurants these days. If it’s a new thing on the checklist from various health inspectors, it’s a good one. The attendants were patient with us despite the place being full up. We browsed through their colorful menu which looked like a scrapbook and photo album put together. After much deliberation, we decided to try out two things- first up was Hunan grilled fish which came with sticky rice. This I thoroughly relished and could have easily ploughed through another serving. Next came the Soggy Thai basil fried rice. Since it came in a large bowl, I had to help my wife finish it.

This place is totally recommended on various counts - great food, well-mannered staff and friendly décor; more so if you happened to be non-vegetarian, particularly fish-loving, maybe Manga-comics-adoring graphic designer. Ok, just kidding go on and try it!

Desi Belly

It's been a while since I got my hands wet with the whole brand-building exercise, typically for start-ups. Since I work full time now with a company, the good ol' days of logo design for clients is a distant memory. The whole exercise of understanding the venture and the entrepreneurial passion that drives it, to getting on the drawing board with the initial scribbles, then finishing off for the marketing material is one selfish, hedonistic journey I can never get enough of. So when a school friend was setting up his own take-home delivery service, designing the logo was an offer I couldn't refuse. I happily put on my logo design apron.

Desi Belly means 'local (Indian) stomach', to translate it literally. This kitchen specializes in chicken and other vegetarian dishes with rotis and salad as accompaniment. The cooking is done in packaged water, so rest assured there. Captain Puneet Singh Lamba, who created Desi Belly, has been sharpening his culinary skills since his army days and has been feeding us his concoctions for the past few years. With a full stomach, I have ever since polished off my plate with whatever was served! If you live in Gurgaon (Haryana, India) do call up Desi Belly on these cell numbers, 8459988888 / 8459088888 for a great meal. Bon Appétit!

Here's how this lovely project started-

..and the menu, monsieur!

Desi Belly

It's been a while since I got my hands wet with the whole brand-building exercise, typically for start-ups. Since I work full time now with a company, the good ol' days of logo design for clients is a distant memory. The whole exercise of understanding the venture and the entrepreneurial passion that drives it, to getting on the drawing board with the initial scribbles, then finishing off for the marketing material is one selfish, hedonistic journey I can never get enough of. So when a school friend was setting up his own take-home delivery service, designing the logo was an offer I couldn't refuse. I happily put on my logo design apron.

Desi Belly means 'local (Indian) stomach', to translate it literally. This kitchen specializes in chicken and other vegetarian dishes with rotis and salad as accompaniment. The cooking is done in packaged water, so rest assured there. Captain Puneet Singh Lamba, who created Desi Belly, has been sharpening his culinary skills since his army days and has been feeding us his concoctions for the past few years. With a full stomach, I have ever since polished off my plate with whatever was served! If you live in Gurgaon (Haryana, India) do call up Desi Belly on these cell numbers, 8459988888 / 8459088888 for a great meal. Bon Appétit!

Here's how this lovely project started-

..and the menu, monsieur!

Beer and dimsums!

The hot, diabolical Delhi weather layered with scorching angst at work was burning us out. We would either explode with expletives or could cool it off elsewhere. Since we like to think of ourselves as grown up mature people, we decided not to create a nuisance by cribbing about things outside our control. At noon, we had a better idea to get lunch from somewhere else, away from the workplace. There's a really nice place in Gurgaon called The Monk, part of the Galaxy hotel next to 32nd Milestone- a family resort on National Highway 8.
On our way, we picked up two pints of the grainy, natural tasting Hoegaarden. It was more of my colleague's favorite than mine. But now after 3 pints over the last torturous, 45 degrees celsius+ week, I'm just beginning to see hope in beer.

We reached The Monk at lunch time, so all the seats were taken. Since we were clearly not on a date, we decided to take the bar seats, facing the kitchen. We ordered something called the 7 spices dim sums- 6 pieces served in a bamboo basket. This is by far the best thing I have sunk my teeth into and its totally recommended. The peanuts they served were refilled. A bowl of chicken noodles followed, which we shared. We  were already full, so it was a good idea not to order a plate each. The beer pints cost us Rs. 140 each and the meal at The Monk came to Rs 1100. This is ok to do once in a while, but there has to be another way to beat this heat.

Beer and dimsums!

The hot, diabolical Delhi weather layered with scorching angst at work was burning us out. We would either explode with expletives or could cool it off elsewhere. Since we like to think of ourselves as grown up mature people, we decided not to create a nuisance by cribbing about things outside our control. At noon, we had a better idea to get lunch from somewhere else, away from the workplace. There's a really nice place in Gurgaon called The Monk, part of the Galaxy hotel next to 32nd Milestone- a family resort on National Highway 8.
On our way, we picked up two pints of the grainy, natural tasting Hoegaarden. It was more of my colleague's favorite than mine. But now after 3 pints over the last torturous, 45 degrees celsius+ week, I'm just beginning to see hope in beer.

We reached The Monk at lunch time, so all the seats were taken. Since we were clearly not on a date, we decided to take the bar seats, facing the kitchen. We ordered something called the 7 spices dim sums- 6 pieces served in a bamboo basket. This is by far the best thing I have sunk my teeth into and its totally recommended. The peanuts they served were refilled. A bowl of chicken noodles followed, which we shared. We  were already full, so it was a good idea not to order a plate each. The beer pints cost us Rs. 140 each and the meal at The Monk came to Rs 1100. This is ok to do once in a while, but there has to be another way to beat this heat.

Good Ol' Delhi street food

Great weather; good time to step out for some street food. This is the stuff I grew up on, so I wouldn't quite recommend the same if you have reservations about eating off the streets and ending up with serious internal issues later. But I'll tell you, the food is fresh and as safe as any hotel or restaurant food. So out we stepped, three of us in a 'tuk-tuk' towards Darya Ganj. We reached with the traffic jam Old Delhi syncs with. Though the shops look better on the outside from what they did a decade back, the quirkyness it retains; 10-foot wide music shops showing off their electric guitars, funny hand gun lighters sold on the pavement and the day's madness manifested in the cussing... I love this! Delhi as I know it. There was a Royal Enfield retailer on the side Golcha cinema is, which seems to have shut shop now. We paced down the street towards Delhi gate side looking for a place to eat, though we had 'Tunde Kababs' in mind before we left. Tunde was closed for maintainence so we walked on. There is Moti Mahal and Zaika but the weather was way too awesome to get into and air-conditioned joint. That's when we spotted Mehta's, a small corner shop next to Golcha cooking and serving Chola Bhaturas, and Rabdi faluda. Stand and deliver thing. We got our plates and polished off the achar and onions on the pavement itself. Next we crossed the road and walked upto Prince Paan for their standard sweet paan and got back to work. Just the break we needed with the hectic work load that would consume us, with the achar and onions.
This blog is the first of its kind- from a taxi to work. Looks like this is the only way I can get around spending quality time now.

Good Ol' Delhi street food

Great weather; good time to step out for some street food. This is the stuff I grew up on, so I wouldn't quite recommend the same if you have reservations about eating off the streets and ending up with serious internal issues later. But I'll tell you, the food is fresh and as safe as any hotel or restaurant food. So out we stepped, three of us in a 'tuk-tuk' towards Darya Ganj. We reached with the traffic jam Old Delhi syncs with. Though the shops look better on the outside from what they did a decade back, the quirkyness it retains; 10-foot wide music shops showing off their electric guitars, funny hand gun lighters sold on the pavement and the day's madness manifested in the cussing... I love this! Delhi as I know it. There was a Royal Enfield retailer on the side Golcha cinema is, which seems to have shut shop now. We paced down the street towards Delhi gate side looking for a place to eat, though we had 'Tunde Kababs' in mind before we left. Tunde was closed for maintainence so we walked on. There is Moti Mahal and Zaika but the weather was way too awesome to get into and air-conditioned joint. That's when we spotted Mehta's, a small corner shop next to Golcha cooking and serving Chola Bhaturas, and Rabdi faluda. Stand and deliver thing. We got our plates and polished off the achar and onions on the pavement itself. Next we crossed the road and walked upto Prince Paan for their standard sweet paan and got back to work. Just the break we needed with the hectic work load that would consume us, with the achar and onions.
This blog is the first of its kind- from a taxi to work. Looks like this is the only way I can get around spending quality time now.

Foodovich Glutosky

Here's why cooking makes a man a better man. Food is organic substance. Now you mix all this up (appropriately) on a controlled flame for a specific duration and what emerges is this... this work of art (at times) which doesn't take any sophistication to appreciate. this act of being able to convert this raw material; putting it through a process over a catalyst (flame), till it simmers, fries, roasts, boils and cooks and emerges, transforms, blossoms, evolves into something edible, enjoyable, energising, gives one the understanding of what it takes to add and understand the fuel of life.
Why food? well, its organic and makes it all the more interesting to understand; not a machine, process or a program that was man-made anyways so you grab a manual and figure things out in a minute. Its the same reason why raising children is considered more challenging than managing colleagues at work or mastering watercolors is more difficult than learning photoshop or taming a horse more daunting than getting the hang of a motorbike.

So come on now... put on that apron, and light up that flame.

Foodovich Glutosky

Here's why cooking makes a man a better man. Food is organic substance. Now you mix all this up (appropriately) on a controlled flame for a specific duration and what emerges is this... this work of art (at times) which doesn't take any sophistication to appreciate. this act of being able to convert this raw material; putting it through a process over a catalyst (flame), till it simmers, fries, roasts, boils and cooks and emerges, transforms, blossoms, evolves into something edible, enjoyable, energising, gives one the understanding of what it takes to add and understand the fuel of life.
Why food? well, its organic and makes it all the more interesting to understand; not a machine, process or a program that was man-made anyways so you grab a manual and figure things out in a minute. Its the same reason why raising children is considered more challenging than managing colleagues at work or mastering watercolors is more difficult than learning photoshop or taming a horse more daunting than getting the hang of a motorbike.

So come on now... put on that apron, and light up that flame.

love love love

You need it, I have loads to give.
love love love.
Can I sustain it? I might run dry.
But you keep it alive.
you are a deer in a forest
somewhere- on the other side of the world
I am a butterfly- flit float
so be it.

Tried my hand at cooking a subzi last week. Tossed in too much salt so ended up putting a lot of water to dilute the extra salt. Ended up putting so much water that it has to be drained out into 2 glasses. Ended up with the best vegetable soup I ever accidentally created. Goes well with lemon.
capsicum, onion, patato, garlic, carrot, 3 tamatoes, tadka and of course, way more salt than required.

The gluttony trip to Old Delhi with Ashish and Puneet was unforgettable. I fail to understand how we ate all that in a few hours. Good Ol' D rocks with food. Here goes what we downed very quickly. This is for reference, later when required-
1. Beer 2. Chicken Boti kababs 3. Beef Seekh Kababs (cycle market)4. Mutton Burra kabab (Karims) 5. Mutton Jehangiri Qorma with Roomali Roti and tandoori naan (Karims) 6. Kheer 7. Rabri Faluda from Darya ganj (Golcha) 8. Paan from Prince (Darya ganj)
Sinner, hit the floor and give me a hundred, right now.

Have started making origami birds- my meditation. That led to a whole lot of experimentation at work on pop up paper works. This should open something up.

love love love

You need it, I have loads to give.
love love love.
Can I sustain it? I might run dry.
But you keep it alive.
you are a deer in a forest
somewhere- on the other side of the world
I am a butterfly- flit float
so be it.

Tried my hand at cooking a subzi last week. Tossed in too much salt so ended up putting a lot of water to dilute the extra salt. Ended up putting so much water that it has to be drained out into 2 glasses. Ended up with the best vegetable soup I ever accidentally created. Goes well with lemon.
capsicum, onion, patato, garlic, carrot, 3 tamatoes, tadka and of course, way more salt than required.

The gluttony trip to Old Delhi with Ashish and Puneet was unforgettable. I fail to understand how we ate all that in a few hours. Good Ol' D rocks with food. Here goes what we downed very quickly. This is for reference, later when required-
1. Beer 2. Chicken Boti kababs 3. Beef Seekh Kababs (cycle market)4. Mutton Burra kabab (Karims) 5. Mutton Jehangiri Qorma with Roomali Roti and tandoori naan (Karims) 6. Kheer 7. Rabri Faluda from Darya ganj (Golcha) 8. Paan from Prince (Darya ganj)
Sinner, hit the floor and give me a hundred, right now.

Have started making origami birds- my meditation. That led to a whole lot of experimentation at work on pop up paper works. This should open something up.

the weak ends the week begins

I waltz into my kitchen one Saturday morning and ponder over the burners. Hmm. something simple and clean today? Well, not that it's any different from eggs and milk but it was about doing it differently today. Here goes. 1 capsicum, 1 onion, 2 tamatoes. Slice them- not dice. One gets to taste the vegetables better when sliced, else the dicing mixes the taste. Slice all three and mixed them around in a pan for a minute with salt, then cover it. Let it cook on a low flame for 20 minutes. Go change the cd, look out of the balcony for a while, then get back. Hmmm, now for the eggs. Now here's where I got creative with my food.
I make a ring shape with the vegetables and break 3 eggs in the centre. Then draw the vegetables closer to the centre- so the white gets packed in. Lets this cook for a while. No masalas- just clean vegetables with egg.

more flicks- mr white mr black. worst movie of the year

random thought of the week- the day a man can develop the inner strength of a woman, that's when he can call himself really strong.

now get out there and get yourself a life!

the weak ends the week begins

I waltz into my kitchen one Saturday morning and ponder over the burners. Hmm. something simple and clean today? Well, not that it's any different from eggs and milk but it was about doing it differently today. Here goes. 1 capsicum, 1 onion, 2 tamatoes. Slice them- not dice. One gets to taste the vegetables better when sliced, else the dicing mixes the taste. Slice all three and mixed them around in a pan for a minute with salt, then cover it. Let it cook on a low flame for 20 minutes. Go change the cd, look out of the balcony for a while, then get back. Hmmm, now for the eggs. Now here's where I got creative with my food.
I make a ring shape with the vegetables and break 3 eggs in the centre. Then draw the vegetables closer to the centre- so the white gets packed in. Lets this cook for a while. No masalas- just clean vegetables with egg.

more flicks- mr white mr black. worst movie of the year

random thought of the week- the day a man can develop the inner strength of a woman, that's when he can call himself really strong.

now get out there and get yourself a life!

karry in the kitchen

"it's all about the process, man... enjoy the process!"
Sahaya Jeevan
----------------------------
moong dal1 cup moong dal
4 cups water
1/2 onion
1 tamato
1 clove garlic
little haldi
little salt
now put this concoction in a pressure cooker and let 'em heat on full for 15 minutes. turn the gas off and let it cook in the afterheat. when it's time to open it up, heat 1 table spoon of ghee and toss in a lil bit of jeera and coriander. Let it free for 30 odd seconds and pour this into the pressure cooker and mix the baby real nice.
----------------------------
beans
fry onions and mustard seeds with some haldi. take 30-40 green beans and chop em to like 3/4 inch pieces. add to the pan and mix. cover for a while, stir then turn it off. let it cook in the afterheat.
----------------------------
patatoes
boil 4-5 patatoes. when done, mash em with salt using a fork so it gets real fine.
in a frying pan, put 2 teaspoons of ghee, chop onions in rings (with salt so it becomes sweet), toss in some jeera, haldi, coriander and mustard seeds. when nice and brown, add the mashed patatoes. keep stirring, then turn off.
----------------------------
curd
best way to set curd is take a lil bit from what was left in that mother dairy plastic cup and add the milk and mix it really nice so the curd spreads evenly all over the milk... basically letting the bacteria work in evenly. let it out overnight and put it in the fridge in the morning. you wont believe how evenly the curd sets.

karry in the kitchen

"it's all about the process, man... enjoy the process!"
Sahaya Jeevan
----------------------------
moong dal1 cup moong dal
4 cups water
1/2 onion
1 tamato
1 clove garlic
little haldi
little salt
now put this concoction in a pressure cooker and let 'em heat on full for 15 minutes. turn the gas off and let it cook in the afterheat. when it's time to open it up, heat 1 table spoon of ghee and toss in a lil bit of jeera and coriander. Let it free for 30 odd seconds and pour this into the pressure cooker and mix the baby real nice.
----------------------------
beans
fry onions and mustard seeds with some haldi. take 30-40 green beans and chop em to like 3/4 inch pieces. add to the pan and mix. cover for a while, stir then turn it off. let it cook in the afterheat.
----------------------------
patatoes
boil 4-5 patatoes. when done, mash em with salt using a fork so it gets real fine.
in a frying pan, put 2 teaspoons of ghee, chop onions in rings (with salt so it becomes sweet), toss in some jeera, haldi, coriander and mustard seeds. when nice and brown, add the mashed patatoes. keep stirring, then turn off.
----------------------------
curd
best way to set curd is take a lil bit from what was left in that mother dairy plastic cup and add the milk and mix it really nice so the curd spreads evenly all over the milk... basically letting the bacteria work in evenly. let it out overnight and put it in the fridge in the morning. you wont believe how evenly the curd sets.