Culinary delights of - New York City Streets : Biryani Cart

A small cart at the intersection on 6th avenue and 46th street which delivers traditional mouth watering biryani and amazing koti rolls.

Biryani Cart - 6th and 45th NYC

I was walking in Manhattan for the second day, I had already seen central park, times sq, grand central, NY central library, High line, Wall st, trinity church, at-least 30 different Starbucks and had eaten Chinese, Italian, French and American food. I was craving for some spicy Indian food. Like the previous day, I called Rohit "maga(dude) find me some good Indian food cart in Manhattan", "Go to Biryani cart" was his immediate response. I looked up the place and realized I was close by. I headed straight to 6th Av and 46th St. To my surprise there were no customers, so I went to the cashier/chef and asked whats popular, "biryani and spicy buradi.....", "awesome, one order of spicy buradi, and one order of biryani". As I was waiting for my food I looked up the yelp reviews, this place was not as popular as halal guys or Prosperity dumpling, biryani cart had ~300 reviews and 4 stars. However this place had multiple awards (Time out New York - 2010 critics pick, people's choice award 2009, Vendy award 2008 and multiple articles/shows in various magazines and cable shows). I must say, this place was impressive. This place is pretty cheap too $6 for a biryani or two koti rolls.

The biryani was good, super spicy I must add. Although there were very few chicken pieces in the biryani, the flavor of the rice was amazing. The spicy buradi was not from this world. I genuinely think these koti rolls were better than the ones we get in India(Bangalore). The combination of mint chutney, red sauce and white sauce was mind blowing.

Spicy Buradi

Chicken Biryani. 

All in all, the koti rolls were amazing and the biryani was amazing flavor wise and not so good quantity wise. one thing I can definitely say is that, this place is better than over-hyped halal guys.

Culinary delights of China town - New York City : Prosperity Dumpling

On a cold December evening, I was walking aimlessly in Manhattan thinking were to eat, I called Rohit who was working in New Jersey to suggest some popular place in Manhattan, he did a quick search and asked me to go to prosperity dumpling. I looked up the yelp review (~2300 review 4.5 stars) I was impressed. I went to 103rd street station caught a metro and went straight to china town. My phone was running out of juice, so I quickly called Rohit again and asked him for directions, Rohit was like " go to canal and eldridge...." beep beep and my phone died. Okay I now know the intersection, I asked an elderly gentleman across the corner - " how do I get to canal and eldridge? " "go straight and take a right on canal walk for two blocks and you get eldridge". I thanked the gentleman and followed his instructions and Prosperity was easy to find.

Prosperity dumpling (Image - yelper : Moises V)

A small hole in the wall place, completely mental and chaotic inside. The menu is quite large with close to 50 items. the menu included all sorts of soups, pancakes and different types of dumplings. I'm not a pork person, although I don't mind eating pork. I prefer chicken instead. so as soon as I entered  the place saw this person taking orders. The owner/chef/cashier is a no nonsense person - "hey you, what do you want??"  I was deciding what to get, still looking at the menu "one order of 26(steamed chicken dumpling) and one order of 27 (chicken soup dumpling)", "okay, 5 minutes" was his response. As I was waiting, few others were ordering. Looked like every one were taking #17(fired pork and chive dumpling). "My god  #17 should be super popular!" I went to cashier and said "one order of #17 please" and he gave me a box with 4 fried pork dumpling and said "26, 27 and 17  - 7.25 Dollar" I paid him the money and opened the box. oh man, the dumplings were huge in size, in flavor and full of meat, I couldn't believe you get 4 dumpling for 1$. I'm so glad I tried pork dumplings. picked the rest of the order and headed back home. Me and rohit OD'd on dumpling that night!

Fried Pork and Chive dumpling

Steamed chicken dumpling

Chicken soup dumpling

All in all, Prosperity dumpling lives up to the HYPE. A must try place in china town.

Mexican Bulldog Margarita

Today, Its Anirban's birthday!! so its time to partyyy!! I wanted to try a new drink and this came up on my search! Its a margarita with a corona and its awesome.

So, this is what you need to make four drinks.

4 fluid ounces of silver Tequila
2 1/2 fluid ounces of Grand Marnier
4 fluid ounces of simple syrup
4 scoops of ice
1 fluid ounce fresh lime juice
3 fluid ounces of orange juice (you can add just 1 1/2 - 2 fluid ounces! I like my drink a bit orangey)
4 beers, Corona baby!

You will need a blender to make this drink!! A simple shaker won't do!

Add taquila, grand marnier, simple syrup, ice, lime juice and orange juice to your blender and blitz.

Take a tall glass and salt rim it. throw a lime wedge into the glass and add about half a glass of  margarita mixture, quickly drop the Corona into the glass and voilà your amazing drink is ready.

Thanks for stoppin by!! have a gday!

Heart Healer.

I've  been thinking of healthy drinks for a while and I thought its high time I should try one. So I went on the internet and searched for some veggie drinks. This drink came up in search and luckily I had all the ingredients for the drink. 

The Heart Healer is a veggie juice with powerful antioxidants and properties that improve heart function, hence the name :)

- Tomatoes are rich in the heart protecting and cancer preventing antioxidants. 

- Carrots adds a sweetness to the juice and many more antioxidants. 

- Celery helps reduce high blood pressure and improves heart health. 

- Kale is a nutritional powerhouse.

Ingredients:

2 medium tomatoes

4 carrots

4 stalks of celery

4 branches of kale.

Super easy juice, just add everything to the blender and press start.

PS: To be honest, I didn't like the juice as is! so I cheated, ask me how???
Well I added 3 table spoons of sugar, haha. I wanted to add honey but unfortunately I didn't have honey at home! 

Mediterranean Omelette

Today, I woke up to the text message informing that my group meeting was cancelled!! OKAY!! What should I do -  let me treat myself by indulging in an amazing omelette.

So, to make this omelette all you need is couple of eggs, one cherry tomato, half onion, some spinach and Parmesan cheese!

To make this amazing dish, you need to saute your veggies. In a medium skillet, saute your quartered cherry tomatoes, minced onion and diced spinach. You want to cook your fillings before you add them to your omelette because they wont cook further! Add some oregano if you'd like, I didn't! why?? I didn't have any in my kitchen! Add a pinch of salt and pepper! Take them off the heat and put them into a bowl after the tomatoes are broken down a little bit, make sure they are not completely mushed.  Add about 2-3 table spoons of Parmesan cheese to this mixture.

Next, your omelette! take two eggs, whisk them. Add salt, pepper, 2 tea spoons of milk and whisk them again. Pour the liquid on to the skillet, once the edges are set; use the rubber spatula to push the edges in and allow the uncooked egg to come in around the edges! By doing this you will form curds in your omelette! When you believe your eggs are set, add your filling. Just put it over half your omelette! slide your spatula underneath the uncovered part of the egg and flip it over! And there you have it, a delicious Mediterranean omelette! Perfect if I do say so myself!

Thanks for stopping by! have fun! cheers!

Spicy Sriracha-Glazed Chicken wings!

Yeahhh! I know for all those sriracha lovers like me, this sweet, spicy and tangy chicken wings is a superbly easy, must try and an amazing dish.

Its a one pot winning dish, you make a marinade, you marinate and you bake it, all in the same pan!

First thing you need is one quarter cup of soy sauce, add  it to your baking pan. Next add two to three table spoons of white vinegar, this gives the tangy-ness to the wings. Next add a table spoon of sriracha sauce, and then 2 tea spoons of toasted sesame oil. Also all one table spoon of sugar, for that asian zing add 2 tea spoons of grated ginger. Wisk all the ingredients together and add 1.5 pounds of chicken wings. Mix the chicken in the marinate, cover your baking pan with a plastic wrap and throw it in the fridge for about 8hrs. Thats it!! you are done with all your preparation!

Once your 8 hrs are up, pre-heat your oven to about 375F an put your baking pan into the oven. Bake the chicken wings until the glaze is reduced and the chicken is cooked through! it will take about 45 to 60 minutes!!

The chicken wings are glazed like crazy!! dont trust me, check it out yourself!

These wings are spicy, they are salty and they are sweet and they are completely additive. These wings disappeared just like that!!

Thanks for stopping by! have fun and happy cooking!
Cheers!

Beer-Can Chicken - Yummm

Aright, this kick-ass dish is amazing! everyone's gotta try this at least once! It doesn't matter if you drink alcohol or not, you really cant tell a difference.

It all started on a lazy Sunday in the lab, I was searching for easy chicken recipes for dinner and I found this amazing video - Chef Frank Miller - Beer-Can Chicken. This video basically took my breath away and I immediately called Anirban and asked him to see the video. After seeing the video he said one word - "FUCK"! I knew he was gonna say that.

So, anyways we decided to do this the next weekend.

We went to the store and got all the ingredients needed. Both me and Anirban like Guinness beer, so we decided to cook the chicken with Guinness.

Its actually a pretty easy recipe! First off, wash the chicken and apply some olive oil over it, after that sprinkle some seasoning( I used old bay seasoning - recommended by Chef Frank Miller). I coated the chicken with the seasoning, both inside-out. In the mean time, drink 1/3 of the beer off the can and add butter, jalapenos, garlic and couple table spoons of seasoning to the can. If you are using Guinness, make sure to remove the widget inside the beer-can.

Chicken coated with old bay seasoning and beer with all the ingredients ready to go.

Chicken placed over the Beer-Can - Oven, here I come. 

Preheat the oven to about 400 degree F, and put the chicken inside the oven. 

Let the chicken cook for about 90 to 120 min and Vola, you are done. 

Chicken cooked for about 120 min, notice the color!! 

Next, its time to make the sauce! For the sauce, use the Beer inside the Can and add worcestershire sauce, molasis and tomato ketchup. keep stirring until the sauce thickens.

Anirban stirring the sauce on medium heat. stir and stir until the sauce is thick. 

pour the sauce on the chicken and you are ready to dig in!! 

Man, gotta tell you! the chicken is so tender, its basically melting in my mouth!! Everyone should try this at-least once!

Im sorry for making your mouth watery  :P 

That's it for today and as always, thanks for stopping by!

Adios.