The Ant Blog

Our Shiro trip was far from impromptu. Ever since we had heard about their Sushi brunch menu , we were dying to go! And we finally landed up there on a Sunday few weeks ago. To anyone who has visited this place, they know about Shiro’s lovely ambiance. It almost has a surreal old-world appeal to it. Due to the very dim lights, I could only manage to snap one of the ceiling lamps, which looked great. Ceiling lamp, below stone carving depictions at Shiro We began with servings of Chicken and Vegetarian dumpling . I loved the vegetarian dumpling with the wasabi  paste. Chicken and Vegetarian wasabi dumplings For the drinks, we ordered a Red wine Sangria and a Green Apple martini . Honestly, I was disappointed with my Sangria . I never expected a place like Shiro to serve me a Sangria with just a hint of wine in it. It almost tasted like a fruit mocktail! I love my Sangrias and can swear by them, so it was a let down. On the other hand the Green Apple martini, I tried ...

This recipe is inspired by one of my fave celebrity Chefs.. Nigella L . I just love the way she weaves a story of her culinary trails. So this is a very simple yet delicious dish. She also adds a dressing in the end, which I have skipped here, because I love the Aubergine roast flavor playing the hero in this dish. Halve the baby aubergines, keeping the stalks intact to heighten their beauty! Dunk them, face upwards on a baking tray, add salt, turmeric powder, red chili powder (optional), sugar, chili flakes, and finely chopped garlic cloves. Add about 2-3 Tablespoons of Olive oil on this. Now turn the aubergines, face downwards, and swish them around so that the spices and garlic pieces mix and mingle and lodge themselves on the aubergine. Now pre-heat the oven for a good 8 mins, before putting this tray in for another 15 mins. Rest for another 1 min, and then serve hot.              Baby Aubergines marinated Ingredients for Baby Auberg...

Pumpkin Blossoms Fried or  Kumro  Ful Bhaja  is a very popular dish among Bengali s. My mum-in law made them at home one day, when we were visiting. It is a simple dish, but is crunchy and delicious! Serving Size: 3-4 Cooking Time: 20 mins Ingredients for  Pumpkin Blossoms Fried- Pumpkin flower 10-12 Bengal Gram Flour or Besan- 1 cup Nigella Seeds- 1 tsp Salt- as per palate Baking Powder- 1 Tbsp Red Chili Powder- 1 tsp Water- to make a thick batter Procedure for Pumpkin Blossoms Fried- Take the good pieces of flower. Remove the stigma, drain off the water. Make a paste of  Bengal gram flour, nigella seeds, salt, red chili powder, baking powder and water. Dip the flowers in the above paste and deep fry it in a skillet. Serving Suggestions: Serve it hot.

I was over the moon, during our last visit to Haagen Daz ’s. A new store has opened up close to where I stay. And it was like an impromptu plan to visit the store after dinner.     At Haagen Daz's True to all Haagen Daz’s outlet, it looked like a plush restaurant, but I was also pleasantly surprised with the polite staff. We seated ourselves and ordered what looked like a hell lot of desserts to be had after a good dinner. But, I wasn’t ready to give in to my capacity for food, when there was some awesome ice cream to be had! :) We ordered Passion Berry Moment, and Cookie crunch with Praline sundae. So, now the ‘over the moon’ moment arrived, when I had the Cookie Crunch, which I hadn’t tried before. My fave by far was the Passion Berry Moment, which is also a stunning treat…Then came our happy selfie moment, after downing our sundaes :) It was a great way to vent out some of our weekday blues..was totally worth it!           ...

Tell me what can possibly happen when three cheery and chattery women meet after a long time.. Well one of the possibilities is that they  turn the place around into a loud and happy hangout :) One of our last rendezvous went something like that. It was a Friday night, so spirits were high in general, we wanted to check out a place where we hadn’t been to before, somewhere where there would be music but not loud enough for us to catch up. So, we headed to Mocha cafe in Mumbai at R city mall, which was conveniently located for all of us. We opted for the sit out area, which was bright and decorated with comfy couches and lodged ourselves on one of the couches. We ordered our Chenin Blanc and The Non- Vegetarian platter because we were all hungry after a long day. One can  select 4 mini dishes in the platter, from the menu options in veg/ non-veg platter. We went with Hot Tennessee style chicken wings, Nut crusted fish fingers, Moroccan meat balls, Chicken Bruschetta. ...