Can't say it with words ? Say it with food this Valentines' Day

Valentines' Day is definitely extremely cliched.I believe that if you love someone, it's important to express your love every single day through small gestures. Because of the daily grind, we often miss expressing our feelings to our parents, spouses, sibling and friends. If one day and the unnecessary hype around it can make us do this, then its worth giving a shot. 😊😊

Sometimes it's difficult to express in words, that's why you have all the marketing experts working on elaborate strategies for Valentines' Day. Food outlets of Kolkata have elaborate plans for Valentines' Day as well.

1. Yauatcha has a specially curated 5 course Valentines day Menu:

The details of the Valentines Day Menu and pic references are given below.

Date: February 14, 2017

Time: 12 noon to 11pm

Price:Rs 3600 all-inclusive per couple

On offer is Sula Rose wine, Yauatcha's signature dumplings, rice and noodles and their favourite dessert. 

2. JW Marriott:  The latest luxury destination in town is all set to celebrate its first Valentines Day in the city with a night of live music and entertainment, a bottle of Sparkling wine, exquisite ambiance and a specially curated Asian Menu at Vintage Asia.

When: 14 th February

Timing:  7:00 – 11:45 pm

Where: Vintage Asia, JW Marriott Kolkata

Charges:  INR 4000++ per couple




3. Monkey Bar : It’s the biggest Valentines party in town today as Monkey Bar, India’s first Gastropub celebrates the day of love in style at its Kolkata outpost. 

This Valentine’s Day Monkey plays wingman and pairs you with the perfect Cocktail. Walk in single, practice your pick-up lines on our bartenders and get paired with the perfect Mama’s Girl or the Mad Men who love crazy women. Sing along to any of your favorite romantic tunes in English only, from pop and rock to rhythm and blues or rap and their bartenders will offer every Karaoke participant a complimentary shot of ‘Liquid Courage’- Monkey’s specially concocted Ballantine’s Whiskey shot to warm you up for the mike! And what’s more, they are also serving 1 free pitcher (Ballantine’s) per group of 6 or more people and a host of special deals on Cocktails all night long. If that’s not enough then punch your heart out with our special Love Pinatas guaranteed to leave you happy and satisfied.

When:  14th February

Timing : 4pm to 1am

Price : Meal for two without alcohol, excluding taxes: Rs. 1200++

Meal for two with alcohol, excluding taxes: Rs. 1800++

4. Keventers: With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, Keventers has come up with their limited edition milkshake bottles with a special heart print to celebrate the joy of love. The brand is also out with a Valentine special contest. All of us have someone special in our life, people who are close to us. What a better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day than to enjoy a nice evening out with your significant other on a date that takes you back in time. Keventers is giving you and your loved one a chance to go out for a romantic dinner date. The time is right to show your love that how special they are for you, and the dinner for two is the perfect opportunity to share a great tasting meal with someone special.

To win the dinner date, all you have to do is buy any Keventers milkshake with special Valentine bottle, post a picture on Facebook and fill the online contest form. The contest begins on 10^th February and ends on 14^th February 2017, the winner will be announced on 20th February on Facebook. One lucky winner will get a chance to take his/her Valentine out for a lavish dinner date on 25th February.

  

Low Oil Cooking - Tips and Tricks

When we were first told that we would have to cook an entire day's meal with 5 teaspoons of oil, we were taken aback. Though our family never had very oily, spicy food and the amount of oil used was always limited, we never measured it and it was surely more than 5 teaspoons.Now, I can confidently cook a delicious meal with less than  2 teaspoons of oil. We were sure of the fact that adding generous amounts of oil never enhances the taste. I make it a point not to compromise on taste because you can only make healthy food a way of life when you like eating it. I have always been finicky about food and I would never have tasteless food. Then, how can I expect others to have it every single day ? Now, even our guests are treated to food cooked with minimum oil.

It's not that difficult actually. You just need to remember a few tricks and you will be able to cook a healthy yet fulfilling meal for your family :)

Here it goes :

1. Use nonstick cookware : Invest in some nonstick cookware. It will go a long long way ensuring a healthy life for your family. Sprinkle just about a teaspoon to 2 teaspoons of oil. A quality nonstick vessel ensures that the oil doesn't stick to the pan and hence you can cook in very little oil.

Healthy Chciken Rezala - Low Oil Cooking

2. Use yoghurt to cook meat gravy : You don't need too much oil to cook meat.After frying the onions, add the meat along with yoghurt. The meat will cook in the juices coming out of the yoghurt. Cook the meal on medium heat and avoid high heat. You will be surprised to see how yoghurt adds a great flavour to your dish and how the meat turns out to be soft. For cuisines like chilli chicken, boil the chicken first or stir fry the chicken pieces with cornflour.

Homemade Chicken Biriyani with very little oil

3. Do not dry roast the masalas : When we use less oil, it's important to add a little water along with the masalas so that it cooks properly. Cook on medium heat and cover the vessel till you get the desired consistency of the gravy.

4. Pan grill your chicken or fish instead of frying: Bongs swear by their fish curries.For me, it's important to have the fish well cooked before it's added to the gravy. But I do not use buckets of oil to deep fry my fish. Instead, I grill them. You get the best results when you marinate the fish/chicken overnight and pan grill the fish with about one teaspoon of oil in a nonstick pan. But usually, I do not have that much time. I usually marinate for an hour. The results are good enough. 

Palak Chicken that uses very little oil

You just need to give it a shot and keep experimenting. You will be surprised with what you can do with just about a little oil. More importantly, it will give you the satisfaction of cooking a healthy meal for the family. 😊

I would love to hear your tips for low oil cooking ! 😗

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