Vietnamese Summer Rolls

It's not soup. It's not salad. But a healthy snack n can be a meal! 'Vietnamese Summer Roll'! 

Since I got introduced to it a decade ago, I might have eaten a few thousand in Vietnam and Singapore. At restaurants n  personally made at home.

Here in India I bought the rice paper n noodles in Amazon. Remember. You always have option to return if the product is not edible. I returned one. This is second company. Turned out to be good. I am happy.

For filling, I prepared n opted for different combinations.

Sliced carrots

Sauteed mushrooms

Boiled fresh rice noodles 

Chopped coriander

Dried basil

The best turned out to be carrot, noodle, n fresh coriander. Added sauteed mushroom came in second place. 

Dried Basil substitute to fresh proved to be a bad choice. 

The soy sauce I bought was extremely salty. I made four rolls. Ate one with soy sauce and the rest with Maggie sweet n chilli sauce. 

Though compromised on fresh Basil, soy sauce and peanut sauce, after 2 years made n ate rolls n felt somewhat happy. 

PS: In Hyd if you know of any place selling Veg Vietnamese Summer Rolls, pls let me know 😁🙏🏻

Best online merchant! May 2021

Since last year I was searching for a good reliable online merchant. I love food. Anything vegetarian. I love variety. Any country. Any culture. Any taste. As long as it is vegetarian, I will try. Taste. Sometimes my passion materialises in my travels. Recently I found that I can get online too! Individuals, companies, NGOs, socities, etc there are many who are offering regional n local flavours. 

My recent find n fav is Treddy's! First I thought too many in menu. Kitchen items, tools, snacks, savouries, sweets, pickles. .   hmmm. A thought crossed my mind on quality. Are they another Amazon? Just a consolidator? No direct commitment on quality. A few refund policies to passify customer n escape litigation? Anyway, as a regular online consumer, I jumped in to try their shipments. 

Ordered an iron kadai. Kaimuruku and a few more. In the past few months, Treddy's never disappointed me. High quality. Worth every paisa. All snacks. Fresh. Tasty. Authentic. 

My recent order, delivered yesterday, Jackfruit chips confirmed n sealed my trust. 

The shipment arrived in high quality cardboard box. Very thoughtfully packed in two portions to retain freshness till opened to consume. Aluminium packed tight sealed. Bubble wrapped so that the chips will not get crushed or damaged during transport. So freshly made that I can smell n taste amazing coconut oil! 

Treddy's got my complete trust n loyalty. I am with them till they show signs of compromised quality. 

www.treddys.com 

Veg restaurant Chennai Domestic Terminal

We expected a decent tiffin or meal. Meal was not ready. Ended up with usual pongal, idiyappam, dosa n idly. I am yet to understand "contemporary". A few square plates, no-tissues, black uniformed waiters, dark walls etc . . . My observation is yet to come to conclusion.

Pongal, tasted like my daughter's once baby food. Idiyappam really had no taste. Dosa was bland. Idly - cold. Total waste of money. My return was not even 30%.

Filter coffee is my only fave here.

I will not recommended unless you are about to die.

Poppy Pops

I am quite impressed with this cosy foodlet in Jurong Gateway. Can access from food court via escalator. They serve usual latte,  hot chocolate etc and also tea like English breakfast, Earl grey etc. The food menu looked good but we went in-between time.

I liked the staff, attitude, ambience. Must check out for its rooftop location. Rear view.

Open till 9 pm. 

Amy's Vegetable Pot Pie

 I got this from NTIC Finest, JCube, Singapore. Not labeled as "Suitable for Vegetarians ". Ingredient list doesn't show meat of any kind. No international logo indicating vegetarian or vegan on package.

However, for Vegetarians who can tahan products made in environment where meat is handled, I recommend. If you can get this, try.

I really liked the flavour. Not enough for a 'meal'. But enough for quick or late night or brunch or supper. Microwave not good. Oven good. Toaster don't know. I liked it with a dollop of butter on top before into oven.

Paradise Biryani - Hyderabad, India

Paradise Biryani.

I remember this Paradise Biryani from my good old school days. Those days travelling to Secundrabad to have a meal was a great deal. In fact going to a restaurant itself was a huge event. However I used to hear some of my non-vegetarian friends talk about a biryani shop with drooling mouths and dreamy eyes.

When I reached college, I said enough is enough. Even if they don't serve vegetarian stuff, I am going once. I felt left out! When I reached the place with my entourage, and got seated, then the reality stuck me. What am I going to do when all are feasting on their chickens and muttons? I decided to take a chance and called the waiter and softly asked him if he can get me something, ANYTHING vegetarian. He got puzzeled and asked why I don't order Biryani? I said, I cannot. He got more puzzled and confused. Then I blurted out that I am a vegetarian and cannot eat Biryani. Then he asked if I have a problem with the Biryani or being a vegetarian. This was my turn to get confused. I said neither. This so called puzzling and confusing and talking went on for a few mnts. Finally it was he who got it and simply said, Would you like to order Vegetarian Biryani? I took a moment before saying Yes.

I was under the impression that Biryani was made only with chicken or mutton. Our vegetarian biryani was made at home by mom and grandmother. Restaurants were relatively few and far, I had no idea that they could serve biryani. That too at the famous Paradise Biryani.

Those days and even today, Paradise is famous for its Dum Biryani , Chicken or Mutton. For vegetarian version, there is no Dum as it is not required for the vegetables to cook.

After the first encounter, my perception of biryani changed. Wherever I went, and was offered vegetarian biryani, at the first spoonful, my mind checks it with the Paradise Biryani. Nah! till now I didn't find equal to it. A different version I had was at Asha's in Dubai. Thats a different story.

Recently Paradise Biryani opened many outlets. Thanks to McDonald's virus culture. Paradise Biryani is now not only available at Paradise, Secunderabad, it is available at many places in both Hyderabad and Secunderabad. I have to check if it is in any other city too.

A couple of weeks ago as I stepped into the Paradise Biryani, I started wondering if the Biryani tastes same. Do they still make it as fresh as it can be? or like any other franchise outlet, the taste and the service are diluted?

We ordered Vegetarian Biryani and waited for its arrival with a sort of excitement as a kid waiting for his birthday cake. At the first sight, ok, the version changed but still looked good. As it was served, the aroma from the freshly cooked spices and vegetables touched my nostrils and made me salivated.

The first spoon into my mouth confirmed that it is the Paradise Biryani. Yeah I found less vegetables in the portion. But the masala paste felt sooooooo good that I got ready to finish the entire portion without sharing with my husband. OK. Finally I couldn't. The portion was simply enough for both of us. The cloves, cardamoms, Anise, dalchini were generously added.

Usually now a days any restaurant is adding extra chillies to "spice" up the dish or put some more oil to make the spices sizzle a little more. However, we found the biryani almost "oil-less"! As we all know that it is not possible to make biryani without oil, what i meant to say is that, the oil and the chillies used were very balanced!

Do I go ago again? Of Course!

Cream Cheese - Sweet Chilli

Mable's Sweet Chilli

To my Indian eyes, Chilli is like a flower to a bee! Though I thought of it hard and long going around Mustafa, seriously contemplating on the pros and cons of buying a non Asian product which says Chilli.

Money, of course I have to pay for good quality. Chilli, how hot will it be? Sweet, how much of sugar added? Sweet Chilli, is there something like that? Cream Cheese, does it mean its just very smooth or additional cream is added? If additional cream is added, then will it be chilli enough for my taste palate?

After 30 mnts of back and forth, inside and outside trolley, I bought home one packet thinking it will be a good adventure if not anything else.

It turns out to be a cheese with added cream and sugar with bell pepper and a hint of Jalapeno.

To me as the red bell peppers already not considered as "chilli" enough, adding sugar and cream literally made it sweet cheese.

However, the company's Rennet Free claim made it worth buy and try. May be not chilli enough to me or in fact to any SEAsian, I am sure many vegetarians around the world will love it on their warm bread slices for their early morning breakfast.