Cheesecake ala Moi!!

I have been introduced to Cheesecake as a dessert fairly recently, just about 2-3 years ago. And dare I say that it was Love at first sight.. err.. bite. Following that, I have tried the cheesecakes at various known and unknown joints around the city and noticed that there is a serious lacking of good stuff in Kolkata. But the scene is gradually changing for good and I, for one am not complaining, at all. Ever since our first encounter, I have been trying to recreate the magic in my kitchen but unfortunately have failed time and again due to various reasons. To say that I was getting desperate by the day would be an understatement. I JUST HAD TO GET IT RIGHT because my confidence (yeah! and my ego too) was taking a serious beating.

I went through numerous recipes on the web, asked people around but to no sweet conclusion. I even attended a few, well very few actually, dessert making classes. The main problem, I deducted was the unavailability or rare availability of proper bakery ingredients in Kolkata. Like, the main ingredient a cheesecake requires is good quality cream cheese, which is available in a few shops in New Market and a select few outlets of supermarket chains. Only recently, I came across Philadelphia cream cheese at a supermarket while shopping and decided to go for another trial. AND I SUCCEEDED. (YAYY!!!) The base recipe I used was found on the web, on which I made certain improvisations, and lo and behold. Awesomeness cheesecake-ified. It turned out well beyond expectation and sent me over the moon. It was too good to taste and see, to keep to myself. So the sharing of the recipe.

If you are not in the mood to go into all that much trouble, try Cheesecake at Kookie Jar or Chilli's or contact yours truly.

The Only Photograph I managed!!

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

1. A pack of Philadelphia Cream Cheese. 
For desperate measures use Brittania or Amul. For even more desperation, use hung curd. (Results most definitely vary. A Lot!)  
2. Amul cream- 100ml
3. Sugar- 50gms or to taste.
4. Gelatin- 2 tbsps. Soaked in 3tbsps of water until dissolves.
5. Whipped cream- 1cup.
6. Digestive biscuits- about 20 pieces. Marie biscuits are good too.
7. Butter- 3/4 cup. Melted. 
8. Chocolate ganache sauce. (Melt dark chocolate pieces on a double boiler with cream and milk in a 2:1:1/2 ratio. For 100gms chocolate, add 50gms cream and 25ml milk. Keep stirring till of thick saucy consistency.)

Procedure: 

1. Make the ganache sauce first and keep aside. If it solidifies, microwave for 30 secs with 1tsp milk before use.
2. Break down the biscuits into a fine powder in a blender or put them in a food safe bag and break with any heavy object. Add melted butter and mix well. Take a springform pan and make an uniform layer at the bottom and refrigerate.
3. Beat the cream cheese and sugar with a hand blender until all the sugar dissolves and the cream cheese increases in volume. Add amul cream and beat again. 
4. Add half of the ganache sauce while constantly beating the mixture.
5. Fold in the the whipped cream and gelatin. Beat for 3-4 mins at low speed. NEVER over-beat at this stage. The mixture will curdle.
6. Pour over the biscuit base, cover with foil or cling wrap and refrigerate, preferably on the top shelf of the fridge, in the lowest temperature.
7. Take it out after an hour, pour the rest of the sauce in an uniform layer on the top, cover and refrigerate until set. (4-5 hrs will do)
8. After it completely sets, remove from the pan and decorate as you want or just attack.

You can also make it with fruits or lemon. Just remove the chocolate and add lemon juice or fruit crush of your choice.

Do let me know how your attempt turns out.
  

Karim's: Striked off the bucket list.

Karim's, Jama Masjid, Delhi.

This restaurant, or so called Institution, had been on my must-go-to list for like forever now. I first came to know about it in a TV show, more than a decade ago. Since then, I've been dying to drop in here. Waiting for a decade to eat at a particular place, sounds crazy, right? But if you are a 'Fanatical Foodie' like me, it's just an everyday affair. So much so that you even have a must-eat-at-before-I-die list, and Karim's topped that list of mine. What better than this to start my blog.

The Karim Hotels signboard.

My brother, who has been living in Delhi for almost four years now and has been to Karim's quite a number of times, took me for lunch to this place, on my recent first visit to Delhi. Frankly speaking, Thank God for that, because after seeing the place where the original restaurant is located (it now has quite a few branches all over the city), I had serious doubts that if I'll ever be able to get out of this place alone or unguided. For Karim's, is located in the most crowded, congested, filthy and oldest part of Delhi. In a dingy lane off a jam-packed and teeming street, bang opposite Gate no. 1 of the Jama Masjid, it is very easy to miss.

Can you spot the Karim's sign on the right?? (Pic courtesy:Google)

The first thing that greets you,as you near the vantage point, is the mouthwatering smell of food, wafting through all the chaos and kind of pulling you to itself. The first vision is of the Tandoor cum servers point of the restaurant surrounded by a number of seating areas. 

The Treasure Trove!

Magic in making.

The best thing about Karim's and Mughlai cuisine restaurants in general is that, service is real quick, for the food is ready before-hand and all they have to do is bring it to the table. So it is a huge boon for perpetually hungry and impatient souls like us. The time between order and service is enough to make you more hungry in anticipation but keep you sane enough to enjoy and relish the food. Point to mention here, Karim's is mostly always full, and waiting in a queue is normal practice. But we were lucky enough to get ourselves seated in no time at all. So, no sooner than we were seated, ordered and served, than all hell broke loose. My brother and me descended on the food like we had never eaten before, and for a long time the only sound on the table was of munching and slurping.

The menu here is not extensive, but is ample enough to bring you back. We ordered Chicken Biriyani, Mutton Korma, Mutton Stew and Tandoori Roti followed by Sheermal for dessert. You can have a look at the full menu here.

The food in general was spicy, oily and a health freak's nightmare, but such trivial issues never fret us. We gorged happily on our food, impressed by the taste and craftsmanship that has gone into making it.

The Biriyani!

The Biriyani was a bit too spicy for my taste, given that I have been raised on the subtle palate of the Kolkata Biriyani, and did I miss the potato in it or what! But the rice was fluffy and the chicken well cooked and soft. The spices kind of burst in your mouth as soon as you have the first spoonful but they don't turn you off and leave you wanting for more.

Mutton Stew.

Mutton Korma.

Both the mutton gravies were swimming in almost an inch of oil when served and would send a weight watcher running to the hills. But both of them, in there own rights, were unique and flavorful in taste. The taste of the stew was more in your face, I could taste most of the spices individually yet it presented a homogeneous harmony of flavors, while the korma was subtle and mellow on the palate.

The sweet ending note to our sumptuous meal was the Sheermal. It is a fried, flaky sweet bread made of flour and jaggery. It wasn't too sweet, so as to ruin the taste of the food we had, yet it acted as a balance to all the previous spiciness.

So engrossed were we in eating it, that we forgot to take a picture of the Sheermal. This one is off Google.

Finally, after the excitement of eating at Karim's subsided, a certain kind of peace descended over me, a sense of fulfillment which only a full stomach and yummy after taste can bring about. A feeling that one has after doing something that a person has wanted to do for a long time, a dream come true, a wish fulfilled.

A good meal is not a big deal, but finally making it to a place you have been dying to go to and finding the food as tasty as you hoped it would be, is the more important thing and not an everyday feeling. 

And as far I am concerned, Now, all I am doing is looking forward to my next time there.

Keep eating.

Be Happy.