Talk to me
I love talking about food, answering questions, sharing notes and one of the best parts of being a blogger is being able to do this with you guys. Of-late I have been receiving a lot of requests/questions via phone and email around cooking, baking, ingredients, techniques etc. and I do enjoy our little chats, but I have often wished that I could share some of the discussions on the blog so everyone can benefit from it. Unfortunately I am too lazy and weaving the varied ranges of topics into the posts often slips my mind (some may say conveniently) and you end up having to pick up the phone and call or open you laptop and email me on something someone else may already have asked.
So when Nisha suggested that I start a page where you can leave questions behind on any topic whatsoever and the answers can be seen by all; it seemed to make a lot of sense. As questions are posed and popular topics emerge, I will move them up here into the content area of the page as an FAQ so eventually we have a list of FAQs everyone can benefit from.
So please feel free to share questions/comments etc and I will do my best to share what I know, as soon as I can.
Bombay Chow-party 
Dear Sir/Madam,
Heartiest Greetings for the New Year from NRI Manager!!!
The New Year invariably brings new opportunities and connections! So today, I would like to present a proposal that brings with it strong possibilities for the future. I am the Director at NRI Manager, a company that deals exclusively with items targeted towards Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) in the West. The aim of our company is to manufacture and deliver superior quality Indian food to the expatriates residing overseas. Our website NRIManager.com is built specifically for food lovers who enjoy diverse items, such as, snacks, sweets, dry fruits, and other tasty bites they used to love back home.
The main customer base of the company includes NRIs in UK, USA, and Canada. We want them to enjoy fresh Indian snacks with a feeling of home. For this, we maintain a FAST shipping of products, without quality comprise! In a bid to popularize our website and let prospective customers know who or what we are, I would like to engage your services….
It would be great if we could buy a Featured Post in your Blog that describes our website and enumerates the facilities that we provide. This will go a long way and letting people know about our existence and benefit from our exclusive services.
You and we share a common interest! Won’t it be great for your readers to know about a website (NRIManager.com), which delivers ready-to-eat snacks and sweet at their doorstop directly from India and of course in fresh condition.
• We don’t stock any items instead order it to the merchant with whom we are associated.
• The merchant provides fresh items keeping in mind that it is going to be delivered overseas ensuring strict quality controls.
• With FIRST CLASS Fadex Shipping, we ensure to deliver any item within 48 to 72 hours so it doesn’t impact on the freshness of the food.
Please visit our website http://www.nrimanager.com for more information on our products.
Also please let me know by when we can initiate this unique business plan and proceed further on the content and other resources. I sincerely hope that you would show a keen interest in our proposal and connect with us soon!
With Regards,
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Wow weee. I’m not a foodie and I never thought I’d want to follow a food blog… but…. Your blog made my mouth water before I was half way down the page. Such a great diverse ‘menu,’ great titles for your posts and fun stories. I love the header that scrolls tempting treats.
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Thanks 🙂
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Hi Reshmy,
I have started reading your blog after some wonderful photos shared earlier and I must say I inspires me to try a few of these wonderful recipes.
Are there any quick recipes for a novice-in-kitchen for breakfast and supper??
I would love to try those.
Bipin
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Hie, loved your blog!
It has Mumbai and food. two things I love.
Oooh….check out this new pizza delivery thing in Mumbai https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0if2PM6OBrI&feature=youtu.be
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Hi Reshmy !
If you haven’t already seen it, please find the link to discover the french tv report about Bombay. You appear at 1:19.
http://www.france5.fr/emissions/echappees-belles
Huge visibility !
Regards,
Sandrine from Paris, France
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Superbe emission sur l’Inde
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Thanks to both of you Sandrine and Labalette!
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I have just seen you on French TV. I loved your kitchen!!! I’ll now read all of your blog. Please go have a look at mine (maybe you’ll like it!).
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Thanks! I love my kitchen too 🙂 Its so important for the kitchen to be a space which keeps you happy to cook. Now going to look out for your blog..
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Hi,
Just watching a tv report with you inside.. Nice ! Cheers from Switzerland.
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Thanks! Good to hear from you..Unfortunately I havent seen it yet myself! 🙂
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Hi Reshmy, I came across your blog on twitter and found it really interesting and well written. I am a PR consultant and I represent a couple of restaurants, I wanted to contact you for food reviews and was wondering if you could share your contact details. My email address is nikita.h@prpundit.com . Look forward to getting in touch with you!
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Hi Reshmi!
We just discovered your blog and LOVE it! My husband and I are about to set out on a round the world trip and our first stop is Mumbai! We are so excited to explore the markets and restaurants, but we have no idea where to start. I can’t eat onions so I’m a little worried about exploring on our own…we’d love any suggestions or tips!
Thanks again for your great posts!
Danielle (and Adam)
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Hi Danielle, Wonderful to hear from you. I am so envious of the exciting adventure you are planning.. a world trip sounds like an incredible dream come true! Looking for food without onions is a bit tricky in India since most foods prepared in restaurants have onion/ginger/garlic as a part of the curry base even when not mentioned specifically as an ingredient. Parts of India (including some restaurants in Mumbai) however do cater to a sect called Jains who do not eat onion or for that matter any produce that grows under the ground for religious reasons. However, these dishes also exclude garlic, potatoes, eggs and several other foods and are purely vegetarian. Unbelievable though it maybe, despite the exclusion of too many good things the food still tastes yummy. Several restaurants in Mumbai serve a Jain Thali. This is a full meal and a great way to sample several yummy traditional vegetable dishes along with savouries, rice, chapatti, other Indian breads and dessert. I would definitely put that on your must try list. You must also sample Indian desserts and mithai which will ofcourse always be onion free. When and for how long do you plan to be in Mumbai. Will you also be visiting other places in India as well? If you know what part of Mumbai you plan to be in, I could perhaps recommend a good thali place for you along with other recommendations. Meanwhile I shall think of other dishes you can safely try. One thing I do understand, is the pain of travelling with annoying dietary restrictions when you are dying to taste local food. So do keep in touch and I promise I will do my best to help… if all else fails, I could cook for you!
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This is really helpful! I wasnt aware of the Jain dietary restrictions, but it sounds like it will be a great option for me. I am sure I will occasionally just suck it up and eat the onion dishes, but I can’t do that too often or I will really ruin our trip :).
We are actually going to be in India for 3 months, so I would love as many recommendations as you want to send along! We will be starting in Mumbai (staying in Colaba area for 4-5 days), then heading down the west coast through Goa/Kerala, over to Bangalore and Chennai and then fly up to Delhi and explore the Rajasthan cities (Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, etc). We leave india at the end of March.
Again, we would love any of your suggestions and recommendations and would be happy to buy the groceries and do some cooking together! My husband is a great cook!
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Hey Danielle, Did you manage to find interesting food? Are you in India? DO give me a shout if you need any help or if you would like to meet and perhaps we can make a plan.
Regards,
Reshmy
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Hi Reshmi,
I am working on a book of how digital is setting people free to follow their dreams. Read about you in themetrognome.in. Would love to interview you for the book. Can you please email me your phone number?
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Hi Reshmy….hope you doing well….this is regarding Mangiamo the fine dining Italian restaurant in Bandra West. It would be great if you can come and review the restaurant. I’ve even dropped a mail regarding the same. Can you please get in touch with me regarding the same. Looking forward to here from you. Thank you… Cuisine
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Hey Surajit, Not sure if you are waiting for something I was to send you. Apologies if you are. Am a little lost now about where we left off our interaction. Do let me know if you need anything.
Regards,
Reshmy
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hi , For the meringue cookie recipe- can I do without cream of tartar? What else can i replace it with?
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Should work without it too but the cream of tarter works wonders with helping whip whites into stiff meringue. Try adding a pinch of salt instead but do make sure your bowl is squeaky clean and dry and has no residual moisture or grease of any sort. Also make sure there are no yolks left around in the white..
bombaychowparty.wordpress.com
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Hi Reshmy, ur blog is awesome….n has inspired me to bake !!! 🙂
Wanted to ask something: I have started baking recently only, everytime I bake anything – cookies, muffin, cake anything – it gets a little burnt from bottom 😦
From inside it cooks really well…but burns at bottom – any idea why is this happening ??
I tried parchment paper , silicon bakeware…though burning reduced a bit but still not completely.
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Hi Sanchita, Glad you like the blog. If it’s inspired someone to bake, then that’s enough to make my day. What a pity about the burning! I can’t be sure but it sounds like it maybe because of uneven heating in the oven which is a common OTG issue.
1. The bottom could be getting hot sooner or more than the top coil. You could try keeping your tray on a higher slot or rotating it after some time. If the bottom coil is heating too much, then this should help.
2. Another possibility is overall overheating. For that you could try reducing it by about 10 degrees each time you bake and see what ends up working for you.
I would suggest trying both a couple of times to find out what works with your OTG since all OTGs tend to behave differently. Also it may help to get an oven thermometer to check the exact temperature in the oven. Have seen some at the cooking tools sections in some of the malls.
Hope this helps.
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Hi Nisha, (I am assuming)
Increased fat makes bread softer and the same goes for the crust. Which means you can brush the loaf with butter/ egg white/egg yolk/ milk/ cream to help make the crust softer. The eggs can be diluted by adding a teaspoon or so of milk or water. Yolks and cream both tend to produce a slightly darker crust.
Another trick that works is to brush butter on the loaves that are just out of the oven and then cover them with a tea towel to retain and redistribute some of the steam to soften the crust.
All the best with the bread baking!
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Thanks a ton, shall try this soon
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I just felt that there are several others who have these stupid doubts and little tricks perhaps that can make the baking better
Like my current problem- how do I make my bread less crusty? I have tried using very wet dough and knead it for about 6 minutes…
Perhpas I bake it for a wee bit longer- since I wait for it to look a bit brown..perhaps that ?
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To make bread less crusty, you need to either add fat to the dough itself or glaze/brush it with oil/butter just before and after baking. Let me know if this helps..
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