One of the many trips to the Karachi Golf Club.

Ever since a kid, we as a family have been coming here for lunches, brunches and the sort. My dad's been a member since the early 80's. There have been various golf tournaments and flower shows. I've watched my Dad and Brother play golf, and played it myself too in the most amazing weathers with soft breeze blowing.  This is a beautiful place, with utterly delicious and mouth-watering food and the quality never deteriorates. The place gives you a feeling of calm, and peace. What else could one want? Good food, mental peace, beautiful, clean environment. I could live in a place like this forever with an infinite number of books to read; watching the squirrels scurrying up the trees, hearing the birds sing, enjoying the scent of the flowers and the fragrance of a freshly mowed lawn with scrumptious food. Mmm-hmm.
Let the rest be spoken by the pictures.

My pepper steak with extra butter ;)

Banana Split

The simplest dessert one could ever make: Ice-cream, bananas and home-made chocolate sauce!

Ingredients:

Banana, 1
Two scoops of ice-cream, (any flavour)
Chocolate sauce (Hershey's or make at home by melting cooking chocolate, cream, butter and sugar together)

Method:

Slice the banana length-wise. Place two-three scoops of ice-cream of your choice in the middle of a boat-shaped small dish, keep the bananas on each side, pour the chocolate syrup on top and enjoy! You may also add, chocolate chips or crushed almonds or pistachios on top.

Mushroom and Sweet Corn Pizza

For the very first time I tried sweet-corn in a Pizza and guess what? It turned out to be delicious! It's a thin-crust pizza, with mushrooms, olives and sweet-corn.

Ingredients:

For the dough:

All purpose flour 2 cups
Instant yeast 1 tbsp
Salt 1/4 tsp
Oregano (dried/crushed) 1/4 tsp
Oil 2 tbsp
Water as required

For the sauce:

Onion 1, small chopped finely
Garlic 1 clove, chopped finely
Oil 1 tbsp
Tomato purée 1/2 cup or as required
Salt to taste

Oregano 1/4 tsp
Black pepper 1/4 tsp

Crushed red chillies 1/4 tsp.

Toppings:

Mushrooms, sliced 1/4 cup
Olives, sliced, 1/4 cup
Sweet-corn, 1/4 cup
Cheddar cheese, 1/4 cup
Mozzarella cheese, 1/4 cup

Method:

In a large bowl, mix in flour, salt, yeast, and oregano. Now add oil and using water, knead it in to a dough - soft but firm. Cover with a damp cloth or a cling film and keep aside for at least half an hour for the dough to rise to twice it's size.

Heat oil in a frying pan and add finely chopped garlic and onions. Stir till light brown. Now mix in the tomato purée, salt, pepper and oregano. Cook for 5-7 minutes, but do not let it dry. It should have a nice medium thick consistency.

Now punch the dough in to take it's air out and roll it out to make the base for the pizza. It's up to you whether you want a thick crust pizza or a thin crust. It makes one large pizza or two medium sized ones. Lay the rolled out dough in an oiled pizza pan and spread the sauce over it. Now start topping it with olives, mushrooms, sweet corn and the cheeses.

Preheat the oven to 200 C for ten minutes. Now slide in the pizza pan and let the pizza bake for 15-20 minutes at 180 C or till the cheese has melted and the crust is brown (for a brown crust, brush with oil or melted butter.)

I use an electric oven, so I have both upper and lower shelves heating. If you have a gas oven, first bake the base, let it brown and crisp, then grill and melt the cheese from the top.

Henny Penny Chicken (Chicken in White Sauce)

My version of the Henny Penny chicken - quicker and easier to make.

Ingredients:

Boneless chicken, thinly sliced into 1 inch pieces, 200-250 grams.
Butter, 2 tbsp
Flour, 1 tbsp
Cheddar cheese, 1/2 cup
Cream, whipped, 1/2 cup (optional)
Milk, 1 cup
Salt and pepper to taste
Parsley

Method:

Heat a tablespoon of butter in a frying pan and stir fry the chicken strips for around 4-5 minutes. Season with salt and generously with pepper and keep aside. Take another pan and make the roux for the bechamel sauce by melting the butter and mixing in the flour. Cook for a minute to remove the rawness of the flour, now add about a cup of milk slowly, while whisking on low heat. Let it simmer, on very low heat, whisking continuously till the desired consistency is attained. Season well with salt and pepper and add freshly chopped parsley, shredded cheddar cheese, whipped cream and stir fried chicken and mix well. Serve with boiled and buttered rice, garnish with fresh chopped parsley.

*You may use dried parsley in half the quantity if fresh is unavailable.
*You may also add sliced mushrooms with the chicken while stir-frying.
*Add or subtract milk in the bechamel sauce according to the consistency required.

Strawberry Sorbet

This is my own version of Strawberry Sorbet. I tried my own recipe, it did turn out fluffy and tangy but it still has a bit of glitches, so for now, just posting the photos and once I've developed a perfect recipe, I shall post it up here!

Make your own spice mixes: Tikka Boti Masala

Ingredients:

Cumin seeds, roasted 2 tbsp
Coriander seeds, roasted, 2 tbsp,
Cinnamon stick, 1 inch piece
Cardamom pods, 2
Dried red chillies, whole, 2
Black-pepper corns, 4-6
Salt, 1/2 tsp

Method:
Grind all the spices together in a coffee grinder, till well ground and store in a small air-tight container.

*Makes up to 4-5 tbsp of masala for 500-700 grams of chicken/meat.

Mirchi - Chaat and More

Me and my sister went shopping around Defence, and of course it makes you hungry so we thought we'd stop by at Mirchi and have some snacks. It's a nice, clean place with a colourful, traditional interior.Wooden furniture, with an orange and green colour combination.We ordered Dahi Puri and Chana Chaat - dahi puri was delicious, the 'puris' were crisp but there was a hint of garlic in the chutneys which became more than just a hint and left a bad after-taste. Also, it contained a lot more chutney than it could do with. The chana chaat, although with a balanced amount of chutney, was a little bland. They could spice it up a bit and add more flavour to it. Both the meals were good otherwise. The crispiness of the puris was enjoyed a lot. The servings were good and fulfilling. The menu also consists of other South Indian dishes like Dosa, Idli Sambar, Behari Roll, Tikka Roll etc. The best thing about it were the chutneys - perfectly flavorful and the assurance that they are prepared from mineral water. You should go and give the food a try!


Quality of Food: 7/10
Ambiance: 9/10
Service: 8/10
Value for money: 7/10

MIRCHI:
15 C, Badar commercial area 10,
Phase V, D.H.A,
Karachi, Pakistan.
Tel: (92-21) 35845092, 35845093 or 0300-8200321
Email: email@mirchi.com.pk
For more info, go to their facebook page.
The Crazy Chef now does restaurant reviews. If you want your food/restaurant/cafe/new menu reviewed or blogged, please contact me at tennythecrazychef@gmail.com or drop me a post on my facebook page.