Sense 5 - Restaurant Consultancy

We are very happy to undertake restaurant consultancy services for the South Indian style fine dining restaurants. This consultancy services include all end to end process.

Contact Email: rajmohanraghavan@gmail.com

VADA – PAST TO PRESENT

Let us bring up the indispensable batter savoury fritters from South Indian gourmet table. Vada would serve as snacks, would be the side dish for South Indian meals and more suitable to palate for best South Indian breakfast along with dosa, Idli or Pongal. Vada holds star position in the menu cards and it is a profitable and customary item in South Indian restaurant. This South Indian favourite could be found as street food in South Indian localities in various countries.

Vada is known for its antiquity. Ancient literature says that the deep fried products got familiarized and popularized in 15th century, during the vijayanagar dynasty. So we belive that vada might have originated in 15th century. Over a period of time, vada got various ingredients and by its methods of cooking. The best example is the two centuries old paniyaram.

Readers of my blog may know best options to prepare delectable vadas. Anyhow, I am just reminding you the possibilities of preparing mouthwatering vadas at your homes.


Instructions


Whatever recipes you follow, grinding is a very important matter in vada preparation. If the grinding is proper, no need for any other substitution


Soak the urad dal (lentils) for about 20 - 30 minutes
Too much soaking of urad dal (lentils) in water would made the vada batter more elastic and sticky and also absorbs more oil while deep frying
Add minimum 50g of rice flour to a kg of medu vada batter. A tbsp of maida (refined flour) renders good golden colour
Maintain balanced heat or oil, too much heat may harden and destroy the colour of vada
Add water as needed while grinding the batter of medu vada. Grind till the batter become white and soft
It is better to add ginger paste in medu vada batter rather than chopped ginger
For paruppu vada, add 50kg of tuvar dal and urad dal along with a kg of bengal gram
Keep a little bengal gram from grinding. Add the same in the grinded mixture later to give a crunchy taste
Serve thick chutnies and sambhar, not a watery one
KEERAI VADA (Spinach Vada)
Ingredients
Bengal gram flour - a handful
Rice flour - a handful
Cornflour - a handful
Soda bi carbonate - a pinch
Salt to taste
Spinach Varieties - Minimum 03 varieties - 100g
Coriander leaves - a handful
Chopped Onion - 2 nos
Saunf- 1/2 tsp
Ginger & Garlic -1 tsp
Chopped greenchillies - 1 tbsp
Water
Method
Combine all the above ingredients. Sprinkle little water and mix well.
Make patties and deep fry it in moderate hot oil till it gets slight golden colour. Take out from oil now.
Reserve it for next 10 minutes. Deep fry the reserved vada again till it cook and renders good golden colour.
!!!!!!! Above instructions fetch you new ideas and regional recipe must be a new taste for your buds. You shall have in these rainy days. Enjoy the drizzle with puffy hot vadas.

CHINESE FOOD FESTIVAL

CARROT HALWA

Very recently tasted a new yummy carrot halwa which is done by my chef friends. This carrot halwa is not like the usual one in taste. Different flavour, colour and style make this halwa unique and turn it into a heavenly taste. I have enjoyed this carrot halwa till the last spoon of my plate. This alone leads me to blog it now and may help you to transform the ordinary carrot halwa into a special one.

You may think what’s there in this carrot halwa, yes it is simple and ordinary one to prepare for any one. May be we will get many recipes by prowling internet but it’s hard for us to collect the best directions to prepare this gorgeous halwa.

Some prepares the little soggy carrot halwa or some shall do carrot halwa dry. After seeing the best carrot halwa you might feel it resembles just as a  grated carrot. But the blend of essential ingredients and caramelized carrot are only could give the tastiest and glossy product.

Points to be remember
1. Do not squeeze the juices of grated carrot which affects the nutrients, flavor and colour of the halwa.

2. Saute carrot in ghee to extract the flavour of halwa, but fry it till half done.

3. To tenderize the carrot add hot milk into the sautéed carrot, otherwise cold milk makes it hard.

4. Sugar should be added immediately after carrot halfway is done in ghee, this makes the sugar caramelize and coat it over the carrot and separate it.

5. Khoya (concentrated milk solids) must be added after the milk is absorbed by the carrot. Khoya helps to give texture and taste.

The instructions definetly will bring you an extraordinary tasty halwa and take you from the ordinary to a special one.

Let’s tantalize by the taste.

Note

You can use this instruction for any vegetable based halwa preparation – Carrot, Beetroot, Pumpkin

VISION OF QUALITY HOSPITALITY EDUCATION

HOSPITALITY EDUCATION IN INDIA

India is known the world over as the land of hospitality. Hospitality means the relationship process between a guest and a host; it also refers to the art or practice of being hospitable. Today India is in defining stages of the business of hospitality, despite Indian economy being constructively better than other countries. The Indian Hotel Industry is emphasising its standards in the global context, as seen in the proposed investments by domestic & foreign players in hotel Industry in India.

The first hotel management institute in India was established in Mumbai in mid ‘50s, it paved way to an organised hospitality education in India. Later hotel management institutes spread its horizons in all major cities like Chennai, Kolkata and Delhi under the guidance of the Ministry of Agriculture. In the year 1984, Ministry of Tourism took over hospitality education and created an autonomous body known as 'National Council for Hotel Management (NCHM)', a nodal and affiliating organisation that monitors the standards of hospitality education and hospitality institutes run by the Government all over India under common syllabus and norms. These measures upgraded hospitality education and during this period many food craft institutes also changed themselves to hotel management institutes. After this many recognized universities in India started offering hotel management studies in their affiliated colleges as per needs of their respective region.

Customer service and customer satisfaction are now the key words for success of any business. Students passing out from hospitality institutes discover their importance not only in hotels, restaurants, cruise and catering industries but also in other non-catering industries like, retail outlets, hospitals, telecom industries, food packaging industries, hospitals, private banks and BPOs. Hotel management institutes are the only institutes that train professionals to understand and meet the challenges of ever changing demands of customer expectations in terms of pre and post sales activities. Hospitality Institutes have widespread contacts in hospitality industry to enable their students to get placements after successful completion of the course.

The entry of many foreign universities and hotel management institutes strategic partnership with foreign universities help the students to get quality hospitality education and undergo industrial training and project time in foreign countries that benefit them to acquire international exposure in varying ambiences.

Because of the high demand of skilled workforce in Hotel Industry now hospitality institutes have started short term course in all hospitality disciplines providing certificates in diploma and crash course levels. Today hospitality education in India creates good awareness among students that help their overall development of persona. Hospitality education is an education which needs more real time atmosphere to train and prepare students to shadow managers.

CHANGES IN CURRICULUM

Hospitality education is really a partnership between a student and a teacher. Similarly Hotel management institutes may be the only institutes that train professionals to understand and meet the challenges of ever changing demands of customer expectations. At present, our training and education is narrowly defined only as capsules of knowledge. So it is the time need for change to be brought in curriculum set up so as to teach the future managers in life skill education. Make them realize and believe in his / her potential to make use of their education rather than solely depending on education itself.

Globalisation and opening of the economy has made it possible for individuals and corporations alike to have unhindered access to employment and business opportunities available worldwide. For this reason itself our curriculum must be revised periodically and should be designed with the prime focus of future trends in hospitality. Such training is certainly going to focus on making students more proficient in handling real life situations immediately after passing out of the institutes.

ROLE OF FACULTY IN SHAPING YOUNG HOTELIERS

Faculty role is imperative in future changes in hospitality education. Teachers must be perpetual learners and be in touch with up to date trends in the Industry. In the initial stage, student completely depends on teacher. At that time whatever we are teaching are easily imbibed by young minds. Thus it becomes very important for the faculty of the institute to develop the caliber, skills and mindset to educate, train and guide young learners in the right direction and help them when in need. Exchange of faculties among near - by hotel management institutes enable students to acquire more knowledge from different sources that generate a sense of innovativeness and give them a feel that everyday learning experience is new for them. Faculty should keep good relations with hotel and should undergo training and visits periodically to understand the latest technology.

MEETING THE FUTURE CHALLENGES

Hospitality is a booming industry. But, many hotel management institutes were started with poor quality infrastructure and non qualified faculties. This has created a bad image among public on hotel management studies as though hotel management studies meant only cooking and not beyond that. Creating a fresh awareness among the public is very imperative at present to reconstruct thus image and announcing the resurgence of hotel management studies in some regions of India.
An institute adopting just information on the core department functions was not enough to sustain growth in this industry. Including business subjects like marketing, human resources, financial accounting, management accounting, strategic management and business law are equally essential. Institutes should realize the present needs and begin to change their thinking by teaching students to be multifunctional managers where the learning process begins with making decisions and then adding the necessary functional expertise. This change in the attitude of the institutes shall result in producing quality manpower for hospitality and allied industries.
Including research work in hospitality education may encourage the students to explore many new things and create forward – thinking among them. The bottom line for the next generation of hospitality professionals shall be that “innovation is paramount”. Stale ideas and outdated skills will not be able to keep pace; leaders need to be nimble to anticipate change and respond to the twists and turns of this rapidly evolving industry.
Preparing an ideal candidate to the requirement of industry is foremost in challenges of future hospitality education. An ideal candidate needs to be a technologist who knows how to use various machines, equipment, processes, information and ways of doing business. As well candidate may have exceptional communication skills, ability to work in a team, and a thirst for knowledge.

INDUSTRY APPROACH IN HOSPITALITY EDUCATION

Hotel Industry should adopt near by hotel management institutes and send experts to institutes for training students and faculty which may help in the revision of curriculum as per industry needs and be able to provide expert manpower to the industry.
Industry may include the adopted hotel management institutes for consultancy activities and give space to the learners for research work through training and guidance.
Industry may help the students in placement by conducting job fairs and organizing competitions to exhibit their talents and ideas
Industry may also help in giving focus on skill training on topics like food production, cost control, layout and design, front office management, food and beverage management, catering sales, merchandising and accounting. We cannot deny the fact that no amount of practical input in campus can meet up to the practical inputs one may gain by actually training in the industry. This is where the hotels need to contribute their bit. They need to be more open to accepting trainees and willing to share their expertise and knowledge with them rather than considering them a hindrance to their daily work. They must realise that these trainees are the future “value added managers” they may be looking for.

CONCLUSION

Quality education only would restructure the future hospitality education. It has to be a joint operation by both hospitality industry and the institutes to strengthen it and it is apparent that our training institutes as well as the industry must review the scope and content of the education imparted currently to its students and professionals.

Appam | Appam Recipe | Making of Appam

Golden crispy dish with white fluffy inner –absolutely it is a gorgeous handsome delicacy "Appam". In India, appam used to be the favorite breakfast of keralities. But now the trend is changed. The taste of appam takes it across the world wherever Indians live. Countries like Sri lanka, Malaysia, serves beautiful varieties of ‘appams’ and it is a top notch favorite in the restaurant card.

Appam is another fermented pancake in south India like dosa and it is cooked in specially designed cook ware and needs bit of experience to acquire the original shape of the appam by waving the appam batter in the special cookware (made by cast iron). It is an art that needs some skill, though visibly quite easy but not in reality.

Appam is cooked by combined effect of heat and steam, by closing the appam ware with lid produce steam that makes appam fluffy and steamy soft. Because of its captivating look and being also liked by children’s, most vegetarians’ joints too include this dish in their menu. In Tamilnadu most of us like to eat Appam in the dinner time too.

Mutton curry, Vegetable stew, Coconut milk, Kadalai curry (channa curry) based on varutharacha masala are the best match for Appam.

Kallappam is a type of special appam in which toddy is added to ferment the batter. It gives good taste to appam and this is not cooked in specific appam ware hence it is poured over tawa and cooked as like ordinary pancake.

USEFUL GUIDELINES

Good appam have always slight sour and sweet taste and all bind heavenly with dippings in a curry.


Adding coconut water gives good taste to appam.

Soak rice for two hours in water, dry it well and after this coarse or grind it along with other ingredients.

Reserve the batter for six hours for fermentation.

Adding more urad dal destroys the colour and the original taste of appam and if it is more, it sticks to the cookware and makes into brown quickly.

Add salt and baking powder before cooking.

If appam is not coming out easily from the ware or it’s stuck to the ware, just rub the inner portion of the ware with onions or fry some eggs or do some tempering. Later you pour the batter and now the appam will not stick.

DIFFERENT BATTER STYLES

Preparation of appam batter varies to bring out the distinguished tastes. Each batter style differs in addition or substitution of ingredients in preparations. Some use yeast for fermenting the batter.

Raw rice – 1 kg, Coconut – 1 no, Boiled rice – 1 handful

Method
Soak rice in water and dry it well. Add grated coconut and boiled rice combine all ingredients and grind it in dosa batter consistently. Afterwards let it be kept for fermentation. It is the easiest household method when it often called as “Palappam”.

This is a style of batter preparation we would see across Tamilnadu, mixture of two different rice and urad dal.

Raw rice-1/4 kg , urad dal- 100g, fenugreek- 2tsp.

Method
Soak rice and urad dal and combine all ingredients, grind it like dosa batter. Ferment and use.

This is another style of using rice porridge in the batter to ferment.

Raw rice- 200g, Coconut milk- 250ml, Rice porridge- 50ml.

Method

Soak rice and dry it. Then powder it.
Sieve the rice and use the residue in the siever to prepare the porridge.
Now combine all ingredients. Prepare the batter as little thinner than dosa batter.

NOTE

Use the mix of coconut oil and ghee to elicit the good flavour

Add salt and soda salt at the end

Some use yeast in appam for fast fementation, but it gives hard flavour to appam. This is mostly preffered by industries.

Readers, I believe such an intro’s and bread and butter tips on appam may help household to dish out different styles of appam in their respective house to delight their family.

Happy hot and steamy appam day.

I shall appreciate your feedback.

Student's Admission on Hotel Management studies

Admissions open @ Mary Matha College, Nallakarruppanpatty, Periyakulam, Theni district.

Department of Hotel Management and Catering Science offers
B.Sc., Hotel Management and Catering Science - 03 years

Website: http://www.marymathacmi.com/aca.php

To Curry

To Curry ….. again. Global foodies favourite talk is inexplicable in the Indian curries gallery here I take you into my much awaited TO CURRY blogging. Curry is a perfect blend of masala, spices and oil, literally say, it is a genuine seasoning.

Ancient scripts say black peppercorns (Karunkari) were used to spice up the dishes in sangam age, especially in meat preparations. So for that reason till now any spice preparation made out of vegetables (oh, see the word KaiKari in Tamil) and meats are called curry.

Tempering is the indicator of your efficiency and flavour of the tempering speaks whether you are the best cook. With any more addition or reduction of ingredients, it may be burned atlast the complete curry spoiled. After that whatever trick performed by you cannot get your desired taste in it. Therefore, be conscious of tempering curry, since it is the initial one which is going to produce the best of your curries.

It’s everybody wishes to bring out the curry in red colour, that means pure red fat shall be floating (Rogan) on the top… It makes its looks nice and breathes earthy flavour to the curry.

Ok, how to bring out the same?

After mixing thoroughly the masala and fundamental ingredients add a little water and make it to simmer for sometime which helps the oil in the masala leave and floats on the curry and it adds good colour too.

Once after have seen the name curry, everyone thinks that the dish may not be finished without curryleaves. But too much of it may sometimes arrest the flavour or real taste of the curry (my next post is on curryleaves, I shall brief you on that later). So add the curryleaves whenever it is required.

After adding the thickening agents do not allow to boil, keep the flame in simmer. Otherwise, the curry will disintegrate. Use a little gingelly oil with any other oil. It is but better to use ghee and dalda for mutton and beef.

Sometimes we are not satisfied with the seasoning and it may be our habit to put masalas again and again which spoils the taste and aroma and it may not properly bind with the ingredients and it may feature raw taste to the curry. By the way, in which stage is adding the masala into curry is very important. Keep the taste of your product (curry) in mind, use the essence wisely.

Suggestion for adding essence

1. For beef and mutton you may increase the essence as per your taste buds, but add less turmeric powder. Use black peppercorns and curd which helps to enhance the scent.

2. Add less turmeric powder and spices for chicken curry.

3. Take care in tempering with fish curries. It is advisable to use ground redchilli paste for good authentic colour and taste.

4. To push in masala to the curry add some “Otty Masala” to pump up the taste. It is to simply sauté the shallots and chopped tomatoes and just grinds it in mixie. Use this ground mixture while preparing any curry at the time of tempering.

5. Put the sour kind ingredients ex: (tomatoes) only after the main ingredients are mixed well and cooked with masala to get better taste.

6. Extensively use the cumin powder in meat preparation; it is the only masala powder which easily penetrates to the fibers of meat.

All Purpose Masala Powder

Cardamom – 1 tbsp
Cloves – 1 tsp
Cinnamon – 3barks
Saunf (Fennel seeds) – 2 tbsp
Kalpasi – 1 tsp
Mace – 3nos
Nutmeg – 2nos

Dry fry the above ingredients. Powder it finely. Store it in airtight container and use whenever require.

To get the non-vegetarian taste in vegetarian curries use my above APM and also add a little for all curries to get the desired taste and flavour.

Are you ready to cooking up the best curry? Go ahead… Enjoy the taste. Soon I shall be back on Curryleaves vs Curry….

Note

Try the correct proportion of ingredients and do observation on your method to dish out a yummy curry.

Tagline

Good responses for my earlier post on “Secrets of Dosa Success” by your wave of posts were tagged into my blog success. Many requested to write something on curry, these request from my lovable readers urged me to post this new “To Curry”.