Crave Bits

Tag: grill

  • Barbeque Nation: A must visit!

    Barbeque Nation: A must visit!

    barbeque-nation-restaurant

    A world of food in itself is Barbeque Nation. Whether you want to have a dinner out, celebrate an occasion with your friends, colleagues or loved ones, this is the place. A place with perfect ambience and zippy service. You just can’t miss to come in here at BBQ Nation. The food, which is vegetarian and non-vegetarian is fresh, tasty and the most special part is that they there is live grill that is placed directly on your table so that you can grill your starters and savour them while there are still sizzling. Wonderful, No? Also, there is lively arrangement of slow, peppy, hip music and other easy listening number you can choose from. Everything just perfect to lift up the mood.They say that they believe in simple pleasure of eating food and food here is like celebration of life in itself. The soups and salads and main course in this mouth-watering restaurant is taken from cuisines around the world- American, Mediterranean, Oriental, Asian and even Indian!

    Barbeque Nation being one of the most successful casual dining food chain in India and has several outlets in all the major cities of India. Let’s have a look on how it all started, the world on grill; food franchise, what’s the story behind it, let’s uncover it.

    Sure, some of the successful businesses today are born out of the small personal everyday needs and these end up becoming huge companies with a bit of innovation and desire to deliver satisfaction. Such a tiny, trivial issue pushed the thinking of Mr. Prosenjit Roy Chaudhary to an extent that the mere experiment to get rid of issue turned into one of the most successful food chain in India – Barbeque Nation; a.k.a BBQ Nation. Here goes the story. As in November, Indore can get quite chilly evenings and at the poolside of Sayaji Hotels, the temperature was 7 degree Celsius and Mr. Prosenjit was informed by his MD- Sajid Dhanani, about the complaints of customers that the kebabs served to the guests at hotel were getting cold. That evening, he was watching television in evening at his home, when he saw how nomads are facing a similar problem while camping at riverside. They erected a grill using stacked armour and roasted meat on it. Mr. Choudhary as amazed by this and began serving kebabs on mini grills at the tables, which were 90% cooked, in the banquet division of Sayaji Hotels. It was a big hit.

    Then, Chaudhary got the green flag from his MD, to enter into food retail and As CEO of BBQ Nation, he brought the idea to Mumbai and set up city’s first Barbeque Nation at Pali hill, Bandra. People liked it a lot and between 2006 to 2008, there were 13 outlets. Today there are 35 outlets across India. The chain generates revenue of nearly 9 crore per store and the profit margins are 19 percent. What is remarkable about it is the buffet service serving unlimited meat and seafood. As Mr. Chaudhary says,” Barbeque Nation doesn’t begrudge you on portions. He further adds,” If they say they are serving prawns, they will really give you unlimited amounts of prawns.” The firm says, it is interested to explore internationally also and will be going global in coming next years and also adds that Indian market is still the most exciting place to experiment. The firm tells,” We have some serious trade enquiries from Australia, UAE and especially from Dubai. We would be exploring the opportunities of expanding outside India now.”

    live-grill-at-barbeque-nation-ahmedabad

    The chain operates on economies of scale and it offers its customers the independent dining experience. The customers pay a flat price ranging between Rs. 650 and 800 per head, depending on location and time, gets a choice of five vegetarian and non-vegetarian that they can season and cook on the grill, at the table, then move to the main course buffet and can eat as much as they want. This is a unique experience in itself and you enjoy your food like having a barbeque at home and if I talk about taste, undoubtedly perfect. The firm feels that giving fixed price and unlimited choices and food, may have attracted and retained such a pool of customers. Also, it makes it easy for the group of professionals to visit as there is no uncertainty about the bill. He also adds that concept of unlimited buffet isn’t new but execution of Barbeque Nation is superior and lovely experience in itself, making the imitators difficult to copy and compete and operate at same level. The food chain is efficient in its service and is able to deliever consistency at every outlet; which is unlimited food, prompt service and clean toilets. The food is also a perfect blend of multiple cuisines and just the perfect taste to tickle your taste buds and makes it irresisitible for you to avoid coming here. You just can’t help but seduced to dine-in in BBQ Nation.

    topimg_21877_kayum_dhanani_barbeque_600x400

    In this picture is Mr. Kayum Dhanani, the now MD of BBQ.

    Indulge yourself in for an unforgettable Barbeque experience, something you just can’t forget and can’t resist walking in again. Go, discover the joy of partying well with Class and Style and yeah, the delicious food. The restaurant is all yours ready to serve your appetite.

  • Kebabs- something you can drool over.

    Kebabs- something you can drool over.

    Kebab is a Middle Eastern dish where pieces of meat or vegetables are grilled or roasted. They can be both vegetarian and non vegetarian. The traditional meat used for the preparation of kebabs was lamb however depending upon local tastes and preferences of the consumers, other options such as beef, chicken and pork also started being used. The kebab was so famous in the Mediterranean and Southeast Asia that it became a part of the everyday cuisine. From the Middle East it travelled to Central Asia and then slowly became a worldwide favourite with time. During the earlier days, the Greeks used portable trays made up of ceramic to grill pieces of meat and vegetables while Persian soldiers used their swords to grill meat over open flames.

    Kebabs can be prepared at home as well. One of the methods for the preparation of chicken kebab is given below. Similar way can be used to make other non veg and vegetarian kebabs by just substituting chicken with any other meat or vegetable.

    4 T

    Chicken  kebab

    Directions:

    • Dilute 2 tablespoon of cornflour in 1 cup of water
    • Clean the chicken and chop the meat in medium size pieces
    • Marinate the chicken with salt, vinegar and black pepper and place it for 15 minutes
    • Add to chicken the cornflour mixture with curd, ginger green chillies and garlic with 1 tablespoon of ghee and mix well
    •  Cover and refrigerate it for about 8-10hours
    • Melt ghee in a pan and slowly add the pieces of chicken on high flame
    • Fry till the piece turn golden brown
    • Once all the pieces are fried, serve with chutney and salad.

     Chicken_Kebab

     Green chicken kebab

    This is another recipe for the preparation of chicken kebabs which uses coriander leaves, mint leaves, methi leaves and spinach as well.

    Directions:

    • Wash about 400 grams of chicken and chop them in medium sized pieces
    • Apply salt, lemon, ½ teaspoon chilli powder on the pieces and keep it aside for 10-15 minutes.
    • While the chicken is marinating, chop the methi leaves into thin slices and grind it with mint, coriander, spinach leaves, ginger, garlic and green chillies to form a paste.
    • Now add curd and spices in the paste and mix well.
    • Coat the chicken pieces with the paste and cover it and place it aside for 20 minutes. During this time span the chicken will suck in the smell and flavour of the green paste.
    • After soaking the skewers in normal water for, apply oil and arrange the pieces of chicken onto it. Spread oil over the chicken pieces.
    • Preheat the oven at about 350F for 5 minutes and after that place the skewers in the oven and leave it to grill for 18 minutes.
    • A check has to be kept to see that all the sides of the skewer sticks cook evenly.
    • Once the kebab is ready, remove it from the skewer and arrange it on a serving plate and serve with lemon wedges and spicy green chutney.

    Veg-Chilli-Milli-420

    Veg Chilli Milli Kebab recipe

    This is a vegetarian kebab recipe for the vegetarians out there

    • Mash 4 potatoes in a bowl and at the same time boil spinach for some time then drain and blend the spinach to form a puree.
    • Combine 1tsp of ginger and garlic each with 4 green chillies and capsicum and chop them finely.
    •  Now mix all the items together. The boiled potatoes, the spinach puree and chopped mixture of ginger garlic with chilli and capsicum.
    • To this add red chilli powder, turmeric powder, black pepper, coriander and garam masala powder (1/2 teaspoons each)
    • Also add 2 tablespoon of breadcrumbs and salt to taste.
    • Wash and clean the skewers and then apply oil over them.
    • Preheat the oven at about 350F and arrange the kebabs onto the skewers and then again apply oil over the kebabs.
    • Grill the kebabs for about 20 minutes till they are golden brown and have a crispy crust.
    • Once the kebabs look nice and golden, remove them from the skewer and place it on a serving plate and garnish it with some fried chillies.
    • Your vegetarian kebab is ready to be served.

    sheeshakebabimg4

     Vegetable Seekh Kebab

    This is another vegetarian dish of Hyderabadi cuisine. This dish can be eaten both as a snack as well as a starter. The main ingredients used in this dish are French beans and cabbage and the special fact about this dish is that it is prepared on a stone.

    Directions for cooking:

    • In a pan heat 2 tablespoon of oil and then add chopped french beans, carrot and cabbage on one side of the pan and on the other side add about ¾ cups of green peas and mash them nicely.
    • Mix everything and cook for about 3-4 minutes.
    • In another pan roast gram flour (3 1/2 tablespoon) and caraway seeds for about 2 minutes.
    • Now mix the flour with the vegetables along with ginger garlic paste and green chillies and mix well for half a minute.
    • Add salt, chat masala and cashewnut powder with the flour and mix everything well.
    • Take portions of this mixture and cover it on the skewer and press it around the stick till it’s evenly layered.
    • Put oil on the grill stone and heat.
    • Now place the kebabs on the hot stone for about 3 minutes till all the sides are slightly coloured.
    • Serve the dish by sprinkling it with some chaat masala.

    There are many more of such tasty kebab dishes which can be prepared at home. Earlier kebabs used to be consumed only by the royals but with time it became a favourite of all.

    Georgie Rajan