Winter Bites

On a wintery day,there’s nothing like a bowl of hot,delicious soup or a bite of a steaming appetiser. Come the cold weather and appetites spike. Veggies,exotic ingredients,peppers and spices are brought out,chefs work their magic and wonder bites are served up,hot and perfect to counter the dipping temperatures.

“ Winter seems to be at its peak. To survive in this chilled weather,we came up with a Winter Special Menu. A range of new dishes are on the menu,with explanations about their benefits. For example,Wild Pepper Lamb – Lamb meat is rich in iron and zinc and is easily absorbed by the body; King fish Labour Curry – It has a perfect combination of spice and tamarind that contains extra Vitamin C,which is very good for the body,” says Shrijith Ravindran,chief operating officer,Malaka Spice,Koregaon Park. The restaurant,nestled in Lane 5,has a new menu including O yster Fritters,Kari Leaf Prawn,Portabella mushrooms,Ginger Lobster and so on. Even desserts are in keeping with the season – there’s the Malaysian dessert Apam Balik and the Banana Bread from Phillipines.

A steaming cuppa instantly warms the senses. Coffee and Me,Salunke Vihar road,has introduced some variants on its winter menu. “We have hot chocolate,hot coffees,hot minty chocolates,chocoberry flasks and much more. Chocolate is our main focus because it is liked by every age group and it’s an ice-breaker!” says Trishna Batheja of Coffee and Me.

Jyotsna Shahane who writes a food blog – The Cook’s Cottage,lists a number of winter favourites. “One can have home-made khichdi,oats,onions,tomatoes,dry fruits,sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds. Til ka laddu and chikki are perfect snacks,especially for kids,” she says. Spices like cinnamon,cardamom,cloves,ginger and especially ginger tea and cinnamon tea score well on the healthy front this season. “All these will help to keep the body warm this winter,” she adds.