Scenes From India
India is home to over 1.2 billion people of wildly varying religions, cultures and levels of wealth. Only 61 years since declaring its Independence from English rule, modern India is still defining itself, sometimes against the friction inside and outside of its borders. Recent newsworthy events in India include vast Monsoon flooding, conflicts in still-disputed Kashmir, and religious clashes between Hindus and Christians - and celebrations conducted by Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh and more. Though there's no possible way for these images to be comprehensive, here are some recent photos of scenes in India.
What is Bollywood Dance
New Years Dinner
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$40 a Person
3 Course Menu
(gluten free)
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519.821.3999
Vegetarian Fare
A mouth watering stir fry of potatoes and cauliflower with ginger garnish
Bhindi 12
Okra tempered with cumin and pan fried with spices
Baingan Bharta 12
Smoked eggplant chopped and cooked with onion, tomatoes and flavoured with lemon
Channa Adraki 12
Chick peas simmered with onions, tomatoes, ginger and tamarind
Palak Paneer 12
Cubes of cottage cheese simmered in a creamy spinach sauce
Matar Paneer 12
Peas and cottage cheese in a creamy aromatic sauce
Paneer Makhni 12
Cottage cheese cooked in tomato cream sauce.
Dal Makhni 12
A favourite of Northern India – black lentils and red kidney beans slow cooked with spices to a delectable creamy soup and garnished with butter and cream
Dal Tadka 11
Lentils tempered with cumin and garlic
All of our entrees are served with your choice of basmati rice or naan
History of Taj Mahal
A study of the history of Taj Mahal reveals that it was started in A.D. 1631 and completed at the end of 1648 A.D. It is believed that the Taj is a result of twenty thousand workmen toiling day and night for twenty two whole years. A small town was built for the laborers called 'Mumtazabad' - named after the deceased empress. The town is now known as Taj Ganj.
Amanat Khan Shirazi was the calligrapher of Taj Mahal, his name occurs at the end of an inscription on one of the gates of the Taj. Poet Ghyasuddin had designed the verses on the tombstone, while Ismail Khan Afridi of Turkey was the dome maker. Muhammad Hanif was the superintendent of Masons. The designer of Taj Mahal was Ustad Ahmad Lahauri.
The material for the construction of the Taj was brought in from all over India and central Asia. It is believed that it took a fleet of 1000 elephants to transport it to the site! The history of Taj Mahal provides us with fascinating details about Mughal history and architecture.
Red sandstone was brought from Fatehpur Sikri, Jasper from Punjab, Jade and Crystal from China, Turquoise from Tibet, Lapis Lazuli and Sapphire from Sri Lanka, Coal and Cornelian from Arabia and diamonds from Panna. In all 28 kind of rare, semi precious and precious stones were used for inlay work in the Taj Mahal. The chief building material, the white marble was brought from the quarries of Makrana, in Rajasthan. Thus the history of Taj Mahal shows us the organizing capacity of the Mughal Empire and the vision of Emperor Shah Jahan, who was able to bring together many skilled artisans to create this beautiful monument to eternal love.
What is a Tandoor?
Generally associated with Indian cuisine, a tandoor is a type of clay oven used in many Middle Eastern and South Asian countries for baking or other types of cooking. It is a cylindrical oven that has been in use for centuries; a tandoor is usually either wood fired or coal fired, and it is often left lit for several hours, or even days, to maintain the very high temperatures the tandoor can reach. The tandoor is usually used to cook meats such as chicken, but it is also used to cook certain breads such as lavash and naan. The word tandoori means "pertaining to the tandoor oven," so many dishes are labeled tandoori.
Perhaps the most popular dish made in the tandoor, tandoori chicken, is made by coating chicken pieces in yogurt and spices, then placing the pieces on skewers. The skewers are in turn placed inside the tandoor oven to be cooked at very high temperatures. While this dish can be prepared in a regular oven, tandoori chicken is best cooked in a tandoor to maintain the high temperature. The chicken pieces often have a red appearance from the cayenne pepper and other spices in the coating. The dish is served with onions and lemon. Other meats, such as lamb, beef, and fish can also be cooked in a tandoori oven.
Breads such as naan and lavash are made by kneading dough, letting it rise, then shaping it into balls or flat sections that are slapped against the sides of the oven. Such breads can be accented with spices such as onion or garlic, as well as raisins. Breads cook quickly in this type of oven because of the high temperatures, so large batches of the bread can be made quickly and easily.
This cylindrical oven reaches such high temperatures by utilizing several heat sources: an open fire at the bottom of the cylinder exposes food to flames, and as the heat from the flames rise, it radiates around the open-air oven to further cook the food. The clay sides of the oven also heat up, providing even heat sources that cook the foods thoroughly and relatively quickly. The top of the tandoori oven is open, and the sides of the opening are often curved. The oven itself can be quite small or very large, but in restaurants, the oven usually stands about chest-high to shoulder-high. www.wisegeek.com
Bollywood Bistro Appetizer's
Crunchy Okra 6
Our family favourite – fried okra dressed with spices and lemon juice
Samosa Surprise 5
A popular wayside snack – smashed samosa dressed with yoghurt, cilantro and tamarind chutney
Mixed Vegetable Pakoras 6
Assorted seasonal vegetables batter fried with chickpea flour, served with our tamarind chutney
Samosas 5
2 Pastry Triangles filled with potatoes & peas & drizzled with our sweet and sour tamarind sauce & our zesty cilantro chutney
Appetizers from the Tandoor
Tandoori Chicken Drumsticks 7
India’s most popular tandoori snack
Bollywood Bistro Chicken Tikka 10
Chicken kebabs marinated in a blend of yoghurt & spices
Pahadi Kebab 10
Chicken breast marinated in green herbs & grilled in a tandoor
Tandoori Shrimp 12
Large tiger shrimp marinated in an exotic blend of yoghurt and saffron
Salmon Tikka 12
Succulent pieces of salmon in a lemon marinade
Paneer Tikka 10
3 cubes of cottage cheese flavoured with tandoori spices & grilled with tandoor with skewered onions, green & red bell peppers
Tandoori Platter (16 assorted kebabs) 20
A great way to try them all or to share with a group. Chicken tikka, pahadi kebab, tandoori shrimp & salmon tikka. Served with our green cilantro chutney
Indian Cuisine For Beginner's
For beginners, eating an Indian meal might be somewhat of overwhelming let alone cooking or serving a balanced Indian meal.
Unlike western meals that are served into multiple course, almost all Indian meals are served at once in a thali.
Indian food is meant to be eaten with group. An Indian menu should consist of food spectrum or flavors; spicy, creamy, hot, salty, pungent, sweet and so on. As a diner, it is your responsibility how you mix those dishes to your liking.
Indian food cannot be eaten or served without a balanced combination of flavors. Thus, even though you like that curried vegetable, creamy chicken, or hot chutney, try not to eat it by itself. Combine them with basmati rice or Indian flatbread, such as such as poori or naan, or with other dishes.This will help you to savor combined flavor of the meal. Excess hot, spicy, and creamy food without a neutral starch is a recipe for indigestion.
There is basic rule about how to combine dishes to make a complete Indian meal. Each Indian meal should consist of starch (for example: rice and/or Indian bread), one or more main dishes (for example: meat dish or fish dish, or a lentil and vegetable combination) and some kind of chutney. Usually two vegetables and/or lentil dish will be served with meal; one ‘wet’ with lots of soup and one ‘dry’. For a simple meal there will be only few varieties of dishes while for an elaborate parties or festivals, more variety of them are prepared. www.food-india.com
Dinner Specialties
Select Chicken Tikka or Pahadi Kebab and combine with any vegetarian entrée, rice or naan.
Tandoori Tamasha Fish 19
Select Tandoori Shrimp or Salmon Tikka and combine with any vegetarian entrée, rice or naan.
Tandoori Tamasha Paneer 17
Tandoori Paneer Tikka combined with any vegetarian entrée, rice or naan.
Tandoori Dinner for Two 30
Tandoori Chicken Tikka – pahadi kebab, tandoori shrimp and salmon kebabs served with creamy ma ki da lentils, rice or naan. (4 of each kebab)
Nilgiri Lamb 19
Lamb Loin chops marinated in garlic and cilantro, seared and braised in a cilantro and coconut sauce. Cooked to your preference.
Bollywood Salmon 18
Salmon fillet dressed with aromatic spices, pan fried and finished with curry cream sauce. Served on a bed of rice.
House Specialty 18
Basa whitefish pan fried with semolina crust and served with sweet and sour tomato chutney and topped with crispy potato swirls.
Available Monday to Thursday Only
Kerala Style Appams & Chicken Stew or Vegetable Stew 16
From the backwaters of Kerala – subtle and delicious coconut based chicken stew served with rice batter and coconut milk crepes (seldom available in restaurants)
Daily Platters Menu
Each day consists of a Platter of your choice. You may choose from either a Vegetarian Dish Platter or a Meat Dish Platter. You may also want to mix both together to make a Super Platter consisting of both Meat and Vegetables.
Each Platter comes with Naan Bread, Dal(Lentil Soup), Salad, Rice and Dessert
MONDAY PLATTER
Veg - Rainbow Veggies
Meat – Southern Indian Sambhar Dal
TUESDAY PLATTER
Veg – Mooh (Daikon Radish) and Fenugreek Spinach and Yellow Dal Soup
Meat – Chicken do Piaza – Chicken Curry with Caramelized Onions
WEDNESDAY PLATTER
Veg – Aloo (potato) Tindli (baby dill like) Stir Fry
Meat – Adraki (ginger) Chicken Curry
THURSDAY PLATTER
Veg - Dudhi (white pumkin) with Channa Dal, Rayima (red kidney bean) Soup
Meat - Indian Chetinad Chicken Coconut Curry
FRIDAY PLATTER
Veg - Masala Stir Fry Potato Dal Soup with Fenugreek Spinach
Meat – Coconut Lamb Curry
PRICES
Veg - 10
Meat - 12
Mix - 14
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Quick Dish Lunch Menu
Butter Chicken 10
Boneless tandoori chicken pieces served in gently flavoured creamy tomato sauce
Goa Shrimp Curry (Hot) 12
From the masters of coastal cuisine - a tamarind and red chilli flavoured coconut curry
Nariyal Jhinga 12
Shrimp tossed in southern Indian coconut sauce flavoured with mustard seeds and curry leaves
Malai Shrimp 12
Shrimp cooked in a mild but flavourful creamy coconut curry with green and red bell peppers
Baingan Bharta 9 (vegetarian)
Smoked eggplant cooked and mashe with onion, tomatoes and flavoured with lemon
Paneer Makhni 10 (vegetarian)
Cottage cheese cooked in a tomato cream sauce
Dal Makhni 9 (vegetarian)
A favourite of north India - black lentils and red kidney beans cooked with spices to a delectable creamy soup and garnished with butter and cream
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Saturday Brunch Menu
Akuri Puri
Scrambled eggs w caramelized onions, tomato, spices, served with puris (puffed Bread) 8
Rainbow Veggie Curry
A delicious buttery stew of potatoes, cauliflower, peas and carrots. Cooked with aromatic spices served with puris. 9
Upma & Sambhar Soup
Ginger and lemon flavoured cream of wheat served with tamarind lentil soup and coconut pesto. 8
Idli Sambhar
5 steamed rice cakes with lemony lentil soup and coconut pesto 8
Potato or Radish Paratha - North India's Favourite
Flat bread stuffed with potatoes or radish cooked on a griddle served with home made yogurt and mango pickle. 6
Chicken Tikka Wrap With Lentil Soup 10
C2 Salad
Cucumber, freshly grated coconut, cilantro. Tossed with lemony dressing and garnished with peanuts 6
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