Chaiparty (London supper club)

The pretty posters were by Suchi

I'm a little late in posting about the chaiparty we hosted a while back, but as they say, better late than never right? We had this idea brewing (pun intended) in our minds for so long and finally after almost a year we were finally able to execute it. Supper clubs are popping up every second in London and although this idea was on the lines of a supper club, we wanted it to be more of an experience than just the food.

Chaiparty, as the name suggests is all about chai and an excuse to get together and chat, dance, play games and of course enjoy the food. Since it was our first stint with an event like this, we decided to keep it 'by invite' only. On the guest list were food bloggers, media professionals and food enthusiasts who all enthusiastically took part in the festivities. The dress code was Indian and we all dressed up in sarees, skirts, salwars, kurta's and lehengas. It was at my house in South East London and we decorated my tiny apartment with all sorts of Indian-themed paraphernalia and in the process managed to drive our husbands crazy.

The guests were all welcomed in the Indian traditional way with a small aarti, a sort of blessing, and then gifted colourful bangles and bindis. Everyone was sportive and courageous enough to actually wear a saree and even keep it on till the very end. We had a few fun games lined up, like a treasure hunt of sorts where we used twitter and the #chaiparty to give out clues, which we all had fun doing. Then there was the what's in your purse game where we picked out a few random, bizarre things and whoever had the most number f items in their bags won. Believe me, quite a few of them had most of the items :). Then we of course selected the best dressed which was quite hard to pick, considering everyone looked just as gorgeous as the other.

The menu consisted of dishes from all over India, and we gave it a fusion twist, but keeping in tact the traditional flavours. We also gave snazzy names for the dishes, something we are pretty proud of. Take a look at the menu to know what I'm talking about :)

We also had some lovely gifts and goodies sponsored by amazing brands and i cant thank you enough for the support you have shown us. We had Waitrose Wines sending over a case of assorted champagnes and sparkling wines which we put to full use by making the plum and chai bellini. Priscilla, winner of the best dressed also won a Seriously Peachy Dessert wine sponsored by Waitrose, an absolute fav dessert wine perfect with some citric desserts. There was unlimited tea sponsored by Tea India, an upmarket brand of chai which comes in three delicious flavours Masala Chai, Cardamom Chai and Vanilla Chai. They also gave each of our guests a small goody bag with all their teas and recipe cards for some cooking inspiration. Dessert, a very important part of a meal, wouldn't have been complete without Devnaa sponsoring some gorgeous chai truffles that were gobbled up in no time.

The uber cool online gift store Dotcomgiftshop sponsored a pretty tea pot, quite fitting with our theme for the evening, from their Moorish Stoneware collection. Erin has been thoroughly putting it to good use. Two favourite authors of mine Ottlenghi and Madhur Jaffrey were also present that evening in the form of cookbooks, both sponsored by Ebury Publishing, and won by Hayley and Natalie from Wild Card PR. 

This was our first foray into the whole supper club scene in London and we are sure going to have a couple more lined up this year, with the next one in March for Holi. We shall put up details closer to the date but it would be great if you can extend all your support in this new and exciting endeavour of ours. Thanks in advance :)

The #chaiparty team

What I've been up to...

I threw a summer party beginning of the month and this was the table

Things have been pretty crazy at my end with a few new projects I've undertaken and a part time job with Bobo Macarons in full swing. I must say, although its a complete shift in profession, I am so so so enjoying it, especially the baking bit. Of course I have a long way to go but having a really patient boss helps when it comes to learning something new. 

There is also some really exciting news coming your way (no, not involving babies and such), and I cant wait to share it with you all. I will be revealing it end of this week, so head back here around that time and you'll know what it is :) :) I know..the suspense is killing me too, but you just have to wait :)

I am in the process of giving my blog a new face lift because like everything in my life, I got bored with the look. After breaking my head on a logo and after trying out so many different options I decided to go with the one on the header. I also got my business cards printed and although I'm not damn happy with the outcome, it serves the purpose for the time being. My friends convinced me its "soo totally me" and so I think I'm a bit relieved. 

I have also been attending a lot of really cool events with my partner in crime Suchi of Kitchen Karma and I thought I'll pen down some of the fun events I attended. Its going to be a photo overdose post, so scoot if you are bored already :)

AGA Rangemaster

We attended a fancy evening of cocktails and canapés at the glamorous Violin Factory in Waterloo to celebrate the launch of a couple of new products from AGA Rangemaster. Truth be told, I don't think I'll be able to afford an AGA any time soon, but yes its up there on my wish list. Highlight of the evening was meeting the adorable Mary Berry of Great British Bake Off fame. She, I think, is one of the most down to earth celebrity chefs I've come across. Not that I rub shoulders with them every other day, but you know, in general. She is the new face of AGA and entertained us with a fun talk about her experiences with the brand. 

Dotcomgiftshop Blogger's Christmas evening

Yes, you read that right, Christmas plans are already under way for a lot of brands. The event was to showcase the selection of Dotcomgiftshop's Christmas gift ideas and also their new AW 2013 collection. It was a prop haven for prop obsessed people like me. We also got this really pretty cup and saucer which I converted into a table centrepiece at my summer party.

Food For Media's Media Market Place

Last week the entire Bloggers' Buzz team attended the Food For Media's Media Market Place event which was like a networking event with loads of interesting brands and such. We had a very productive day talking shop and also got to take home some fabulous goodies. The bread from Flour Power City Bakery was perhaps my best. Its been 5 days since I've got the loaf, and its still soft and tasty. Another interesting find was the Divino gelato made with the finest of fruits and served in the fruit itself. So its like a peach gelato is served in a peach and you can eat the entire thing.  Other brands on display were Bonne Maman, Squires Kitchen, Little Devil, Farrington Oils, The Saucy Fish Co. and so on...

Gordon Ramsay Bread Street by Royal Doulton

Photo courtesy Suchi

To date this is definitely the highlight of my blogging career- to have met THE Gordon Ramsay. We had an exclusive breakfast with GR to celebrate his new Bread Street by Royal Doulton tableware and took home a gorgeous coffee mug by the brand and an autographed book by the chef himself. We were so excited that when he came to talk to us, we just giggled like smitten school girls. The breakfast was amazing with Suchi's eggs Benedict topping the charts and my ricotta cakes with banana and butter a close second. The collection will be available at leading stores soon and since I've started with a mug it would be unfair to not complete the set wouldn't it? That's a hint Roshan :) 

With thanks to all the brands for inviting me to these events.

Blackberry bramble

Finally summer is here (to stay I hope). Days are warm with highs of 20C and evenings are cool. Pleasant enough to sit out on the balcony and enjoy a beer. The pub near our house is almost always full and its impossible to get a seat outside. My flip-flops and skirts have come out of hibernation, but I'm not yet brave enough to venture out in shorts as the crazy winds are still around, reminding us that summer is not completely here.

I have been bugging Ro to take me on one of those countryside walks...through the gorgeous yellow rapeseed fields. I hope I have one more weekend with loads of sunshine and high temperature to venture out, before they are harvested. On one Sunday afternoon when all of London was out enjoying the sun, we went into Greenwich town to check out Jamie Oliver's new restaurant "Jamie's Italian' and I had a blackberry bramble which was just amazing. I HAD to recreate it at home and that's exactly what I did on a Friday when the temperatures hit a high of 26C. Its not the authentic bramble which has Creme De Mure, the blackberry liqueur, in it, but I made it work with whatever was at home. Apologies for hijacking the name for something not even remotely related to the original. I thought it would be fun to do individual servings in small milk bottles. No one questioned me, because they all know better than to argue with a crazy prop-obsessed food blogger :)

I'd been lusting behind these really cute school milk bottles from the dotcomgiftshop website and as luck would have it, they sent me a set to review. They have a lot of cool stuff on their website, especially for food bloggers who are prop obsessed. There are 6 bottles in a crate and they are oh-so-adorable. They are great to serve individual drinks in and can double up as a decorative item at home- like mini flower vases. The only problem is that the bottles are tiny, and can take only about 1/2 a cup of liquid each. May not be that great for adults- especially when you give them an awesome drink and they finish it off in a gulp- but they just look too pretty and I love them. I can see myself using them as prop ever so often.

Recipe adapted from here (serves 3)

Gin- 4 oz

Blackberries- 10 to 12 (plus enough to garnish)

Lime cordial- 3 oz

Simple syrup- 3 oz (recipe follows)

Ice cubes- a hand full + enough to top

Tonic water- 300 ml

Make simple syrup by boiling together equal parts of sugar and water. Stir till the sugar dissolves. Keep aside to cool and use as required. Of course I'm lazy, so I just mix water and sugar in a glass and chuck into the microwave for a couple of minutes. Take the glass out, stir to dissolve the sugar and chick it into the freezer for a couple of minutes.

Combine the gin, blackberries, lime cordial and simple syrup together in a cocktail shaker.

Add a hand full of ice cubes and shake away.

Strain into glasses, add more ice and top with tonic water.

For the glass bottles, I strained the drink into a measuring jug, topped with the tonic water, gave a gentle stir and then poured it out into the bottles.

With thanks to dotcomgiftshop for sending me the milk bottles to review.