Tag: salmon

I revisit Imli – an Indian restaurant in NYC

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Old Monk rum with ThumsUp – nostalgia in a glass

I ordered the Desi Daaru – Old Monk, Thumbs Up, coriander, chaat, tabasco as my cocktail. It was nostalgia in a glass for a kid who grew up in India. The ThumsUp is a drink we had instead of Coke which was not allowed in India till the 90’s I believe. Old Monk is a rum that all my older cousins would drink around me. I would sneak a taste of it when I was 12 years old. For these reasons, I enjoyed this cocktail very much. If you don’t have the described memories – I’m not sure how you would feel about Desi Daaru. Imli offers a nice collection of cocktails to choose from though.

There is good news here. I have been to Imli 3 times and that means I like it.

The other good news is that if they fix their service – which really needs to be fixed… this could be one of the better Indian restaurants in NYC.

I met a couple of friends for brunch yesterday afternoon. We sat at the bar for a few minutes and were greeted by one of the owners – Vincent.

We moved to our table in the back which is a very attractive covered patio.

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I enjoy sitting here and it is the perfect place to eat with the coolness of the air conditioning.

First, for the food. Then I shall address the service.

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This is

Tandoori Chicken Salad
$11.99
Tandoori chicken, greens, red onions, dressing
It was surprisingly good. I mean what I imagined was not what came to the table. The chicken was tender and flavorful. It was topped with chutneys and seviyan or bhujia (fried chickpea snack akin to crispy vermicelli). This gave the dish a wonderful crunchy texture. I would definitely order this again.
A tiny complaint – the portion size was rather small for $11.99
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My friend ordered the chicken and egg roll.
We had it the last time we were here too.
It’s quite a nice dish – the rolls are akin to a kathi roll. Meats rolled up in a flat bread similar to a tortilla. Actually, if you didn’t tell me that it wasn’t a kathi roll, I wouldn’t know that it wasn’t one.
My other friend wanted to order something from the regular menu which we asked for.
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He had the Ginger Salmon described as

-Ginger, garlic and turmeric sauce on the menu – $22/-
 It came with Basmati Rice on the side.
I took a little taste and I tasted something very sour – that is a good thing. I believe it was tamarind – but they don’t mention it on the menu. The salmon was cooked well and the flavors were pleasing without being too spicy.
I liked it very much as did my friend who is from India and so I will assume, knows Indian food. He also ordered a tandoori roti which he also liked very much.
When we had come for dinner a few months ago – I remember enjoying the roti which is thin and cooked perfectly in the tandoor.
I ordered the

Scotch Egg Burger
–
14.99
Brioche Bun, Scotch Egg Meatball, Garnishing. Fries.
Bacon (add $2)
The meat I believe was lamb was nicely seasoned. The egg yolk as you see was not overcooked BUT the egg white! I have no idea what they did to it. It was dry and crinkled as you can see in the right picture. I pulled it apart and tasted it separately thinking that maybe it was an ingredient that I wasn’t aware of.
No – it was egg white that was rubbery to the hilt. I think it got that way because the eggs were cooked at a very high temperature.
If there is a rolling boil as you hard cook eggs – it results in an awful rubbery texture in the egg white.
This is not to say that I will not order this dish again, but hopefully, if the powers that be are reading this – they will talk to their chef. It is a problem that can be fixed very easily and then I would recommend this dish wholeheartedly.
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We finished our meal with a dessert called Paan Kulfi.
Kulfi is an Indian ice cream usually flavored with saffron and pistachios. Their twist was to flavor it with Paan which is a is a preparation combining betel leaf with areca nut. It is eaten in India after a meal as a digestive or a mouth freshener. It has a unique flavor which is hard to describe.
I am not one who is into sweets as a rule, but this was quite nice. It was not too sweet as many Indian desserts can be and the Paan flavor was prominent. One of my friends doesn’t like paan and so she didn’t like the dessert.. the other one did because he likes paan.
It was a special on the menu and so I don’t know if they will always have it. It is an acquired taste and so, for those who enjoy eating paan – should enjoy this dessert.
That takes care of the eating portion of our afternoon.
Now about the aforementioned service.
I am sorry to say the service at this place is lacking and that can greatly impact how a customer feels about a restaurant and if they will return.
The restaurant was not busy and our appetizer dishes were not cleared for too long. Then when the plates were taken away, our table was dirty with food that we had dropped as we were sharing. No one bothered to come and clean our table.
I finally took my napkin and cleaned the table because nothing irks me more than a dirty table.
I think our waiter realized and was then more diligent in cleaning our table.
For various reasons, including that I am in the food business – many people ask me for Indian restaurant recommendations. I happily send people to Imli but have received complaints of the service. This is a pity because I really like the food and the decor of this place.
It would be so easy to spruce up the service. Make the waiters more informed and watchful. Nothing major – but it makes all the difference.
Not to belabor the point, but there were three waiters that I saw in an almost empty restaurant – and so I see absolutely no reason for tables to go untended to, and maybe replace our napkins each time they take one away because it was dirty.
Now this is not a service related but kitchen problem – it took an abnormally long time for our food to arrive.
And the biggest surprise and disappointment was that all our food except for the salmon was cold.  And I mean totally, absolutely cold. I am guessing that the other two dishes were made, held on the side while the salmon was prepared. The salmon was hot and the rice was cold. The waiter came and asked us if he could replace it for us – without us even saying anything. Maybe he touched the rice as he was walking it to us.
Okay, I’ll stop now.
To recap – I enjoyed the brunch that I had at Imli restaurant yesterday afternoon.
I was meeting my friends after a very long time and so the long wait before our food arrived did not bother us. It gave us a chance to relax and catch up. But if someone is on a schedule – and has somewhere to go… I can guarantee you – they would be upset and may not return.
Dear owners of Imli, please take my humble but pointed advice and you will have one of the most successful Indian restaurants in NYC.
Until I dine out again!

Salmon in Miso Broth and Soba Noodles

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Day 2:  Quick dinner theme.

I love Asian flavors and often cook with them.

Here I have a simple miso broth made with miso paste with soba noodles and salmon.

If you stock your pantry with basic Asian sauces – you can whip up a meal in no time.

I made a miso broth – while that was coming up to a boil – sear the salmon (or any protein you would like to use such as chicken, beef, pork or tofu).

Cook the soba noodles in the miso broth – just as the noodles are going to be cooked, add peas, carrots and I like to drop an egg into the broth.  Stir and you will get beautiful strands of egg in the broth which makes it looks richer.

When ready to serve – put the noodles in the bowl and top with the salmon and then spoon over the broth with vegetables.

Set out seasonings for the guests to customize their meal.

I like vinegar, sesame oil, soy sauce, sriracha and nori sheets.

Top with scallions and you have a healthful, delicious meal.

Until I cook again!

Simple Pasta in a Tomato Sauce with Salmon

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I made a very simple dish for lunch yesterday.

I really like pasta since it is so versatile and can stand up to just about any flavors.

I had a side of salmon that I had baked in the oven the night before and so when I learned that I have guests for lunch,  I decided to make pasta with the salmon and some asparagus that I had blanched.

First for a simple tomato sauce:

1 Tbs. Olive Oil

1 tsp. fennel seeds

1 Tbs. red pepper flakes

6 cloves of garlic, sliced

Salt to taste

1 16 ounce can of whole peeled tomatoes.

Heat the oil gently in a pan and add the garlic, fennel and pepper flakes.  Cook on the lowest heat possible for the garlic and other spices to impart their flavor into the oil.

Next add the can of tomatoes and about 2 cups of water.  I crush the tomatoes with the back of a wooden spoon to get a chunky sauce.  Add salt to taste and simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes.

In the meantime, boil the water for the pasta and cook it.

In a separate pan, I crisped the salmon skin that I had removed.  This is an optional step.  I like the flavor that the crispy skin adds to the dish.

Heat through the cooked salmon and the asparagus.

When the pasta is still quite al dente, add it to the tomato sauce and stir well.  Cook till the pasta is cooked to the desired consistency.

I added some chopped fresh spinach because I had it laying about.

Serve the pasta in a large bowl with the salmon and asparagus mixture on top of the pasta.

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Serve with some crusty bread and a good olive oil to dip the bread.

I hope that you try this dish and play around the flavors and ingredients.

Until I cook again!

SALMON TARTARE

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  • You reblogged indianculinarycenter

     

    I absolutely love every kind of tartare

    SALMON tartare is one of those dishes that acts as a canvas for a chef’s culinary sensibilities. Add a little soy and ginger and an Asian-infused flavor emerges. Mango or pineapple yields a gustatory trip to the tropics. At its most basic it is a cooling, relatively light repast, playing off of the smooth, firm texture of the fish, but in smaller, more toothsome bites than other members of the raw-fish pantheon like sushi or carpaccio.

    The key to this dish is the freshest fish you can fish – your fish monger is your friend here.

    1 lb. salmon

    1 tbs. soy sauce

    1 tsp. yuzu or mirin

    ½ tsp. kosher or sea salt

    1/8 tsp. toasted sesame oil

    For the garnish:

    thinly sliced red radish

    ½ cup wasabi aioli (mix a tsp. wasabi to mayonnaise)

    2 tbs. salmon roe (optional)

    radish shoots (optional) or cilantro leaves

    2 tbs. chopped cucumber

    Keep all ingredients cold.

    Right before you are ready to eat, chop the fish into 1/8 “ dice or have your fish monger do it.  Mix soy sauce, salt and yuzu and sesame oil.  Mix and taste for seasoning.

    To serve: make a beautiful swirl of the aioli on your plate.  if you want to get fancy, place a round mold on the place and spoon the tartare or just spoon it onto your place.  Sprinkle the cucumber, red radish and garnish with cilantro of radish shoots.  A little salmon roe should guild the very beautiful lily.

    Serve right away with a crisp white wine like a chardonnay or a reisling.

    Until I eat again!

     

Poached Salmon on Noodles with Peanut Sauce

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Yes the heat is upon us and I like to stay in the kitchen for a minimal amount of time making dishes that allow me to walk away while they cook.

Poaching is the perfect technique.

I like to poach a large piece of salmon and use it in this dish or make salads for sandwiches and quick snacks.

I hope you learn the technique of poaching and then can apply it to most fish as well as chicken.

indianculinarycenter:

POACHED SALMON OVER PEANUT SESAME NOODLES

Poaching is a fantastic technique.

I talked of poached eggs and now we poach salmon.

It is a great dish to have cold over salads, pasta or sandwiches.

Poach a side of salmon and create quick and delicious meals for the week.

Create a court bouillon which is a just a fancy French way of saying a flavorful poaching liquid.  I add a few black peppercorn, parsley, onions, garlic, ginger and lemon juice.

Slather the salmon with grainy mustard and place in the liquid once it comes to a boil.

Bring the liquid back up to a boil and then simmer for about 15 minutes covered.  Make sure the water is not boiling or it’ll will coagulate the salmon protein and make it tough.

Once its cooked through, I like to leave it in the poaching liquid till it cools.

Use the liquid to cook the pasta or rice.

For the pasta – it is a very simple recipe – make a sauce of peanut butter, tahini if you have it, chili sauce (preferably Asian), soy sauce and some sesame oil.  Add a little water if you need to and pour over hot noodles.

Toss the cooked pasta with this flavorful sauce and top with a piece of the salmon and you have a nutritious and beautiful dinner.

This dish can also be eaten cold and think of taking it to your next picnic or add it as a side to your outdoor grilling parties.

Until I eat again!