Mango festival at Khandani Rajdhani

Mango has always been my favourite fruit. The current mango season has seen me eat lots of them... 

I was delighted to receive an invite to the Khandani Rajdhani's Aamlicious - Mango Festival. Khandani Rajdhani restaurant specializes in cuisines from Rajasthan and Gujarat. 

Here's a photo tour...

A person in Rajasthani attire welcomes you with flowers and traditional lamp...

The spacious interior...

Soothing traditional curios...

 Hand wash...

Keri Moong Dal Pakoda and Methi Tandliya Bhaji Muthiya...

The waiters serve in small helpings and keep on replenishing to ensure that the food is eaten hot... 



Dal Bati Churma, Paneer Maharani, Bikaneri Tomato...



The assorted Indian breads are served hot two at a time...



Phulka, Puri, Khoba Roti and Keri Methi Thepla...



Drinks included Keri Panna, Mango Lassi and Masala Chaas...

The mango based dishes in my Maharaja Thali, Mango Kadhi, Mango Dal Dhokali, Aam Ki Lunji were sweetened just enough to ensure a balance between sweet and sour. Dishes like Panchratan Dal, Aloo Mutter, Marwadi Gatta and Surti Dal were most delicious...

Mango Pulao and Khichdi

Desserts included Gulab Jamun...

And the very delicious Mango Jalebi with Rabdi...

The mango based dishes and a few other things were interesting in the menu. Check it out while the festival is still on...

Accolade

Cranium Bolts has been adjudged as one of "Top 15 Socially Active Photography Blogs In India" by Baggout.com 

Here are their kind words:

The blogger loves to capture the pictures of the nature be it plants, flowers, birds and animals the blogger beautifully captures them through his lens. Not just nature he also reviews the food of a lot of hotels and their services too, he also reviews spas and hotels. The pictures of the food which are displayed on the blog are absolutely amazing and mouth watering too. He reviews the best wines in town and clicks too this gives you the idea of which one to buy for yourself. The blogger captured the moments of the world health day 2015 organized by the WHO. The blog has 232 facebook likes, 140 shares, 2 posts last week. It has 50 twitter followers which sums up the total social score to be 644 and gives the blog 12th position in the category.  

Check out his Facebook Page and Twitter Handle here.

Mimicry by Danaid Eggfly Butterfly

Danaid Eggfly is well known for polymorphism and mimicry. In evolutionary biology, mimicry is a similarity of one species to another which protects one or both. Danaid Eggfly closely resembles the Blue Moon Butterfly found in New Zealand. Females are in multiple forms that include male like forms while others resemble toxic butterflies.

Here I present the male Mimic. The spots on the upper-side are bordered in iridescent blue that is visible only at certain angles...

The iridescent blue border is invisible at this angle...

The under-side...

The real and the surreal

The dinner fare at Skylit

I was invited to review the dinner fare at the recently launched rooftop restaurant, Skylit at Citrus Hotels, Bangalore. Skylit is located at the heart of the city with an open kitchen for evening dining pleasures only. 

Here's a photo tour...

The ambiance is best suited for a romantic candlelight dinner... 

16 Kebabs and grill specialties from all over the world are served from platter to plate. I decided to try each one of them...

BBQ chicken...

 Butter Garlic Squid...

 Chakundari Murgh...

Aloo pudina tikki...

As the starters were filling me up, I had to take a breather in between. I had some fun with the cocktail stirrers. 

Drinks giving high five...

Drowning in the drink!

Let's resume...

 Gilafi tandoori aloo...

Fajitas...

Veg polenta...

Jalapeno cheese fish...

Lal mirch ki tangdi...

Lamb chop in pepper sauce...

 Mexican grilled vegitables...

Sarson wali machchi...

Peshawari paneer...

Mutton sheekh...

Besides kebabs, the meal comprises of a buffet with rare gravy dishes, biriyanis, vegetables, Indian breads and salads. My plate for the maincourse...

Desserts...

My dessert filled plate...

 Some of the dishes were really great. You will surely overeat if you are not careful with the helpings.

Leaving you with the lovely smile of Swati...

Frozen Dessert Workshop at Movenpick

I was invited to attend the Frozen Dessert Workshop at Movenpick Hotel and SPA, Bangalore...

The building looked very photogenic from outside with some clouds peppered around..

The ambiance inside was even better with glass water walls...

And beautiful chandelier...

I found myself attired like a chef with a few friends, ready to experience dessert creation...

Chef Rayomund, a master of the trade demonstrated the finer nuances of frozen dessert making. Here he creates an Individual Frozen Key Lime Pie. What an artist he is...

Here's the recipe...

Next dessert was Fresh Mango Sorbet...

Here's the recipe...

Next dessert was Frozen Blue berry cheese cake pops. I liked the simple directions from the ever smiling Chef  Rayomund. I could manage to make this dessert in the most haphazard way.  My name on the pop stick to mark the milestone...

Here's the recipe...

Dessert making is an art. And that was evident from the array of desserts the talented chefs at Movenpick prepared for us...

We also got to sample some awesome appetizers too...

I would like to thank Mr Vinesh Gupta, General Manager, Movenpick Hotel and SPA for inviting me. It was a pleasure conversing with him...

Leaving you with the lovely smile of Oendrilla, our host...