Canola Council of Canada sponsored a Canola Cook-off event at JW Marriott, Bangalore to spread awareness about Canola oil. I am so glad I attended the event. I learned some interesting cooking and nutrition facts related to Canola oil which I am sharing in this post...
The event was held at the beautiful Spice Terrace restaurant at JW Marriott...
Bruce Jowett, vice president of market development at the Canola Council of Canada spoke about the health benefits of Canola oil and the reasons why it is considered as one of the best oils for heart health...
Canola oil comes from the seeds of the canola plant. Once harvested, canola seeds are crushed and the oil contained within the seed is extracted. The average canola seed is 45% oil.
Canola oil is heart-healthy. It has the least saturated fat of any common cooking oil. In fact, it has less than half the saturated fat of olive or soybean oil...
Canola oil is one of the healthiest cooking oils because it is:
Free of trans fat and cholesterol
Low in saturated fat
High in monounsaturated fat that reduces risk of heart disease
“Canola oil is one of the friendliest and versatile cooking oil which you can use for all types of food.” says Chef Jolly, director of food and beverage, at the JW Marriott Bangalore.
With a bottle of Canola oil in hand, chef Jolly started demonstrating how well Canola oil works with Indian cuisine...
Fry cumin seeds, chopped garlic and ginger julienne.
Add chopped tomatoes and fry
Add blanched spinach and stir fry till the oil separates
Make mini missi roti with a dough made of wheat flour mixed with boiled black gram(sabut urad dal) and split Bengal gram (Chana dal)
Top the missi roti base with the stir fried spinach and yoghurt whipped with garlic cheese.
The neutral taste of Canola oil did help in preserving the original flavors of the ingredients in the dish...
The next dish was Mirch Khilma Achar, stuffed batter fried Indian Jalapenos. Here's the recipe:
Cut the Jalapenos and stir fry to remove moisture.
In another pan splutter some cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds and black-caraway (kalonji)
Add chopped chilies, garlic and ginger
Add boiled Mung Bean (Moong dal) and stir fry
Add Coriander powder, mango powder (aam chur) and garam masala
Stuff the Jalapenos with the Mung Bean filling
Dip the stuffed Jalapenos in Gram flour batter and deep fry
Sprinkle some chat masala powder and serve
Canola oil is also great for baking because it substitutes very well for butter, making baked dishes lighter, with less total and saturated fat.
The baking substitution chart shows how to use canola oil in cakes, muffins, brownies, pie crusts and other baking recipes
The good chefs at Marriott prepared many interesting dishes all cooked in Canola oil to show its versatility in the kitchen.
Chicken Malai kabab...
Phool Broccoli - Broccoli in white sauce was delicious...
I learned a lot from the event. Canola oil is priced in India at INR200 to 250 per litre which makes it much cheaper than Olive oil. I recommend everyone to switch to Canola oil if you haven't already done so. For more information on Canola Oil visit canolainfo.org
Majlis is a newly opened restaurant in Bangalore which serves Arabian food and Mughal influenced dishes from Lucknow and Rampur. Here's a photo tour...
The place is neat and beautifully decorated....
I really liked the reclaimed wood furniture...
The menu is a combination of many interesting Arabian and Awadhi dishes...
The menu at Majlis has been specially designed by the celebrity chef brothers - chef Ashfaque Quereshi and Chef Irfan Quereshi. I was lucky enough to meet and interact with them...
They are the sons of the 87 year old masterchef Imtiaz Quereshi. The Quereshis are descendants of the family of legendary chefs to the Mughal emperors of India. The new generation of Quereshis have been keeping alive the age old recipes quite remarkably with their numerous restaurants around the world...
Chef Imtiaz Quereshi
Don't forget to watch the 3 part video series of Gordon Ramsay's encounter with Chef Imtiaz Quereshi, at the end of this post.
Over to my lunch. We started with the Rooh Afza. For the uninitiated, Rooh Afza is a syrup which smells of roses and many other things and is often mixed with water or milk. Here it was mixed with milk and it had the fabulous basil seeds floating on top...
Mezzeh platter...
Baba Ganoush - Dip of roasted eggplant...
Classic Hummus - Silky puree of chickpeas with tahina sauce and olive oil...
Pita...
Hummus Beiruti - spiked with Garlic and parsley...
Tabbouleh with chopped parsley, bulgur, mint and tomatoes with a drizzle of olive oil and lemon juice.
Fattoush - a Lebanese salad with cucumber, tomatoes, capsicum, olive oil and vinegar topped with crispy slices of pita bread. This remains one of my favorites...
Dahi Ke Kabab - Hung curd spiced and rolled in soft bread and deep fried...
Cheese Sambousek...
Rajma Galouti Kabab. Although they were not bad, they did not tempt me as much as the other things...
Murgh Malai Kabab - The divinely soft pieces of chicken coated with cream and mild spices just melts in your mouth...
Fresh lime soda...
For the main course there was Murgh Bemisal...
I paired it with khameeri naan which was soft, fluffy, warm and inviting...
Mutton Rogan Josh was spectacular...
The Dal Tadka served here was excellent...
Zar-e-bariyan biryani...
Goan Fish Curry. This is one dish I wasn't looking forward to but I was pleasantly surprised by its inclusion in an Indo-Arabic menu...
The coconut based curry tastes best with rice...
I am glad I saved room for dessert. Phirnee, a rice and milk pudding was perfectly set. The flavors of saffron and cardomom with a sprinkling of chopped almonds and pistachios made the spoonfuls of creamy phirnee quite addictive...
Leaving you with three videos of MasterChef Imtiaz Quereshi making the exotic Goat Biryani with Gordon Ramsay... Part 1
