The Great Kabab Factory

What you see - The Great Kabab Factory (TGKF) started on November
10th, 2008 in Hyderabad. Ever since its inception in 1988, TGKF has
graduated to being a classy restaurant chain branded and managed by
the prestigious Radisson Hospitality Group. At its Hyderabad branch,
the simple and minimalist dã©cor is striking. Waiters in blue
uniforms, resembling factory gear greet you with a warm smile as you
enjoy the soft light of the restaurant. There is also a waiting lounge
on the side with a seating capacity for 8-10 people. Here you can
enjoy a few drinks and starters in case the tables are all occupied.
What you get - This restaurant has a prix fixe buffet style menu.
There is a choice of 6 succulent starters to choose from and the
standard Indian entrees comprising roti, dal and rice followed by a
very inviting choice of desserts. On weekdays with lunch, a pint of
beer is also served free. The entrees change every meal but the
variations are limited to vegetarian, non-vegetarian (chicken/mutton)
biryanis and dal with a choice of roti, naan or Ulte Tawwe Ka Paratha
(thin and soft bread, kneaded with saffron-flavored milk). The paratha
is enjoyable even without the accompanying chutneys. The meals
incidentally lay emphasis on kebabs as the entree rather than as
starters. The Shahi Gilaawat or Galouti Kebab is the in-house
specialty. The meat is minced at least five times to give it the
required fineness, before adding raw papaya and spices. It is then
shallow-fried on a tawa. There is an option to order for mild or spicy
varieties. Patthar Kebabs, grilled on stone, are worth a try too. You
can also try saffron-flavored Sheermil, which has a mild sweet taste
to it and Bakherkhani Roti, flavored with nuts and fennel. In Dals,
Panchmahal (Benaras style), is a specialty. Some of the other dishes
that generate interest are the spicy Murgh Khada Masala, crisp and
crunchy batter coated Amritsari Machi Tikka, juicy Bharwan zucchini, a
stuffed and grilled zucchini preparation, as well as the velvety Murgh
Tikka Kali Mirch. The food is served with four tangy dips and onion
slivers. In desserts try the interesting paan ice cream, which has
vanilla ice cream and sweet paan chunks in a fragrant blend. The Tilla
Kulfi is a must try too, and the Jalebis, shaped like flowers and
served hot with creamy Rabri, are extremely delicious. Our verdict -
Usually kebabs are associated with non-vegetarian food but
surprisingly there are quite a lot of choices for vegetarians too at
The Great Kabab Factory. In fact, a separate Tandoor is used to cook
kebabs of potato, mushroom, cottage cheese and green peas. The
restaurant does not offer a la carte, so your meal is entirely in the
hands of the Chef and his special recipes. Trust us, this is not
disappointing. In terms of ambience, the whole setup has a very calm,
relaxed and welcoming feel to it. Another striking fact is that every
dish while being served is explained to you. This adds a nice personal
touch to the service. Valet parking facility is available. What you
pay for a meal for two € Rs. 750-1,200 Anytime between - 12 PM - 11
PM

Formula For The Successful Barbecue

Take the barbecue itself - if it's observed better days then maybe it
is due for an upgrade? Do you want the precision, efficiency and
convenience of the gasoline barbecue or would you favor the hands-on
theater of a standard charcoal-burner? Gas can be a genuine
time-saver, assuming you remember to verify the level of the gas
bottle and don't have to make a dash on the local backyard middle to
re-stock within the middle in the get together. But charcoal followers
will let you know that absolutely nothing imparts the smoky barbecue
taste just like the genuine issue - even if you do set your hair and
also the neighbor's fence on hearth from the approach. It really is
all straight down to personal taste, but with dozens of models
obtainable in all value ranges the option has by no means been
wider.If you're inventive within your kitchen, then there is no need
to be dull when it comes to barbecue food possibly. Great top quality
burgers and sausages generally go lower well, but be a little more
imaginative and try some thing new. Swordfish, monkfish or tuna are
extremely effortless to cook on a barbecue, and could be genuinely
tasty when mixed with a tangy marinade or dressing. If you're brief on
time, it is possible to constantly velocity up the marinating
procedure by massaging the meat within a plastic bag of marinade for a
couple of minutes before placing inside fridge for just 30 mins.
Greens are delicious cooked over a fire and flamb?Ed bananas and
pineapple make the perfect finishing touch. Take an approach of
experimentation.If you are feeling lazy, many in the supermarkets now
sell pre-prepared foods along with the BBQ in head, for example,
Waitrose stocks Chinese-Style Pork Loin Ribs marinated in honey,
orange and spices and Green Thai Chicken Kebabs marinated in aromatic
coconut and fresh coriander and spices.If you're feeling lazy, many
with the supermarkets now sell pre-prepared food along with the BBQ in
mind, for example, Waitrose stocks Chinese-Style Pork Loin Ribs
marinated in honey, orange and spices and Green Thai Chicken Kebabs
marinated in aromatic coconut and fresh coriander and spices.It's best
to prepare salads and dressings before you start cooking so that
everything is ready to serve as soon because the cooked meals comes
off the heat. In the event you are cooking for any large number of
guests, then many foods may be cooked off first and kept hot inside
kitchen oven until required. Bear in mind that you - the cook - are
there to enjoy yourself too so give yourself time to relax by being
correctly organized.There are some basic rules to keep in mind when
using a barbecue that do make sense to bear in head. Preserve safe, be
aware of children and pets and preserve them away through the hot
stuff. If using charcoal, then allow enough time for the coals to
genuinely heat up before trying to cook anything. Look for signs of
white ash on the charcoal to indicate that the temperature is hot
enough for effective cooking.Barbecue meals is infamous for making an
unwelcome return appearance! If you want to avoid this unpleasantness,
be aware of basic food hygiene and wash your fingers prior to handling
foods. Be especially careful when handling raw meats and do not
contaminate cooked meats with raw meat juices. Ensure that all items
are appropriately cooked through before serving. In case you are
cooking items on the bone, such as chicken legs, it's an excellent
idea to pre-cook them in the oven first and then finish them off on
the barbecue.

The Essential Spanish Kitchen

The average modern day Spanish kitchen is really not that different to
any other modern kitchen, you can find the microwave, the blender,
ready meals and packet mixes. However, there remains the traditional
essentials of cookware and ingredients which are used daily in Spanish
cooking and are all important to create your own piece of Spain at
home.Each Spanish pantry or larder always contains a ready supply of
the most essential everyday ingredients and accessories from olive oil
to onions and the paella pan to the cazuela.The Spanish are sometimes
criticised for the amount of oil they use in cooking, it is used in
almost every recipe and is even used when frying sweet dishes. Extra
Virgin olive oil, though is the oil of choice due to its renowned
health benefits and unique flavour. Some people prefer an ordinary
virgin olive oil but very rarely are other types of oil used in
Spanish cooking as they have a blander taste although are considered
less expensive. Extra virgin olive oil can be quite pricey but the
use of a good one needn€™t prove expensive. When using a good quality
extra virgin olive oil, remember that it expands on heating so don€™t
overdo it. Also the quality is such that it can be reused five or
six times. Once cooled, the oil can be strained and stored in jars
for the next time but always store oil for frying fish in separate
containers. Extra virgin olive oil is used frequently in marinades
and dressings and for a milder taste, it can be mixed with other types
of oil. Olive oil for cooking should never be mixed with other types
of oil however, as during heating possible toxins can be released. If
you want to create a traditional Spanish dish, extra virgin olive oil
is essential for that all important €˜taste of Spain€™, there really
is no substitute.For Spanish cooking, always have two or three bulbs
of garlic at hand. Along with extra virgin olive oil, it is probably
the most frequently used ingredient and it can be used in a variety of
ways. Raw garlic is of course at its most powerful, rub some over a
slice of toast with a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt for a
truly traditional Spanish style breakfast.Raw garlic finely chopped is
used in marinades or for salad dressings, the amount used depending on
personal taste. Cooked garlic will loose some of its bite but other
ingredients in the recipe will take on its flavour. Garlic can be
roasted whole, then crushed and added back to the pot, it can be
inserted into meat for roasting or simply chopped or crushed and added
to the pot or pan.A vital partner to garlic is the pestle and mortar.
Use the pestle to squash a garlic clove for easy peeling. The mortar
is essential when preparing small amounts garlic and other herbs and
spices. When mixing a variety of ingredients together, start with the
smaller, hard ingredients such as peppercorns or cloves, then move
onto the garlic or saffron for example. The softer herbs like parsley
should be mixed in last. It is important to add liquid to your mix,
whether wine, sherry or water, use them to form a paste with your
ingredients. This is especially important for saffron as it must be
crushed and blended with liquid before being used as your rice dish
will not have an even colour.Used regularly, although quite expensive
and exotic, saffron is what gives rice dishes such as the paella its
lovely golden yellow colour. Saffron is collected by hand and is the
tiny part of the crocus which explains the high cost. Only a tiny
amount is needed however, so it is worthwhile keeping in your store
cupboard.Other essential Spanish herbs are oregano, thyme rosemary and
parsley. Parsley is used so frequently that it is given away free in
fish shops and butchers. Thyme is an excellent accompaniment to
chicken and a sprig of rosemary makes an excellent kebab stick. All
of these herbs can be grown quite easily in the Spanish kitchen
garden.Although not used everyday, two important Spanish spices are
paprika and cayenne pepper or indeed whole chillies, dried or fresh.
Paprika can be smoked or not, sweet (dulce) or spicy (picante) and is
one of the most important ingredients when preparing the traditional
chorizo for it€™s colour and flavour. A spoon full of paprika will
add colour and flavour to any marinade or cooking sauce and add
chopped chillies to any dish for added bite such as gambas al
pil-pil.Along with saffron, to create the perfect paella, the
€˜paellero€™ or paella pan is a hugely important piece of Spanish
kitchen equipment. This large round shallow pan has been used for
generations to prepare the world famous Spanish dish of fish or
chicken and rabbit with rice. There are different variations of pan
available but the most important feature is that it must be large
enough to cook a dish for all the family!The earthenware dish or
€˜cazuela€™ makes a regular appearance in the Spanish kitchen.
Available from the very small for serving tapas, to the enormous, they
are such a versatile piece of cookware that no Spanish kitchen is
complete without one. They can be used over an open fire, on the
barbecue, in the oven or over the hob, plus they retain the heat after
cooking € perfect for gambas al pil-pil, a classic spicy dish of
chilli and garlic prawns. To get the best out of your cazuela, soak
overnight before the first use and heat to temperature gently. For
larger dishes, such as the traditional winter €˜cocido€™ or stews and
soups, the Spanish €˜olla€™ or large casserole dish which is fat in
the middle and narrow at the top and bottom, is vital in the Spanish
kitchen. Available in a variety of materials, it is great for cooking
over an open fire.No Spanish kitchen or indeed household should be
without the Serrano ham, cured for at least a year high up in the
mountains, the Serrano ham is the cornerstone of traditional Spanish
gastronomy. The Serrano ham is found in all bars, restaurants and
Spanish kitchens and is kept on display for easy access in its
specialist jamonero or ham stand. The Serrano ham, when carved in
wafer thin sliced using the specialist ham carving knife, also an
essential in the Spanish kitchen, makes for the perfect tapas or
raciones dish. Simply drizzle with olive oil or serve with almonds,
manchego cheese or broad beans for a truly authentic Spanish delight.
The best thing though about having a Serrano ham permanently in your
kitchen, is that you can just carve off a slice whenever the mood
takes you.The leftover bone of the ham is used to make a stock or
€˜caldo€™ essential for adding flavour to soups and stews.Another
Spanish classic is the €˜Tortilla de Patatas€ or Spanish omelette,
which is truly delicious, simple to make and requires only the most
basic of essentials from the Spanish kitchen. Always keep at least a
dozen eggs in your Spanish kitchen as you will need at least eight to
make a good sized omelette. Potatoes and onions are also vital in
many Spanish dishes and red onions are often found in salads as they
are sweeter and have less bite.Never be without a few fresh, ripe
tomatoes as the Spanish enjoy them almost daily in many different
ways. Fresh juicy chunks are great in salads and one or two sliced
with a drizzle of olive oil are popular to finish off a meal. Fresh
tomatoes are often chopped or blended then slowly reduced to create a
lovely homemade tomato salsa, used either on its own or added to other
dishes such as spicy chorizo with pasta. For a variation to your
Spanish style breakfast, chop a tomato in half and rub it over your
toast with a drizzle of olive oil and some slices of Serrano ham €
perfect.The €˜barra€™ or French style stick of fresh bread is a daily
essential too. It is served with every meal and many Spanish people
just can€™t eat a meal without it!Wine is also an important part of
Spanish eating culture and cooking. Red wine is enjoyed at meal times
while a nice bottle of white always goes down well as an aperitif.
Keep white wine handy for use with chicken dishes or steamed mussels -
a favourite at the table. Rabbit and beef dished are enhanced by a
drop or two of red wine so have a bottle in the rack. Spanish wines
are among the best in the world but needn€™t be expensive so you can
enjoy that added extra of Spanish warmth without breaking the
bank.Many of these Spanish kitchen essentials are found easily and are
indeed used everyday in other types of cooking, what makes them
special is how they are used. So stock up, get creative and add a bit
of Spanish sunshine to your table.

Message Boards - Avoid Becoming a Human Shish Kebab - Part 2

Message boards have a distinct protocol. To make the experience the
most pleasant and useful for you that it can be, and to avoid becoming
human shish kebab, it's important to observe good forum manners.Lurk
Before You Leap. While many a discouraging word has been written about
lurkers, or people who frequent message boards but don't post on them,
spending some time lurking before making your first post is actually a
good idea. Familiarizing yourself with topics that have been discussed
repeatedly will help you avoid looking like someone who didn't do your
homework. Familiarizing yourself with the individuals who post
frequently on the board will help you to avoid leaping to the wrong
conclusion about someone who may be a very nice person but might just
be having a bad day.Post an Introduction. What's the first thing you
do when you meet someone at a party? You introduce yourself and engage
in small talk: what you do for a living, where you live, how long
you've lived there. What's the first thing most people do on a board?
Post a question and expect everyone to give them custom-tailored
answers when the board members have no idea of your background or what
research you've done. That's no way to make friends.Don't Hijack
Threads! It's bad forum manners to piggyback your own question into
someone else's post or to change the subject. This is called hijacking
a thread. If you're capable of posting a reply to a thread, you're
certainly capable of starting a new thread with your question. You
also stand a much better chance of getting a response to your question
on gardening if it isn't buried in someone else's thread on
shopping.Post in the Proper Forum. Most message boards have one or
more subforums with a clear indication of the subject matter for each.
Many, many newbies will post everything to the general forum or
whichever forum gets the most traffic. Their excuse is often on the
order of, this forum has the most traffic and I wanted to make sure it
was seen. Well, that excuse doesn't hold water. Forum software usually
highlights each subforum where there are new threads, so it will be
seen. Continuing to post everything in the wrong place will not win
you a place in the heart of the administrator or mod, who will have to
move it to where it belongs. I've also seen people heckled by other
forum members when they continue to post messages in the wrong
place.Be Specific. People can't answer a question that's too broad. If
you're looking for a reasonably priced house or apartment in a good
neighborhood, there at least three things wrong with that phrase. (1)
Reasonably priced means something quite different to someone who has
unlimited resources than to someone who is retiring on a shoestring.
Did you mention which of those two categories you fall into? You're
more likely to avoid a testy, sarcastic or scathing response if you
give a range of rental prices that you can afford. (2) One bedroom?
Two bedrooms? Three bedrooms? (3) Have you ever seen someone ask about
renting a place in a bad neighborhood? On the other hand, if you state
I'm a single woman, or we're a family with three children under the
age of 10, then most people will recommend appropriate neighborhoods
with those facts in mind. Also, many questions have been asked many
times before, so if you're not specific, people lose patience and will
tend to jump on you. They won't care if you're new to the board or
not.Cost-of-living questions often generate high levels of
exasperation. Did you tell everyone about your lifestyle? Do you
require Evian or Perrier drinking water? Do you expect to have a pool,
which uses more electricity? Do you have lots of appliances? Do you
buy a lot of alcohol? Must you buy American-style food in
American-style supermercados? Or are you intending to live a more
Mexican, more minimalist lifestyle? If you specify which
cost-of-living items you want to know, like what is the cost of
electricity per hour, what do x, y and z fruits and vegetables cost at
the market, what does internet connectivity cost, people will put
their spear guns away.Have a Thick Skin. It's obvious but bears
repeating: most people who post on message boards are not professional
communicators. Most people who reply to your posts are genuinely
trying to help you, although they may be clumsy in the way they phrase
things. Yes, there will be jerks that are condescending and insulting
on a regular basis, but if you've read through the past posts it
should be clear who these people are. Don't be quick to be offended if
you don't like what's being said. Make liberal use of private
messaging and speak to someone privately and calmly if you were hurt
by something that was said. Often it was completely unintentional.
Also, look hard at your own message before you go calling the kettle
black.Be Twice as Nice as You Usually Are. Because of how easily the
written word can be misinterpreted, be extremely nice and humble in
your communications. You know that you're a nice person, but the board
members don't know you yet. Try not to post when you're really
annoyed.Don't Exhaust People's Patience. People who ask too many
questions can come across as being helpless or too lazy to do their
own research. I've seen boards turn on posters who pepper the boards
with too many questions or say things like I don't know where to
start, or tell me all about. The board helps those who help
themselves, to paraphrase a well-known saying.There's a gold mine of
information out there among the expat community message boards, and
they're willing to share. By following these guidelines, you'll have a
better chance of having a pleasant, fun and educational internet forum
experience. You might even forge some friendships in the process,
which will make your eventual move to a foreign land all the more
rewarding.

Delicious Grilled Beef and Veggie Kebabs (And they are Diabetic Friendly, too!)

These delicious beef and veggie kebabs are easy to make and taste
great grilled on the outdoor grill, the indoor grill, or under the
broiler. And the good part, they can be prepared a day ahead,
wrapped, refrigerated, and grilled the next day. GRILLED BEEF AND
VEGGIE KEBABS1 tsp salt1 tsp pepper2 cloves garlic, minced1/2 tsp
dried thyme1/2 tsp dried oregano1 bay leaf3/4 cup olive oil3/4 cup
beef broth (or red wine)1 1/2 lbs sirloin steak, cut into chunks about
1 1/2-inch in size1 green bell pepper1 red bell pepper1 red onion12
medium white mushrooms, stemmed*Prepare these kababs on the skewers a
day ahead, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for easier preparation
the next day, if desired.To prepare the marinade: Mix the salt,
pepper, garlic, thyme, oregano, bay leaf, olive oil, and beef broth or
wine in a large zip-top plastic bag. Remove a third of the marinade
and store in refrigerator. Add the meat to the plastic bag, zip the
top, and turn to coat meat well. Refrigerate for 30 to 45
minutes.Preheat the broiler or grill.Remove the seeds and membranes
from the bell peppers. Cut the peppers and the onion into 1-inch
chunks. Clean and stem mushrooms. Drain the marinade from the beef
and discard marinade. Thread the beef, mushrooms, bell peppers,
mushrooms and onions alternately onto the skewers. Grill or broil the
kebabs turning and basting with the reserved third of the marinade.
Cook for about 15 minutes or until meat is of the desired
doneness.*Mushroom stems can be chopped, stored and used in other
recipes the next day.Enjoy!