Dinner at Mumu for Linda's birthday

Coincidentally Alicia also made coffe cake with candied fruit in it. The hot pot at Mumu was wondeful as always. We need to learn not to order too much and not overeat :).

Party at Radha's for her birthday

Chris and Radha had cooked amazing gluten free quiche and a french toast casserole (non-GF). It was good to see Alok and Geeta. Had a very nice long conversation with Radha and Chris after everybody left.

Lunch at Malabar Coast

I drove to Malabar Coast for lunch today. Decent. Iddiappam, fish curry and a really great glass of buttermilk infused with ginger. Payasam for dessert. Plastic disposable plates and glasses, which was sad. But might go back for food again.

Visit to Kabila Sweets and Restaurant

Today I drove to "Kabila Sweets & Restaurant" after dinner, ordered a Gobhi Pakora and Chai and sat there and read my book while eating. I liked the place. They served cold water but without ice in a large, clean glass. The waiter was thoughtful. All in all I enjoyed the pakoras as I read. I will definitely go back.

Paan Martini

I have been thinking about making a Paan Martini for a while. I had texted Vishal the idea a few days ago. Today I went to Halal Meats, an Indian grocery store on South De Anza Boulevard and bought myself 10 paans. I came home and I experimented a bit. I knew that I wanted to start with blending a Paan with Vodka. I started out by blending 2 ounces of Vodka and 1 fresh Paan in magic bullet. I filtered it into a wine glass. Then I added some ice to the martini shaker, added this vodka to it and then 1 ounce of gin and half an ounce of lemon juice. It was very drinkable but not great.

I texted Suneel and asked him if he had time to hang out and try out the martinis. I drove over with all the makings of Paan and also Vesper martini. At his place, after some trial and error, I came up with the following recipe that worked very well:

1.5 Ounces of Vodka

1 freshly made Paan with Gulkand

1 Ounce of Gin

0.5 Ounce of lemon juice

0.5 Ounce of rose water

Fill martini shaker 3/4 of the way with ice. In a magic bullet blender, blend the Paan with Vodka. Strain the Vodka into the martini shaker. Add the gin, the lemon juice and the rose water. Shake and pour into a martini glass.

I cut a Paan in two and used it as a garnish for 2 martinis. Eating a bite of the Paan before you drink the martini really enhances the taste of the martini.

Unfortunately the only picture I have is of the rose water I used:

Dinner at Tu Mero Mole

I drove to Tu Mero Mole and had a fantastic dinner. I ordered the three soft tacos, one each of Al Pastor, Cochinita Yucateca and Carne Asada. This is one of the best restaurants in the bay area and one of my go-to places. I had good intentions of not eating all three but I finished every bit of the tacos and also the chips. Not sorry.