Beat the Heat – Sharjah Shake

Drinks in Kerala fall into two categories, Alcoholic and Non-Alcoholic. The Sharjah shake is probably one of the most popular beverages in the latter category. I got my first taste of this rich thick shake sometime in 1996 when it started to appear on the menus at various juice shops in Trivandrum. Now the origins of this drink remain shrouded in mystery but as with most urban legends there are a few theories which circulate among the population.

Legend # 1
This was a drink created by a juice stand operator in Sharjah and he brought the recipe to Kerala when he setup a shop there.

Legend # 2
The Sheikh of Sharjah loved this drink and the name comes from Sharjah Shiekh’s Shake (try saying that 5 times quickly )

No matter what the origins may be, heres the recipe as explained to me by one such juice shop operator.

. 1/2 liter milk, frozen till its semi-solid (one frozen pack of Milma is the preferred choice)
. 1 ripe Robusta Banana
. 2 spoons of Boost
. 2 spoons sugar
. A handful of peanuts
. A small cup of ice cream, although this is optional

Blend all the ingredients till its thick and frothy and serve in a frosted Beer Mug coz thats the only way to properly enjoy a Sharjah Shake.

Classic Sharjah

Bar accessories from Home Center

My wife and I were buying a few household items at Home Center in Shuwaikh and we came across a great collection of glasses and bar essentials on sale. Its funny that in a country where alcohol is illegal you’d find such an extensive collection; Whiskey glasses, Brandy goblets, wine glasses, Champagne flutes, shot glasses, Martini glasses etc and accessories like peg measures, lemon slicers for Tequila shots, cocktail stirrers, ice buckets, corkscrews and lots of other odds and ends.

I bought myself a set of shot glasses and a peg measure coz you never know when they might come in handy

Beat the Heat! Watermelon and Orange cooler

Half a watermelon, cut into chunks and seeds removed.

Three or four Valencia Oranges

Extract the juice from the oranges, pulse the watermelon chunks in a blender and then combine both juices. Chill the juice for an hour or so and its ready to serve! I’ve not added sugar or anything else as this stuff tastes great just like it is.

Cheese Fatayer – Sultan Center

A quick stop over at Sultan Center Dajeej branch for a ‘Jibn Fatayer’ and Shani. The fatayer was pretty good, not as good as the one from Cafeteria Shuwaikh but still worthy of a 3.5/5  and it costs just 200 fils.

Chukku Kaapi – ചുക്ക് കാപി

I’ve been down for the past couple of days with an irritating cough, a sore throat and a fucking headache. To make matters worse I’ve got a growing list of office work and personal work that’s on a tight schedule and this spiced coffee is whats keeping my throat from closing up completely and making me sound like a castrated choir boy.

I didn’t know till recently that ചുക്ക് കാപി  was available in Kuwait and apparently there are many brands in the market. To those of you not familiar with this drink, it can only be described as a coffee brewed in the depths of Hell and its capable of opening any blocked nasal cavity, throat and maybe even blocked drains!

I found some recipes for this coffee that you can try or you can just buy a pack from your local ‘bakala’ or Indian store.

Chukku Kaapi [Mishmash Blog]

Chukku Kaapi [Hub pages]

The Harbor View Bar @ The Taj

After walking around in Cochin city the whole morning my brother and I had worked up a fierce appetite and thirst and since we don’t often get a chance to catch up over drinks we decided to make this special and headed off to the Taj which is just a few meters from Marine Drive.

*Warning* Graphic pictures of Alcohol and Food after the break 

Meal in a glass

Heres my recipe for a quick smoothie thats also a meal replacement.

Drinking Chocolate

Ripe Bananas

Instant Oats

Milk

Blend all the ingredients on high for about a minute and pour into your flask or glass. I’m not sure how many calories its got but the oats and bananas provide adequate energy for a long work out session or walk.

I’m back !

Just got back in Kuwait and kinda bummed that I’ve got to go to work in about 6 hours. 

Last Supper

Caesar’s Turkish and Iranian Restaurant

Since Childhood Caesar’s has been one of my favorite places for its Chinese food and pastries. This weekend we wanted a change of scene so headed off to their Iranian and Turkish specialty restaurant. Its in Farwaniya next to the Co-op and commercial bank building.

I was intrigued by the Saudi Champagne on the drinks list and we started off with some Fried Calamari and Cream of Chicken soup. The ‘Champagne’ it turned out was a blend of Apple juice, club soda and finished off with some chopped apples and mint leaves ! Oh well at least it was served in a champagne flute.

Main course was the Iranian Ramsa platter. Its a mixed grill platter with mutton kababs, shish kababs, shish tawok, grilled chicken, grilled hammour and grilled prawns. It comes with fries and rice. They say it serves 4 but we could only finish 40% of the meal. I would say that for an average person this meal can easily satisfy 6 or 7 people. We skipped dessert as we had reservations at Cinescape, maybe next time.

Overall, The calamari was excellent, soups were rich and creamy and the mixed grill had a little of everything to satisfy all meat lovers.  I would visit again to check out the other items and also try the Iranian desserts.

Caesar’s Group Site [link]

Caesar’s Farwaniya : 24738777

Connaught Place

We had a few hours on Sunday morning to do some shopping and sightseeing in Delhi but I wasn’t aware that the shops in Connaught Place open late on Sundays. So when we got there it was like a ghost town and we took a stroll around the place at our leisure.

Tao by Zen

We stopped here for lunch but the service was so horribly slow that we just had drinks and Sui mai. The Sui mai was pretty good and nicely flavored. Decor is not too bad and had this Buddha Bar Vibe.

Haldirams
Who isnt familiar with Haldiram’s ? We had the best Rasmalai there and even finished off all the milk that it was served in.

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