Foodpanda: Online Food Ordering Made Easy

I am the most pampered child of my parents (like every other child). My mother always cooks me the best food or cuisine. She is too good at it. BUT, now I live in Chennai - approx 2500 km away from my home. I miss my friends, my girlfriend, my father and most importantly, my MOTHER. Being a Punjabi boy it is so hard to find a decent north Indian food point in the city. It is not that I don’t love South Indian food. I enjoy eating south Indian dishes, but I miss Punjabi food badly. RELAX… time has changed now. I feel like a same Punjabi boy in Chennai too. Thanks to Foodpanda, an online food ordering portal where you can find n-numbers of fast-food chains and restaurants who delivers food at your doorstep.

What is Foodpanda?

Foodpanda is one the fastest growing food ordering portal across the globe. It operates across 5 major continents and partners with almost 50,000 restaurants worldwide. How it is better than any other site? You can search, choose and order from n-numbers of restaurants available in your nearby areas within a few clicks. 

Why Foodpanda?

There are some points which set Foodpanda apart from other existing online portals.

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•  Easy to access – Foodpanda is a very user friendly site. You can order your favourite food in some clicks. Even a beginner can use the website easily.
•   Regular Discounts – On Foodpanda, you will find discount coupons and deals on regular intervals. This will help you save some extra bucks.
•  Minimal Advertisement – Usually, we come across websites with promotional banners and advertisements. But on Foodpanda, there are less/no advertisements.
• Cash On Delivery option is also available with some restaurants.

How to use Foodpanda?

Using Foodpanda is simple and fast. If you are first time user on Foodpanda, you can order your food in less than five minutes. Following are some steps you need to follow while ordering food on Foodpanda.          Enter your location and browse all nearby restaurants.

•  Select the restaurant and search the food menu and select the food item of your choice.
•  Check the total amount. Add a coupon code, if you have any, to avail discount. After adjusting the discount incurred after applying the coupon code, pay for your food. You can either pay online or go for cash on delivery. You have to order for the minimum amount specified.
•  Relax. Your part is done. Just wait for the food to be delivered at your doorstep. And enjoy your meal.

You can also use foodpanda mobile app to place your food order and get some extra benefits.

It was Valentine’s  Day, my girlfriend came all the way from Kolkata to Chennai to celebrate the day with me. I had already planned several surprises for her, so left with little money. I was damn sure that she would love Bengali food. So I surfed online for best deals available on Foodpanda. I accidently clicked on Promocodewale.com which has a long list of Foodpanda Offers on a single page. I chose the best coupon available and order my food. She loved all surprises including food. Thank you, Foodpanda.

Chole Bhature Recipe

Ingredients For Chole:

1. 250g chole (chick peas) - soaked in water overnight
2. 1 tomato (pureed)
3. 2 onions (finely chopped)
4. 1 tablespoonful peppercorn
5. 1 tablespoonful cumin seeds
6. 1 tablespoonful turmeric powder
7. 1 tablespoonful fennel seed (saunf) powder
8. 1 tablespoonful coriander seed powder
9. 2 tablespoonful red chili powder
10. 2 1-inch cinnamon sticks
11. 1 black cardamom
12. 2 green cardamoms
13. 2 fresh teabags
14. 5-6 cloves
15. 1 mace (javitri)
16. 2 tablespoonful garlic paste
17. 1 tablespoonful ginger paste
18. 1-inch piece of ginger (grated)
19. 4 tablespoonful ghee
20. 2 bay leaves
21. 2 tablespoonful lime juice
22. 1 tablespoonful sugar
23. 1/2 tablespoonful amchur (dried mango powder)
24. 1 tablespoonful anardana powder (pomegranate seed powder)
25. 2 cups water (or more as required)
26. Salt

Ingredients For Bhature:

1. 2 cups refined flour (maida)
2. 1 cup wheat flour (atta)
3. 5 tablespoonful semolina (rava/suji)
4. 2 tablespoonful baking powder
5. 3 tablespoonful vegetable oil
6. 1/2 teaspoonful salt
7. 10 tablespoonful thick curd
8. 1 cup warm Water
9. 3 cups oil (for deep frying)

Method:

To make bhature dough, mix both flour, semolina, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Add curd and 3 tablespoonful vegetable oil to it. Mix everything well using your fingers and then, add about 1/2 cup of warm water to it and knead the flour mixture into a dough. Add water little by little while kneading the dough with your fingers until you get a smooth dough. Cover it with a damp cloth and place it in a humid place for 3-4 hours.

Meanwhile, empty soaked chole along with water in a pressure cooker, add teabags and black cardamom to it and pressure cook it over medium flame for 8-10 minutes or until 6 whistles. Let it settle for 5 minutes, open the pressure cooker and empty the contents in a large bowl. Set it aside and discard the teabags.

Take a nonstick pan and heat it over low flame. Dry roast cumin seeds, cloves, peppercorn, mace and cinnamon sticks for a few seconds and then add red chili powder, fennel seed powder, turmeric powder and coriander seed powder to it. Roast it for 10-12 seconds and remove from the heat into a small bowl.

Heat the pan again and add 2 tablespoonful ghee to it. When heated, add bay leaves and chopped onions to it. Saute them over medium flame for 5-6 minutes or until the onions are translucent. Then, add grated ginger along with garlic paste and ginger paste to it. Saute them for another minute and add the roasted ingredients to it. Give it a good stir and add tomato puree to it. Stir-fry the masala for 2-3 minutes over medium flame.

Next, add cooked chole to the sauteed masala and mix them well. Using the back of a spoon, mash some of the chole to make a thick gravy. Add 2 cups of water and salt to it, and cook the gravy for about 8-10 minutes over medium-high flame. Add more water if required, but don`t make the gravy too watery.

Once cooked, remove from the heat and add lime juice, anardana powder and amchur powder to it. Chole are ready, empty them into a serving bowl and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Remove the cloth from the bhature dough and make small balls of equal size - about 2-inch is perfect. Then, using a rolling pin, roll out each ball into a flat disc of about 5 inches. Ensure that the bhature are slightly thicker than the chapatis.

Once all the bhature are rolled out, heat oil in a deep wok (kadai) over medium flame. When the oil is smoking hot, carefully place one bhatura in it and fry it while putting some pressure on it with the back of a slotted spatula. Fry the bhatura from both sides until it turns golden brown in color and remove it from the wok into a newspaper to remove excess oil. Now, repeat the process with the remaining bhature. Serve them hot with chole and chutney.

Indian Egg Curry Recipe - A great Food for People Who Are not Fully Non-Vegetarian

Ingredients:

• 4 large eggs
• 1 tablespoonful vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoonful cumin seeds (jeera)
• 2 cloves of garlic (thinly sliced)
• 1-inch piece of ginger (finely chopped or grated)
• 1 medium-sized onion (finely chopped)
• 3-inch piece cinnamon stick (broken in half)
• 2 teaspoonful coriander seeds (toasted and pounded)
• 1/2 teaspoonful dried red chilli flakes
• 1/2 teaspoonful turmeric powder
• 1/2 teaspoonful salt
• 3/4 cup tomato puree
• 2 cups of water
• 1 tablespoonful fresh coriander leaves (coarsely chopped)

Method:
Take a deep saucepan and fill half of it with cold tap water in it. Carefully place the eggs in it and add or remove water as required. Ensure that all the eggs are sitting at the bottom of the pan, covered by about 3/4 inches of water over them. Bring the water to a rolling boil, cover the saucepan with a lid and reduce the heat to low flame. Let the eggs cook for about 10 minutes over low flame.

Then, remove the saucepan from the stove and allow the eggs to sit for 5 minutes. Take a medium sized bowl, fill it with cold water and using a slotted spatula, place the eggs in the bowl. Allow them to cool down for a bit, peel them and soak them in a bowl of clean water to keep the egg whites becoming rubbery. Set them aside.

Next, take a wide and shallow pan and heat oil in it over medium flame. Just when the oil is smoking hot, add cumin seeds to it and allow them to crackle for a couple of seconds. Then, add onions, ginger, garlic cloves and cinnamon sticks to it. Saute them for about 5-6 minutes or until the onions turn golden brown in color.

Add turmeric powder, coriander seeds powder, red chilli flakes and salt to it. Stir-fry the mixture for about 2 minutes over low flame. Then, add tomato puree to it and cook it while constantly stirring for about 3-4 minutes or until the oil starts to separate. Add water, increase the heat to high flame and bring it to a rolling boil. Reduce the heat to low flame, cover the pan with a lid and cook it for 5-6 minutes.

In the meantime, remove eggs from the water, pat them dry using a kitchen tissue and slice each one lengthwise into two. When the curry is cooked, add the halved eggs to it and mix well. Increase the heat to medium flame and cook the egg curry for 8-10 minutes or until the curry starts to thicken a bit. Ensure to stir it occasionally.

Once cooked, remove the pan from the stove and empty egg curry into a large serving bowl. Garnish it with fresh coriander leaves and serve hot with chapatis, naans or plain rice.