Vansh

I was so excited yesterday, both about turing 30 and my hubby bringing me out for dinner to celebrate my birthday. We went to a restaurant that I have been wanting to try out ever since they opened a few years back - Vansh.

Eversince 2 weeks back when my girlfriend and I went to Melt at The Oriental for buffet and tasted the delicious Indian fare there, we have been yearning for more Indian food. So I told my hubby why not try out Vansh.

And my wait has not been in vain. The food is really good quality Indian food, and the balance of spices is not overpowering. For a person who doesnt really mind what he eats, my hubby actually said the food was excellent and it was the best he has ever had, speaks a lot eh?!
We ordered the vegetarian tandoori combination platter, black bean dal, deccan vegetable curry and a chickpea curry, accompanied by pilau rice and garlic naan.

As a starter, we were served pappadums served ala love letter style and accompanied by 3 dips - yogurt mint, mango chutney and a spicy chilli tomato sauce.....yummy. I love pappadums and was expecting the usual white round pieces but this one is different. It is speckled brown, rolled up like a love letter and served in a goblet! A tad salty though but the dips were yummilicious. I am salivating now as I type. *haha*

Pardon me, we were too busy enjoying the good food and forgot about taking pictures of the food *hehe* by the time I remembered, only 1 dish left. Here is the shot of the chickpea curry.

The tandoori combination platter comes with smoked cottage cheese, spiced mushroom fritters, tandoori cauliflower and a potato cum lentil croquette. All very fragrant and nicely spiced. The vegetable curry was ok but the black bean dal and chickpea curry are must tries. You know the usual dal we get outside is watery and from the yellow lentils? This is is creamy and the taste of the black beans comes through very well. A refreshing change. My hubby tried that first and kept singing its praises. *lol*

When it comes to pilau rice, I usually hate biting into a piece of star anise or cardamon pod when, but this one was free from those chunks, very fragrant. It almost reminds me of chicken rice!!! As for the naan, it was passable. Too dense for my taste.

Now comes in the interesting part. We brought a cake along to celebrate. So when we were ready for cake cutting, we waited and waited. We thought they had lost the cake. But see what they did in the pic above.

We were very pleasantly surprised. I didnt expect them to dress up the presentation of the cake, with tea lights and all. It was cool!!!

Overall, a memorable dining experience and we will return for more for sure. Thank you dear hubby for bringing us there!!!

For meat lovers, I hear their lamb kebabs and tandoori are very good. Check with the waiter or restaurant manager for recommendatios. They know their stuff well.

http://www.vansh.com.sg/

Vansh

2 Stadium Wlk

#01-04 Singapore Indoor Stadium

Singapore 397691

Tel : 6345 4466

Black & White

I promised some time back to post the cake I made for my mil's birthday. It is pretty simple. As usual, I try to find something relatively easy to do, looks good and tastes good. The only thing I am not happy about is that I like my cakes to have a softer texture when cold. But for this recipe, with the amount of butter in it, when the cake has been refrigerated, it will harden slightly. So you may say, take it out to defrost first....but the white chocolate icing will soften....dilemma *sigh* So if any of you have any solutions, pls let me know.

Black & White Cake

Prep Time: 1h 30min (45 min each for cake and icing)

Baking Time: about 45min

Cooling Time: about 2h

Serves 8pax

Chocolate Cake

5 eggs

225 g caster sugar ( i used fine brown sugar)

200 g self raising flour

50 g cocoa powder

250 g butter, softened at room temperature

Pre-heat the oven at 170C.

Cream the sugar and butter together until the mix turns pale in colour.

Beat in the eggs 1 at a time, ensuring the egg is well mixed before beating in the next egg.

Sift the flour and cocoa powder into the mixture, a little each time (I go by batches of 50g) and fold into the mixture till all flour has been incorporated well.

Pour into a pre-lined and greased 8inch round baking tin and bake for about 45min or till a skewer (I use a butter knife) inserted comes out clean.

Let the cake sit in the tin for about 30min before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.

White Chocolate Frosting

250g white chocolate, chopped into small pieces

70 g butter, slightly softened

200ml whipping cream

Melt the white chocolate and butter in a bowl sitting on top of simmering water.

In a separate bowl, whisk the whipping cream until soft peaks form and it can hold its shape.

Fold the cream into the chocolate mixture until it thickens.

Put it in the fridge to cool and let it harden slightly until it is manageable for spreading on the cake. Stir the mixture every 10min as it hardens.

To ice the cake, place the cake on a cake board or one of those cake stand that swivels. Using one hand to hold the cake base (with a little of the base jutting out of the edge of the table) and rotating it, with the other hand, use a spatula to form a swirling peak.