Coral – a networking dinner with strangers & a Spanish spread
Posted: October 30, 2012 Filed under: Inspirations, Reviews | Tags: bandra, good food, prahlad kakkar, supper club 1 Comment »Coral, a networking dinner executed by my husband and I to give people an experience of meeting strangers over food and conversations. A lot of you have asked me or wondered how it all started….
I love to cook and my husband visualized the concept. We also found a lovely bungalow in the middle of the city owned by Prahlad kakkar. The three combination blended with each other so well that it brought in curiosity.
Our last coral was “Spanish” and the last one for this year. We will be closed for November and December and will be back with new ideas or maybe a new venue in 2013. Coral has a new website now and allows memberships at a nominal fee. Coral members get better benefits and discounts for future dinners.
We serve a four course meal from different parts of the world and try to keep the cuisine as authentic as possible depending on the availability of the ingredients. There are no restrictions on the portions, you can always ask for a second helping. Kima of Mizochican has described his Spanish experience.
Welcome drink: Sangria, made from Indian red wine and Indian red and golden apples.
Appetizer 1: whole wheat organic bread served with Spanish romesco sauce. A delicious sauce made from almonds and red peppers.
Apertizer 2: Tortilla De Patatas, Spanish style omelet with onions & potatoes
Apertizer 3: Spanish style parsley prawns sautéed in olive oil, garlic and parsley with a squeeze of lime
Main course: seafood paella
Dessert: Bizcocho, Spanish style sponge cake. It is traditionally made from olive oil and lemon zest.
We sometimes end up with a night cap either green/mint tea or some coffee. Coral sessions have no time restrictions and our guests can leave when they please, even if its 2am in the morning 
Some points that I would like to bring to your notice:
When an event is created, it is not by invitation only. Anybody can apply or wish to come.
It is not a dating or singles club.
Couples, singles or even your friends are allowed to come. The more the merrier!
Our aim is to give you a good experience
My previous post on Food at Coral – dinner with strangers
Food at Coral – dinner with strangers
Posted: May 6, 2012 Filed under: Inspirations, Reviews | Tags: bandra, bandra bungalow, coral, mumbai, networking dinner in mumbai, pandi curry, prahlad kakkar, supper club 6 Comments »
Roasted herbed potatoes & chickpea salad
Coral is based on the concept of a Salon ( “sal-lawn”). A salon is a gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine taste and increase their knowledge of the participants through conversation.
Coral is set in a bungalow sponsored by Prahlad Kakkar creating an ambiance; by cutting off from traffic and noise of busy Mumbai with flowing conversations over good food and drink. Coral dinners are facilitated by my husband, Pawan and me. I love to cook and Pawan came up with the idea of bringing in food and conversations together and thus Coral was born.
Muhallebi rice flour based dessert
It’s been a year since we started Coral and I’ve enjoyed setting up various menus. The idea is to focus on different cuisine, serving a 4 course meal. We want to provide a home cooked meal, native to a region that we may have never visited but possesses a culture that is brought out through its cuisine. It can be a dish from Pandi curry from Coorg or Muhallebi from Turkey.
Pandi curry with kadambuttu (rice balls)
Coming up with the menu can be a tough task and especially when I have not tasted the cuisine recently. I try to include dishes that you don’t get easily in Mumbai and some that are inspired. Sometimes non availability of ingredients, requires substitution to bring it as close to it’s authentic taste. Recently we had Indonesian as the theme and it was challenging. I’ve never tasted an authentic Indonesian meal and the closest would have been a nasi goreng. Indonesian is close to Malay food. Flavours are very simple – lemon grass, galangal/ginger, coconut, plam or coconut sugar. Blogs have always been my major source of information and inspirations. I’ve always been asked about the menu and how did I manage to get the recipes – the credit goes mostly to blogs. Getting the right information and creating a satisfying palate to go with our guests is a task that I’m trying to perfect.
Chilled avocado milkshake shots (made with palm sugar & coconut cream), Indonesian Corn Fritters (Perkedel Jagung), Indonesian fried chicken with crunchy flakes served with sambal terasi (red chili paste) &Yellow rice combo – Coconut milk & lemon grass flavoured rice served with chicken rendang & shredded fried egg
Rujak Serut – chilled mixed fruit salad (jackfruit, mango & Malay apple) served with Indonesian dressing – palm sugar, tamarind paste, lime and coconut
Here is the FB page in case you’re interested in knowing about Coral dinners. Post by various guests who experienced Coral – Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal, Eats, Feeds & Digs & Mizohican.
