Wahi hum, wahi Aminabad

So I stumbled upon the ‘tehzeeb’ city last weekend- Lucknow! What a beautiful place, with huge roads dotted with pristine gardens that a certain politico has built amidst a lot of controversy. From Aminabad to Gomti Nagar , the one thing that you can feel in the erstwhile ‘Awadh’ is warmth, amongst people, their handicraft (lovely chikankari!!) and of course theircuisine. Although I was there on business, it was quite adventurous to sneak out some time to meet a few dear friends from Lucknow so I could enjoy the gastronomical experience of the famous Awadhi cooking.

My friend, Malvika actually stuffed her car with the 7 of us and took us on a food joyride. So first we stopped at the Royal Café in Hazratganj market and enjoyed the ‘Basket chaat’ there. It is pretty much a mix of aloo tikki, crisp sookhi poori, soft badaswith a drizzle of curd, red and green chutney packed in an edible basket made of potato ‘lachha’ (slivers) itself . The basket chat is particularly famous for its uniqueness and surely the taste. It was chatpata but too filling. So we decided to give food a break with some shopping in the market itself. A couple of hours later, we had given the Lucknow economy a serious boost by collectively spending almost half a lakh on the chikan kurtas andshalwars.

With so many in the car and so many (parcels) in the boot, we were then driven to relish the brilliant, world famous TundeyKebabi’s galouti kebabs with mughlai roti. While the mainTundey Kebabi  is in a place called Chowk in the busyAminabad, we settled for the one in Gomti Nagar to avoid theRamzaan rush. The Aminabad Tundey has kebabs that are made with beef (known as Bade ke Kebab) as well but the rest of the branches have mutton ones only.  Between the seven of us we ordered three plates galouti and two plates boti kebabs. Both came with a liberal helping of sliced onion and chutney on the side. One bite into them and you know why there is nothing liketunday’s kebab that exists anywhere other than Lucknow. The melt in your mouth consistency transcends you into gastronomical heaven especially when accompanied with the mughlai roti.

Over 100 years old, the legend associated with the invention of these kebabs goes thus. In Lucknow, there was a one armed chef in the royal kitchen who designed this recipe and the consistency so he could make them with one hand. Another story is that the chef made these kebabs so that the Raja in those days, who didn’t have teeth, could enjoy them without any botheration. While in conversation with the great grandson of Tundey I figured that tundey kabab is actually unique because of the closely guarded secret recipe of masala that is used to make them. This masala has more than 150 ingredients and have been given down the family tree by the women of the house. TheirBoti kebab was quite a delight too. It is lamb marinated in curd and then garnished with seasoned onions and served with a brown gravy. The masala in there was also to die for. Although everything was so delicious that we could go on eating there, we kept some space for the Dum Biryani from the famous dastarkhwan. 

Dastarkhwan is actually a Persian term that actually means a wide spread of dinner that has everything from Qorma to Kheer. However, this Dastarkhwan is a restaurant in Hazratganj where we sat dowm to have some chicken curry and mutton dumbiryani. Interestingly, the dum style of cooking originates fromAwadh itself. The style of Cooking on slow fire (Dum) was used extensively by the Lucknowi Bawarchis. While in Dastarkhwan,when the Awadhi Biryani was served, everyone just quietly took in the experience of the delicately cooked meat over the ‘khilekhile’ saffron soaked rice. Truly had never had anything more divine!. The succulence of the meat warranted for an encore but we knew we would have had to rent a stomach for that.

By this time, I was so high on food that I convinced everyone to make a dash to Imambara, in old Lucknow despite the Ramzaanrush. Although this area has been named after the monumentImambara, it has been made famous by the phirni available at many stalls that are specially decorated during the holy month. Made of coarsely ground rice and condensed milk, this phirniwas truly brilliant because of the delicate flavours of saffron and cardamom and also the temperature at which it is served. Petbhar gaya per mann nahin bhara! With this thought, we reluctantly called it a night only to wake up early morning to enjoy the famous dahi jalebi at the Chaar Bagh Railway station. This unique combination is supremely popular in lucknow and now I know why. The jalebis are crisp and the dahi (curd) has right amount of tart in it. Together they make the perfect ‘Nawaabi’ breakfast.  I wish I could spend some more time exploring the city and the Awadhi cuisine but conferences are sometimes quite ‘zaalim’!

Kala Ghoda ke picche- The Pantry

My love for food has taken me many places big and small but seldom has it taken me to a place that is a complete treat not just culinary but for the eyes as well. In one of my previous blogs ‘Food show addiction’ I had spoken about how there is a promise of a dreamy, fairy lights decorated Nigella’s  kitchen that transcends the food to another level of goodness as it fulfills the senses at many levels. So even if you cant taste the food she makes you would love to be right by her side when she makes those recipes in a magical pot in that equally magical setup. 

Uff! Enough said about Nigella and her kitchen. However there is a reason behind all that chatter; my recent visit to a new eatery in town that has me and the in-laws swooning about not just the food but its looks. Set in the heart of the city,at the posh-arty location of Kala Ghoda, THE PANTRY gives us a little piece of England in its looks but a brilliant assortment of organic food from all over India.

First the decor! The moment I lay my eyes on this place it clearly looked like a white drop of snow in the cluttered, back (read black)ally of town. We went there because the place came with serious recommendations for my brother in law who takes his food very seriously as well. According to him, the place reminded him of Rene’s cafe in the good old comedy ‘Allo Allo’. Being a Parsi I am sure he has love for everything Victorian :-). And that gets me back to the Victorian windows that add to the cosy interiors of this place. The ‘semi curtains’ in white made it even more angrezz!  Inside, the fairy lights and some intelligent paper collages makes  for a place that is unpresumptuous, and super cozy!almost nothing like any place else in the city. The very unprofessional pictures taken from my Iphone may just give you a bit of an idea about what I am talking about.

The husband and I landed up there on the first evening of the new year with his brother and fiancé in tow for a ‘light cafe meal’. This was in order keeping in mind a very sober New Year’s Eve thanks to our new and precious member of the family, our son Jehan. It was one of those very few pleasantly cold Mumbai evenings. The Pantry’s ambiance quickly got us in the mood to try on almost everything on the menu. That brings me to the food.

No matter how great the ambiance of a place, very clearly food connoisseurs need their reasons to be happy. True to its name, this place stores the best ingredients from all their specialist states. The sugar and honey come from Punjab, the dairy from Parsi dairy farm and many other food basics that I cease to remember. It is a start up of a few food lovers who are making the effort of cutting the middle man and bringing organic food from the farmers, straight on the table.

So there, we looked at the menu. Although they have a tempting selection of coffees, tea  and hot chocolate on offer, we chose to try out their all organic savory selection first (trust me, we have many a times started with desserts :-)). Their fresh salads included a variety of salad leaves, pears and various kinds of cheeses. Brilliantly refreshing and ample! Next on order, a pulled pork sandwich and sausage roll. Fantastic!. The size of both was just perfect from cafe meal perspective but if you are 'geedadd' hungry then it would be sensible to call for a lot more of those sausage rolls! dukh ki baat yeh hai  that their stuff usually is very limited in number. So doing pehle aap,pehle aap while ordering may see the sandwich train leave the food station super fast!!.Up next, the ham stand sandwich which had basic ham and cheese but filled with great English mayo and mustard in a super fresh bread. Moving to the sweet section, I had to try the bread & butter pudding, a childhood favorite which was pretty sadly pretty dry than how I remembered it last but it somehow made up for the flavour with the magical sprinkling of cinnamon. i think cinnamon brilliantly works at making anything saada into something exclusive. the chunks of gooey bread looked better than they tasted :-) yet. The husband on the other hand is the guinea pig for all desserts ‘banana’ at everyplace. He tried the bannoffee tart which was given a thumbs up. Next on the 'try-al' was the hot chocolate. hmmmm! it was richly Belgian and could give the sinful counterpart at 'la pain quotodien' a run for its money. the accompanying chocolate chip cookie with melting chocolate chips in the middle toh dil le gayi!!. There is another one on the menu! oatmeal butterscotch cookie which was the poor step sister to the chocolate one; it was an unimpressive version of ‘Cookie Man’s Brandy snaps’. Along with this the chocolate twisty was also quite some what neither here nor there!.  The damage was pretty reasonable of 450 rupees per person.

The Pantry also provides free wifi, so your I-pad, laptop,kindle can give you company over a cuppa. I prefer the real thing- books over a nice kahwah

Beginning early at 8 in the morning the lights are out by 11.30pm. All in all, this cafe is indeed like a breath of fresh air or shall I say aroma of freshly roasted coffee beans that takes over the moment you enter the gully right next to Fab India.
Try it out for the love of everything that makes you happy!   

Of flowing river and brilliant musings: Coorg!

Jan 26, 2012 6.45 pm Place: COORG, Amanvana


So here we are at the Scotland of India- COORG after a small flight and long cab journey via Mysore! Despite being up since 5am and except for catching small snoozes during the drive, my dear Anvita and I are still chirpy, giggly, cracking jokes and absolutely fresh. The legs hurt but not like they would after a presentation for hours. Eyes are dry as well but I still don’t mind gazing at the stars in our private courtyard (ahem..! ) that houses a lotus pond as well. The bungalow is absolutely beautiful with patio lighting for honeymooners (hyuk!!).Amanvana, the place we are staying in the ever so beautiful Coorg is almost like a ‘jack in the box’ kind’a place. While entering this property both anvita and I were wondering if its location in the city would really be any good for our ‘chaen’ and ‘Aman’ but surprisingly it’s not just incredibly beautiful with manicured landscapes but supremely serene as well. There’s a lot of promise for a quaint picnic alongside river Kaveri with our respective books and chutney sandwiches. The chocolate scrub at the spa sure would be super relaxing too J however that is still a promise as of now.


Meanwhile, am awaiting the ‘Blue Banyan’ wine (a a new brand of wine) & cheese crackers to ease off any remaining tensions of physical and the emotional journey of life.


ANU


P.S. it is amazing that when we are in a clutter free, clean lemongrassy environ all the writing flows brilliantly! Happy republic day alsoooo!