Quinoa Padutthum Paadu - Recipe # 3

Thank you twitter makkale for your overwhelming response and interest to participate in this contest. But you see, this season 1 is open only for the Master Chefs of Madras . When I have season 2 inviting Tabulouehehehe type recipes, I shall surely keep all of you in mind.

For those wondering what this is all about, it is  Quinoa popularly called Koina based contest announced last week. Read post here. Read ? Now go to @prabhuferrari's first recipe that was posted here . Then came @mdeii and his exotic recipe here .

Our third and final contestant - @lordlabak

 

Lordlabak is a nadamaadum Bollywood dictionary. From knowing the bio-data of every kuppai actor (Imran Kaan ;-) ) to analyzing Karan Jogar's shows, lordlabak has Bollywood in her viral nuni. From being an ardent fan of Chitti serial , Neengal ketta padal type sun tv shows, I suspect this transformation to being Bollywood lover has something to do with cooking Koina and the poshness. Lordlabak aims to have 10000 plus followers on twitter which I told her will be possible only if she starts writing columns about Cilantro chutneys, Cathay pacific seat belts and Cows' names in DNA, Minnttu Lounge papers. Lordlabak blogs here .

 

Over to her recipe

 

@lordlabak's Quinoa Pongal or Quinoa Khichdi for Amits

 

Ingredients

• 1 cup quinoa soaked for 2-3 hours in water
• 1/2 cup moong dal
• Mix the above with salt and turmeric powder and pressure cook until you hear 4-5 whistles.
• If you see sprouts or strings coming out of quinoa you know it's cooked well.
•  Add cashew and cumin seeds in ghee and sauté until cashews turn light brown. Add it to the cooked quinoa Pongal to give it a little flavor.

Disclaimer
 Super healthy hence may not taste well. If you don't like it, reuse it as glue for household projects. But make sure you evaporate excess water and make it pasty.

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When @lordlabak sent me this recipe, she mentioned her family was semmaya toongifying after eating her Quinoa Pongal. I did have a word with her husband later who said it was not tookkam but mayakkam. Poor guy had to almost ezhudivechify his car & veedu to the doctor for the treatment , he added. Thanks to Kadavul krubai they are all ok now. Quinoa is now added into the list of ketta varrthai that is now allowed in the house it seems. Praise the Lord!

 

So makkale, you have read Thalaivar @prabhuferrari, Annan @mdeii & Akka @lordlabak 's Koina recipes. Voh My gaad! Now I cannot wait to reveal the name of the Mega Master Chef of Madras who will jedge the three entries and announce prize of minjipoana Quinoa packet and a book of their choice, to the winner. Stay tuned, people.

 

Quinoa Padutthum Paadu - Recipe # 2

One Koina based contest was announced in this post last week.You must've read about a lot of kadai adaippi, tadi-adi, kaikalappu last week.Those were the other Master Chefs of Madras who were denied an opportunity to participate in this Koina contest, protesting the aniyayam and akramam.

In fact, before the first recipe went up on the blog, we had to give A to Z category security to contestant # 1 @prabhuferrari after rumours of fellow Master Chefs of Madras planning an attack into his kitchen to steal the exotic Koina recipe which he shared on the blog. Read the first recipe here .

Our second contestant - Master Chef    @mdeii

@mdeii a.k.a Thennagathu Daisy Irani runs a mobile Dabba chetty kadai where he carries a big dabba with headphones, mike and all. You can see him in the lanes of Mylapore, bylanes of Mint street selling soodana kaapi , tea . He still doesn't have an answer when I asked him on why he carries mike and all to aathify kaapi. @mdeii can cook Puliyorai,  Moar FTW,Paanagam-elaneer, Ellu saadam, Anjaneyar Kovil vadai, Ramar kovil Chakkara pongal apart from cooking all oorvana , nadappana etc.. Sorry. @mdeii blogged here once upon a time .

Over to his "exotic" recipe.

@mdeii's Quinoa Aglio olio

Simple modification of the pasta aglio olio.

Cook quinoa according to package instructions. My packet has quino bulgur meal, so it is starchier. This is useful because the cooking water needs to be retained for garlic sauce.After cooking the quinoa, drain and retain the water.

Sauce:

1. Heat olive oil in a pan (dont use extra virgin).

2. Then add thinly chopped pieces of garlic to the oil.

3. While is lightly browns, add chilli flakes (not power) and quickly turn down the heat as olive oil can burn.

4. Add starchy water from quinoa cooking and reduce to sauce consistency.

5. Turn off stove. Add salt to taste. 

Method

7. To this garlic sauce, add the cooked quinoa.

Voila! Quinoa aglio olio done. Very simple recipe

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I had wanted a picture to go with the recipe. @mdeii shared this adding that after throwing the above in the bin, all he was left was with the packet here.

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Enna neyargale, read the two recipes of @prabhuferrari and @mdeii ? My last Master Chef contestant's post will be up tomorrow.

Our Mega Master Chef of Madras will jedge the 3 entries and declare the winner towards the end of this week. Vaazhga Koina naamam!

Quinoa Padutthum Paadu - Recipe # 1

Before reading this post, you'll have to read the earlier one , compulsory-a. 

In this entire week, we'll have three best of the best of the Master Chefs of Madras sharing their Koina recipes on this blog. Our Mega Master Chef will jedge them and give 1/2 packet Minjipona Koina and one book parisu to the winner.

Presenting our first contestant - Master Chef    @prabhuferrari

Prabhu is the President of Kala mashter fan club of India, Chief Executive Officer of Agila Ulaga Gaptun Narpani mandram and a mega fan of Koina.  Prabhu takes over the karandi-aduppu management only after calling Police, Ambulance etc to put them on standby. He loves to cook Peas pulao and can cook Peas Pulao and .. er.. and ... Peas pulao. Over to Prabhu and his recipe. Prabhu (seldom) blogs here . 

@Prabhuferrari's Quinoa paste

 Quinoa. What an exotic name for a seed. According to trusted sources Quinoa is the favourite of film director Bharathriaja and other earthy directors from TN. In fact Bharathiraja initially wanted to name his movie Quinoa pogum rayil and changed it to kizhakke pogum rayil. In fact if you closely look at the village ladies in Bharathiraja movies you can't make out if they are singing lulululu or quinoa quinoa quinoa.

Now that we have established the relationship between Quinoa and Tamil nation lets look at making something out of Quinoa. I don't know who benefited the maximum out of globalisation, but the cooks are the ones who are outspoken about it. Even punnakku vyabari punyakoti is a mint columnist now on how to make a nutritious punnakku rasam for erumai maadu. With this perpective, I am flabbergasted how come there is no recipe yet on say Quinoa rasam, Quinoa kozhambu, Quinoa kootu etc. As some one popular said be the chilrai err change you want to be, I decided to come up with recipes on my own.

Since Quinoa is a seed I cross checked with fellow chefs, Sevvapettai seenu, aminjikarai Arumugam. They were of the opinion, one can make Quinoa paste and use that as a base. For instance you can make Quinoa red paste to use a base for few items, and Quinoa green paste to use a base for some other.

Quinoa paste

Ingredients
200 gms of quinoa seeds
Red or green chilli 50 gms
Tomato purée in case of red paste
Cut lemon
Omam water
Pattai sarakku cha pattai lavangam
P.S. in addition to normal vessels, a thiruvodu is must for Quinoa paste.

Step 1.

Pour the seeds of Quinoa on a thiruvodu and get on a treadmill. You should keep tossing the seeds of quinoa on air and catch with thiruvoadu. All this while you are working out on a thiruvoadu. Quinoa seeds are oddly shaped and it needs to be brought into a circular shape. That's why this step on a treadmill. And thiruvoadu is the perfect vessel for tossing things on air.

Step 2.

Once you are done bringing the seeds to shape, pour a glass of water on the thiruvoadu containing quinoa. (If you get dhuddu from mineral water companies for promoting their product, take photo of you with that bottle and quinoa thiruvoadu). Leave this for around 30 minutes.

Step 3.

In a small frying pan heat castor oil(Yes velakennai) and later pour the quinoa seeds on it. Then add red or green chilli and saute it for sometime. Once the seeds are deep fried, add tomato puree if needed, green chilli or red chilli paste. Keep stirring till it becomes a thick paste. And then later, add some water, omam water and fresh lemon juice. Keep a lid on and in frequent intervals keep stirring and adding water. Once the consistency is there, you can turn the flame off and let the paste cool down.

Now that the paste is there, what can we do with it? Oops sorry I forgot the most important step. You need to take a photo of the paste, and if possible you with a thiruvoadu. Later instagram it and tweet/facebook it. Quinoa has magical telepathy power and it wont settle down as a paste unless you instagram it.

Ok, now coming back to Quinoa paste usage

1. Recently in Sun TV they have started the epic serial mahabharatham. Pretty soon you will have ratchasans and ratchasis occupying your LED screens. To make a normal person look like a ratchasan, they can apply quinoa paste on their body. And in chennai summer heat anyone applying quinoa paste made of chilli will automatically become a ratchasan and the scenes will be realistic. One stone 2 quinoa. Cha, 2 maanga

2. If you are a car lover like me you will be frustrated when dogs pee on your car tyres or when rats get in the bonnet and bite away the wires. If you apply quinoa paste on your tires and underbody of the car, naai kooda kitta varaadhu (Even a dog won't come near)

3. In olden days they used to spread cow dung and water in front of your house and put rangoli on it. With apartments there is no space for cow dung. Instead you can take a thin cardboard plate and apply quinoa paste (green one) on it evenly. And sell it as Quini(inspired from saani). You never know Gramarajan might be impressed and get sing like this  . And to popularize it in social media you can conduct a quini quiz. Later you can give money to some josiyar to appear on TV and say that if people put Rangoli on Quini there will be no power cut during Vani Rani or Saravanan Meenatchi.

4. In Airtel supersinger you can ask them to do a quini vaaram with contestants wearing Quini dress and shouting songs. You can get Gobinath to do a saaniya quiniya in Neeya Naana.

Like this you can do many things with help of Quinoa paste and also earn money.But please remember even by mistake don't consume quinoa paste. Else 'Quinoa Quinoa vayathukulla vambu pannudhu'

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Okay so that was our first MasterChef contestant @prabhuferrari . Our next two contestants will be posting such "exotic" recipes similarly. If you have read this, you have no other go but to RT, Share on fb, email and parappify the pugazh of Koina. Watch this space for the next two recipes tomorrow and the day after.

Quinoa Padutthum Paadu

Way back in the 80s and 90s, things like Nadhiya Kammal, Geethanjali / Idhayathai thirudade Salwar-Kurta-Bandini duppatta, Roti (useless) maker were a rage. Whether it suited them / useful or not, makkal went and bought it only to bandha adichify.These days makkal have truck loads of money. To make a call, we buy 40000 Rubees worth smart phone because namma pakkathu veetu Ponnamma and Edirtha veetu Ekambaram have ishhmart phones. 

One such pisthu item that has made it to this Bandha list is Quinoa. It is some grain like crop like seed like item that grows in South America and gets imported for heppu makkal to eat it as a substitute to Rice, Roti, Mor kozhambu, Vazhakka Bajji, Paneer Butter masala, Tirupathi Laddu etc.

This Quinoa comes into the conversation on any topic be it Food habits, Diet , Coal scam, Rail scam or Saravanan Meenatchi episode 400. You are considered unhep / unposshhh / pisatthu / vettuvetthu if you don't discuss and haven't had Quinoa. "I ate Quinoa" has become very common like we used to say "I had Anjaneyar Kovil vadai" .

Having bought all of the above (in the first para) from Nadhiya kammal to unsmart phones, we also bought Quinoa. For practical pronunciation purposes, let me call it Koina. It is so difficult to think 'Keenwah' and write Quonia. So it is Koina and will be Koina for me.At this supermarket where we go to buy our salt, sugar and paruppu,  was this lady who insisted we buy one packet of Koina. Since everybody was raving and ya let me admit we also wanted to be heppu , we bought Koina. In the 'we' I'm adding the paavappatta Purusan who didn't taste this bleddy thing when I tried to make it. Only at the billing counter did we realize we had been talailakattufyed this horribly expensive vasthu. Our dal, salt, masala powders combined was some 500 Rubees na this Koina itself was some 500 rubees+ for a packet that would fit into a shirt pocket. 

This Koina packet was lying idle for almost 6 months. Not wanting to waste the hard-earned money spent on Koina, made some salad type thing boiling it, adding onion, tomato and all. Vaaila vekka mudila. I tried to have one half of what I made and left the other in the fridge which was consumed after 2 days, adding the same to Thayir saadam. Kodumai.  Uvveck.

The sad part was only 1/4 of the packet was used in Koina salad. What to do with the rest? As I was trying to think keeping the packet in hand, it slipped and more than 1/2 fell on the ground. " Haiiyaa Jaali ! Ozhindadu Koina!", I told myself. The rest- one tiny bit was left in the packet. So I've come up with this brilliant idea of gifting the minjina packet to the one who sends me a brilliant Koina recipe for a contest on this blog.

But I'm sorry folks, this contest is not open to all silly cooks like you. Only the best of the best of the Master Chefs of Madras will be participating in this contest. And a Mega Master Chef will judge the entries. Going by their twitter / facebook posts and my personal interaction with the Master Chef of Madras, I've already short listed three esteemed Chefs who will be sharing their Koina recipes that will be posted on the blog next week.

The best of the three will win my coveted Minjina packet of Koina and (ponaapogattum) a book of their choice. As mentioned earlier, the winner will be chosen by our Mega Master Chef (surprise!!!!!) along with me. To know who these elitist contestants are, please come back next week. Till then, enjoy a picture of the Minjina packet of Koina.

Saappaturaami 11

What's common to Nirulas , Dilli haat, Gurgaon Malls in Delhi, MTR , Brigade road in Bangalore, Saravana Bhavan in Chennai and Mondy's, Blue Frog, Hard Rock cafe` in Mumbai?

These are all places first timers to the city visit, new brides moving to the city are taken to by their anbu purushans to show-off how hep he is 'coz he drinks beer and these people come back raving about it to fellow Mumbaikars and give you that "Oh ya I went to Mondy's .. it was aweeeesoommmmme" and aruttufy you with their I-know-everything-about-Mumbai-since-I-had-a-beer-at-Mondy's talk.

Add one more this list - Candies in Bandra / Khar.

Is it a bakery ? Is it a cafe`? Is it a restaurant? It is an all-in-all Saappadu place where you get sandwiches, coffee, tea, juices, salads, noodles, fried rice, rolls, cakes, breads , desserts etc etc.

The best part about Candies near Pali naka, Bandra is the space. In a city where five people share a match box apartment and restaurants dump chairs and tables wherever there is space, this place is indeed, a heaven.

Once you place your order and pick up the food, you can either sit at the ground floor or climb up or climb up or climb up... The space is endless. Once you are enter Candies you will never be seen outside waiting for your turn to put handkerchief on the chair to edam pidichify.

The open space upstairs is a super blessing. The food is damn good. No complaints. The prices are similar to your Baristas and Cafe` Coffee days. Sandwich - Rs.50/= , Tea - Rs.30/= Tea cake per pc -Rs.20/=

In these days of cost-cutting in office , where you sit in your azhukku seat aimlessly, brain-storming, typing slides and slides of concepts ordering the same boring tea , ordering and PAYING FOR your Dal khichdis and the chappatis, I prefer going to Candies and get the Group Manager spend some money under the pretext of team-ideation.

That's precisely what we did a couple of weeks ago when SG and team did not want to come to office on a Saturday to 'ideate' for a pitch. We met at Candies and spent some 300 odd bucks for the four of us, sat for almost 5 hours in the same table sipping some juice and mossukkufying sandwich. I wouldn't comment on whether the ideas that came out where brilliant or not but the change of location, ambience and the food definitely helped...atleast helped me say "We went to Candies to ideate yaaa" in aabees.

The happy part of Candies is the 'happy hours' post 8pm - You get a 25% discount. The annoying bit is the wait at the counter to select and pay for your food. Post 11 am on Saturdays and Sundays, there's this huuuugee rush and the Hanumar vaal queueueueue at the counter. Once you pay and get your food (self service), you will definitely get a place to sit and enjoy the food.

Weekends - Avoid this place if you are bagaasura hungry 'coz the wait at the counter can go upto almost half an hour. Have a vada pao at the road side stall for your first pasi and then enter Candies.

Welcome to Candies-

And more...

These are pics from the ground floor till Level 2. Levels 3 and 4 had lauvv birds koochi-kooing early in the morning at 8.30. The shy type me didn't want to embarrass myself. There is also a party hall available for parties, inside.

Drishti pusanikkai - 'Wall of peace' - What it means? Summa Pseud feel ..

Fooood...

A portion of my breakfast

The mini-cakes came free.. haiyya!

A must-try / buy at Candies. Mini breads - Rs.6/= a loaf - sell like hot-cakes... er.. hot-breads. Go grab it - This gets sold out in minutes.

This branch of Candies is at - McRonell Hall, St. Andrews Road, Near Pali Naka, Bandra (W), Mumbai . Phone 26424124, Home Delivery: 26422324, 26432425, 26430728 .

Candies is shut on Mondays. The other Candies' outlets are at ONGC grounds, Reclamation (opp. Leelavati Hospital) and at Khar.

Saappaturaami rating : 4.5 out of 5 .

Saappaturaami 10

Cold Badam milk - ssluurrrp! I prefer cold Badam milk to the hot one. The suda suda milk kills the taste of Badam.

The badam milk powders in the market - including the MTR one do not dissolve very well in hot milk and Saappaturaami does not have too much patience to keep hot milk + badam powder under the fan, then keep it inside the fridge for hours etc.

The MTR Badam milk in the can is a a God send. This ready to eat drink is free from artificial flavours (or so it says) .

Don't even bother turning the can and looking the Nutrition facts. You buy 1 Calorie for 10 paisa. A total of Calories - 250/- at a price of Rs.25/- . Do I care?

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Lime green colour attractive pack. Britannia's 5 Grain Nutrichoice biscuit tastes yum. It has a distinct honey flavour to the biscuit with Ragi, Wheat, Rice, Corn and Oats as its key ingredients. This packet (pic) is priced Rs.18 (six biscuits) and the bigger one is available for Rs.40/-

A good four pm office snack, the small packet is sufficient for two days - i.e when you don't have people perpetually borrowing food from you (and not giving), around. 

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PS: Kollywood Kostan #10 - Parutthi Veeran it is. Time to buy yourself a lottery ticket, Boo. Congratulations! Vaazhtukkal to Paadhi Paadhi

Over to Kollywood Kostan # 11

Tele-vetti fans(!) (ellam oru build up daan) go here

Saappaturaami 9

Sunday’s brunch was a real treat for purushan and I. We were celebrating… yet another weekend (!) and decided to treat ourselves at ITC, Parel. Kebabs and Kurries’ Sunday brunch was the perfect place to laze around and have a great lunch.

Kebabs and Kurries – Sounds like Ekta Kapoor’s restaurant, doesn’t it?

Sunday Brunch at K&K was a lot more interesting than Kekta Kapoor’s serials. The brunch is a set menu with kebabs, kurries, parathas and pulao.

Starters

Chand Tara is a cute name for a Kabab. The kabab had kidney beans and crushed chickpeas patties with cardamom and garam masala, seared on griddle. It was neither too spicy nor was it bland… and it was just sufficient to kill the first pasi.

Loved the kaandal in Sabut Tandoori Aloo which is jacket potatoes baked in the tandoor, filled with raisins and spices mix topped with chopped coriander and green chillies.

Main course

Main course was parathas, dal, sabz Ahir and Kehkashan.

Kehkashan – Fresh vegetables, pomegranate, corn tossed with cumin, whole red chillies in kandhari anar gravy. Yummyamma!

Sabz Abir was more like Palak paneer with a fragrance of fenugreek.

How on earth does ITC’s Dal taste so yum? Must speak to the chef and find out. Not that I will ever try the recipe at home and harm the man who tied me the taali.

The description of the dal on the menu card reads “A harmonious combination of black lentils, tomatoes, ginger and garlic simmered overnight on charcoal and served with butter”. Simmered overnight on charcoal-a?

Seh-Rangi Pulao with its colorful Basmati Pulao of chana dal, plums, apricot, raisins and almonds cooked in yogurt and herb masala.

Thick curd was served with the pulao. Papad and various chutneys added to the korrichifying factor.

An extremely ful’fill’ing meal it was! So filling that it lasted till breakfast next morning!

ITC Hotel Grand Central Sheraton & Towers
287, Babasaheb Ambedkar Road, Parel, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400012. Phone: (22) - 24101010

Saappaturaami rating : 4.5 out of 5 (A set meal without dessert? .5 points cut!)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Bloglines still open for விளம்பர விளையாட்டு 28 . Kollywood Kostan # 2 - It is not Rajadhi Raja.

Saappaturaami 8

The entire team including poor me was working at the office on Saturday and the only exciting thing I was looking forward to was my Saturday lunch with mummy-gaaru before my marathon meeting at work. So off we (Mum & I) drove all the way to Phoenix mills ('coz it was convenient for me to go to aabees after lunch) for a Saturday lunch at Copper Chimney.

I remember having had some great veggie food at Copper chimney,Bandra /Andheri almost a decade ago. So here I was looking forward to yummy saappadu.

Sodappal # 1

We walked in at around 12 noon and there was some sleepy young fellow who came down to take the order. Our friend seemed disinterested in answering our queries on various items on the menu.

Sodappal # 2

No sign of food for almost 20 minutes. Sleepy head tells us to wait for "five minutes madam"... Another ten minutes, I completely lost it with my small kudal eating big kudal. Black coat suit guy - (Manager!) apologises 'coz "gas leak hogaya hai". After five minutes, we get our food.

Sodappals # 3, 4 and 5

Subz kadai - The veggies were not cooked well. Brinjal and Potatoes? You'll see these kinda combos only in office canteens. I realise that the price hike has hit them badly but odd combo, sad cooking - simply not done!

Veg Biryani - One yeno taano dish with veggies and basmati rice 'put together'.

Methi Parathas - Quite nice... the only stuff that tasted good .

Dal - Mrs. Ganga Pawankumar (my cook!) makes better dal.

Amma quite enjoyed her lunch probably because it was a welcome change from the usual sadam, rice, kootu , curry at home... but, for me it was definitely pathetic .

More than just food, I look for good service in any restaurant. That was definitely missing in Copper Chimney, Phoenix mills, Lower Parel (w), Mumbai. If you are around Phoenix mills craving for some good veggie food, opt for Bombay...er Mumbai blues or Noodle bar.

Saappaturaami rating : 2 out of 5

Can't wait to post the next - Saappaturaami 9 is about our Sunday brunch..coming soon!
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PS # 1   Bloglines still open for Tele-vetti 5 and விளம்பர விளையாட்டு 27

PS # 2   Right-mein choodu and identify the film. It is not Guru Sishyan - it is not Dharmattin Thalaivan either. 

Saappaturaami 7

Whenever mummy-gaaru and I talk about Akka sokka's wedding, she doesn't fail to talk about the then to-be Athimber 's visit (to my apartment in Mumbai) for dinner with his friends when we ran out of gas cylinder, borrowed neighbour's, and the yummy dinner that she had prepared for almost eight of us with one kutty cooker of mine, otthai gas blah blah and ... adds on how maavu maniac yours truly ate off the entire gulab jamun maavu even before she could fry them! heehaww!

Saappaturaami 7 is about one new maavu item that I have discovered recently.

DK and I have become quite good friends in office not because we sit next to each other closely but because of our love for food. We discuss what to order for lunch at 9 am... discuss my mother's rava laddu, her mother's puran poli more than we discuss sales deals. DK visits her home town Pune every weekend and brings a whole lot of goodies on Monday - puran poli, chips, chivda, parathas etc. which the whole office looks foward to.

This is one such item that she brings without fail for me - Udid Papad Lathi. We could call it 'Ulundu Appalam maavu' . Damp Appalam maavu rolled into small balls and sold as a packet of 9 with a kutty toothpick.

It is a real treat for maavu lovers like me. If you are a real maavu lover and the next time you visit Pune, do buy this awesome item. It is available at:

Udid Papad Lathi manufactured by Shaila Gruha Udyog, S. no. 118, Vithalwadi Jakatnaka, Sinhagad Road, near Big bazaar, Pune 411030.

A 100gm packet with 9 urundai maavus costs Rs.13/-

Ingredients : Udid (Ulundu), Black pepper, Papad Khar (whatever that means), Asafoetida, Salt

I am sure you are not interested in other details viz. Calcium - 132 mg, Iron 4.1 mg, Fats - vidunga, why bother?

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PS: Tele-vetti 4 is here and விளம்பர விளையாட்டு 27 is here

Saappaturaami 6

A weekend out at Matunga is something I really look forward to. Matunga to me is a mini-mylapore. Gives me the feelings that I am in Mylapore near Kabali kovil. I manage a quick trip to Matunga atleast once a month - to buy Kumudam, Vikatan, to buy Kola-p-podi, tamizh books at Giri trading and ofcourse , to eat pongal vadai.

My colleagues and I do one quick .. er... elaborate lunch at Mani's once a month (Boss, I know you are reading this and now you know where we go when we disappear for 2-3 hours during lunch break).

As for other restaurants, there's this quaint little road side eatery next to Shankara mutt that serves awesome Pongal, vadai, pineapple kesari. Any morning trip to Matunga, I do manage to mosukkufy at this place. The quality and quantity at Rama Nayak's have deteriorated over the years... its no longer on my must-visit list.

Next to Aurora theatre is 'Idli House' - a restaurant dedicated to Idli, Idli and more Idli. To be honest, I am not a great fan of Idli - it is our Monday morning breakfast when our cook is usually late and we end up making idlis from the batter (obviously) purchased from our regular vendor. Idli is one number yeno-thano breakfast. It comes under this 'health food' category and thus by default not preferred.

Whether you have a fetish for Idlis or not, this place is a must visit. Idli House has a super duper variety of idlis, khottu and mudhos. Khottu and mudhos are the steamed varieties served in banana leaves.Idli House is your simple no-nonsense restaurant with three tables and four chairs each.

All idlis are served with two types of chutneys , sambhar, mulaga podi, Limbuda podi , pickle and oil (all unlimited). Apart from your regular idlis, you have Mysore rava idli, Kanchipuram Idli, Pepper idli, Vegetable Idli, Cucumber Idli, Jackfruit idli, Mini Idli, Idli Upma....

pic above: Pepper idli (l) : podis and urugai (r)

The sambhar may not be taste like your 'amma panna sambhar' but the Idlis are divine... and they are not very expensive. A plate of idli will cost you anything between Rs.10 to Rs.20

We planned our visit in such a way that we reached an hour before the mid-morning SA-RO-JA show at Aurora theatre on Saturday. One full hour of Idlis, idlis and more idlis + two hours of a jollly-good tamizh film. Aha! Vera enna venum?

Pic above: Masala Idli (l) and modhu (r)

The next time you are in Mumbai ,craving for some good idlis, go to Matunga, ask for Aurora theatre and look for this tiny place on the main road called Idli House. Oh ya, don't forget to come back and tell me how you liked it :)

Idli House

Next to Vasant Breezy Chamber

Kingcircle

Mumbai -- 400 019

Saappaturaami rating : 4.5 out of 5 {minus point five for Kannadiga Sambhar :( }

Saappaturaami - 5

This post is not about the three musketeers as promised earlier. I have reserved that post for June, for 'Saappattu' reasons.

To celebrate a super-duper occasion, my better-aaf and I were at Kebabs & Kurries at the ITC Grand Central, Parel. Kebabs & Kurries offers a wide choice for vegetarians unlike other restaurants in the ITC hotel chains in Mumbai.

Dakhni saag is a spinach based gravy with tomatoes, dill leaves, garlic and red chillies. Neither too spicy nor bland, this was an awesome side dish for the parathas. Also was on our attack list, Alu Khush Nama - potato barrels filled with bhoona khoya and potatoes, garam masala, mango powder, green chilli and herb masala tasted divine.

Yaquiti , served cold, was next in line - broken basmati rice and moong dal cooked in milk enriched with khoya and dry fruits. yummmmmy!

As we headed out after a fantastic dinner, I saw the notice board at the hotel corridor with the day's engagements that read : 'Kolkata Knight riders at CJ's' [their conference room]. In my umpteenth attempt to be part of Bombay times Pg-3 I begged my purushan to accompany me to their pub/conference room to have a dekkho at the studs of Kolkata Knight riders. Not wanting to be party to my alpathanams, he said No. Maha disappointed, I got out of the hotel and saw one number 24-24-24 model getting out of a Tata Innova outside. She was quickly followed by a familiar face. "Look there he is, Shoaib Akhtar!" I said. My cricket-crazy hujband was maha thrilled that his cricket-challenged wife could recognize one number cricketer. Little did he know that I overheard all and sundry at the hotel entrance mention Shoaib's name. he he he!

Saappaturaami rating : 4.5 out of 5

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I am not a great fan of Northie food especially in restaurants. But Dum Pukht's (ITC Grand Maratha, Andheri east) Dal Bukhara is something that you can die for. Better aaf and I were there last week to celebrate the annual 'Big boss' letter'. The moment you are in, arrives a plate of sliced onions and green chutneys which you can have all day long.

There are few options for vegetarians (as always), so its always Dal Bukhara, mixed kababs and roti /naans for us. The butter naan was out of the world oozing with butter. Mixed kababs is a platter with potatoes, capsicum, cauliflower, panneer (which we avoided) and onions. We were so full at the end of our meal that I had to avoid desserts (cha!).

The Dum Pukht interiors aren't all that great nor is the seating any comfortable. But you get the best Dal in town! yummmm!I want to have lunch now.... for breakfast!

A meal for two costs about....er.... well, why bother? Go there only if you can bill your company for it or if your boss decides to pay!

Saappaturaami rating: 4.5 out of 5

Coming soon... Saappaturaami 5 ->It's all about the three musketeers.

Saappaturaami -3

What's a 100th post on the blog without a tamizh touch, I say? Here we go... Saappaturaami 3 is all about namma ooru saappadu.

Having heard raving reviews about the Soueeth Indian food here from friends and colleagues, I expected a rocking tam-brahm saappadu at Banana Leaf, Four Bungalows, Andheri west. I was hugely disappointed.

While we waited for more than hour for our seats at Banana leaf on a crowded, hot Sunday afternoon, we decided to order something to drink. The Mango panna that I had ordered for turned out to be thick and creamy - something like a milkshake..eeyyuck!

The interiors of the Banana leaf were quite tastefully done with sketches from (what looked like) The Malgudi Days. The menu card was more like a book with hajjaar items. As part of the menu, were the thaali, kaalan, olan, kullan, sullan etc, puliccha (!) saadam, elumichai saadam, idli, appam, dosai, pongal etc. I was maha famished after having skipped my Sunday brunch for this saapadu. So the obvious choice was the unlimited South Indian thaali.

The thaali comprised of a small utthapam, vadai, sambhar, rasam, koottu, some jaggery-mixed-mallu-fyed dish, appalam, rice, pickle, thayir pacchadi, aappam/parrota / neer dosa /chapati, dessert. The neer dosa was ok but the rasam / sambhar were very sad. The kootu /kaalan/olan types did taste fine but what spoilt the look of the thaali was the bleddy paneer gravy dish. Since when did we Soueeth indians adopt this chewy, punju-fyed paneer as our cuisine? Yes.This is what I hate. In the name of appeasing all and sundry (yes yes the Gujjus and the Punjus) these people serve us fusion food which is neither here nor there. Along with the thaali was Aamras (Mango pulp) which was my favourite. hmm, the worsht of all - rice was not cooked fully! arrgh... most of these Shetty restaurants in Mumbai serve half-cooked rice and it was sad to see a restaurant like Banana leaf which claimed to serve genuine South Indian food, serve half-cooked rice. The only solace - the pricing. Unlimited thaali priced at Rs.200/= which is very very reasonable for a restaurant like this.

Saappaturaami rating : 3 out of 5 (bad service, waiters with stinking armpits, paneer dish in a south indian thaali, half cooked rice....the list is endless)

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I used to get my lunch delivered from home to office through the ever reliable dabbawallah. One fine day, I got tired of the same roti, sabzi and tried to experiment... For a week I survived on Subway sandwiches (couldn't take it after a day), office pantry khichdi (bearable.. only for two days), pantry sandwich (aiyyoo!), all the Shri Krishnas, Shettys and Jai Hinds of the world (I was broke after three days- thanks to my doctor visits thereafter!). Then came Krishnani aunty who delivers home made lunch. 3 rotis, dal, sabzi and rice... office-delivered. But the oily sabzis in micro-mini portions became unbearable after two days. For a few at work, who placed orders for her 'diet dabbas' from aunty got idlis for lunch!! ha ha ha...along with gulab jamun for dessert! So it was bye bye to Krishnani aunty.

VITAL FOODS
Sometime back, I had read about this dabba-waali from Andheri called Sunali who supplies healthy lunch to all the saas-es, bahus, Tulsis and Parvatis of the (K)ekta kapoor's serial world, at the film studios. In yet an attempt to be part of the elite socialite (I am a tamizh 'foodie', remember?), I decided to try out Shunali's Vital foods.
Vital foods is not exactly a diet dabba.. it is more a health dabba. Don't get it? Neither do I. The dabba consists of four rotis / rice, dal, sabzi, salad / snack, juice/ chaas - in neatly sealed disposable containers. And this, can customized to your requirements / dietary restrictions. My specifications include no paneer (hate it)/ rice (puts me to sleep)/ add more curd or chaas whenever possible. Some of my friends get brown rice instead of white, some get two portions of salad instead of juice etc. On any given day, at office, no two Vital food dabbas look alike. You don't get the same boring type of rotis everyday. Some days, its ragi roti, some days its rotis made out of rice flour etc. The best part is that any combination of dal/sabzi/ roti/ salad gets repeated only once a month. So everyday its a new combo. There's more... Once every 10 days, we get pastas / garlic bread kinda stuff. You get a spoon, straw, table (paper) mat, tissue and mouth freshner along with the dabba.

Most people around me, at work, share one single dabba. For me one dabba just about lasts till 6pm. I need my quota of a sandwich post 7 o clock.

hmm, coming to the most important part... the moneys! Sunali charges Rs.2175.64/= (including VAT) for 26 dabbas which works upto Rs.83/= per dabba. The amount is collected before she starts your quota. You SMS Sunali the previous evening when you don't want the dabba the following day, if you are planning to bunk office. Considering that the dabba lasts from mid-morning (juice/ chaas) to evening (snack), its strictly vegetarian and its very well packed, I am quite ok with the pricing. If you are working in Mumbai and are tired of home / hotel food, do try Sunali's Vital foods. Lunch dabba... amma seiydadu polave!

Vital foods - # 2, Shah Baug, 11th Road, (Kapoor Cottage), near V.N. Desai hospital, TPS III, Santacruz (east), Mumbai - 55. Ph: 32944000 / 26126909

Saappaturaami rating : 4 out of 5 (plastic containers!!)

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It is getting tougher by the day to find a friend (with a good appetite) who could give me company to eat out on week days. Most of my friends are the typical Mumbai ladkis-dieting variety, who have three.. sorry, a maximum of two idlis for lunch and say "I am full ya...."! So, with my limited company of two or three food.. sorry good friends, I try and explore new eat-outs every week.

Here's a new series dedicated to all the food lovers of the world especially to my friends - Ha and Ra from Mumbai and Van, Tees, San, Ush, Ras, Anu ,Sha, Aru, Raj, Sach, Kat - the Chennai 'foodie' queens and kings whose company I really miss. And yes, to my dear better-aaf who has never restricted me from tasting the fat-filled wide range of food items viz. Mishti Doi of Sweet Bengal, Vadapao from Mithibhai college, Tamizh saapadu from Mani's, Pesto pasta (home made), Natural's Mango icecream, Sizzling brownie from Cafe coffee day, Noodles from Noodle bar, Garlic Bread from Papa Jones, Apple-cinnamon cake from Bread talk, Rajasthani Thaali from Sarvodaya and much more...

btw,for those wondering, what or who on earth is Saappaturaami ? It is the tamil-ised version of the hep- socialite-Pg 3 ing term 'Foodie'

The Gujrati Club

For all those hungry souls dying of hunger at the Great Indian-Santacruz airport traffic jam, don't head to the horribly expensive Orchid hotel for food. Instead, take a left at Milan Subway, head towards Santacruz (west) station road and take the second gully on the left. You'll find an old bungalow which could easily be mistaken for a shooting bungalow but for its bright light and an old signboard that says 'Gujrati club'

Open from 11am-3pm and from 7-10pm on Weekdays and only for lunch on Sundays, this place serves only Gujju thalis. For lunch, they serve four sabzis, dal/ kadi, roti, rice, bonda / bajji type of thing. For dinner, it is two sabzis, dal / kadi, roti, rice, bonda/ bajji type of thing. The taste is simply superb. Please don't mind the sweetish tasting Dal. Gujjus are like that wonly! When I visited, they didn't serve dessert but I saw two maamas having amarkhand.hmm, may be dessert was reserved only for Gujjus. Quite possible, I say!

The best part is that, it is an unlimited thaali where you can eat eat and eat. The service is superb reminds you of the kind of service in a saravana bhavan or any such hotel in Madras. But the prices though are definitely not the Saravana bhavan type [one cup pongal=30 odd rupees!!]. At the Gujrati club, one thaali is priced at Rs.60/= which is very very reasonably by Mumbai standards.

Saappaturaami rating: 4 out of 5 (dessert enga?)

PS: I complete 11 years in Aamchi Mumbai today! Still remember the first day in Mumbai way back in 1997 at the Santacruz airport asking for "Yeh Peddar road mein jaane..." [I want to go to Peddar road]. My hindi hasn't improved one bit. Ask my colleagues / friends here.