Tuesday, January 13

World Cuisines - II

I’m back!

I dreamt about a stampede of wild animals last night - elephants, lionesses, ostriches, bisons and others... Filled with a sense of foreboding thanks to an SMS I received last week... It told about the sequence of terror attacks in the nation - you must have got it, too... How Jaipur blasts occurred on May 13, then nothing in June. Ahmedabad bombed on July 26, peace in August. 13 Sept somewhere and zilch in October. Nov 26 in Mumbai, quiet in December... And it's Jan 13 today... I pray all's well and normal. That just like
rumors of blasts in Pune on New Year's eve, this too, shall not materialize. Amen.

Back to what
I promised yesterday... An elaborate note upon dishes I find palatable... To tease your taste-buds and set you drooling... Read about some of my favorite foods below!

(Remember I wrote about my favorite things (
Part I and Part II) in November? Not surprisingly, most of it was related to the victuals! For example – marshmallows, juices, ice-creams, chocolates, etc.) Here's the list!!

Punjabi – Tandoori Chicken leads hands down. Yummmmm!!! Though I
find eating chicken with my hands a challenge (especially when the bone is still there), I can never resist Punjabi chicken dishes. I’d go as far as to say, that no one can make chicken better than the Balle Balle folk! Salute to the Butter chicken and hats off to the Rajma!

South Indian – Now that’s easy. Idli, wada, dosa, uttappa, appam, rice and sambhar. (Don’t like their curries or non-veg preparations.) This cuisine is by far the best
choice when you’re eating out at unknown destinations and also great on the stomach when you’re not too hungry. FC Road abounds in these udupi restaurants – THE Vaishali, it’s sister and neighbor Roopali, Wadeshwar down the line, with Savera on the opposite end. (memories of Fergi come alive!) I think the South Indian dishes taste better in Pune than down south, though they are certainly much cheaper there.

Maharashtrian – Love their allu wadi and aamti, misal and wada-pav, masale bhat and surali wadi, crunchy koshimbir and pohe. I dislike puranpoli (mum’s is a little bearable, otherwise count me out for the meal) and the meat dishes, but find their chapatis delicious!! Try Durvankur off Tilak Road!

Marwari – As I’m one myself, you may say I’m biased. But (almost) everybody is crazy about dal-bati and gatte ki sabzi. (At least everyone I know). Besides, I love ghee
and my mum’s an amazing cook. Eat her khichda once, and you’ll worship her for ages. (We think twice before inviting folks for lunch coz they invariably can’t deal with mum’s manwaar/manuhar, and end up on our sofas unconscious with overloaded tummies.) One dish I’m not fond of is laapsi and also meetha chawal, but the bajra rotis and rabdi (not dear Mr. Laloo’s wife; this is the dessert) will silence all grumbles.
Chinese – Hardly any variety here, but scrumptious nevertheless. Rice, noodles, curries and soups. Leave the black bean sauce out and you have a winner, especially when you need to eat fast and you need to eat late into the evening. Authentic Chinese is not as yummy as the Indian one, coz it’s too bland and not too well cooked. But Mainland China and China Gate never fail to set my belly aflutter!

Italian – Pizzas and pastas all the way. Apparently, sizzlers
are also Italian. (I ain’t sure, please correct me if you know.) My favorite joints are Yana for a great experience overall, Smokin Joes for their Special chicken pizza and Pizza Hut for the ambience, Mushroom sauce Fuselli and Ebony-Ivory dessert. Supreme on JM road has a fine Indian version as does Radhika on FC Road. (I love home-made pastas, but no one else in my family does, so I end up deprived. Miss the potlucks at inlingua!)

Thai – I think this is pretty much similar to Chinese. My picks include the
clear soup and Nasi Goreng. There are a host of restaurants in Koregaon Park that cater to people wishing to eat this cuisine. Read Arthur’s Theme, Malakka Spice, Silk Route and the like. I am personally fond of Kiva near Rangehills. (Sighhh... what a magnificent place!)


Well, well, well... I’m surpassing myself!

Time to wind up before I get branded as a bhukkad (=glutton) with food on my mind 24 X 7!!

Eating well, guys??!!

Cheers!
Anuja

2 comments:

conanima said...

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Sibi said...

well was waiting for this post and the wait paid off indeed.Well i love tandoori chicken as well.For me the most imp thing while eating chicken is tat I eat it with my hands and not with spoon or nything else.Mast murga kaat kaaat ke khane ka mazaa hi kuch ayr hai..Don't like south Indian as much coz i have had it much in my life.Chinese is a fav wen i go out.Last but not the least thali,I like it no matter where i eat if it has if not all of them one or two good curry's.A very yummy post I must say tat..Thanks...Keep writing and eat well n lot..

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