Author: ananya barua

Tales served in a plate!

Have a big party to host too soon? But are too bored of the clichéd party menus available (Mexican, Chinese, Italian, Indian or Mughlai)? I have just the thing for you, that will surely elevate your stature to the “PARTY KING/QUEEN” and give you and you’re fiction-fellas the best time of their lives! Yes, give way to your literary gastronomy as I bring forth a list of fictional literary food items that you’ve read about in novels or watched your favourite characters sip or bite onto them in movies and TV series!

1. Butterbeer (Harry potter series):

“Why don’t we go and have a butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks, it’s a bit cold, isn’t it?”-Hermione Granger.
Ah! The reveries of sipping through the clouded peaks of tankard-full butterbeer, on chilly December mornings ,while crouching over the wooden benches of The Three Broomsticks, or Leaky Cauldron, has enticed us since our ripe days of innocence( and they still do). So, why not relive those days, just not in reveries but in reality! Set up old shaggy benches, restrict the light source to quivering candles, and Cheers!
INGREDIENTS
• Cream soda- 2 litre
• Butter extract- 2 tbsps.
• Rum extract- 2 tbsps.
*add drops of the extracts into a 2 litre bottle, put on the cap and slowly rotate (not shake) until combined.
• For the crème topping- 17oz container of marshmallow crème
• Whipping cream- 1 cup
• Rum extract- 1 tbsp.
METHOD

• Add all the items together in a blender and combine until smooth
• Pour the butterbeer into a glass and drizzle with the cream topping and Enjoy!

2. Scooby Snacks (Scooby- dooby doo series) :

Our very own beloved stoner mates of childhood! Remember the eternally hungry Scooby and Shaggy, who were always lured to chase the villains using this snack!
INGREDIENTS
• Dry oatmeal- 1 cup
• Flour- 2 cups
• Sugar- 1 cup
• Eggs- 2
• Butter- ¼ pound or ½ cup
• Walnut extract- 1 tsp.
• Vanilla essence – 1 tbsp.
• Cocoa powder- ½ cup
• Finely ground cannabis- 1 oz.
METHOD
• Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients. Stir continuously.
• If the consistency becomes too thick or tight making it difficult to stir, then add a tablespoon of milk into it, and mix.
• Taste the batter and adjust the sweetness according to preferences.
• On a lightly greased cooking sheet, place them in scoops or bone shape cut-outs and bake for 8-12 minutes ( depending upon the size of the cookies)
• If you wish to bite on to dry and crispy cookies, bake for longer, but if chewy and soft is your thing, a shorter time span for baking them, is fine.

3. Hotpie’s Wolf Bread (Game of thrones):

Does this ring a bell? In Season 3, this becomes a parting gift for Arya by Hotpie, remember? Of course you do! So, now imagine, breaking pieces from this Wolfbread we’re about t0 make and dipping it in the Virginia Woolf’s Boeuf en Daube (in the next point) , ah, heavenly delicious, and such a intermingled literary hotchpotch! Well, let’s proceed.

INGREDIENTS ( makes 3 breads)
• Coarse meal- 2 cups
• Wheat flour- 3 cups
• Egg(beaten with a little water, for the wash) – 1
• Baking powder-1 tsp.
• Baking soda- 1 tsp.
• Butter- 6 tbsps.
• Honey- 4 tbsps.
• Pinch of salt
• Buttermilk or sour milk
METHOD
• Combine the dry ingredients and rub in butter
• Then, stir in the honey, buttermilk, and fold in a soft workable dough
• Roll it out around 1/2″ thickness, and skilfully cut out the dire wolf shape with a knife by placing the template(below) over it( template given at the bottom)
• Once satisfied, transfer it to a baking sheet lined with a parchment paper. Brush all over it with the beaten egg
• Now, for 20 minutes, let it bake at 250 degrees F, until it’s tinted in lovely golden brown colour. Enjoy!

4. Boeuf en Daube (To the Lighthouse):

Direct from Virginia Woolf’s imaginative kitchen, this recipe is a star for any party especially if the dwellers are meat lovers. Known to spell magic with her words, Woolf in ‘To the Lighthouse’, one of the best English novels of the 20th century tickles the gastronomic sensations of her readers with her vivid descriptions of this delicacy. So let’s have a look at the recipe!
INGREDIENTS
• Primed beef (can also use mutton), cubed and trimmed of fat- 5 lbs.
• Peeled shallot or onions- 8-10 pieces
• Burgundy wine- 750 ml
• Olive oil- 1-2 tbsps.
• Fresh thyme- 1 bunch
• Garlic cloves( peeled and chopped finely) – 4-6
• Bay leaves- 2-4
• Lardons (or smoked bacon pieces) – 1 lb.
• Orange peel( dried) – 6-8 pieces
• Soft brown sugar- 1 tbsp
• Cepes( a type of mushroom), soaked for 1 hour- ½ ounce
• Sea salt
• Fresh ground black pepper
• Sun-dried tomatoes (drained and chopped finely)- 2-3
• Cognac – 2 tbsps.
• Corn flour – 1-2 tbsps.
• Tomato sauce- 2 cups
METHOD
• In a bottle of red wine, marinade the beef with herbs, shallots, and garlic overnight. Drain and keep the wine aside.
• Take a large frying pan, pour olive oil and sear and brown the beef pieces over high heat, till nutty and golden brown.
• In a cast iron Le Creuset Casserole Dish, or a crock pot, place the beef. Fry the lardons or chopped bacon pieces until crispy and golden brown. Drain and add to the beef.
• Then, brown-fry the garlic in the bacon fat and add to the beef and bacon.
• In the crock pot, add all the ingredients including the reserved wine except the corn flour.
• Cook on high flame for 4 hours and low up for 6 hours. Or, preheat oven to 175 degrees C or 325 degrees F n cook for 4-6 hours, slowly. The meat must become extremely tender.
• Once done, stir in the corn flour and cognac into the stock encased within the crock pot.
• Serve with Mashed, steamed and pureed potatoes, and green beans, or with French bread, salads and pasta! Try and make it on the day before the party, it tastes better. Best for main course!

5. Turkish Delight (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe):

Remember Edmund in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, who after inhaling the Snow Queen’s Turkish Delight had betrayed his sibling?! Yes, disgust for the character seeps into your veins at this nostalgia, but never mind he learnt his lesson, right? And, the Turkish Delight, is surely a delight!

INGREDIENTS
• Water- 1 ½ cups
• Cold water- ½ cup
• Corn-starch- ¾ cup
• Orange juice- ½ cup
• Orange zest- 3 tbsps.
• Granulated sugar – 3 cups
• Light corn syrup- 3 tbsps.
• Unflavoured gelatin-3(.25 ounces) envelopes
• Vanilla extract- 1 tbsp
• Pistachio nuts( chopped)- ¾ cup
• Confectioners’ sugar for dusting
METHOD
• Take a large saucepan, place it over medium-high heat and add water, sugar and corn syrup to it and bring to boil. Stir continuously until the temperature reaches 115 degrees C or 240 degrees F, on a candy thermometer. Set aside and keep hot
• Stir in the orange juice and zest, and sprinkle with gelatin and set aside. Take a small bowl and pour in ½ cup of cold water, dissolve the corn-starch in it and stir into a hot syrup, over medium flame, until thick.
• Remove from heat and stir in vanilla essence, pistachio nuts and a little more of the orange juice. Sprinkle an 8×8 inch pan indulgently with the confectioners’ sugar. Pour the Turkish Delight into the pan and let it cool (do not refrigerate) until set, for 3-4 hours approx.
• Once cool, now sprinkle on top another thick layer of the special sugar. Cut them into 1-inch squares and dredge each well in the confectioners’ sugar. Store in room temperature in an airtight container! Serve with tea, coffee or just as welcome sweets or even as end-of-the-meal desserts!
Set the mood with the right décor, music and games, and the rest, leave it to these scrumptious delights to handle! Rest assured, just dig in!!!

September 14, 2014
The Tamarind LOVE!
Creeping back to the yonder days, when sneaking into the corner grocery store to buy a packet of Hajmola with the newly earned 1rupee coin, for having done the job of fetching the milk packets and the newspaper from the main gate, was an achievement, I realize how inclined my determination was to get only the ‘Imli’ flavoured Hajmola packet out of the huge jar, usually crowed with all the other flavoured ones! ‘Imli’ or tamarind, I suppose has been a significant ingredient contributing to the growing years for a lot many girls and sometimes boys too. The excitement that overwhelmed my heart at the arrival of a fair, in the locality, only to get to taste the ‘Imli ka Achar’,(Tamarind Pickle) honestly doesn’t leave my heart untouched even to this day. Even the battle to add more tamarind to the mashed potato and spices mixture, during Fuchka debacles, persists and so I think, having been journeyed a span of long twenty years along with this selfless love towards tamarind, has actually done good to me and many, health-wise. So, here’s a few facts about the goodness and multitudinous uses of my beloved, tamarind, waiting for your eyes to behold!

Tamarind, or Tamarindus indica(scientific name) is a very popular herb or fruit of a tall tree known to grow in Asia and North Africa. Having borrowed its English term from the Arabic, it is also known as the ‘Indian date’, as in Hindi, tamar means so. It has proved its prowess in many ways and has led to its effective use in medicinal, culinary, and ornamental uses throughout Asia, Africa and also Latin America. It’s also used as an economic dye in industries, thus establishing its versatility. However, it’s widespread eulogy in the medical field, for the health benefits it commences, is what is worth elaboration.

A tamarind a day keeps a doctor away!?
- Lemon is a source of citric acid, and tamarind here is rich in tartaric acid, that apart from giving a sour taste to the food, also enriches it with super-powerful antioxidants (E334), that help protect the body from harmful free radicals.
- It’s the key to a strong heart, no bile disorders and lower cholesterol.
- Down with sore throat and have a speech or musical the next day? Tamarind is at your rescue. Gargle out all the glitches with a sip of its juice mixed with lukewarm water.
- Anamazing cure for conjunctivitis and dry eye syndrome, is warm tamarind juice, used as eye drops
- It is also a good source of antioxidants that battle against cancer.
- Famed to have reduced fevers, treated bilious disorders, jaundice and catarrh and protected against colds, tamarind pulp in boiling water and little honey is great.
- Tamarind is a spice rich in minerals like copper, iron, calcium, potassium, zinc, selenium and magnesium and controls blood pressure, heart rate, and also the production of red blood cells.
The Queen Ingredient!

This delicately sour and sweet ingredient is popular in Indian, Middle Eastern and South-Asian cuisine in particular, but almost the entire world benefits from its goodness.

In India, it is used in curries, chutneys, achars or pickles, rasams, sambar, vatha kuzhambu, fuchkas, and other vegetable and lentil recipes. Its pulp is also used as marinades, as a solidifying agent in confectionaries, and also to flavour ‘hot and sour’ soups. Moreover there’s also a popular tamarind drink, spiced with dates, honey, sugar, cardamom, cloves and coriander seeds. Loved by non-vegetarians this ingredient also goes into non-veg dishes like, Fish or Mutton Pulusu and other fish or meat curries

In China, precisely Yunnan, tamarind serves as an important ingredient in jams, syrups and chilled drinks. Even Egypt is known to cherish iced drinks made out of tamarind.

Mexicans use it in their sauces, candies, and snacks that are dried and salted or simply sweetened. Some popular Mexican delicacies that tamarind makes possible, are Agua fresca, Agua de tamarindo, raspados, Pelon Pelo Rico, Pulparindo, Batilongo and many more.

Also served, rolled into balls of some 5 cm diameter, along with white granulated sugar and a blend of spices sprinkled on it, tamarind is loved this way in various places like, Colombia, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Mexico, Grenada and some other Latin American countries. There, they are known as ‘tambran’ balls.

Gurame and Ikan asam, are the two popular Javanese dishes that make use of tamarind extensively, all throughout the expanse of Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia. Even Maluku, Sulawesi and Manado cuisines love tamarind!

Kenya, especially the Swahili people adorn tamarind to garnish legumes and make juices, while also to flavour rice.

In Thailand, kaeng som, which is a sour curry, is among those many dishes that use tamarind as their central ingredient. And, Vietnam too basks in its goodness by using it in their soups, like Canh chua, and other drinks, candies and sauces.

And therefore, here I come to conclude that my gastronomically romantic relationship with tamarind has indeed been extremely healthy and prosperous, and therefore here’s two of my favourite tamarind recipes, that I discovered, tried and loved!

Tamarind Chicken

Ingredients
- 2 tbsps. Fresh Tamarind paste
- 4 Chicken legs
- 1 tbsp. Galangal (or you can use ginger), cut into thin strips
- 4tbsps. Olive oil
- Dried red chillies 2-3
- 6 cloves of Garlic
- 500 grams Saunf or Fennel see ds
- 6 finely chopped fresh basil leaves
- Salt and crushed black peppercorns to taste
Method
1. Assemble ginger or galangal, tamarind paste in a bowl and mix them well.
2. In a non-stick pan, heat 1 tbsp olive oil and add the dried red chillies and sauté them until the colour transforms and a smoky fragrance fills the air around.
3. Pop in garlic and fennel seeds and continue sautéing on low flame for approximately 2 minutes. After this step is over, let the mixture cool down, and then grind it to a coarse paste.
4. Mix the paste with the tamarind mixture. Add a tablespoon of olive oil into it and mix. Top it up with some basil and mix again.
5. Now, mix the chicken legs,(that have been halved beforehand) in the above mixture
6. Set it aside to marinate for some 10-15 minutes(longer the better)
7. Heat the grill pan. Use the remaining olive oil, now, to rub on the chicken pieces. Grill for 5 minutes.
8. Garnish and serve with steamed rice, pulao or parathas.
Tamarind chickpeas

Ingredients
- Vegetable or Sunflower oil-1 tbsp
- Chopped tomatoes-400g
- Tamarind paste-1 tbsp
- Chopped onion, medium- 2
- Chickpeas, (drained and rinsed) – 410g
- Nigella seeds (available at supermarkets) or cumin or celery seeds- ½ tsp.
- Fennel seeds -1½ tsp.
- Green chillies, (seeded and cut into quarters lengthways) -3
- Light muscovado sugar or normal sugar- 2-3 tsp.
- Paprika – 1 tsp.
- Turmeric – 1 tsp.
- Fresh coriander (chopped) – 1 tbsp
- half a 250g/9oz bag baby spinach leaves
- natural yogurt and chapattis, to serve
Method
1. In a non-stick pan, heat oil and sauté nigella (cumin or celery) seeds and fennel seeds, for some 10 minutes. Add the onion into it and cook till slightly golden for some 8-10 minutes.
2. Put in the chillies, tomatoes, chickpeas, paprika, turmeric and sugar and bring it to boil,and let it simmer for some 10 minutes. Stir in the tamarind paste and sprinkle with coriander. Add the spinach leaves and continue to stir gently til they’ve wilted.
3. Garnish and serve with yogurt and chapattis.
(Recipe sources-bbcgoodfood.com and Food Food TV Channel)
July 30, 2014
The Lebanese Trail
Since my affection for Lebanese cuisine transformed into an obsession, and I started to empty my pockets at every other Lebanese joint in the city, which though made me popular and loved among their owners, but my savings began to race to the descending point. I was worried, and about to become penniless, but my obsession was experiencing its ascending waves and ridges, that didn’t seem to end. And, so I had this (brilliant) idea of saving myself, all that expense, with only a little bit of research and lots of effort. I started to cook, bake and indulge in the Lebanese delicacies on my own, and here’s the itinerary of my palate-pampering venture!
FALAFEL

A traditional Middle East delight, this dish takes only two hours of dedication, and delivers you with varied options of consumption of its heavenly taste. This can be enjoyed with pocket-mouth pita bread, or wrapped around with lafa, which is a flatbread. Top it up with some fresh salad, spicy hot sauce, pickled vegetables, or the traditional drizzle of tahini-based sauces would do the magic!

INGREDIENTS
- Dried chickpeas or garbanzo beans – 1 cup
- Chopped onion(large) – 1
- Chopped garlic – 2 cloves
- Chopped fresh parsley – 3 tablespoons
- Coriander – 1 teaspoon
- Cumin – 1 teaspoon
- Essentials according to taste – Salt, oil and pepper.
METHOD
- This step isn’t really required if you’re using canned beans. But otherwise, place the dried beans in a bowl and fill the bowl up with cold water. Allow them to soak overnight.
- Next morning, drain the chickpeas and pour them into a pan of fresh water and bring to boil.
- Let it boil for some 5 minutes and then allow to simmer on low flame, for about an hour. Then, drain and cool for 15minutes
- Assemble chickpeas, onion, coriander, garlic, cumin, salt and pepper in a bowl and add flour to it.
- Mash the chickpeas along with all the other ingredients (this can be done in a food processor) to make a thick paste out of it.
- Make small balls out of the mixture, and slightly flatten them.
- Deep fry until golden brown.
- Serve hot, with humus, tahini or pita bread and salad!
TARATOR SAUCE

My personal favourite! This heavenly sauce goes with almost everything edible under the sun. Try it with veggies, seafood, beef, chicken, or lamb, and discover the extra edge.

INGREDIENTS
- Sesame seeds (for Tahini paste) – 2 cups
- Olive oil- 4 tablespoons
- Lemon juice – ¾ cup
- Water- 2 tablespoons
- Crushed garlic- 2 cloves
- Salt- ½ teaspoon
- Finely chopped parsley – ½ teaspoon
- A dash of cumin
METHOD
- To make the Tahini paste, roast the sesame seeds gently over low heat while stirring continuously for about 10 minutes. The colour is not needed to change, so when done, remove flame and keep it aside to cool.
- Add the roasted sesame seeds to a food processor bowl along with 4 tablespoons of olive oil and make a thick paste out of it. Add more oil if needed. Your tahini paste is ready, so let it cool and then refrigerate.
- Again, in a food processor, assemble tahini paste, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and cumin together and mix well. Keep adding water while mixing, but maintain its thickness.
- Remove from the processor into a bowl and stir in parsley. Refrigerate it in jars and indulge!
LAMB AND KISHK KIBBEH

INGREDIENTS
- Olive oil( to deep fry)
- Greek-style yoghurt
- Tarator sauce for garnishing
Kibbeh shell
- Fine Burghul( cracked wheat) – 300g
- Hot water – 675ml
- Sabaht baharat (Lebanese seven spice: a combination of ¼ tsp. cloves, ¼ tsp. cardamom,2 tsps. cumin, ½ tsp. nutmeg, 1 tsp. coriander, ½ tsp. cinnamon and 1 tsp. pepper with 2 tsps. smoked paprika. Ready-made is available in stores)
- Lamb leg(all sinew removed and cut into small pieces)- 360g
- Salt and black pepper
Kibbeh farce
- Olive oil- 1 tablespoon
- Finely chopped garlic- 1 clove
- Finely chopped small brown onion- ½
- Finely chopped silverbeet leaves and stems- 2
- Cooked and mashed chickpeas- ½ cup
- Sabaht baharat- 1 tablespoon
- Peeled and chopped tomatoes- 2-3 cups
- Dried mint- 3teaspoon
- Kishk powder – 50g
- Labna- 30g
- Salt and pepper, to taste
METHOD
- For the kibbeh shell, soak the burghul in hot water until they turn soft. Drain the excess water after it’s done.
- Combine the softened burghul, sabaht baharat and lamb in a bowl, and season it with salt and pepper. Mix and then mince the mixture along with the meat.
- In a food processer then process the entire mixture until a thick and sticky consistency is formed. Cover and refrigerate.
- For the kishk farce, in a frying pan, add oil and garlic and sauté for 1- 2 minutes on medium flame, until its fragrance fills the air. Toss in the onion and silverbeet stems and cook for 2-3 minutes, until the onion softens.
- Add the silverbeet leaves, chickpeas, sabaht baharat and sprinkle a pinch of salt and let it cook until the leaves are wilted.
- Add the tomatoes and dried mint into it and cook for a minute, just to soften. Remove it from the flame and add the kishk powder and labna and mix. Transfer in a bowl and refrigerate.
- To assemble, take an egg sixe amount of kibbeh shell mixture and shape it into a ball. Poke a hole in it, using the thumb and keep digging deeper to make space for the filling. Stuff a tablespoon of kishk farce in it and seal the ball. Repeat it with the others. Once done, refrigerate them for half an hour to set and firm up
- Then, deep fry the kibbeh in a saucepan for 4-5 minutes until dark golden. Drain on a tissue to get rid of the every oil.
- Serve hot with the heavenly tarator sauce, or yogurt and salad.
LAMB SHAWARMA

INGREDIENTS
- Plain yogurt- 2 cups
- Distilled white vinegar – ¼ cup
- Olive oil – ¼ cup
- Lemon juice – 3 tablespoons
- Garlic, minced – 3 cloves
- Ground cinnamon – ½ teaspoon
- Ground nutmeg – ½ teaspoon
- Dried oregano – ½ teaspoon
- Bay leaves- 2
- Boneless lamb legs(cut into strips) – 3 ½ pounds
- Olive oil – 2 tablespoons
- Pita bread rounds (8-inch) – 8 pieces
- Tomatoes (thinly sliced) – 2
- Onion( thinly sliced) – 2
- Fresh mint or coriander leaves – ½ bunch
METHOD
- Whisk in yogurt, vinegar, ¼ cup of olive oil, garlic, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, oregano and bay leaves, in a bowl, and then pour the mixture into a re-sealable plastic bag.
- Put the thinly sliced meat into the bag to coat them with the marinade and seal the bag while squeezing out the excess air. Marinate the lamb, in a refrigerator, overnight.
- Next day, in a heated non-stick pan add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and pour in the lamb and marinade. Cook until the lamb has lost its pinkish hue and is tender (for about 15-20 minutes).
- Continue stirring while the meat cooks. Once done, divide the cooked lamb among the warmed pita breads, and garnish with tomatoes, onions, fresh mint or coriander leaves. Serve with Tarator sauce at the side (you can also sauté the onions and tomatoes, for a spicier texture, but I like them fresh because it’s healthier that way!)
Tada!
July 30, 2014
Savoury indulgence on Eid
Celebration of Id, without haleem on the menu is preposterous! And, this realization dawned upon me, after my acquaintance with a Muslim friend led to the arrival of an invitation for ‘Id ki daawat’ at their place. With no prior information or preparation I felt elated and made my way to their set destination. Having been alien to Islamic customs, however, did not dwindle my enthusiasm rather infuriated it, and after my arrival, when it was time to eat, I was shocked at the array of delicacies laid down on the huge wooden table. All, I had known to expect was many types of kebabs, shorbas, biryani, kormas and basbousas. The table, had taken a plethoric dimension.

My friend however, well aware of my palate-fantasies and curiosities, volunteered to introduce me with all of the savoury dishes, laid down there. What intrigued me the most, was their holy dish, Haleem, which was particularly consumed on this day. After further enquiry, with periodical interventions by the elders of the family to add minute details to the conversation, I comprehended that Haleem is a popular stew made out of wheat, barley, meat( which is usually beef, mutton, but also sometimes chicken) lentils and spices. It is slow cooked for almost seven to eight hours in order to unleash its divine taste and qualities, till, it reaches a paste-like thick aromatic consistency.

Its origin, however, is said to be lying in an Arabian dish called Harisah, which is an ancient delicacy, dating back to some 10^th century or so, interwoven around an interesting history that I seemed to enjoy listening to, while gulping an extra helping of haleem and kebabs.

So, according to the oldest member of the family, Dada-jaan, the recipe for Harisah was first put down in a book called Kitab Al-Tabikh (Book of recipes) by Abu Muhammad al-Muzaffar ibn Sayyar which is said to be one of world’s oldest surviving Arabic cookbooks, and that this recipe has many similarities with what, in these contemporary times, Middle East boasts as Haleem. It was said that Harisah, the ancestor of haleem was actually invented by the soldiers of the Hyderabad Nizam’s army, to cater to their gastronomic needs. Something similar to the traditional Harisah is said to be still available in a place called Barkas, Hyderabad, however under the name of Haris.Had never anticipated that a food item, would ever have such an illustrious past. The acquired knowledge aggravated my curiosity, and I vouched to myself, that given the opportunity, I would surely venture to try out the ancient dish Harisah. However, that was still just too distant for me then, and so I chose to retort back to unearthing the secret recipe that Dadee-jaan would mostly boast of. Was it my charm, or vexing curiosity that hung around me, I luckily managed to string it out .But after learning its elaborate preparation, I became sceptical of my capabilities and courage to endanger the cooking gas to prepare this dish, which involved seven to eight hours on the flame. Nevertheless, if you are beyond such scepticism and are willing to dedicate your time, energy and resources for this divine delicacy, here’s a little help I could manage.

Haleem Recipe

INGREDIENTS
- Mutton or Beef- 1 ½ kilograms
- Wheat grains (crushed and soaked for 1 ½ hour) – ½ kilograms
- Onions (thinly sliced) – 4 large
- Gram Lentils (soaked and boiled)- 1 cup
- Garam masala powder- 1 tsp.
- Turmeric powder- 1 tsp.
- Coriander powder – 1 ½ tbsp.
- Red Chilli powder – 2 tbsp.
- Garlic paste – 1 tbsp.
- Ginger paste – 1tbsp.
- Dalda Banaspati or any clarified butter (ghee) – 1 ½ cup
- A pinch of soda
- Salt to taste
For Seasoning
- Fresh Coriander leaves (finely chopped) – 1 bunch
- Fresh Mint leaves (finely chopped) – 1 bunch
- Sliced Onion (large)- 1
- Ginger root (medium) – 2 pieces
- Lemons (cut in quarters) – 4
- Dalda Banaspati or clarified butter (ghee) – 2 cups
- Green chillies (seeded and finely chopped) – to taste
- Garam masala powder – 1 tsp.
- Cumin seeds (roasted and ground) – 1 tsp.
METHOD
- In a pan, heat Banaspati or the clarified butter, and add the meat, garlic, garam masala powder, turmeric ,red chilli powder, , coriander powder and salt. Carefully, smear the meat in these spices and let it cook for some time on medium flame.
- Take another separate pan, and fill it up with water. Boil the wheat grains in it with a pinch of salt. Keep a check over it, and once the water starts to bubble and the grains become tender and squashy, add a pinch of soda in it and cook for some 15-12 minutes more.
- As the water gets soaked, drain the excess and, mix the grains with the mead. Keep stirring till all of it is mixed properly.
- In a food processor, grind the lentils, and by adding a few cups of water, bring it to paste-like consistency.
- Pour in the lentil paste into the meat and wheat grain mixture, and stir continuously. Position the pan, on a griddle or heavy tava, on low flame and cook some 30 to 40 minutes.
- Sauté the sliced onions in ghee or clarified butter, and drain the excess oil, with the help of a tissue paper. Once the haleem is cooked, spread the fried onions over it, and sprinkle the garam masala powder, fresh mint and coriander leaves. Garnish it with cumin and ginger. While serving it, sprinkle some more seasoning!
Though I haven’t yet tried making it properly due to certain limitations, I have still been engaged with the consumption of Haleem from time to time, and also had the opportunity to witness an actual haleem competition. On the day of Id, this week, I’m planning to once again indulge in its rich and luscious taste, expecting some more company this time!
July 27, 2014
Foodie Dare- World’s most grotesque ‘delicacies’!

“Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” ― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

An inspiration from this was taken by me and my friend, to exercise a daily routine of thinking out six impossible things to eat for breakfast and we both propounded the most disgusting, bizarre and seriously impossible things one could ever gulp in, forget about eating them for a meal. However, the term ‘impossible’ soon seemed problematized when a much unbelievable truth surfaced to our knowledge. Most of the food ( mostly inedible in our perspective) items that we had imagined and put forward in accordance with our morning mental exercise, to our dismay actually were beyond the scope of impossibility and they actually exist to this date!

It was this idea that triggered us to delve a bit deeper into this context and discover a list of food items that seriously are beyond our scope of consumption, however,it seems like a lot many think unlike us, as the popularity of such weird ‘delicacies’, among the people of respective tribes, intrigues me.So, here’s a list of World’s creepiest and most eccentric vivers!

*ALERT: Highly hideous, horrendous and taste-jeopardizing content. If you could survive beholding this grotesque gastronomic journey till the end, hats off to you; If you cannot…Well,goodluck!

Baby Shark Curry

A star dish of the Goan cuisine, actually deserves to be called a delicacy, owing to its popularity and its price. However, having to eat a baby shark while contemplating on your experiences of the scenes from the movie ‘Jaws’ would be quite interesting.

Eri Polu

A famed food ingredient of Assam, which is actually the eri silkworm pupa.Once the silkworm begins encaving the cocoon of eri silk, thus beginning the pupa state of its life cycle,the silk is taken out by boiling the cocoon in hot water, and this is when the ingredient,that is the leftover silkworm is brought to use. This,paired up with Khorisha,another ingredient,an aromatic exotic dish is made.

Dog Meat

Ok, if you’re one among the brigade of doggy-lovers, I’m extremely sorry to let you know of this calamity that has befallen over the dogs of Nagaland and Mizoram, who consider dog meat, a much relished part of their cuisine. It’s even disgusting to think that they could fry, grill, smoke, or cook curries out of this poor thing!

Note: The photos are extremely obnoxious, therefore I have chosen against putting them up here.

Black Rice

Deemed to be extremely healthy,it is known by many names, Magic Rice, Forbidden Rice ,Purple Rice, and Black Rice,and is a loved food preparation in Manipur .This type,only found in India and China,is black in colour when harvested,but becomes purple,when cooked.It is also enjoyed with coconut milk in Kerela.

Phan Pyut

Is anybody interested to have rotten potatoes for breakfast? Yes right rotten,it is.And, guess what,these people seriously love it to the extent that they do not harvest them when ripe, but leave them to rot, till they can use them for their beloved delicacy. These potatoes,then are pickled ,however some enjoy it raw,in the North East parts of India. And, I was under the impression, that odour of the rotten potatoes in my fridge would choke me to death (which drove me to throw them).

Chaprah

You’re the kind,who likes it all spicy and hot? Bomb chillies and paprika had been your best friends all this time? Then,let me take you to the next level. In a tribe in Chattisgarh,the people make a very popular chutney that they consume on a daily basis,to add an edge to their meal,it’s called Chaprah.Now, the interesting part,it’s made of red ants and their eggs,yes literally. This preparation is made,by drying the red ants,and making it’s chutney,then spices and sweeteners are added to it,and it’s good to go.Just WOW!

Black Ivory coffee

A coffee that’s the world’s most expensive, about at $1,1000 per kilogram, is made from beans that are eaten by Thai elephants and then plucked from their dung! Yuck!

Fried Frog Legs

A Lepcha(Sikkim) tribe delicacy,it is said to be very healthy. However healthy it might be but,gulping in fried legs of the amphibian would seriously be a trest,isn’t it?

Chicken Blood N Pig Intestines Soup

Time for some bowl-full of real Halloween red soup that is made out of the blood of chicken and pig intestines.Jadoh is the name of this hideous soup that is consumed by the Jaintia tribe of North East.And yep,they even cook it with rice!

Stir fried Tarantula

If spiders had been your greatest fear, then you ought to try this! In Cambodia, this stuff is literally sold on streets.Imagine biting on their eight stir fried legs?!

Snake wine

Love anything scaly? How about try some slithery, pungent, exotic snake wine? A super expensive and popular beverage, snake wine is eulogized to possess restorative qualities and is widely consumed in countries like China and Vietnam. It is prepared in two ways, either by macerating a real snake in rice wine or by simply blending in the bodily fluids of a snake, such as is blood, along with the alcohol. Seriously Whoa!

Urine-soaked eggs

Yes,no need to twitch your eyes repeatedly,you read it right.So,to end with the gruesome venture,I bring here upon the declaration of the most unpalatable,obnoxious and odious food item ever,the Urine-soaked eggs,popularly known as Tong Zi Dan,which literally means Virgin Boy Eggs . Prepared in Dongyang County which is in the eastern China’s Zhejiang Province, this delicacy is universally acclaimed. For this,vendors,early in the morning traverse the streets to the elementary schools,to collect the urine of young boys. It is then,that they soak the eggs in the urine overnight ,so that it can absorb the unmistakably pungent smell. And,the next day,happy customers barge into the stalls to stuff their bags with these eggs,that promise a radiated energy and prevention from ill- health. Well, despite its ‘believed’ medicinal value,would you ever afford to experience it’s taste?

My quest, hasn’t yet come to an end, though a temporary halt is imperative. Myths of sautéed cockroaches and lizards, kebabed monkey-heads and many more have started to flicker into the realm of reality. Though I am not sure, if in near future I would ever be brave enough to get a taste of these vivers, however, if chance permits, an experience of witnessing these, would surely be intriguing!

July 27, 2014
Instant Noodles at rescue!
This one’s on an inspiration from a friend who, much to his gastronomic tragedy, is leading an independent life with zero cooking skills in Bangalore. To worsen things for him, he has a staunch dislike for Kannada cuisine. Eating out is obviously an option, and my earlier article which was on the best eating-out places in Bangalore, did seem to help him lot, but that on a regular basis is not a healthy option I suppose.

So, this friend of mine who, prior to his relocation, was a gluttonic persona, when it came to gulping in plethoric amounts of food, beyond the realms of simplicity and home. Expecting his mother to impersonate a chef, this man now broods at the thought of eating out, after having been seriously down with food poisoning for almost a week.

Therefore, the dilemmic situation where nor his pocket or his health allowed regular meals from restaurants or fast-food centres, he had to take to take it upon himself to start cooking. Instant noodles the only prospective saviour, but that too would be extremely monotonous for every day. So, to start off with we found out a few recipes (some that I had invented out of my love for noodles) that are super easy, simple and divinely delicious. So treat yourself these quick tasty ventures as soon as possible!

Maggi (Veg or Non-veg) Omelette

INGREDIENTS
- Maggi Noodles (of course!) – 1 small packet
- Semolina (rava) – 1 cup
- Green chillies – 2-3
- Onion (medium) – 2
- Besan (Bengal gram flour) – 1 cup
- Dhania or Coriander leaves
- Sprouted moong (whole green gram )- ½ cup
- Grated coconut- ¼ cup
- Grated carrot- ¼ cup
- Olive oil- ½ cup
- Ginger-garlic paste- 1 teaspoon
- Egg (optional) – 1
- Grated Cheese
- Pinch of salt
METHOD
- Boil the maggi in 2 cups of water. Drain and set aside. Drizzle a few drops of olive oil to prevent the noodles from sticking to one another.
- In a bowl, mix besan, rava, and ginger-garlic paste, salt and keep aside.
- Beat the egg,and put in the noodles,maggi masala, chopped onions,grated carrot and coconut,coriander leaves, green chillies, and mix it with the basen mixture,thouroughly,to make a batter with some water.
- Take a non-stick dosa pan, and brush some oil onto it and heat it.
- Pour and spread out the batter, on the pan, to make an omelette.
- Sprinkle some moong sprouts over the omelette
- Cover the lid and let it simmer on low heat.
- Remove after 2 minutes,and garnish with cheese and coriander leaves! Voila!
Noodles Upma

INGREDIENTS
- Maggi Noodles- 1 packet
- Finely chopped veggies (carrots, capsicum, beans, etc.)- 1 cup
- Chopped onions – ¼ cup
- Chopped green chillies- ½ cup
- Chopped coriander for garnishing
- Mustard seeds (rai/sarson) – ¼ teaspoon
- Olive oil or vegetable oil- 1 tablespoon
- Curry leaves (Kadi patta) – 5-6
- Asafoetida (hing) – ¼ teaspoon
- Salt to taste
METHOD
- Put 2-3 drops of oil in a small vessel of water and bring it to boil.
- Add in the noodles into it and allow it to cook for 2 minutes
- Remove from heat and drain the excess water
- In a pan, heat oil and add the mustard seeds, curry leaves and asafoetida.
- Once the seeds crackle, pop in the onions, and sauté for a minute
- Add in the green chillies and the veggies. Mix well and sprinkle salt and let it cook for some 5 minutes, till the vegetables have softened.
- Add the cooked noodles into it and mix.
- Sprinkle the coriander leaves and serve with cheese (optional)
Maggi Masala Tikka

Now, so much of Maggi, might result in some plates of leftovers. For that too, we have a solution. The sticky heap of noodles can be transformed into a quirky evening snack in just 10 minutes.

INGREDIENTS
- Maggi noodles – leftover, of almost 1 packet amount
- Boiled potatoes -2
- Boiled carrot- 1
- Chopped onions- 2
- Chopped coriander leaves
- Ginger-garlic paste- 3 tsp.
- Olive oil or vegetable oil- 5 tbsps.
- Chat masala- 1 tsp.
- Bread crumbs (optional)
- Biscuit(powdered)
- Salt to taste
METHOD
- Boil a packet of Maggi in 2 cups of water, or simply use the leftover Maggi
- Take a medium bowl and grate in boiled potatoes and carrots and bread crumbs into the boiled noodles and mix well. Don’t worry about breaking the noodles, that doesn’t really matter.
- Add into it, the ginger-garlic paste, chat masala, Maggi masala (optional), salt and coriander, and mix.
- Once the mixture is done properly, shape them into small flat balls, like tikkas.
- Dip the tikkas in the biscuit powder for a crispy texture and deep fry or shallow fry them. Soak them in tissue paper to get rid of the excess oil ,sprinkle some more chat masala or Maggi masala and serve with tamarind or dhania chutney. I suggest garlic sauce or tarator sauce(recipe given in my another article)
Baked Corn and Cheese Maggi

An inspired version of classic baked Macaroni and cheese, this is one of my favourites. Planning to dip into a silky, gooey and smooth delicacy while flipping through the pages of your favourite book, or while enjoying a film, this is the perfect Friday-evening companion!

INGREDIENTS
- Maggi Noodles- 2 packets
- Shredded mozzarella cheese- 2 ½ cup
- Water- 1 ½ cup
- Butter- 2 tbsps.
- Semi boiled corns- ½ cup
- Salt to taste
METHOD
- In a vessel, pour 2 ½ cups of water and bring it to boil.
- Add the Maggi noodles into it along with the masala.
- Pop in the corns and sprinkle the Maggi masala and let it cook. Don’t overcook the noodles, or even leave it too watery.
- Take a flat baking tray and grease it with few stokes of butter
- As you see the noodles half cooked, pour it all into the baking tray
- Level it all and cover the top surface with shredded cheese
- Sprinkle some fresh herbs (coriander, rosemary or parsley) onto it.
- Now, slide in the baking tray in a preheated oven and let it bake for some 4- 5 minutes.
- Once the cheese starts melting, and you can glimpse a light brown crust on top, it’s time to take the take tray out. Serve and dig!
Bon appetite!
July 27, 2014
Cooking Classics- Mother’s Day Special
While I was busy pulling out the memory strings to think out the best Mother’s day dessert for mum, (of course), I realized how disappointed she’d been with last year’s Choco-mousse with blueberry topping! The reason however, wasn’t my inexperienced cooking skills because surprisingly it came out real good. It was rather my mum’s unbelievable disgust for Chocolate, and yes UNBELIEVABLE is the word. So, I had pledged never to go global, while cooking for her. At least not with desserts. And, that’s when the idea of going traditional clicked my mind. It’s time for not just me but for us all to turn back to the roots and unearth the Indian traditional delish-delights. That’s in vogue, I tell you!

So, here’s the list of classic desserts from four different states of India that I’d made to decide on my show-stopper. This is for you all, who have mums with similar nationalistic-gastronomic ideas and of course for all those newly-wed wives trying on cooking tricks to impress their in-laws and husband!

Pineapple Kesari Bath/ Semolina Pudding:

To start with I present to you this diva of Kannada Cuisine! Served as a prasad on the Satyanarayana Swami pujas, this ‘sweetie’ is indeed an uncommon version of the well-known Suji ka halwa, for its use of pineapple.

INGRIDIENTS
1. 1½ cups Semolina/Rava(use chiroti rava for best results/Sooji)
2. 1¼ -1½ cups Sugar( According to preferrences)
3. ¾ cups Pineapple, finely diced (you can also puree it if you want)
4. ¾ -1 cup Ghee (Be generous!)
5. ¼ tsp. Saffron, soaked in a tbsp. of warm milk or water
6. 12-15 Cashew Nuts, broken
7. Around 20-24 Raisins/Sultanas (Optional but recommended)
8. 5- 6 green cardamoms, powdered (optional)
METHOD
1. To speed up things, boil 4 cups of water and keep aside. Heat 2 tbsp of ghee in a heavy bottomed pan and add broken cashews to it. When the colour turn light golden, add raisins or sultanas and fry till golden.Remove with a slotted spoon and keep aside.
2. Then,dissolve 1 cup of sugar in ½ cup of water and add the finely chopped or pureed pineapple to it. Cook them on medium flame, until all’s cooked through and the liquid is boiling, say about for 5 minutes.
3. Add a tsp. of ghee to the already greased and hot pan, followed by semolina or sooji,and roast till fragrant and golden.Keep stiring it for around 3-4 minutes and don’t let it turn brown.
4. Add around that 4 cups of boiling water,you’d kept aside to the roasted rava or sooji and let it cook unperturbed for some 3 minutes on medium flame.
5. Next, blend in the semolina with remaining sugar, the pineapple and sugar syrup and keep stirring so that no lumps are formed.Do this for some 3-4 minutes.
6. Be brave and slowly keep adding the ghee, one tbsp at a time, while stirring the mixture alongside. Once you’re ghee indulgence has reached its summit, keep stirring till the grain is tender and gooey, and the ghee starts to separate to the edge of the vessel.
7. Add the roasted cashews and raisins and the saffron soaked in warm milk,and the powdered cardamom and blend.
8. Once done with that,don’t stop to catch a breath,and instantly pour in the Pineapple kesari Bhath into a greased plate or a cake tin and spread it well. Now’s the time to hold on to your patience, while it rests for 5-10 minutes. Shape them as desired and serve hot,warm or chilled.You can even top it up with your favourite ice-cream flavour!
Dudh Puli / Coconut Stuffed Rice Dumpling:

This traditional (and nostalgic) Bengali dessert(also known as pitha) is especially made for the occasion of Makar/ Poush Sankranti. This sweet-shell puli is something I was about to choose as my show-stopper, till I realized on the very last moment that mum perfected it, and so didn’t dare to move further! However, its awesomeness deserves exposal and so here’s the recipe for it!

INGREDIENTS : (for around 25-30 Pulis)

For the kheer or milk
1. Full cream Milk : 1.5 litre
2. Palm Jaggery : 8tbsp (Generous alert!)
3. Green Cardamom :2-3,crushed
For the stuffing
1. Grated coconut : 2 cups
2. Sugar/ Jaggery : 1 cup
For the outer shell/puli
1. Rice Flour : 500 gm. (My mum, as per the tradition,mixes boiled rice flour with non-boiled rice flour in 2:1 ration,however to avoid the hassel,you can also opt for the store-bought rice flour)
2. Salt : a pinch
3. Lukewarm water to make the dough
METHOD
1. For the filling : Make small pieces of the jaggery to help it blend well with the grated coconut. First dry roast the coconut in a wide pan on low flame, and then add jaggery, one tbsp at a time. Keep stirring until the browned mixture starts to stick together. Once the mixture stops sticking to the pan, give a good stir for a minute or two on medium flame and then remove it from heat to cool off. When cool enough to touch, take 2tbsp of the mixture on your palm and start preparing small oval balls. Line them up on a flat plate.
2. For The Outer shell or puli: Sift in rice flour, and salt in a mixing bowl and make a soft dough, while adding lukewarm water in turns. When the dough soft and nice ,quickly make balls out of it and keep them in the same bowl.Cover it with a cloth or Clingfilm to avoid it from hardening
3. For the Puli : Now’s the tricky part! Take the dough balls and flatten them with your fingers, on the palm to form the shape of a circular disk. Remember, that the shell should be medium thin. Place the oval-shaped filling balls on them and press the both the edges of the shell together, to form a half moon. Pinch the edges to seal it( a lot like momos!) .Continue this till you’re out of filling and dough balls!
4. For the sweetened and thickened milk/kheer : In a heavy bottomed saucepan,boil milk and simmer on low flame, until its amount reduces to half. Let it cook for some 10 minutes on very low flame.Bring it to room temperarture and add jaggery (never add it to hot boiling milk at it can curdle the milk).Then slowly start adding the pulis or dumling into it and cook them for 7-10minutes on medium flame. Once the pulis have changed colour and have started to float on top, one by one, its then, and the ‘pull-off’ alert! Remove from flame and add the crushed cardamom and mix,but be carefull not to break the pulis. Continue to cook,there again,for 5-10 minutes,until u’ve reached the desired consistency.However the milk should neither be too thick nor too thin.
5. Done all this, you’re good to go! Transfer to serving bowl. Garnish with pistachios or saffron if desired and serve fresh (never cold as it would harden the pulis)!
Thekua/Khajur:

This is a quintessential Bihari dessert, that dazzles almost every festivity, but is synonymous to the occasion of Chhat Puja. So here’s how you need to proceed:

INGREDIENTS
1. Whole wheat flour (preferably hand ground) -500 gm.
2. Dry Coconut (chopped-rectangular approx.3x5mm ) -2 tbsp
3. Jaggery or sugar- 300 gm
4. Green Cardamom( peeled and mashed) – 4
5. Fennel seeds(optional) – 1 tsp.
6. Whole pepper seeds(optional) – 1 tsp.
7. Ghee ( or vegetable oil) – 2 tbsp.
8. Ghee, for deep frying – 500 gm.
9. Water – 1½ cup
10. Mould or Saancha( for making imprint on Thekua cookies)
METHOD
1. Melt jaggery, in water and add green cardamom to it. When dissolved, remove from heat allow to cool. It should have syrup consistency
2. Mix wheat flour, 2tbsp. of ghee, coconut, fennel and whole pepper, in a large mixing bowl
3. Pour in the jaggery syrup slowly, for making the dough, out of the dry mixture. Remember to use as much jaggery syrup as required, not excess. As you can use the remaining syrup as an optional dip!
4. Clean and grease you palms with ghee, as it’s time to make balls out of the dough.Take a fistful of it, press it flat on the palm to create an elliptical shape. Once you’re satisfied with the shape, transfer it to the mould by pressing the dough against the mould to imprint the pattern on each side.
5. Continue this procedure until you’ve used up all your dough.And,now They’re ready to be deeply fried in ghee.Drop the thekuas few at a time,into the hot ghee,and deep fry them on low flame,till light golden and crisp.
6. Drain it all,and allow to cool,and then their ready to be served or stored in airtight containers
Rava Cake / Semolina Cake:

The ultimate Maharastrian delish delight, that caught me by both surprise and awe! It’s super-simple and light and yet it’s rich authentic flavour, fills you with nostalgia!

INGREDIENTS
1. Fine semolina (rava) – 2 cups
2. Yogurt(regular low fat) – 2 cups
3. Sugar – 2½ cups
4. Ghee (or softened butter) – 3tbsps.
5. Baking soda- 1/4tsp.
6. Milk( to make the batter) – as required
7. Cardamom pods (powdered) – 2/3tsp.
8. Saffron- a pinch
9. Vanilla extract (optional) – 1/2tsp.
10. Sliced almonds(optional)-1/4 cup
METHOD
1. Mix semolina(rava), yogurt(dahi),ghee or butter and sugar, in a mixing bowl and make a batter while adding milk from time to time to smoothen it( you can add eggs also at this step)
2. Then, let it rest for 30 minutes to an hour. Only add the baking powder, vanilla extract and almonds, 5 minutes before baking it(or cooking it on gas stove,which is the traditional way)
3. If you’re cooking it, then pour in the batter into an aluminium cake dish and place it on a frying pan or kadhai.Cover it with another hollow pan or kadhai and cook over high flame.In about 10 minutes,it would be done.
4. However, (like me) if you love baking,then preheat the oven at 180 degrees and pour in the batter into a greased cake tin. Sprinkle the saffron on top and let it bake for about another 30 minutes.
5. When done, bring it on a cooling rack and cling on to your patience for 10 more minutes,until its ready to be sliced and served
6. It’s goes really well as tea party snac,however, I prefer it with ice cream topping!
I ended up choosing the Pineapple Kesari Bath for the occasion, though I’m in serious love with the others.I tried them on every other event, with a little bit of experimentation and guess what? My mum was never more pleased!
June 18, 2014
Moreish Wanderings Part-I: Bengaluru
If you really wish to get-away from the stereotypical venturing of ‘popular’ places and join me in my gastronomic peregrination through an array of exotic spaces hid within the heart of one of the most popular urban destinations, your very own B’lore and discover for the ultimate “experience of the unknown”, then here’s your chance!

Bengaluru, commonly known as Bangalore or B’lore, which is ‘usually’ adorned with various titles of-the Silicon Valley of India, the Garden city, the most sought Cosmopolitan city, and so on, is where we are about to head to, but with a savoury twist! I take you to this journey with a promise of showing you the most enchanting incarnation of Bangolorean cuisine, hid within the pompous razzmatazz of its urban life!

Embroidered over the Deccan plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, it is its capital and already enjoys being exalted at the height of 3,000 feet above the sea-level, the fair weather (only if you can ignore the result of urbanization-Pollution) is thus explained!

Now, too much of talking done, to keep things simple and compact, here’s my awesome list of things you HAVE to visit and eat, to wholly experience Bangolorean essence!
- If you’re the ‘Dessert-Daisy’, your life finds meaning here! The Corner House Ice Cream, Residency Road, with an illustrious past of over 25 years, provides you with a haven of delectable delights starting from the simple Hot Chocolate Fudge, Hot Butterscotch and Chocolate Mint to the supremo Rum N Raisins, Death By Chocolate, Rocky Road, Brown Bomb and many more! Promising 100% dairy products since 1982, once a fun food café transformed to an enchanting ice-cream and sundae parlour now, is where the true illumination of indulgence unravels itself while you’re cascading with enthusiasm at their heavenly delights.
- Levitating through the allée of nostalgia, find yourself at Pecos, near Brigade Road, which seems but somehow stuck in the 1974s,with its classic, dark interiors encased within quaint walls with posters and framed music icons and an impressive collection of retro music playing in the background. A refreshing mithridate to the swathe of pubs in Bangalore, Pecos is a charming classic pub, where you can relax in sweet reveries of the past while ,with pitcher of Kingfisher and a bunch of friends to keep you company, you’re let afloat on an bevvied mist hearkening and humming to Dylan, The Stones, Leonard Cohen and so on. The food, here, is just eruptively delicious, especially the chilli beef and pork sausages, and the tamer chicken wings.
- And now, a legendary place near Lalbagh Botanical gardens, where you simply HAVE to go, once in Bangalore-The Mavalli Tiffin Room(MTR),which is indeed synonymous to Bangalore since 1924. Although you’d have to bear bucket loads of patience to get your seat and then your serving, once the food arrives, you would know, all that exercise was worth it! From filter coffees, early morning breakfasts, lunch thalis, masala dosas, rawa idlis, bisi bele bhaat, kesri bhaat, sweet boondis to honey halwas, badam burfis, chandrahara and what not, you can find here an entire assortment of dishes epitomizing the magnificent Karnataka cuisine.
Also, once done with the scrumptious and unctuous indulgence, do take a healthy stroll around the bushes of the garden to explore the bewitching glass house, a replicated version of the lovely Crystal Palace in London.
- If your urge to experience some more of Karnataka’s traditional moreish decadence is not yet over, hop in to another exalted food destination at Gandhi Bazar Circle, Basavanagudi-The Vidyarthi Bhavan, which is famed to serve Bangalore’s most plump, fluffy on the inside and crisp on the outside, ghee-lustred Masala dosas. A very pocket-friendly venture (approx. Rs. 150 for two),this place gives you an extra delightful performance of ‘food-circus’ by their super-waiters in dhotis who can be seen juggling with 10-20 plates and serving them with electrifying speed and precision! However, its remains closed at lunch-time, as they staunching regard that their offerings are merely for tiffins and not meals!
- Get ready for a trip to the inception of liquor industry of B’lore, at Dewar’s bar, which is famed to be one of the earliest bars of Bengaluru. This 1920s bar posted on an attenuated lane of Cockburn Road near Benson town, Bangalore, and appears more like a heritage building(than a bar),wooden roofed, with cane furniture and framed pictures of Hindu as well as Christian deities on the walls. The food, here is a special surprise by Richard who is the Kitchen king of this place. A mechanic cum cooking-enthusiasts, he is sure to unleash you senses with his incendiary fried met and offals. Known to be the favourite hang-out spot for Tamil superstar Sivaji Ganesan and the city’s richest and renowned theatre owners, this place with its olde worlde charm, is surely to add another feather to your cap of toothsome adventures!
- An abode of luscious vegetarian food, Halli Mane is one of the most talked about authentic vegetarian restaurants of Bangalore, located in Malleshwaram .Literally the name means “Village Home” (Halli: village; Mane: home) and so does its exteriors and interiors suggest with rangolis and flower decorations at the entrance, tiled roofs, natural brick walls, lofty ceilings and bounteous greenery, everyday seems festive here! It is a MUST-experience for the bona fide Kannadiga cuisine, (such as ragi mudde, akki roti, soppu saaru, malnadu kadabu, obbattuand payasam etc.) born out of the recipes from agrarian Karnataka that are made using traditional cooking methods, from the staples of the state, and served in the most exquisite Karnataka style, on banana leaf which is laid out in an elongated row.
As mentioned before, this place is usually always alighted with the festive mode, as it regularly hosts fests for organic food, festival delicacies and niche community food. However, if you wish for an extra jingle to your trip to Halli Mane, try visiting this place during occasions like Ugadi, Dasara, Ganesha and Deepavali, as your arrival here would be made more special with traditional pujas and serving of delicacies synonymous to the occasion. Established with an intention of bringing together the much fading tradition of elaborate joint family meals, in the generation of nuclear families, through the rich journey of flavoursome delicacies, is an apt place to come with your entire family to bring back the much loved simplistic reveries of the past!
- Weary of all the dosas and idlis and hankering to set your eyes and bite through succulent pieces of meat? Welcome to the Shivaji Military Hotel! Though lingering into any military hotel would’ve done the needful, but an elitist would want the best, and so the BEST it is! Located at the opposite of Banashankari bus stand, Jayanagar, this is a hotspot for all ‘non-veg Romeos’ and ‘biryani-bonkers’. Other finger-licking items include the chicken-legs,chilli chicken,lamb chops and mutton dry. Though this place dons the back-to-school ambience, wooden seats stowed out neatly in an otherwise empty room,where being ‘empty’ and neat is indeed paradoxical, due it the swarming crowd during the peak hours, so do beware! The Chicken Biryani and Chicken starters get served from 8am till 11am, while from 11 till 3pm, Mutton Biryani and Mutton chops rule their world. So on your next trip to Bangalore, do step in to delve into the sapid extravagance of charcoal cooked biryani and smoky meat served traditionally on banana leaf that enhances its flavour furthermore.
- Now, another dwelling awaits you in this ‘Time-travel endeavour’ on St Mark’s Road, that would apparate you to the good old days of Bangalore in the 70s,at Koshy’s. Experience a time wrap once you set afoot within its chambers and forget about pollution, traffic jams, and other products of advancement that followed the IT boom. Mostly crowded, this place brings together all Bangaloreans, from students, theatrewalas, egalitarian assemblage of journalists, to the retired denizens,Lonely Planet tourists and so on, all cramped up within its bustling expanse, where waiters in bandgala coats cruise through the room to the beats of the whirring fans and the clatter of old cutlery!Prem Koshy, the present owner of this three-generation food joint boasts about this place for having fed almost everybody from Pandit Nehru to Queen Elizabeth. This food junction is extremely lively and is the best place to bump in with friends and spend hours over they’re amazing coffee, special appams-and-stew, while chatting away or snooping over conversations.
- Ho, I have something different up my sleeve! Unleash the Pirate within you (if you’re a Pirates of the Caribbean enthusiast) and come aboard to The Bierre Republic, while meandering through the alleyways of the Church Street. From the gigantic antique mirrors at the entrance along with antique wooden beer barrels heaped at the corner to welcome you, the faint lighting, the archaic wall hangings, to the muffled whiff of an old ship, the wooden staircase ushering to what seemed like an open wooden deck of the ship, everything is simply enthralling! And blimey, The unexpected whisk of the open and enclosed interiors of the restaurant cum bar whilst providing an alluring view of the outside, is what defines this place. For special events and parties, they also have a stage-like area and a DJ console. Get settled down with your tankard of grog, I mean beer, while the menu comes to your table in parts. If you love gooey, cheesy and luscious debauchery then the Chicken pizza is your sinfully mate ‘round here. Apart from that, the flavoursome BBQ chicken is a delight. Served with a candle burning underneath its presentation traps the flavour and adds on the smoky edge to it. Frankly, this place, its liquor and food miscellany, along with the extra edge of pirate theme makes it a very attractive endeavour!
- Ok, this one’s the last but not the least, the best way, in my opinion, to have end this odyssey. Not authentically Bangolorean for its food, but the ambience so deserves a thumbs up, of The Rogue Elephant Café. Though (sadly) you might not find, live elephants loitering around your tables, this restaurant, built in a lovely colonial bungalow, opposite Krishna Rao Park in Basavanagudi, provides you a visual treat with its vintage setting-marble top or heavy wood tables coupled with diverse chairs, and colourful net hammocks overlooking a magnificent garden that the house is attached to. With an extremely romantic setting- jackfruit and mango trees sharing the expanse with delightful rainbow-hued flowering bushes and of course the coconut trees, this place epitomizes tranquillity, where you can relax while reading a book, or breathe in the fresh air while watching the world pass by, and experience unperturbed nature, whilst digging into the bowl of ecstatic white chocolate pudding, steaming chicken lasagne, cinnamon roll or mezze platter. They even have little shop ‘round the corner called Ambara that sells all kinds of vintage artifacts, clothes, gardening items, etc. Come here to literally breathe in the laid-back attitude of B’lore, afloating in recollections of your otherwise electrifying trip, or maybe take your time to write a journal!
Though the list of abodes of Bangalorean delectable delights can hardly be abridged within these few names, a larger part of the gastronomic blueprint of Bangalore, stays unperturbed. These top ten places are worth adding to one’s itinerary, however, personal discoveries are always unparalled. So, get on your boots, and Get, Set, Gulp!
June 7, 2014