Choma

In this day of ready made MTR Rice Sevai - it was most refreshing to see my granny's choma machine (choma is rice sevai in Sankethi)

I enjoyed working this machine to generate lumps of hot and fresh rice sevai early Sunday morning :) Bliss!

Happy Sankranti!

Thanks to mom being around both last year and this, I get to devour my favourite - YeLLu. Yes, thanks to my Dad's Sankethi origins and my mom's willing adaptation into her in-laws customs as well as upholding hers, we got to enjoy both cuisines right from when we were kids!

So I leave you to drool, while I finish it off -

Cheeni Kum!

There is a cute store that has opened next to Anand Sweets on Old Airport Road, called Cheeni Kum. It is part of the Anand Sweets family and sells snacks and other Indian delicacies. If you are anywhere in the vicinity and claim to be anything of a foodie, this store is a no-no to miss. They have a delectable range of Indian snacks (read chips, etc), savouries, khakras, spices, pickles, desserts (chocolate chip cookies etc), and an amazing range of Mukhwas (after meal Indian variety of mints).

We bought the sandwich bhakarwadi (I have been trying any bhakarwadi I can lay my hands on - Haldiram's, Maiya's etc in the quest for that ohh-so-perfect taste, but alas!), and palak chakli, along with a Kalkati Pan Churi packet (mukhwas, one kind of dry pan masala this one).

Ohh, god, they have been just amazing. The Bhakarwadi defeats anything else I have had (I dare say even the originals from Pune). And so does the Palak Chakli - it is just so light and crispy, ohh, please do have one, I can't describe it!

Surprisingly, no online presence (Subhash and I were thinking that some VC has recently invested in Anand stores, even their stores sport a very cute and bright and colourful look these days, and this must be the outcome of that), so I leave you with a picture!

Mmmm..Krispy Kreme!

There are very few things that I loved while in the US which I miss in India - Krispy Kreme being one of them. Gradually but certainly, most brands have opened shop in India and invariably in Bangalore. So since the time Subhash told me that Krispy Kreme was open here, I've been dying to visit. I remember those days in Wisconsin when we used to wait outside the Krispy Kreme stores in the car, for the neon to turn on, and then go inside and wolf down donuts. Sometimes, we've driven from Madison to Milwaukee too, just to have donuts. Somehow in California, I never really visited the stores, although I used to have my share of Krispy Kreme donuts at work, thanks to the Donut Fridays :)

Today, finally we visited! And the place was packed to the gills. We were both surprised to see so many people take to American donuts. And the crowd was varied - old folks to college students. The neon came on just as we entered the store and it was funny to see people take pictures and record videos of the donuts on the assembly line. I confess I felt tickled ;)

Anyway, so I finally bit into a chocolate glazed custard filled donut and my heart and tummy were both happy and all nostalgic!!

Guilty!

So a colleague recently came back from the US and kept getting us Lindor Truffles everyday. Day before yesterday, I was feeling fattened by them, so I decided to keep them in my office to eat later. There was also a Ghirardelli Square (86% dark, let's just call it GD)

Yesterday morning, I checked and both Lindors were gone, along with my bag of raisins, which I normally stock (mostly for eating with Lindt 90% dark chocolate - if you have not tried it, you are missing something). The GD and the bag of dates were intact.

So I sent an email to campus security, notifying them of this incident. Since I assumed, the folks who ate the other stuff were not interested in the dates and GD that they left behind, I let them be where they were.

This morning, those also were gone. I sent them an email again and lamented the incident. In 15 minutes, two officers were in my cabin, explaining that the night cleaning crew had admitted to eating stuff. Normally they are accompanied by security officers while the cabin is unlocked and cleaned. Apparently the food was shared with generous good-will amongst everyone (partners in crime). And they also informed me that both parties were terminated. Terminated! I felt a jolt and a pang of guilt. I just caused two folks a job-loss :( I repeatedly asked the security officers if they cannot just let them go with a warning. They said they cannot :(

This is the classic dharam-sankat. On the one side, there is the argument that this time it was food, next time it can be something more precious (I have lost photographs earlier when I was occupying a cube, since which I stopped putting anything outside, till I moved into a cabin, assuming that since I lock it, the stuff is safe). Or that it was the right thing to do so more people don't start seeing thefts. But then on the other side, was a little bit of food worth a job for a couple of men? :(

I guess the midde-ground is that I stop stocking any food, so I don't tempt anybody into flicking it off in the first place. Is that a win-win for everyone?

Oh god!

The foodie and her sense of smell

Was down with a beastly cold all weekend (starting Friday evening). I lost my voice and faculties of smell and taste. Voice is slowly back now, but smell and taste still evade. For the past four days I have been having food very mechanically without relishing it at all. If you know how much of a foodie I am, you will understand what kind of torture this is. To eat and to not experience the food. Yuck! Yuck! Yuck! And Yuck!

Taste slowly is coming back but no smells yet. Which made me realize, how important, the smell of food is, in this whole experience thing. Just taste doesn't cut it, unless you can also savour the aroma of good food.

Damn!

Mynt - A restaurant review

Last one for today. (I didn't realize I had such a backlog of reviews till I started writing them)

We had the Sunday brunch at the Taj West End last Sunday. @Mynt.

Food spread was expansive. So much so that you didn't know what to pick in confusion. But the vegetarian choice was limited and very uninteresting.

What I loved was two things (no, make it three).

Their dessert spread was awesomest, the best I have seen. I went through each of the stuff on display very carefully before selecting a few that I wanted to eat. I gave the Indian sweets a skip since those I could have anywhere. I picked a few things, but most delectable was the fig and honey cream served in shot glassed like mousse. Figs were just perfectly ripe and it was a superb melt in the mouth. The chocolate mousse was also delicate and rich. Loved it.

Second thing I loved was our table (thanks to Sm for her booking). It was next to a lawn and I believe the son had a blast playing in there with balls, golf clubs and what not.

Third one was the kids corner. Just looking at all that stuff I wouldn't have thought twice before eating if I was a kid, made me happy ;)

All in all, great afternoon, spent well, with friends and food and conversation :)

Taco Bell - A restaurant review

Since I am at restaurant reviews, I cannot give Taco Bell a miss.

I think I ranted on this blog earlier about how the Malleswaram Taco Bell ads appear all over the Indiranagar area making me sour over having to travel all the way there to just eat at Taco Bell (which I anyways didn't do!).

So Koramangala now has its own Taco Bell and I have been wanting to eat in it ever since they opened shop.

Taco Bell has an emotional connection for me. It was the only place (other than McDs, which I never really liked) which would serve us hungry grad students any food after 12 AM. But it was far out on University Avenue and we needed a car to get there. So many were those nights when an assorted collection of friends would jump into K's car and drive over to eat.

So I wanted to eat at Taco Bell, just for nostalgia sake.

Needless to say menu is Indianized. Burritos are better than US ones, the Crunchwrap Supreme has potatoes in it, service is super fast, there is the same concept of unlimited, choose your own drink (except here, someone waits at the machine and fills it for you!) and every single Border's sauce brought back the memories of Mad-town. Awesome! ;)

We went there twice in a week and for now my nostalgia craving is satiated. Till the next time it comes back, that is :)

Medici - A restaurant review

Today we finally went to Medici. We always saw this place on our umpteen trips around 100ft road but never went in because Subhash thought its name was too much like medicine (what a reason?!)

Today we wanted to have dinner out and wanted to try something new (after feeling yesterday that we aren't exploring enough). So I read up reviews for Medici on Burrp and decided to try it.

No regrets at all.

The folks on Burrp said that the bread basket was awesome. And so it was. I have never had a better bread basket in any restaurants I have dined at, any place in the world (including ones in Europe, yeah). It was an assortment of warm, fluffy and delightful breads with olive oil+vinegar served without asking for it (that is a new for Bangalore restaurants, I always have to ask for Olive oil and Vinegar with bread here).

We then had the Caesar salad. Awesome again. My Litchee cream drink was simply superb.

The Ravioli and Pizza were passable stuff, nothing to rave about, but certainly better than average. 

The waiters were very friendly and helpful. We initially sat at an inner table and then requested to be moved towards the towering glass wall so that the son could look at cars as much as he wanted and this was a blessing. He let us have our meal in peace since he was too busy watching cars and bikes on the road. Then one of the staff asked us if he could play with him and we agreed and the poor guy carried the son around the place till we finished dinner. Quiet peaceful meal. Awesomeness!

Planning to make this place our newest default. So long Zen!! ;)

Italia

For the nth time we went to Italia (old name: Little Italy on Indiranagar 100ft road) last night for dinner. We had to visit a friend of Subhash's who had a baby recently and didn't make dinner before leaving so we ended up going to Italia after much debate on where else we can go. I guess more than the good all-vegetarian food that they serve, it is the comfort of a known place that draws us to that restaurant. It was the first restaurant that the son went to (at 1 month old) and he has been there numerous times since. All the waiters recognize us, we have our favourite sofa lounge studio (so that it is convenient to let the son lie down) and we know the menu by heart.

Truly, there is comfort in routine :) At least for me.

Taco Bell and other stuff

Taco Bell has opened shop in Mantri Square Malleswaram. And he advertises in a big banner on Koramangala Inner Ring Road. Wonder what he is thinking. And that too he advertises his Crunchwrap Supreme which is my Taco Bell all time fav :(( Well, next time I am in Malleswaram I need to check it out. I am sure the Indian version will be far better than its American cousin. Also apparently thjis Mantri Square has Marks and Spencer et al. All you traditional Bangaloreans, what is the deal with this mall? Is it posh? Also we certainly seem to be going Brit with out stores, that many more UK brands than American ones.

Today was marathon power outage. Let me just say, if the same happened in the Bay Area, there would be a huge hue and cry, but this being India, I am sure it won't even find a spot in the local news. Apparently some work was getting done because of which we didn't have power from 2 to 9. The inverter ran as much as it could and gave way at 6.30. And today was Rohan's first experience with darkness and candles. I was telling him he better get used to it, this is part of being Indian :D

Apparently a kilometre away on the Airport road, the BJP candidate was celebrating his victory with fireworks in the BBMP polls. And I just wanted to ask him what he finds to celebrate when the whole place is plunged in darkness. What irony that, eh?

The six tastes of life

Today is Ugadi, the Telugu (and Kannada and Marathi) new year. We make Ugadi pachchadi (Ugadi chutney) to signify the six tastes of life: sweet, bitter, sour, vagaru, spice and salt. Today is Rohan's first Ugadi. Already the Indian year in which he was born is past :) Time is flying with large wings!

Here is what my pachchadi looked like this year. They say, whatever taste dominates, your life in the coming year will be that way. And spice definitely dominated my pachchadi today. It was spice in the taste and after-taste ;) So I am looking forward to a spicy life this coming year!

I kept the menu simple this year. Just Raw mango pulihara and dadhojanam :)

Pulao fest! - Recipe added

(At least three people asked for the recipe so here it is. Will post pictures next time I make it and move the recipe there, for now, it is at the bottom of the post)

Yesterday I made Pulao. And I think it was the fine Basmati Rice. It turned up looking, smelling and tasting great. Subhash as usual was effusive in praise and I as usual was on cloud 9 when I heard him :)

Cut to today. I asked him what we should eat for lunch and he said Pongal. I said that is boring, I find I cannot eat Pongal these days, I am bored of it (these are temporary bouts I have, at one point in life I got bored of Idli and couldn't even eat one for the life of me, now I am back to hogging idli phase). So I said next. He said Pulao. I said why, you want to eat Pulao again. He said yes, why not.

Pulao and Biryani, unlike say Pulihara, I don't mind eating consecutive days. Since they are filled with vegetables and add all the nutrition you want to put in. So I made Pulao again today. I was contemplating pre-cooking vegetables in the microwave vs just putting them in the cooker, I decided on the cooker and went about it. I made sure I didn't burn the onions when deep frying them, remembered to add kaju and saffron and thought it was perfect since I filled up the shortcomings of yesterday. When voila, I remembered on opening the cooker, that I forgot to put potatoes!! Wow! In that microwave vs cooker debate I forgot to peel and cut and add potatoes.

Pulao turned good even today but potato-less. I consoled myself saying eating potatoes every day is anyways not such a great idea. I think the perfectly done onions and the raita made it delicious, between yesterday and today I'd probably pick today's as the better one (just for that crisply fried onion!, what a junk eater I am!!). But Subhash didn't wipe his plate clean as fast as he did yesterday so I am assuming he really missed his potatoes (apparently he was going to ask me to add potatoes when he remembered that I added them yesterday and assumed I'd do it today so didn't mention! Whoa, think of your luck, I was not destined to eat potatoes today!)

Maybe I will fry and add-in potatoes when we eat the Pulao at night :) :)


RECIPE:

Its actually pretty simple - Basmati Rice, vegetables (I usually put potatoes, beans, carrot and peas), cloves(6), cardamom (6), Cinnamon (few bits), Kaju (if needed, fry in a little ghee and add), kala jeera, salt to taste, saffron (if you have the mood for it), green chillies (based on how much spice you want), all mixed in and cooked in the pressure cooker. I use 2:2.5 water for good Basmati rice :)

I usually separately deep fry onions and garnish it when serving.

Raita - Good bodied, lightly sour curds mashed/blended  in with finely chopped tomatoes, onions and green chilly, I like to keep my raita simple and cucumber and carrot-free :)

Restaurant Review: Citrus

We went to Leela to dine last night and asked which of their restaurants had sofa/lounge seats so we could put this guy down if needed. Only Citrus, their 24 hour coffee shop did. So we went there. Anyways I've been wanting to try that place for quite sometime.

Food was so-so, but considering it was a coffee shop, I guess I shouldn't complain. I wanted to feed this guy in between and asked where the mother's room is, and surprise surprise! They didn't have one!! Wow! For a 7-star hotel, that is quite unplanned. They found an empty meeting room in their business center and to their credit, they made an effort and made accommodations for us :)

Skip it if you can and if you are hungry. We didn't try their desserts though and our next table guys had come there to exclusively have dessert so I am assuming they are good. Need to try it next time.

Some random thoughts

-Lindt Excellence is an amazing range of dark chocolates. Of course ANYTHING Lindt is amazing. I am relishing the Chilli flavour latest. Anyone who has a passion for spice should try it out. It has a mild spicy edge to it. Last year when a colleague was visiting Germany, I had him bring the Orange in this range for me, he also picked up the Chilli one and everyone was very excited to see what its like. We picked up one in SPAR on our last trip. Really, the SPAR Lindt cooler is a life-saver. No more waiting for someone to visit Europe for all those Lindts :D :D

-Two of the blogs I regularly read are publishing books! Ohh god. I think I should publish one too. Only I wonder what I should be writing about.

-What do you do when you intended to say something, put it off for long enough and ouch! something happens where if you now say what you intended to say in the first place, you risk being politically incorrect. Damn!

-When I read some of my old posts I cringe with embarrassment. At my gaucherie in writing. Maybe a few years later I will read this and cringe. So cringing seems inevitable overall.

-I want Rohan to go to either Bishop Cotton or NPS or some such school. I think getting into these schools is tough. So in case he doesn't clear the exam, I am planning to give a monologue to the principal (or whoever will listen) on how I got admitted into my school. Apparently when I took the test at Ann's, I didn't open my mouth (can you BELIEVE THAT?!) and so the Principal (that Sr. Rose, I tell you, she always used to fuss for everything, everything!) marked my application in bold with the letters "D U M B". So my mom had to have her dad's friend in the DEO's office pull some strings and I finally got in. When I finished in '95, I topped the class, so there, Sr. Rose! No one can judge anyone's potential when they are a mere 3.5 years old. That is the material point. And this shall be my argument for him as well ;)

Bagels in Bangalore!!

As a follow-up to this post, here is an update.

We were a little skeptical about Leela's bagel spread, we were not sure if we would get gourmet cream cheeses, that is what used to make our Bagel experience so nice. For Subhash and me it was all about the cream cheeses. Normally breakfast in a hotel means plain cream cheese.

So we did what we thought was the next best thing to do. Hit SPAR :)

And boy, we were not disappointed.

We got Bagels (from Bagels n Bakes, which in my earlier post I said was too far to go and visit), and Lemnon Cream cheese (PDF Leaflet). There was of course the plain old Philadelphia Cream cheese (Strawberry) but I prefer gourmet to mass produced :)

So tomorrow to a nice breakfast. Bagel and Jalapeno cream cheese, Muesli (with Papaya and Apple) and Orange juice :) Muuuaaaaaaaaaah!!

Pheni in Sunnyvale and Bagels in Bangalore

To date the most hits on my blog through keyword search as per Google stats come from this post.

I just cannot believe it. After a good three years, this post still serves my blog some purpose and brings it some traffic, ha!

I was looking for Pheni in Sunnyvale.

So now what?

I am in the mood to eat a bagel :D. Yes, after years of eating whenever I wanted at Einstein Bagels in Madison and the Bagel Street Cafe in Sunnyvale, today, I felt a great desire for a bagel (actually I felt a similar desire even a bunch of months ago but lets ignore that) So I want to find out where I can find Bagels in Bangalore.

Bagels in Bangalore - Points me to some place in Sanjay Nagar. Too far.
Bagels, Airport Road - This one is my bad. Tells me I can go to Cleveland Airport to eat one.
Bagels, Airport Road, Bangalore - Ahh, I see one hit on an article in The Hindu which says the Oberoi hotel has it on their menu.

This makes me a little hopeful. Actually Subhash was suggesting this earlier, that Leela might carry some if they have a delicatessen. With the number of gora log that they serve, they should have some. So now onto looking in the Leela....

PS: Found out from Citrus (their 24hr coffee shop) in Leela, they do serve Bagels and Cream cheese for breakfast daily 6.30 to 10.30 AM. And I think if you are staying at the Leela you can order them anytime of the day. Yay!! So, this Friday, breakfast destination - The Leela :D

Luscious!!

The HAL market is one of the best markets around and the vegetables and fruits you get around there are simply amazing. Today Subhash's parents bought Sitaphal (Custard Apple) and Guavas. They look so tempting. I had a guava in the evening and it was heavenly sweet, amazingly soft on the inside and crisp near the skin. Doubtless, the best guava I have ever had. The custard apple was so good looking that I didn't have the heart to eat it ;)

Here are a couple of shots..

Timing

My CCIE still doesn't show the re-certification status. Apparently it takes 10 business days from when they receive scores to when they update the status in the CCIE database. You'd think with all the technology we sell, we'd be able to do it faster, sigh, no! I am still waiting..

Went to the Cream and Fudge factory to treat colleagues in a spanking new Innova which one of them bought. Good trip, even better ice-cream (it is made in the Coldstone Creamery style), great company. Well spent afternoon :)

Subhash's mom wanted to make "boorelu" for me since I love them. She picked today to make it since it was an auspicious day (sravana sukravaram) and they came out simply umm..umm..yumm.. so gobbled a whole lot of them up :D

So overall a great gourmet day I say!

Restaurant Raves - Two new ones

Restaurants that we tried I mean. I totally felt guilty for not raving about them.

Jamavar @ The Leela

This one was a special birthday treat :) Food was "delicate" and "fine" totally what you would expect from a hotel like Leela. We ordered the Tawa Aloo Chat for starters and it was a little too tangy even for me (and THAT is saying something). Subhash just couldn't handle it. They offered to eplace it with something else (again something you totally expect from Leela) but we said it was OK and got to the main course. We took the Baingan-Mirchi ka Salaan (being the typical Hyderabadis) and the Dal makhani (did I already say I HAVE to sample Dal Makhani wherever it is I go?). We order the Roomali roti, the Onion Kulcha, and the butter naan. All were simply yumm. I thought the baingan salaan was a little on the sweeter end but Subhash thought it was perfect!


Little Italy (100ft road, Indira nagar)

I loved this place. Especially the noisy ambience. If you are looking for a romantic dinner, avoid this place, but for me it was perfect! Kids running all around, couples dining and generally a lot of commotion and so much to observe over a meal! We sat in the small cove outside the lounge and it was perfect for observing everyone. But I did fear that some of the kids playing would slip and fall and land on me, but that didn't happen, thankfully ;)

I took the MuskMelon/Water Melon juice and it was uhh..umm..umm..good. I ordered another one, so much so :) Appetizer was what used to be our standard first course in Tomatina minus the piadine, the caprese. It was laid differently and was very nice and fresh. Good. The main course was the catch-your-breath "Masala Mafia Spaghetti" for me and the Vegetable Lasagna for Subhash. I ended up dousing both with my standard Tabasco to eat but they were delicately laced with all the right flavours. Extremely full by the time we finished this so no room for dessert, but we are heading there for dinner tonight so will check out the desserts including Tiramisu.

A happy stomach says bye and see you later!