My Nagpur trip...long food trail

It is not unusual for an airline staff n its family to go hanky-panky on their anytrip as their every journey by flight is immensely unpredictable.Staff tickets are subject to load which makes sense in the words that if flight has seats to occupy you guys then you can dream of your destination only once you are aboard!! something like this happened when we all planned our Nagpur trip.i and vivek are habitual to the unpredicatbility of our each journey by plane but this time my mom-in law n kids were also accompanying us.but Gods Grace airline had enough seats to occupy its staff n his family members.andso started our nagpur journey.

For the first time I was going to nagpur.it was a distant relative's wedding.These days i travel anywhere mainly for food,to taste their local delicacies,city's signature dish,city's restaurants etc.Ours was a short trip of two days.We didnt take any food in flight as it was to be bought n paid and as we all know it was not of good quality.i mean who will pay 200/300/- bucks for a single sandwich which cant even fill your stoamch half.!!

Nagpur has wide roads,dry climate,not-so-tall buildings n pretty high traffic n pollution.you can almost feel this city's development right from birth to its adolscence while walking on the roads.Wedding reception on saturday evening in rani kothi...one of the most famous ,upscale ,oppulent hall in nagpur.There were few stalls of chaat,barbeque,pizza n dinner.in all of them,i liked pizza n felt it a bit edible.it was thin crust n a person was serving hot directly from oven to plates...(which was also taking time).i tasted chaat.they had pani puri,dahi vada,kachori chaat.all the chaat items were mediocre.I decided to skip my main course n feed myself only with starters n deserts.(which proved to be a wise decision later !)i tasted starters like spring roll n paneer tikka.spring rolls were very oily but less spicy n had perfectly chinese flavour.Paneer tikkas were good  and had perefctly smoky flavour of barbeque.the dinner had paneer ,mixed vegetable,paratha n dal-rice.The deserts were  chumchum and rasmalai.All two deserts were extremely yummy.

then came the next day's meeting.i went there with somehow lost heart !!as i was already disappointed with previous day's menu.but to my surprise,sunday moring menu was good enough.there were no starters.but the luch was served on time and the selection of menus was highly commendable.they had phulka(flat wheat bread) which they were making partly on tava n then once phulka is half roasted,it used to go on flames which was installed beside tava.and this way everybody was being served with hot n soft phulkas.

hot phulkas...reday to serve!

Thereafter they had sambharwadi.it is a fritter made with all types of flours stuffed with dry masalas.There was also masala vaangi(spicy brinjal vegitable made in vidarbha style) with lots of oil n masala.brinjals were almost floating in oil n thick gravy.it was worth tasting.then there was delicious,ghee laden puran poli(sweet bread made with jaggery,bengal gram n wheat flour).

masala vaangi(spicy brinjals)...vidarbha style

delicious mouth watering puran poli

To soothe yourself from this hot n spicy menu,there was chaas or taak or butter milk.I couldnt taste two famous signature dishes of nagpur.i.e. savaji chicken and vada bhaat.first dish was deliberately avoided by me as i wont be able to digest such gastronomically spicy dish n second dish has been kept reserved for my next trip to nagpur..!

All about "Malavani Jatra" (Malavani Food festival)

The essence of maharashtrian culture greatly goes with the essence of malavani culture.rather at some point of time people outside maharashtra widely get confused between Malavani n Maharashtrian culture n food.Though,Malavan is a predominant geographical part of Maharashtra ,its food also has great signifiance all over the places.This Malavani jatra is cast by authentic Malavani mahila Bachat Gat,Vikas gat etc.This fair is generally 10-11 days and keeps rotating its places.

I happened to attend this today at Mahavir Nagar,kandivali west ...in one of the suburbs of mumbai.there were many spectacular ,notable things about this fair.First is the grand historical entrance.the entrance had been built in the form of fort n later welcomed by a statue of shivaji maharaj riding his horse.

then ,there were many enumerable food stalls from street food to authentic Konkani food.Since i was travelling with my kids,I first preferred to taste Ice Ball (Barfacha gola) in kala Khatta flavour.

It was something i was long waiting for.Then I moved on. We took some Manchurian with schezwan sauce on it.Obviously,my little boys aould not have it as sause was too spicy for them.I tasted it.and could rate preety nice by roadside food ratings and mediocre by authentic Chinese food ratings.I moved a stall further and quite surprised to see Ukadiche modak.(Now its really hard to demystify this konkani sweet dish into hardcore English dish).but it was awesome...perfectly cooked,perfectly sweet.each modak was costing 15/-..but i should say it is worth it.

To-die-for desert "ukadiche modak"

various food stalls @jatra

Then the most famout n to-die-for stall was waiting for us.Suka mutton(dry mutton),Mutton rassa(gravy mutton),chicken rassa(gravy chicken) and bhakri(jowar flour bread)was laid on the table.All the dishes were temting n delicious and ofcourse spicy for a Brahmin girl like me...who is not used to so much of hot and spicy food in general.The flavours in all the above dishes have dominant flavours of dry coconut (suka khobra),onion and secret ingredient malavani masala!!...Some stalls had laid tables n chairs for their people who want to relax and enjoy their every bite of food.i liked this concept because then people can sit,chat n have thier at food at peace.Next ,the stalls were for sea food lovers..(not sooo much for me ).even though,i tasted surmai fry,bangda n pomfret fry.Needless to say,all the fishes were evenly fried ,their masala  also had soaked into the fish ..the fish were fresh n juicy n every bite was giving justice to our pocket for what we spent for...!Since it was Sunday and the second last day of Fair,people were rushing in groups to eat,play,stroll n enjoy.they also had kept wood toys made in sawantwadi,then malavani masalas,kuleeth peeth,thalipith bhajni,amboli peeth,chicken dry masala powder,mutton dry masala powder n god only knows how many.

All I should say is one should attend this fair atleast once in his life for food entirely.

Treat for tea lovers @borivali west ...............by Kirti Pataskar

If you are a hardcore tea addict and furious over the new coffee shops springing around your suburbs,you need not regret any longer about the same.as there is a new outlet opened by two young Turks who oath to serve you only Indian Chai menus.The restaurant is TEA PI.(it means drink tea).The name also is given with half hindi n half english linguistic type relating to Indian tea lovers in town.the restaurant is in borivali west on link road which is a very cool n hype area especially for youngsters.

The ambiance,menu n chai are very desi type n will definitely make you comfortable as you enter.The atmosphere is pleasant and the interior is done up in vibrant colours with different types of kettles hanging around on the ceilings.The two young gujrati turks named ankit n parth are from different careers altogether.ankit is asoftware engineer by qualification and Parth is MBA.Its amazing to see them leaving such a money-generating occupations and getting into the new venture altogether.When asked about the profit part,Parth said that the restaurant is just few months old and it is giving us profit thrice more than expected!!whoop..isnt that great?!he further said,log toh yahan raat ko 12 baje bhi chai pine aate hai.(people come here to have tea even at 12 am night)so the timings of tea shop  are from 1.00pm to 12 am..

various sumptuous snacks @tea pi

TEA PI has wide variety in Chai n snacks.Some of the most commendable ones are herbal infusion which is a herbal tea,tea mocktails and oolong tea which is a medicinal tea...includes anti-oxidants.But the best selling chai is "maa ki haath ki chai".Its a fine blend of cardamom,pudina,ginger and chai ka masala.They also have  combos of tea n snacks.e.g. chai With khari or some kind of chai with khakra..of course they know the best of which chai goes best with which snacks.They also have kept a sumptuous snacks like thepla rols and sandwiches.Parth and Ankit themselves have chalked out the menu.Seeming the man power a huge problem in india,parth told us that he n Ankit used to make the chai n do all chores when the outlet was newly opened.now even if any person from the kitchen goes away,the restaurant doesn't stop.

one of the owners of TEA PI Mr.Parth Patel

Coming to the most delicate secretive topic of business development,parth was very comfortable on that part too.he said they are open with all kinds of advertising and marketing ventures provided it suits their needs and structure.So may you be a businessman or a foodie or a sheer tea lover,there is something for you in the box.!!1 go n check out yourself!

झटपट पराठे .......by kirti pataskar

आपल्या सगळ्यांनाच रोजच्या जेवणातला तोच-तोच पणाचा कंटाळा येतो . आणि त्यात घरात जर लहान मुले असतील तर विचारायलाच नको. अशाच कंटाल्यातून काल मी एक recipe invent केली .ती तुमच्याशी share करतेय . हा आहे "गाजर मेथी चे पराठे "

सामग्री :
१) गाजर :०१ मोठे
२)मेथी :साधारण ०१ वाटी
३)कुठलीही उरलेली कच्ची भाजी :कोबी वगैरे
३)आले-लसूण मिरची paste (optional )
४)धणे जिरे powder
५)दही :०१ चमचा
६)हळद :०१ चमचा
७)तेल: आवश्यकतेनुसार
८)मीठ


कृती:
कणिक मळताना त्यात थोडेसे डाळीचे पीठ मिसळावे व वरील सर्व जिन्नस घालून तेल घालून कणिक चांगली मळावी . थोड्या वेळाने त्याचे गरम गरम पराठे करवेत. हे पराठे लोणी, tomato  ketchup  अथवा भाजी बरोबरही छान लागतात .

पराठे ,गोडा मसाल्याची फरसबी-बटाटा भाजी ,फोडणीचे वरण,दही बुंदी आणि कांद्याची पात … mix blend of north indian and deshasthi brahman cuisine 

Chill Grill...... by Chandan Tahasildar

When the lift door opens on the 8th floor of chroma building at Malad West you are not sure of what exactly you would be served in hour n so..

but when a pleasing smile and pleasant music welcomes you, you start getting wibes of good service.
The seating arrangement is nice and the chairs are comfortable. The ambience is quite good and the lights are good enough if you love to be clicked.
However that is absolutely not the reason you are here. If you are a foodie you would be eagerly waiting for the welcome drinks and starters..
And there he comes.. Bijoy, the one who was looking after our table came with his Bengali accent. Personally I liked it because  Bengalis too are sea-food lovers like me.
There was a small round shaped thing with one half coloured Red and the other in Green which I was wondering what it could be. One of my friend who was a regular visitor of the place told me that if you keep the green part visible its an indication that we are ready for the food and unless we turn it upside down, the food will be served. That's what we did and the food started coming to our table. It started with a orange welcome drink. It had sweet and sour kind of taste. and then started the continuous flow of starters.
I must say that the starters were amazing. The first one which I ate was a green salad. it had cabbage and mayonnaise. Then there was veg cutlet which was good too. but we are the fans of fishes and were eagerly waiting for it. There it is.. the fish kabaab.. mutton kabaab and chicken Kebab.. It was delicious.. Specially the mutton kebab.. There was a chicken momo which was made up of rice wheat I suppose and inside it there was chicken filling. It was looking like Modak. Barring that one dish all we ate was superb. The seekh kebabs were really awesome.. They had unique type of tables. The tables were having rectangular box in middle which was meant for hot coal oven. So all the Kebabs we were having were red hot adding to the taste of it. 

we also ordered  a pineapple drink. It looked tempting and didn't disappoint me. We ate so much of the starters that there was no place for main course. These was pulav, Biryani, Mutton Jafferabadi and chicken curry tandoor roti Kulcha and Plain rice and dal.. Ohh. such a long list. The food was tasty.. 

Now we were too full. but how can you leave desserts at such a venue. And let me tell you, it was fantastic. The ice cream the pastries Gulab jamun, Gajar ka halawa.. all were yummy. we had 3 rounds of each.

Then finally when we were tired of eating, we turned that token to red. The last thing to come on table was bill. It came around 870 per person. The total experience was worth of that money..
I am hoping to have one more party there.. If you are going after reading my blog.. dont forget to invite me too..

a story of deewana palak paneer............by Kirti Pataskar

Hi there,

you might have read paneer palak recipes thousands times but i will tell you the easiest and fastest and tastiest  method of making it.

ingredients:

1. palak (spinach)
2. paneer (cottage cheese)
3. onions
4. garlic cloves
5. chopped green chilies
6. bay leaf 
7. jeera (cumin seeds)
8. dhania jeera powder
9. garam masala powder
10. salt to taste

Method:
Blanch palak in hot water for five minutes and then immediately drain it under cold water or tap water.This will help spinach restore its original  green colour.Then chopped onions finely,green chilies and also garlic.Put the kadai on the gas stove.pour a tablespoon of oil.add jeera after oil is heated.let jeera crackle.then add bay leaf ,onions and garlic and saute it till onions get transluscent.Then add blanched palak paste and paneer together.saute it till 2-3 minutes.It takes only 5 minutes approximately for the paneer to cook.Then add salt,garam masala powder and dhania jeera powder and boil it for 3-4 minutes.your palak paneer is ready restoring its dark green colour.

wedding meals-relishing or disappointing?...........By Kirti Pataskar

These days i generally don't turn down any wedding invitations as for two reasons .first is after almost a decade of marriage i m tired of eating food cooked by me singularly and second i like to demystify the wedding meals definitions.today i had an invitation in pathare prabhu hall,andheri west which is located in one of the most hype suburb of mumbai.i went with quite high expectations there as i had heard lot of good things about everything from  the hall ambience  to service n right upto food.well, i honestly went there for food.!!(a noble confession!!)

The dinner was on ground floor.There was a relatively fatter center table on which the primary condiments were laden...like pickle(which had typical boring taste like a restaurant pickle),salad,sliced onions(this time a change from vinegar minions),salad of chopped apples mixed with mayonnaise (thank god they had a description on every dish put up) and then the hara bhara kabab.then there was a chat corner in which there were pani-puri,sev-puri n ragada pattice.(this time too no variations from traditional chat items)..Main  course had paneer kadai,veg.kolhapuri ,puri n paratha,n then simple rice n yellow dal.oops,sorry they also had Chinese items like fried rice n Manchurian gravy.ofcourse,needless to say the whole menu was strictly vegeterian. This was so-called upper class high-end maharashtrian brahmin NRI wedding.so everybody was more busy in showing off n shoving down  the quality-less food.!

I tasted paneer  kadai n had to check my senses once again as the veggie was not tasting like original kadai should taste.It had capsicum cut like Chinese recipes ,also it had a sharp flavour like kitchen king masala which we only put in gavy like matar paneer.Veg.kolhapuri was not looking authentic at all.so i dint give it a chance to fall on my plate.puris n paraths were okok n then became little chewy as kept in air condition ceiling.i ate in silence just to satiate my hunger n then headed to chat corner.i took a piece of ragada pattice n felt a bit better as this had been made authenticlly with two chutnies tasting perfectly alright.main course also had Gajar ka halwa ...one of most favorite...but now after tasting that halwa ...i m proud to announce that i make better halwas than what i tasted it today.Halwa got on my nerves..!!!! hahahahha...the reason because first it was lacking the level of required sweetness n secondly,the ghee n mawa in it were flowing like ganga river flowing in varanasi.it was not having proper balance.it was looking as in a customer who is so well to do n has spent so much of money,so it the duty of caterers to remain faithful to the money he has spent on the meal by adding lots of fatty ingredients without keeping in mind the proportion n the taste of the dish.Then last but not the least they had kept anjeer ice0cream..(again one more off beat dish)..i tatsed it but couldnt remark on it.

overall i was highly disappointed on food but went ga-ga over the hall's ambience n the service given by polished ,trained good-looking staff.