Dal - lentils !!

Its eaten almost everyday in an Indian household, be it the rich, the poor, the north-indian or the south-indian..
The easy source of proteins which is such a vital ingredient in our day to day meals ..
It doubles up as a side dish for our rotis or chappatis or puris or naans and also as an accompanist to rice ..

Below are some of the ways to cook the good old dal ..


Dal Makhani ::

This is a great dish to accompany Tandoori rotis or Naans or Maida Tawa parathas ..
As the name suggests, there is a lot of Makhan and cream and stuff in this dal ..
But, it simple and entirely worth all the effort ..

Soak overnight (almost 24 hours - tonight to tomorrow night), some urad dal with its skin(black) and some rajma in the ratio of 2/3rd and 1/3rd ..

You also need the following items :

Peppercorns
Jeera (cumin seeds)
Cinammon (Dal-chini)
A few cloves of Garlic (crushed)
1 green chili slit in half

And the remaining packeted items :

Fresh cream or white butter
Yellow butter
Dal makhani masala
Dry mango powder (amchoor)
Tomato puree

First boil the mixture of the dal and rajma with some salt and a pinch of turmeric in a cooker for 45 minutes on a low flame ..
Forget the count of the whistles ..just look at the damn time !! :-)
The dal should be very well boiled and almost to a fine consistency.
But make sure, you do not make it too watery ..


Next in a pan, heat some yellow butter and add the stick of cinnamon and peppercorns and the jeera and allow them to crackle ..
Next add the crushed garlic and chilli, and allow them to roast a bit ..
Pop in a tablespoon of the dal makhani masala, and some red chili powder ..
Next add 3 table spoons of tomato puree and pour in the boiled dal ..

Bring it to a boil and next add in lots of fresh cream ..
And finally add a big piece of butter and garnish with some coriander leaves and cover the lid and allow it to rest ..

Turn off the flame after couple of minutes and open the lid and take the aroma of the lovely "Dal Makhani" ..

Serve immediately and enjoy madi !!!

Thanks to my wife for holding up those packets with her beautiful hands !! :-)

Pomfret Tawa Fry !!

This is how you make a great yet simple pomfret tawa fry at home ..

Get two fresh pomfret fish ..
You can get them either from the Udupi fish market or from the fish-wali-bai near the syndicate circle ..
Make sure you land a good deal ! The fish just tastes a bit better !! :-)

Clean them up and make slits across the length of the fishes ..

Next use some good spicy fish fry masala ..
My personal favorites are SRR fish fry masala or the EVEREST fish fry masala ..
Make a thick paste of the masala with some water and juice of half a lemon ..
Apply them evenly over the fish ..
Leave them for marination for about an hour to let the flavors just seep in ..

After an hour, heat a tawa or a frying pan .. the thicker the pan the better ..
Oil it well .. and place the fish on it .. it simmers and sizzles and gives that lovely flavor ..

If you like some freshness on your fish, just pat some chopped coriander leaves, on the fish before turning it over.
Cover and let it cook at low flame for 10 mins each side .. and voila !!! Your fish is cooked ..
To know if it has cooked through, just dig in a fork and if the fish has nice white flakes, its perfectly done ..

It goes best with some fluffy steamed rice and dal-fry ..

Gourmet Maggi !!

Maggi !!
The quintessential snack ..
Quick to fix and yet so lovable ..
I remember Maggi from as long as i can remember other things in life .. they have been in India from 1982.(around the time I was born )

Below is an attempt to glamorize the good old Maggi and add some zing to it ..

Its a recipe inspired from my wife who first made it for me ..

All you will need is a packet of the latest

- Maggi multigrainz instant noodles (vegetable atta noodles will also work fine )
- Finely chop up some onions and tomatoes
- Slit a green chilli
- Dice up a small carrot
- Peel some fresh green peas
- Few corn kernels
- A couple of pieces of cauliflower
- Chop up a couple of mushrooms too
- and a few leaves of mint (pudina)

In a pan add some butter ..
when its hot, add some jeera and a few peppercorns .
Wait till they crackle ..
Add the onions and the slit green chilli ..
Next add the vegetables - tomatoes, carrot, peas, corn and mushroom ..
When they are cooked a bit, add some salt (for the extra vegetables that we added) and a bit a crushed red chilli flakes ..
Then toss in the mint leaves ..
I also like to add half a teaspoon of sugar to get that rounded off taste .. if you Like your dish to have  sharp taste you may choose to skip this step ..

At this point, cut open the Maggi tastemaker and toss it in .. stir a couple of times and add the water ..
cover with a lid and bring the water to a boil ..
Then add the Maggi noodles and stir ..
cover the lid again and let it cook for 5 minutes ..

 

Remove the lid and smell the lovely noodles ..
Serve it on to a plate and gobble it up without haste ..
(because as the old saying goes " haste makes waste " !!)

Manipal :: HMCD (High Multi-Cuisine Density)

I am not sure where else you can get so many restaurants, serving such a huge variety of cuisines, all concentrated in an area less than 4 sq miles ..
None other than TC of our very own manipal ..
Based on our experience in eating out at a lot of places in manipal and Udupi over the past 7 years, this is something I learnt ..
A particular food item is made better at some places than others ..
Below is an attempt at a guide to some of the "must-have's at the various diners in Manipal .


Dollops :: The soups here are the best in town. They take time to prepare the stock and hence each different soups taste different..
That may not seem like a big deal, but at most places all soups seem to taste very similar, since they are prepared in very similar ways - quick fix .

Next you may want to order Cheese naan .. it's great here .. no nonsense, they just spread some processed cheese on your naans before serving ..

Chicken biryani here fits my bill of authenticity closely although not entirely ..

Last but not the least, you should try the chocolate sundae .. Its also simple and wholesome (I meant awesome!! :-) )..


Hangyo CTF ::  The dishes here have flavours in them and taste pretty good, especially the Paneer kali mirchi ..
The only drawback here are the Rotis/Naans.. They are tough as leather at times .. You wish all your teeth were incisors to be able to cut through them !! :-)

If you are in mood for some sizzler, try the Mexican chicken sizzler.. Its hot and spicy and is fulfilling ..

And to end it all, you should try the thick shakes ... My personal favorites are the litchi and strawberry ..


Hangyo Saiba :: Well the first thing that comes to your mind is "cheese chilli toast" .. served with a slightly sour and sweet mayonnaise ..Its awesome ..

You get some good cold Salads here which you do not get at other places in Manipal ..

Tangdi Kabab -- whole legs of chicken .. slow cooked in tandoor are juicy and tender ..

Colossal club sandwich is a heavy sandwich which has all the goodies .. chicken,egg,cheese,pineapple,tomato etc.. served with potato wafers



7 Bees :: This is a lesser known place, but guess what , its pure veg, not even eggs !!
They have a limited menu, but the things that you should go here for are veg cheese burgers with fries and coke ..
The burgers taste great, and they remember to include a piece of lettuce too .. which I think is a good sign, because they care about what they serve ..
Also good is the veg cheese grilled sandwich served with lays-chips and garlic mayo ..


Manipal canteen :: This a non-vegetarian's paradise .. variety, taste and affordability ..
All veg guys .. you may want to stay away if you cannot see and smell non-veg stuff, while eating veg of course ..
Luckily all the veg guys in my circle did not mind and we used to eat here almost 3-4 days in a week..
Fish here is great and at a great price too .. They have a huge range of chicken dishes and they serve crabs too ..
There is no special must-have here, since pretty much everything is great here ..
Being good friends with the waiters here helps, since you can customize your dishes .. If you want your lassi to be extra sweetened, or your fish to be extra spicy, or your prawns to be coated lightly or you do not want to settle for anything other than a "leg piece" for your tandoori chicken ..

Grab'o'Bite :: This is the new eatery in town .. But its good .. pretty good ..  You get the regular stuff .. sandwiches, noodles, rice , pasta and stuff .. .. and the good part is .. they serve you cheese bites while you wait for your order to be ready ..
The tossed salad is fresh simple and tasty .. just some nice fresh vegetables tossed in salt and butter and sprinkled with pepper .. The owners are courteous and friendly ..

Snack shack :: Next time you visit, this is what the recommended menu is :
Start with a grilled cheese-pudina sandwich and a "potato lovers"
Next, go for the schezwan veg/egg/chi noodles with a chicken sausage in hot garlic sauce .. You can have an iced tea to wash down your main course ..
And to finish off things, try the "death by chocolate" ..


FOOD court :: Well, as the name suggests, this is just one place where you get a lot of choice of food .. So, it helps when me and my wife are in mood for something totally opposite, like me for a pasta and she for an aloo paratha for example ..
This is also the only place in town to get a SUBWAY sandwich ..
The Italian place, has a good selection of rich and creamy cakes and apple/blueberry pies(Yes! the famous American dessert) ..
Kamat vegetarian is the place where you could get dosas,thalis and aloo parathas
There is the malaysian place where you get noodles, rice and chicken ..
There is also a branch of the Hangyo saiba I have mentioned above ..

China Valley :: This is the one near the entrance to the end-point .. You get almost authentic "chinese food" here .. (Please note the almost in the sentence)
What I really love here is the one chicken dish that comes in a hot plate sizzling and smoking as they keep in on your table ..
The smell and taste is fantastic ..  we always try the oyster-chilli sauce noodles .. You could try the spinach-tofu in garlic sauce as a good side dish ..

one word of warning though ..
do whatever, do not ever order the onion rings .. if you have ever had them elsewhere(like in the US), you would be in for a rude shock, since they are nowhere close to that ..


Hot Spot :: Last but not the least, it is one of my favorites.. The only place until recently to serve grilled chicken .. juicy, tender and fabulous ..
they also serve tandoor stuff, but the grilled stuff is my personal favorite ..
here's my regular menu ..
butter naan, dal fry, grilled chicken and end with biryani ..
One note though, you go here for the food and food alone .. what that means is service is bad and may I say non-existent ..

Other notable eateries in the same area are :
Pangala, Annapurna and Anupam serving typical south canara/manglorean cuisine primarily ..

and of course
the Valley View and the Cosmo Cafe which are classy, hence expensive yet serve mostly tasteless food..

So, the next time you eat at any of these places above, do remember to try something from the stuff I mentioned above..
You would not be entirely disappointed ! (hopefully)

Authenticity!! Whats that ??

 Why would I choose the topic that I have, for my first ever blog ??

Well .. the answer is that, I am simply frustrated with :

• Finding Coriander leaves used as garnishing on my Mushroom and babycorn manchurians ..

• With having instant biryanis .. and those especially interesting ones with mustard seeds and curry leaves ..

• Almost any kind of soup (chinese and french included) being served in a matter of minutes ..

and

• of course, every dish with a hyderabadi suffix leaving my hands and at times my toilet pan green for sometime ..

Okae the last part was disgusting !! Sorry ..

Also, among my favorite complaints and the one that irks me the most ..
peas pulav or spelled in some menus as "peace" pulav

When you flip a menu and see peas pulav that costs ~100-120 rupees, you would expect your dish to have the choicest and the most tender green peas, that simply melt in the mouth.
Rather, what you get are the green colored round cereals(matar/"kaala"), that would probable bounce more than a ball of steel(of equal dimensions), if both are dropped from a similar height, with gravity left to do the rest ....
There is some physics involved here but lets not get in to that  ..

I also have not found any reason why 'north Indian thalis' (so they are called), should have a watery red color liquid being passed as tomato soup ..
I mean, truly, how many north Indian households have a tomato soup before they divulge in a standard meal ..

Thats so much about a few, not so authentic dishes that you may encounter pretty often. 

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The following are a few from my personal experiences.


Joining my job straight after engineering, till I got married recently, gave me ~5 years time to have dinner at a restaurant almost every day ..
So, you may choose to take my suggestion on the following two items :: :-)

The first one is :

• Always say "NO", and choose something on the menu, when the guy who takes your order says .. "madi koduva", after you ask for something that is missing in the menu. Like "cheese naan" for example .. 
• Its usually has been a case of my stupid persistence for something that is not in the menu, and the guy's ego issues with the restaurant not being able to serve you what you want .. 
• In local kannada "madi koduva" would mean "will prepare and serve you". (well, I think thats what it means, with my knowledge of kannada).. But what it actually means is, "no big deal, we can fix whatever you want, although my cook and me have no clue about it "

The other one is :

• When you ask for biryani and get the answer that the biryani that was cooked for the day is over,please make a point to get back to the same place, some other day to taste the biryani .. coz most likely it would be authentic .. Rather than the one that says .. no problem .. name the biryani and we can prepare it for you in minutes .. 
• Biryani is something that needs to be cooked slowly and with love.. only then do you get the delightful taste and flavors.. and its only true that it can get over at the end of the day .. (unlike of course, the instant guys)

I am not trying to pass myself as a sad little guy that complains about anything and everything ..
But when i see the above stuff, it makes me feel like i should do something about it ..
Presently all I could do is complain and crib and hope someone else sets these right. But sometime later in life, I wish to set right, these things in my own restaurant ..
Yes! The one I plan to open after an early retirement ..
I would keep my menu limited, but with authentic stuff ..


Overall, eating out is an enjoyable and interesting experience, if you know what a eatery excels in, and ensure you do not miss it ..

(PS: The views expressed above are for restaurants that would cost ~300-400, for a meal for two, and not the college canteens types, coz its understandable in the later)