I have been planning to go to this place for a year. Finally, a small detail made the place irresistible. Khushka – an item on the menu that’s just rice and butter. It is a UP dish with ghee that I have not seen on any other menu. Located in the DLF South Square mall, the place is done up like a dhaba. Straight back chairs with cushions, kitsch posters on the walls and a tractor in the front, Rang De Basanti does impress on…Continue Reading “Rang de basanti dhaba, Sarojini Nagar”
We have always known this as the night of the rowdies, bikers and general nuisance. Law and order wise, it is the Islamic equivalent of the navratras. Over the years, public sentiment and a proactive police department have brought about some sanity to these nights, but the elements have not been completely sanitized. So, when I decided to set out on a night of photography, I had expected a certain amount of trouble. And, given that I was not being a phono-grapher but going with…Continue Reading “Shab e Barat – An account of the night from Delhi roads”
This moradabadi biryani has caused me a lot of grief. Someone says it is boiled with lemons, someone else says there is saunf, someone from UP says this is not even a biryani, it is technically a pulao. The famed Pushpesh Pant had said in one of the talks that there is no good biryani in Delhi, I wonder what he will have to say about this. Anyhow, I remembered the old saying aam khao, gutliyaan mat gino and headed to this little outlet in…Continue Reading “Ekrar Moradabadi Biryani, Amar Colony”
Despite all the romance about Indian summers, these are tough times. One day out in the sun and I realise I have transitioned from a village lad to a city boy. I was born and spent the initial years of my life in a thatched roof house in a village without any air coolers. In the humid coastal Odisha, they don’t work anyway. Those palm leaf handfans were all the respite that one got from the heat. From that to trying to rush from one…Continue Reading “Trip to Rataul – Discovering mangoes with Sohail Hashmi”
Yup, the impressive Park Baluchi used to be here. Now, there is The Project – a massive and impressive space right in the middle of the deer park. The best part of the restaurant, the outdoor seating – will have to wait till the monsoons or winters to see any occupancy. But the glass walled interiors are not that bad either. I was there for a bloggers table and was seated at the far end of the restaurants, overlooking the grazing deers. The interiors are…Continue Reading “The project, Deer Park, Hauz Khas Village”
Recently, there has been marginal rise in interest in regional cuisines. A small parsi starts doing well, a kashmiri place in Gurgaon draws crowds, South Indian means more than the dosas and idlis, Gujarati thali places run full houses, a quirky café that repackages regional dishes becomes chic. Bengali outlets in CR Park have always done well, so I will skip adding them to the list. All in all, it seemed a small tide was bringing in regional places to Delhi. So, I was really…Continue Reading “Mandaa, Hauz Khas Village”
I am one of those illicit, lecherous, non-committal men when it comes to restaurants, operating on the principle that why go back to one when there are so many out there. But when friends come visiting, I have inevitably taken them to The Toddy Shop for the Karimeen Pollichathu. Banana leaf wrapped pearl fish that you falls apart at the touch of the little finger. I had tried the dish first at the Palate Fest and have not stopped since. The only time I tried…Continue Reading “The Toddy Shop, Hauz Khas Village”
A few years back, my agency boss and me got talking about haircuts and salons. He was surprised that I don’t have a hairstylist, I don’t call in advance. I walk into one of the neighbourhood places, wait for my turn and ask the guy to arrange the receding hairline anyway he wants. It is not just the self-importance that I don’t understand about hairstylists, I also don’t belive that a marginally better haircut would be noticed by anyone other than my mother. And, she…Continue Reading “Nai ki tahiri”
What are we made of? Dreams tear us apart, sentiments constantly twist and turn us out of shape, reason makes us chase all that is not important. What do we trust? Wishes are like the stars in the sky. Beautiful from far, dust when held in hands. Aspirations are like the next milestone, we are directionless thereafter. What do we trust? Fixing and repairing life is the only constant goal. We think we are building, but we are only adding floors to a hopeless ruin….Continue Reading “What do we trust?”
The thought, before it is a thought, can be many things. It may have been an observation, an opinion, a passing conversation, a strand of hair between your fingers. But once it is a thought, it has come to a turning point. You see, thoughts are like illegal immigrants, or, a vagabond if you want to be politically correct. They live outside the purview of your formal structures. They creep through the narrow lanes, pull over a tarpaulin and make that their home. From far,…Continue Reading “A dirty thought”
Celebrity chef is an unfair description. I have refused to use the term as it somehow means a better known person who has moved on from cooking to other things. A few of the chefs I have met have become stars and diplomats. Gladly, David Rocco was not one of them. He spoke candidly, his interest in others was genuine, could seriously give a word of advice about branding when my blog name made everyone laugh or boyishly play twitter games from across the table….Continue Reading “David Rocco’s Signature Menu, ITC Maurya”
Here are the terms and conditions. This does not apply to people who had boring campus lives, who never lived in a hostel or were studious students. This list is not comprehensive, not even a serious guide. You think this list misses out on all the fun must do things? Go, make your own. Now, yes, right now, go away. Rest of us, let’s carry on. 1. When you turn right after Delhi school of social work towards Miranda House, stop at the second right…Continue Reading “10 things to do if you are an alumni back in DU campus”
This is not a biryani vs. pulao debate. We will have that debate when we meet over some coffee and hockey sticks. Anyway, it just seems that statistically on more occasions I love the pulao over the biryani. The simple chana dal Qabuli from UP is cooked without meat and is one of my most favourite pulaos. I had this other pulao in Old Delhi last night. At a home, not in a restaurant. The chicken was cooked separately in yakhni which had whole spices,…Continue Reading “Biryani or Pulao?”
When we were young and parents would ask where to go for a dinner out, we will pick the farthest place. May be not just measured by distance, but nothing close, ever. Eating out meant going far, what’s the point of going out to eat to close to home. Now that age has caught up with me, I prefer places that are close, where I don’t have to drive etc etc. Though the name of this new place in the neighborhood is depressing, someone happened…Continue Reading “Relax Restaurant, Lajpat Nagar 1”
Where do stories come from? Mostly from the places babies come from. Birds, bees and angels. But far too much credit is given to alternate/inebriated states of mind, solitude and staring at mountains; far too less to people around us. Sometimes, people are tools that you open cans of stories with. Sometimes, people are the cans of stories. We put the people we meet through the steps to see how much they hold, turn them sideways, upside down, claw at the corners to get every…Continue Reading “Where do stories come from?”
In Agra for a marriage,I got to sample this dish. It was good to attend a marriage in a different city and walk the frustratingly narrow and aggressive streets of Phawaara. Anyway, this particular morning, I walked around the Sindhi Bazar and stumbled on this one among the numerous chole bhature shops. He was deep frying papad like discs and serving it with a very spicy chane Ki dal. I had a couple right there and a got a few packed for the relatives who…Continue Reading “Dal Pakwan & Papad, Sindhi Bazar, Agra”
Over the last year, sometimes, the best part of the meal has been desserts. But somehow, I have come to talk more about the food and less about the sweets that follow. So, here is the make up post for the must have desserts in Delhi. Let me start with the most recent one. The Chocolate banana manoushe at Zizo Lebanese restaurant in Connaught place. The nuts are toasted hazelnuts. A dessert roll was something new to me and I was curious. The bread of…Continue Reading “Where do you get the best desserts in Delhi – I”