Few days back I shared a lot on how straws are destroying the earth and about the StopSucking campaign etc. My battle with straws has come to an untimely end. Why? I walked into a departmental store, picked up a few Nescafe cold coffees, the Intense ones. I plucked the straws from the tetrapack, hung them from the shelf. The store already does that, so I was not disfiguring. I knew I could pour it into a glass at home or find an old straw…Continue Reading “Last day of my battle on straws”
People watching is time watching. Let me explain how. Today morning, I saw a man walk down the service lane next to the NH8 near the airport. High waist pants, really long sleeved shirts and a receding hairline. The sun was extremely strong this morning. He looked hassled. Point being he looked from another time. I recently saw a young nephew who got a haircut that would have been odd in my time. Nothing on the sides and the back and suddenly a crop at…Continue Reading “People watching is time watching”
For the bombay trip, we decided to try out the iconic places and the places that not many talk about. That’s how we covered Britannia, Bade Miyan and Leopold but we also got to try Mi Hi Koli, Metkut and this final one – Ambot tik in Castle Mill, Thane. A small place, not even an AC, a place where most others ate a thali but they had an impressive Goan menu. Let’s go dish by dish: The Goan sausage pulao was awesome, it smelt…Continue Reading “Ambot Tik, Castle Mill, Thane West, Mumbai”
Long long ago, in a village far far away, we had taal trees. A help would be sent to cut down a bunch. The only rule was that it had to be after lunch, never in the mornings, never after sunset. Lunch never tasted worse. The help would cut the fruits off the cluster, pile them and start chopping their heads off. We would sit in a circle and the palm hearts would be passed around. Most of the fruits had 3 hearts, some would…Continue Reading “Taal aka Tadgola in Mumbai”
The things you make fun of are born as your child. That’s an old Hawaiian saying even if I just made it up. I always scoffed at the idea of puri and aamras. So, after walking out of Britannia, full to the brim and 90% humidity killing all appetite, we see this interesting vegetarian place. We stand at the door, pressing our bellies to see if there is some space and just oogling at the tables and people who were eating. We stood long enough…Continue Reading “National Hindu Restaurant, Fort, Mumbai”
Later in the day when Mahesh Lunch Home turned out to be very average, this little place turned out to be a beautiful memory. Found on Zomato through searches of koli cuisine, this place is a must try. On the table behind us was seated this healthy girl with a young dude as videographer. Must be one of those vloggers – we ate our food while listening to review of the food. Anyway, let’s talk about the food. First, the bread basket was some 120…Continue Reading “Mi Hi Koli, Panch Pakhadi, Thane, Mumbai”
I have become a tree spotter now. Living 50 kilometers from office in Delhi has only one upside – look at the trees on both sides and talk about the greening drives, compare delhi and noida and bitch about the diminishing diversity that horticulture depts should be blamed for. When I was a child, the village had the mandatory temple as the hanging out spot. On one side was a irrigation canal, on another a river as wide as my little finger, there was my…Continue Reading “Banyan tree and urban planning”
I had seen the site a few times, but I ordered from then when I saw a Tatacliq ad on Facebook. These were Redtape shoes for less than 1500 bucks. I thought it was misleading advertising but the site had more than a fair collection of shoes on discount. I ordered one. There is not much to talk about in terms of shopping experience, unless something is lacking. The cart and payment process on Tatacliq is pretty standard and you won’t notice it unless you…Continue Reading “My experience with online shopping: Tatacliq review”
Dear Ma, You pampered me too much. I am still having issues when colleagues don’t hug me every morning. My teeth were never too big. I was never too dark. My deeds were never too bad. I turn violent when someone criticises me. You fed me whatever I wanted. No ugly veggies, no milk today, I hate fish. Gobi pakoda please. You should look at my BMI today. I ruled over my sisters. I ruled over you. I was the SON. My wife got a…Continue Reading “A practical son’s message on Mothers Day”
Some folks are picky eaters. And, summers are the worst times for them. There are less vegetables, as the common refrain goes. But is that wholly true? We are a tropical country after all. Summers can’t be that good. Though, these days, we get most vegetables round the year, most are seasonal. Only idiots eat cauliflowers in summer. Anyway, summers are a bounty if you are not a difficult person. Let’s count – jackfruit, gourds (ash, bitter, snake, bottle, pointed), squash, pumpkin, cucumber, papaya, okra…Continue Reading “Summer food”
Odias were a prosperous people. You know, Kalinga, Utkala, shipping prowess, java, sumatra and all that. They also invented head transplant before Ganesha’s doctors did and aeroplanes before Ravana did. Then, some jealous race planted this dude insidious character among Odias. The character created something called Pakhala. Within a generation, Odias stopped all shipping bullshit. Within five, they stopped going out of Odisha. By twentieth century, Odias were used to sleeping 12 hours a day, rarely stepping out of the house and generally being lazy…Continue Reading “The story of pakhala and Odia decline”
Misti doi. Say that in your head, now move slowly move to the tip of your tongue. Say it silently on your lips. Now, say it loudly. Mubarak ho, aap baangaaali ban giya ho. This is the conversion ritual that bongs use to convert others. The moment you say misti the way they say it, that sensuous halt on the S, like a skid mark on the road, sssss, coming to a sudden stop, you are half a bong. Doi. There is no h. They…Continue Reading “Misti doi and Bengali conversion ritual”
We called it Kolatha in Odia. As I came to know only recently, it is also known in North India, Kulath, it is called. I was surprised, I thought this dal was eaten only in Odisha, rather only in my village, in our sai, there is no equivalent term in English, may be clan. Anyway, the point being it is a very unglamorous dal. Moong was used in puja and on special days, arhar was, even then, a prized dal. Chana was the hardworking common…Continue Reading “Kulath Dal”
We do these pop ups under the name Forktales. The latest one was on 5000 years of Indian food history and tracking each influence via a food item. This post is based on the latest event. The mughals had flower pulaos. Nothing can do more damage to their image than this one sentence with 29 characters with spaces. I eat flowers too. Pumpkin flowers, deep fried in rice batter. Love it. You can’t see the flower and what you eat is so delicious that you…Continue Reading “Eating flowers”
I was never much of a bakery guy. Bhubaneswar had only one reasonable one – the cake shop. So, like 67% of life was spent without any exposure to baked breads. Bread meant sliced bread, white, paunroti in Odia. Never knew the paun much like the pav can mean feet and the name came from the fact the dough was kneaded by feet. I don’t know the authenticity of this scandal, the foodies debate on. Anyway, coming to bakeries, most of my years in delhi…Continue Reading “Defence Bakery, Defence Colony”
Salad. No other food is as classist as salad. When I was young it was saalaad, when I moved to Delhi, it became salaaad and now it is a very crisp accent saaladd. Salad for a long time meant onion, tomato and cucumber in summers and carrots were added in winters. You could arrange that in rows or grate or pile as you wished but that was it. That was all there was to salad. I felt like a chef the day I added pepper…Continue Reading “Salad. Saalaad. Salaaad. Saaladd.”
My first Punjabi lassi was in Delhi in 2001. It was that shop under the tree in Ber Sarai. We had just landed in Delhi a couple of days before, I was to join Dschool and a friend had to join IIMC. We were looking for a place for him. Anyway, the lassi. It came for 15 bucks, a tall steel glass, all white with froth at top. He kept it on the counter. I waited. I had paid 15 in advance, he was not…Continue Reading “Lingaraj Lassi, Bhubaneswar”
Okay, I don’t think I have been so wowed by a place lately, the last I can remember was Guppy. There were three of us, three hardcore, best of the world, eaten pluto out of planethood foodies. And, all three agreed on the same. Jom Jom Malay in Ansal Plaza is how those serious about food should go about their job. In the city of Priyank Sukhijas, there is someone who is sincere. The place is small, there is no fuss, staff is courteous and…Continue Reading “Jom Jom Malay – Malaysian food in Delhi”
Magic is an overworked term. Eating burgers magical, almost everything on insta is magical, having a coffee with a friend is magical. But anyway, let me not push the boundary and go with magical this once. Soma Vineyard is owned by Darby Raju and Aruna. Raju is the kite and Aruna is the nail in the ground that keeps it tied. Raju is flamboyant, a mine of information and a great host – someone you could be highfiving and hugging within an hour of meeting….Continue Reading “Bangalore Soma Vineyards – A must do in Bengaluru”