Okay! So
this post comes a little late. Three days to be precise. But then, when
most people were summing up their year, I was busy making the most of
the remaining days of 2017 by travelling some more.
2017 was a
year full of travel for me (which one isn’t?). It started in January
with Hyderabad, and went on to Calcutta, Bolpur, Shantiniketan, Lucknow,
Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Ghent, Bruges, Jaipur, Jamshedpur,
Bishnupur, Bangalore, Allahabad, Jabalpur, and of course Delhi, Gurgaon
and Mumbai. This also meant a lot of good food and some unforgettable
experiences. From the biriyani of Hyderabad, to the kebabs of Lucknow,
from the fries of Belgium to the cuberdons of Ghent, from benne dosas in
Bangalore, to papad ki sabzi in Jaipur.
Here is a little recap of some of the great meals I had in 2017.
1. This,
perhaps, was the most unexpected of all of my food experiences ever. A
wrong train, an unknown station, being stranded for hours, unsure of
what to do next. But food saved the day. The rasmalai from this man at
the platform, followed by two air-light luchis and alu tarkari and some
freshly cut cucumber nourished me on this cold January morning.
2. They say
if you haven’t eaten at Kusum Rolls in Calcutta, you have not eaten
anything. Okay! I made that one up. But then the rolls here are
legendary and world famous. Crispy on the outside, soft and chewy
inside, filled with the most flavourful chicken, finished with a dash of
chillis, fried onions, and sauces. Okay! I am not salivating.
3. It could
also be my bias towards the city and its food (after all I am a lucknow
girl), but then I truly believe there is no better chaat in the world
than the one found in the streets of my city. The burst in your mouth
pani ke batashe, the tangy dahi-batashe, the tender nimbu ki matar, the
crispy alu-tikki. If you have not eaten the chaat in Lucknow, you must
do that now. (I will help you get there and eat also if you want!).
4. While
most people were busy eating mussels, I was content with my fries in
Brussels (that’s poetic, I know!). Dense, rich, and doused in mustard
mayonnaise or ketchup. They were quite a handful and a mouthful too, and
nothing like the limp, tiny fries you are used to in India. But, I must
admit, they were too many and by the end of it I was looking at someone
who could rid me of the burden.
5. I have a
confession here. Until May this year, when I went to Belgium, I had
never had waffles. I had had the waffle cone with ice creams, but I had
no idea that the real waffle was soft and airy, almost bland, and yet
satisfying. Thankfully that changed this year. The waffle I had was
freshly made by a frowning woman, and handed over after waiting for more
than 10 minutes in a long queue. It was crisp on the outside and airy
inside. Topped with rich beligian chocolate, and icing sugar, it was, by
far, the most beautiful dessert I have ever had.
6. Akoori,
Cheese rolls, and Parsi Bhonu in a town set up by the first Parsi family
of India. My experiences in my home-town-in-law are mostly dominated by
husband’s choice of places. But the town is ever evolving in terms of
food and we got to experience that at Cafe Regal in Jamshedpur this
year. The akoori was smooth and spicy, velvety and flavourful, the
coffee was world-class, and the cheese balls were fried to perfection.
We went there thrice in three days. The final day was made of dhansak,
brown rice, sweet and spicy chicken, and apple pie. Cannot wait to go
back.
7. While MTR
is an inseparable part of me, this time, I discovered Airlines hotel in
Bangalore. I had always known about the place, but had somehow, not
gotten down to eating there. On a nippy Sunday morning, I finally made
my way to one of the oldest Dosa places in town and spent more than an
hour devouring this piece of art under hundred year old trees, among
kannada speaking people, and with strong, sweet filter coffee. I think
MTR has competition now.
8. Nothing
explains the law of diminishing marginal utility like a meal. The first
few morsels, are the tastiest and most satisfying, the last few, often
seem like a burden. On this morning, when I was famished by a three-hour
long early morning drive, a warm meal of luchi-ghugni at a nondescript
place in Bishnupur filled me with warmth and happiness. I can still feel
the softness of the luchi and the flavour of the ghugni. The mishti
that came afterwards was the icing on the cake.
9. I am not
an idli person, so having a meal of idlis on this list means something.
This, also, is the second place from Bangalore, which is hardly
surprising: I could make the entire list out of the garden city, and
maybe I will soon. Anyway, the idlis were a discovery in the land of
dosa. They were soft and fluffy and melted in the mouth. The chutneys
were so hot that I sweated through the meal, the sambar was so
falvourful that I am salivating as I type. I think I am shifting back to
Bangalore soon.
10. What’s
in a samosa, you may ask. A lot, I say. Having spent almost all of my
life in North India, I have had the chance, or should I call it a
privilege, of eating samosas day and night (I know it shows!). I have
had it from the most fancy shops to the most dilapidated stalls, from
those filled with exotic dry fruit and fried in ghee, to the ones with
barely any filling, fried in overused oil, but one thing is for sure,
there is no samosa like the Allahabad ka Samosa. The crust is
flaky, crisp, and perfectly fried. The filling is tangy and spicy, and
it hits you hard if you are not used to it. Take a small piece of the
crust with a tiny portion of potatoes, and dip it in the sweet and sour
chutney, and you’d never eat any other samosa again.
*
No comments:
Post a Comment