It has been quite a while since I have updated this blog. Since the last post I have tried a few places like the Sheesh Mahal near Omelette Shop but once again this post is dedicated to the lovely home food cooked by our beloved moms.
My long awaited Delhi visit is finally here and it felt great to be at my best friend (my bro) Mridul’s place after a really long time. His mom undoubtedly is a fantastic cook and it was no surprise that she had planned a good menu for us today. We were also joined by our friend Jaskaran. The three of us were eagerly waiting for the chicken curry and were ready to attack it ruthlessly. Prior to the main course Aunty gave us Mutton Sheek Kababs from a local chicken shop. They are by far the best sheek kababs I have had in a very long time. The Kebabs were big and had lots of meat in them. They were not dry like the ones I have had in the past but were moist and had a meaty juice oozing out whenever I bit it. With the pudina chutney it tasted fantastic as the chutney mixed with the meaty juice and spread on the tongue. Then came the main attraction of the day, the chicken curry. With the soft home made rotis they tasted nothing but heaven. I am so used to see oily food in Jodhpur that I felt nice when I saw the chicken I was happy. I could actually see the chicken pieces and the gravy unlike the usual oil floating on top. The chicken was cooked very well with the right proportion of all the ingredients. It had the right amount of spices balanced with a good flavor of the ginger garlic paste. The juice of the meat had also spread in the gravy and that is what makes home made chicken even more special. I learnt later that this chicken was cooked in a pressure cooker. When anything is cooked in a pressure cooker it obviously requires less oil and hence it is more healthy. If you put the right amount of ingredients and set the cooker then the chicken would turn out perfect like the one we had today. We were really quick to eat all the chicken and the rotis and completed our meal with a nice scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Once again it was home food that triumphed over everything else. Home food always tastes rich in a simple way. It has the power to bring you down to earth. Moms can create magic with simple ingredients…… Hindi film heroes say “Maa ke haath ka gaajar halwa”….Most of my friends would say “Maa ke haath ka bana hua chicken curry.”
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
The Omelette Odyssey
A long weekend can really take a toll especially when most of your friends are away biking (refer Thumping Wheels Thrilling Life, http://manishparmarnlu.blogspot.com). As I was alone on last Saturday, I decided to visit one of the most famous eateries of Jodhpur. It wasn’t Kalinga or the restaurants of Park Plaza but the world famous Omelette Shop of Jodhpur.
I have been in Jodhpur for the past two years and have visited most of the places to eat in the city. There was this one place that I had always heard of but never visited it. The Omelette Shop of Jodhpur has become famous mainly due to the travel magazine Lonely Planet. Tourists who come to Jodhpur make it a point to visit this place. If Looks can be deceptive then Omelette Shop is one prime example. It is a small stall located behind the clock tower in the old part of the city. Having taken an auto to nai sarak I decided to walk up to the omelette shop. I was welcomed by the owner Ghanshyam Gawlani. He asked me to take a seat and told me “The cheese masala cheese omelette is the best dish here, the foreigners and the locals like it alike.” I immediately took his suggestion and ordered one. As the omelette was being cooked I was talking to him and asking him about their stall. He said “People from all over the world come to eat our omelettes. It is a kind of a brand that we have created.” He then pointed to various newspaper cuttings which he has framed and kept in his shop. I picked up the most recent article which was published in a Delhi newspaper. The author had described the masala cheese omelette in such a way that I couldn’t wait for my order any longer. As soon as I was done with the article, the omelette was ready. On my plate were two small sandwiches of the omelette. I thought “this is it” and I took the first bite. The bread just turned sweet and was swallowed immediately. What was left was the omelette with its cheesy filling. The omelette was so well cooked that it just spreads on your tongue with the cheese and the thousand island sauce (the filling) The omelette is so soft that it almost feels as if it is a part of the cheese, but at the same time you do get a fantastic taste of the white and yolk. I swallowed the first bite and said to myself “Ohh dear, what have you been missing!!!” It took me quite a while to finish the omelette as I decided to relish it as much as I can. Just the thought makes my mouth water as I can nearly feel the cheese and the omelette melting in my mouth. As I finished and paid the bill I was joined by tourists from Australia, Japan and the USA. I could now see what Mr.Ghanshyam meant when he said that “they had created a brand.” The tourists told me that they hear about this place when they come to Jodhpur and almost immediately make it a part of their itinerary. Some of them were amazed how a small place like this can serve you some fantastic food. Mr Ghanshyam then told me that this venture was started by his father Mr.Ramkishan. He said “He is away now, gone for some shopping.” I immediately told him that I was ready to wait to meet him. When he came I told how I felt when I tasted his famous masala cheese omelette and congratulated him on the success of his shop. He was happy and added that even you tube has videos of his shop. I thanked him again and left promising that I would return again and again.
If you are in Jodhpur then this is a must visit place. The rates are very reasonable and he also offers a wide variety of omelettes. I couldn’t taste the other omelettes on offer but I hope to enjoy them one by one in my remaining three years in Jodhpur. Even as I write I can literally feel the taste of the masala cheese omelette…..the cheese and thousand island sauce with the egg melting and melting and melting……….
I have been in Jodhpur for the past two years and have visited most of the places to eat in the city. There was this one place that I had always heard of but never visited it. The Omelette Shop of Jodhpur has become famous mainly due to the travel magazine Lonely Planet. Tourists who come to Jodhpur make it a point to visit this place. If Looks can be deceptive then Omelette Shop is one prime example. It is a small stall located behind the clock tower in the old part of the city. Having taken an auto to nai sarak I decided to walk up to the omelette shop. I was welcomed by the owner Ghanshyam Gawlani. He asked me to take a seat and told me “The cheese masala cheese omelette is the best dish here, the foreigners and the locals like it alike.” I immediately took his suggestion and ordered one. As the omelette was being cooked I was talking to him and asking him about their stall. He said “People from all over the world come to eat our omelettes. It is a kind of a brand that we have created.” He then pointed to various newspaper cuttings which he has framed and kept in his shop. I picked up the most recent article which was published in a Delhi newspaper. The author had described the masala cheese omelette in such a way that I couldn’t wait for my order any longer. As soon as I was done with the article, the omelette was ready. On my plate were two small sandwiches of the omelette. I thought “this is it” and I took the first bite. The bread just turned sweet and was swallowed immediately. What was left was the omelette with its cheesy filling. The omelette was so well cooked that it just spreads on your tongue with the cheese and the thousand island sauce (the filling) The omelette is so soft that it almost feels as if it is a part of the cheese, but at the same time you do get a fantastic taste of the white and yolk. I swallowed the first bite and said to myself “Ohh dear, what have you been missing!!!” It took me quite a while to finish the omelette as I decided to relish it as much as I can. Just the thought makes my mouth water as I can nearly feel the cheese and the omelette melting in my mouth. As I finished and paid the bill I was joined by tourists from Australia, Japan and the USA. I could now see what Mr.Ghanshyam meant when he said that “they had created a brand.” The tourists told me that they hear about this place when they come to Jodhpur and almost immediately make it a part of their itinerary. Some of them were amazed how a small place like this can serve you some fantastic food. Mr Ghanshyam then told me that this venture was started by his father Mr.Ramkishan. He said “He is away now, gone for some shopping.” I immediately told him that I was ready to wait to meet him. When he came I told how I felt when I tasted his famous masala cheese omelette and congratulated him on the success of his shop. He was happy and added that even you tube has videos of his shop. I thanked him again and left promising that I would return again and again.
If you are in Jodhpur then this is a must visit place. The rates are very reasonable and he also offers a wide variety of omelettes. I couldn’t taste the other omelettes on offer but I hope to enjoy them one by one in my remaining three years in Jodhpur. Even as I write I can literally feel the taste of the masala cheese omelette…..the cheese and thousand island sauce with the egg melting and melting and melting……….
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Dinner at the Parmar's
I have been talking about my intentions about starting a blog solely on food for quite a long time now. Today, I thought it is time to put all my thoughts about food on a new blog instead of always writing it in a notebook. There is no better way to start any discourse on food than home food. This is about the dinner that my friends (The Amir Ali First Floor Guys in this case) and I were treated to by our pal Manish Parmar and his Mum and Dad.
It was a normal Sunday morning and I wasn’t keeping well (the usual hostel stomach bug) when Manish popped into my room and said “Dhoni, dinner at my place tonight, Mum and Dad want to meet you all, be there.” I said “I am hit by a stomach bug, may not make it” to which he replied “It is my home man, you will feel better for sure.” We all reached Manish’s place at around 8:30 and were warmly greeted by his dad with whom we chatted had a nice chat with the smell of good mutton curry distracting us time and again. When we were told that food was ready all of us ran to get our plates. On the menu was mutton curry, bhindi, curd, salad, flavoured rice and nothing can be complete without rotis. For us who live in hostel what we miss most after our parents is home food. The sight of a table full of home cooked food really gladdened us and we were quickly on to our job. The Mutton was fantastic, all the proportion was perfect. There was enough spice and oil and to top it all it was really soft. The mutton in this case was so perfectly cooked that it nearly melted in our mouth as we started to chew it. The masala would spread on our tongue to give us eternal pleasure. All in all, the mutton was “LegenDary.” Even the marrow was easy to eat and it had really absorbed the gravy which made it even more delicious. We all were eating really quietly; none of us said a word as we indulged ourselves into the eternal pleasure of the mutton gravy. Most of the guys only touched ate only the mutton and weren’t really interested about the bhindi. I for one have always liked bhindi especially the one made at home. The bhindi was fantastic too. It had the right amount of onion and oil. This is the difference between bhindi made at home and in a restaurant. Bhindi made at home is always made in enough oil which allows you to taste it better. The onions too are in good proportion so that they do not steal the taste of the ladyfingers. In restaurants they add a lot of oil and onions which completely steals the taste of the main ingredient. Coming back to the food, the rice was simply home-like. It was just fried in little oil with tej patta, onions and black pepper, an ideal combination with the mutton gravy. We all ate to our hearts content but then again there were some great sweets. The milk cake was the best as it left a nice sugary taste even after swallowing it. As we were ready to leave I was really keen on a photo and everybody obliged and this memory shall stay with me forever. Before leaving all of us really thanked aunty for treating us and expressed our happiness on eating such great food. There is always an extra ingredient in home food you know, it is called love and that is what makes it special.
This post is dedicated to all our Mum’s for always feeding us right since childhood.
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