India According to Gastronome by Choice

Happy Belated Diwali to all. Its been a great festive season out here in India and going by the crowds on the streets in Delhi and in the shops everyone was in the festive spirit. With work taking a backseat for a while and some time on my hands, I decided to make a culinary map of India and there were so many delights from each region to add that the space literally ran out. Now I could have taken the easy way out and just filled the map with one word, Curry, but that would not have been the India map according to me but to some one from outside India. Similarly, within India, being a North Indian ,I could have filled up loads of delicacies up north and then only added Idli and Dosa for whole of south, Dhokla and Vada Pav for West and Momos for East of India. And for someone down south of India, North would have meant only Butter Chicken and Whisky. But India is so much more. It is a pure gastronomical delight with varied cuisines across regions and some exciting culinary masterpieces, some of which in today's date have crossed over to a different region and assimilated so much in the day to day meals that it is impossible to figure out what the origin is. This attempt of mine is not only a very amateurish attempt at working on graphic software but documenting these culinary masterpieces and staples across regions. See it and enjoy it. I hope someday, I can look back at this and proudly declare as having not only eaten all of this but also cooked all of them up.

 Please click on the pic to see the enlarged map and culinary delights :)

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Old Delhi Food Trail - A Photo Essay (Part I)

Every once in a while I have this urge to try the real street food of Delhi and that is when I make my trip to Chandni Chowk. Over my last few trips, many of my friends have joined me to walk through the always crowded by lanes of Chandni Chowk, Chawri bazaar and nearby areas to savor some of the tastiest food available. The choices on display blow your mind and it is impossible to miss the food stalls and little shops as they cater to a thronging crowd of hungry visitors daily.

These are some of the images that I captured in between digging into tasty chaat and searching for some legendary food outlets.

Chandni Chowk - the mere mention brings up memories of some tasty chaat vendors and the best chaat in Delhi.

Bishan Swaroop

Sultan Kulle Wala

Ashok Chat Corner

Not just chaat, the area is brimming with snacks and food from everywhere.

Bombay Sandwich in Delhi

Panna standing at Nai Sarak has some tasty Moth Kachori..try it if you havent till now.

Incase regular kachoris are what you crave then make way to Jung Bahadurs Kachori shop

And how can you be in Delhi and not try Matra Kulcha. 

And talking of Matra, Rameshji in Kinari Bazaar serves the best Matra Kulcha in town.

A trip to Chandni Chowk will be incomplete without a mention of Parathewalli Galli. The atmosphere and the crowd eating there at any time is to be seen even if oily fried parathas are not your choice of food.

And it is impossible to roam the area and not catch the countless hawkers selling nankhatai.

Going to the old Delhi area and not making a trip to Karim's is totally unpardonable, unless you are a vegetarian. Famed for its mutton preparations, the lamb Nihari and tandoori roti for breakfast are a must do, though they even serve it in evenings for a few hours.

M in front of Karims entrance - should I order the Nihari, Paya, Qorma or all three ?

The Tandoori Roti and Nihari are a perfect couple :). Try it at Karims or Al-Jawahar. Which one is better? Well, the jury has been undecided for all these years.

This happens to be the breakfast crowd at Shyam Sweets. Try out their Bedmi Pooris.

 Enough of oily and calorie filled food...try the fresh fruit instead.

There is also a lot to satisfy your sweet tooth

Rabarhi

And how can one forget Daulat ki Chaat. Only available for a few months of winter, I cant wait for it this year. Another few weeks to go I guess.

And the Khurchan at Hazarilal Jain...yum!

And the best way to finish off everything you ate is by way of a thick lassi at Amritsari Lassiwaale near Fatehpuri gate.

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A Short Chennai Foodie Trail

Just came back from a 4 day trip to Chennai. It was a good escape from the severe cold wave in Delhi. 30 degrees temperature during day was a welcome change for the entire family. Though it was to celebrate the 60th Brithday celebrations of my father-in-law, I took the time out to check some of the foodie scene out in Chennai. Any foodie going to Chennai has atleast one agenda on the mind - Chettinad cuisine. Chettinad cuisine is the cuisine of the Nattukottai Chettiar community from the chettinad region of Tamil Nadu. The Chettinad is the region of the Sivaganga district of southern Tamil Nadu with Karaikudi as it's capital. The nattukottai chettiars are principally a trading community. The best places to sample Chettinad cuisine in Chennai are as follows (in no particular order):

- Karaikudi

- Ponnusami

- Anjappar

All the 3 mentioned above are chains of restaurants spread across the city and you can find one of these in your vicinity. We did not get to go to Ponnusami as the word was that the food is very spicy there. Maybe when I'm down next time, I'll give it a try. Karaikudi and Anjappar were good restaurants with plenty of North Indian option like Butter Chicken and Tikkas on their menu. The surprise item was that both had an extensive Chettinad menu featuring Rabbit and Turkey among an exhaustive seafood list. The prices are also very cheap. Despite ordering 10-12 items our bill did not go above Rs. 850 (inclusive of all taxes and service charge), and yes our orders did include Crab also. The Crab Masala and Ceylon Parotta in Anjappar is a must try.

Apart from Chettinad cuisine, it is a must for all travellers to go try the Tiffin at the Saravana Bhavan. Though now you have Saravana Bhavan branches all across the country, and I have been to the one in Delhi, the real enjoyment is had having the tiffin at Saravana Bhavan in Chennai. The Paper roast masala dosa and Medu Vada are a must try.

If you wish to indulge in other cusiines apart from Indian food, Chennai some amazing restaurants, one of which is Benjarong, offering authentic Thai Cuisine. Now Thai cuisine is my favorite cuisine apart from Japanese when I go dining out, and this restaurant served some of the best Thai that I have eaten in a very long time. The only drawback in this fine dining establishment is that they do not serve alcohol.

Burmese cuisine too finds it's place with eateries like Mingala, on Flowers road. The Mohinga out there was decent, though the menu is very limited.

Since this was a very short trip and made even shorter by the religous engagements, I may have missed out on quite a few foodie mecca's of Chennai. You may want to drop in a line, if you feel there are some that I missed out on, and I promise to visit them on my next visit, which may be a little sooner in the near future

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