The dragon thundered at our last dinner, and it was loud!Days of lunches and dinners had passed the same way; Indian food firmly hogging centrestage, local dishes waiting meekly in the shadows. Worse, the Bhutanese choices on the buffet were invariably vegetarian; beef, pork of the local eateries banished in deference to Indian sensibilities. Luckily,... Continue Reading →
Tired of potatoes and chillies, I ventured into the local market. Rescue came in the form of Chengdu restaurant, a local joint with rows of local booze bottles at the back and stacks of instant noodle in the front. There was no menu but the woman at the counter did promise me pork and beef... Continue Reading →
Here I am, in a land that's more vertical than horizontal. Bhutan is a land of smiling people in funny clothes, tiny rivers struggling through spectacular valleys, quaint traditional homes everywhere, dark thunderclouds watching over dragons. A buddhist country that eschews materialism is not expected to be very elaborate on food, and Bhutan does not... Continue Reading →
Last night I managed some nice-ish gol gappas but it was the kabab in a hidden corner of Patparganj that made my evening. A tiny shop that relies on your car for seating space, Punjabi By Taste is your typical hole in the wall. What makes it worth visiting is their malai kabab. it's some... Continue Reading →
The Catholics of the western coast sometimes have strange names. Their world is full of elegant names like Braganza or Pereira, but every once in a while slips in a name like Serpis. Situated in Margao's Nuovo Mercado (New Market) is one such name – Jackris. A bakery that's so small it shares its entrance... Continue Reading →
You don't often get a call that asks you if you have a fridge to store tea. A friend of mine spends a lot of time travelling around China and Vietnam; one of the benefits is a constant stream of exotic teas for me. None, however, has been more exotic than the tea that followed... Continue Reading →
Today, I woke up lazy and made myself some Maggi, and it brought back memories. Like many of my generation, Maggi used to be vital to sustenance. In school, it was an after-school snack, in college one of the only edible things on the canteen menu. We we first started working, Maggi was still a... Continue Reading →
I'm happy to say my Kosha Mangsho has improved the second time around. Here are the key changes More onions, and sliced rather than diced. There seems to be no situation in the kosha mangsho universe where too much onion is a concern. I finally added twice as much onion as meat, by volume. Sliced,... Continue Reading →
Yesterday, Vicky Ratnani of the very posh Aurus was on TV stuffing karelas. A recent post of mine about karela in Kerala had people doubting my taste in taste but here a five star chef was happily stuffing the very same thing on national television.With imported cheese too! Which got me thinking... Human tastebuds have... Continue Reading →
Every once in a while, Rushina gets a bunch of bloggers together for a great evening, and the most recent one was at West View at the ITC Maratha, a restaurant I've been eyeing for a while. Weeks after the event, here's my two bits about the dinner. The company was fabulous; its amazing how... Continue Reading →
The Well Fed Bong 