Sangeet and Wedding Festivities

It was my first time attending a sangeet, which basically is a celebration that occurs a few days before the wedding ceremony. Sangeet literally means “music” in Sanskrit, and there was plenty of it at my friend’s sangeet. First a live band and singers played and sang Gujarati music while guests trickled in, then the bride, groom, relatives and close friends performed many choreographed dances to popular Bollywood songs, and finally the dance floor opened up for everyone to dance to whatever the live band and singers performed. The Gujarati music at the sangeet consisted of slower beats (slower than typical Bollywood music), where guests danced in circles.

The sangeet took place in a banquet hall in an otherwise empty mall:

The buffet was available all night in the back of the room so that guests could serve themselves whenever they wanted. The pure veg Jain food was really delicious, so I ate a few plates worth of food. A friend told me that their secret to making food tasty is to add a lot of ghee (Indian clarified butter) to everything. One of the items called panki was cooked between banana leaves:

According to the Internet, panki is usually made with rice flour batter. It was tart and very aromatic (pictured on the left below):

From the top left counterclockwise: blueberry delight, panki, paneer bhurjee (stir-fried mashed Indian cheese with spices), zucchini tornado, focaccia sandwich, and roomali roti (literally means “handkerchief bread” because it is folded like a handkerchief). The blueberry delight tasted like a good pie without a crust, and it had other ingredients in it so that the flavor of blueberry was not prominent. The paneer bhurjee was spicy and yummy, different from the usual egg bhurjee I get in school. I scooped up the paneer bhurjee with the roomali roti.  I liked the fried zucchini enough to get seconds, and the focaccia sandwich had a good texture (no idea what was in it).

Below was my second plate:

From the left counterclockwise: kobi bhaji (Maharashtrian style cabbage stir fry with spices), dal makhani (whole black lentils and red kidney beans with butter), zucchini tornado, foot-long sandwich (obviously not a foot long here), panini grill, and misal (literally means “mixture”, a very popular roadside snack). The dal makhani was very creamy and smooth, the sandwich and panini were good although I don’t know what were in them, and the misal was ear-burning spicy. Later I had several rounds of pani puri (click here for my description of pani puri), which were very cold and refreshing.

After the dance performances, I helped myself to the dessert station:

From the top clockwise: cantaloupe sorbet in a slice of cantaloupe, lime sorbet in a hollowed-out lime, and guava sorbet in guava with chili powder sprinkled on top. I liked them all, so I also got a watermelon sorbet in a slice of watermelon (not pictured).

The food was excellent and the dancing was tons of fun; overall I had a great evening.

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I was able to witness my first Jain ceremony, and it was very interesting. The ceremony took place on a Friday morning and afternoon. I was informed that a matchmaker determines which date (and even time) is auspicious for a couple to get married, which is why it is possible to have a ceremony conducted at 2 in the morning on a weekday. I was also informed that Jains do not eat after sunset; I don’t know if this applies only to big events or on an everyday basis.

The bride and groom sat on the stage in ornate chairs, while a guru chanted in Hindi and dripped ghee onto a fire. Relatives of the bride sat on cushions on one side of the stage, while relatives of the groom sat on cushions on the other side. Later, the bride and groom walked around the fire while relatives and friends threw rose petals on them, and people yelled at each other in Hindi. This process was repeated several times. When I asked another guest for a translation, she informed me that the tradition is for the sisters of the bride to insist that the marriage is not complete unless the groom gives them money, because they are giving their sister (the bride) away. The guests would then barter with the groom on how much money should be given for the bride. Priam said that traditionally the groom’s shoes are stolen and not returned until money is given, although I did not see this happen.

The buffet during the wedding ceremony had different options from the buffet at the sangeet. It consisted of a Mexican counter, an Italian counter, a namkeen (savory snacks) counter, a South Indian counter, and an Indian counter. Since the number of guests crowding the counters looked overwhelming, one of my friends suggested splitting up; she’ll get the Indian food, I’ll get the Italian food, and another friend will get the Mexican food.

My plate looked like this:

One of my friends gave me pureed mango halfway through my meal (not pictured here), and it was very tasty and refreshing. All the fried food on the left is from the namkeen counter. They were salty and doughy. At the top left is a quesadilla look-alike item from the Mexican counter, although it tasted Indian due to the spices. The nacho chips were thick in texture and the cheese very mildly flavored. The pizza slices were good and Indianized (Indian spices on a thin crust); I shared some with my friends.

On a different note, a week ago when ordering pizza, a friend asked me what topping I wanted (I said pepperoni). Pepperoni was not available, and this friend concluded that pepperonis on pizzas must be an American thing.

The dress code for this wedding is Indian formal, so I had a teacher help drape me in a sari. When I was tying my petticoat, she told me to tie it as tightly as I can or else the sari would not stay in place. I think I may have tied it too tightly because after eating from the plate pictured above, I had no appetite to eat seconds. As a result I did not try the Indian food, which my friend said was very good. I didn’t want to take any chances loosening my petticoat, so I just concluded my meal with two ice cream scoops:

I actually didn’t want the chocolate, but my English was lost in translation and the server gave it to me anyway. It tasted decent with the jam and crushed nuts sprinkled on top. I really liked the white scoop, which tasted similar to kesar pista (saffron pistachio).

Afterwards we took a bunch of pictures with the bride and groom. It was a fun afternoon, and after everything was done, the bride told me, “We are now one” (no one else in our group is married yet).

Note: If any of my knowledge about Indian culture are incorrect, please let me know. It is possible for me to misunderstand what people say.

A Gujarati Pre-wedding Brunch

I attended a friend’s pre-wedding brunch this past Sunday. It was my first time going to a Gujarati pre-wedding function, and I had a great time. Since the brunch followed Jain traditions (an Indian religion), it was dry and pure vegetarian. I was curious about the food because Jains do not eat root vegetables like potatoes, onions, and garlic, which are very common in the Indian food I have eaten so far in India.

The event itself was at a fancy place called Trilogy (located in the Sea Princess Hotel in Juhu):

Bollywood remixes were played while the colored lights above kept moving; we were basically clubbing during the daytime. At one point, the groom-to-be danced two numbers for his bride-to-be with 20+ guests dancing behind him like backup dancers Bollywood style.

The first hors d’oeuvres we had were fried dough with sweet red sauce:

There were more fried dough on the plate, but they were snatched up pretty fast by the guests. The second hors d’oeuvres we had were spicy paneer (Indian cheese) with bell peppers and tomato slices:

The flavor of the paneer was good, pretty standard among upscale Indian restaurants.

The third hors d’oeuvres my friends and I shared were corn and some mystery ingredients (the waiter told us that the food was made from corn when we asked):

The corn blocks were spicy, sweet, and chewy. I liked the spicy and sweet translucent green dip that came with this plate.

The fourth hors d’oeuvres were some kind of vegetable mix that looked like small flattened falafels but did not taste like falafels:

In my experience in India, it is quite common to dip already spicy food items in spicy sauce.

After maybe two hours or so of dancing, the brunch buffet in a different room was served:

I didn’t have good lighting, so I used flash:

Going from top left counterclockwise: dal tadka (“tempered lentils” in Hindi), naan, mutter paneer (“peas and Indian cheese” in Hindi), vegetarian Thai green curry, vegetarian bowl Manchurian sauce, and Chinese vegetarian stir fry. I eat dal tadka and mutter paneer very often in the schools (not made in the same manner, but I think that they are popular dishes).

Finally, I filled up my last plate with desserts:

Both the blueberry cake and the chocolate cake were eggless; these cakes had the texture of cream. The brown ball was gulab jamun (a popular Indian dessert of deep-fried milk solids soaked in sugar syrup).

Overall, the finger foods went well with the clubbing atmosphere, and the brunch buffet was filling. The sangeet (Sanskrit word for “music”) and wedding is coming up later this week, so I’ll write about those events soon.

Trilogy – Hotel Sea Princess

Address: Plot No. 969, Juhu Tara Road, Near Juhu Beach, Santacruz West, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400049

Phone: 022 2646 9500

2nd Anniversary Dinner

To celebrate our second anniversary (court wedding date) yesterday, Priam and I went to Masala Library in the Bandra Kurla Complex. Similar to SpiceKlub (click here for my SpiceKlub experience) except non-vegetarian, this restaurant serves Indian food with its own twist. Masala Library supposedly gets booked fast, so we made a reservation one week ahead of time for 7 pm. The restaurant was pretty empty when we got there, which is typical of Mumbai restaurants because most Mumbaikars do not eat that early.

Before our appetizers came out, the waiter gave us the following amuse-bouches:

The yellow bubble popped in my mouth, releasing liquid that tasted like Thandai (an Indian cold drink with almonds, milk, sugar, and spices). I liked the texture and flavor. The bread had a good flavor too (I think a mix of herbs and spices in it).

Our first appetizer to arrive was mushroom chai:

The waiter made an elaborate show of presenting a tea kettle with separate containers for the dehydrated mushrooms and truffle powder. He first added the dehydrated mushrooms to our cups, then the truffle powder (explaining that it acts as the “cream”), and finally the hot water. The soup had a good flavor of spices and salt, although overall I felt that the process of creating the soup in teacups instead of a soup bowl was more unique than the soup itself.

Next came the prawn balchao kulcha (“balchao” is a Goan spicy meat dish and “kulcha” is Indian leavened bread):

The balchao kulcha was bursting with flavor, although so much that I could not really taste the flavor of the prawns. This dish was still good nevertheless.

The last appetizer to arrive were the pesto kebabs:

There were originally four pesto kabobs on the plate above, but the waiter started serving the kebobs on our plates before I had a chance to take a picture. I like pesto, and these kabobs were good. The Parmesan cheese on top was a nice touch.

We were given yogurt popsicles as a palate cleanser before our main course:

These popsicles had a flavor quite similar to my favorite yogurt drink, which I buy all the time in Mumbai:

Yakult is also easily available in Asian supermarkets in Boston and Los Angeles.

The yogurt popsicles were good and the presentation interesting. At one point, the waiter used a small machine to disperse out rolled towelettes first and then cleansing liquid before handing them to us.

Our main course was Kashmiri chili duck:

This entree initially had a beautiful presentation, but the waiter started serving portions to us as soon as he came to our table. When he finally put the plate down, it looked like the picture above. I really liked the sauce used for this dish; it was sweet, sour, smoky, and spicy. Priam thought that it tasted like a mixture of East Asian and Indian flavors, while I thought it tasted like an Asian version of American BBQ.

We paired the duck with naan made with white wine:

I forgot to try the naan by itself (the duck sauce overpowered any flavor I could make out in the naan), so I cannot speak for whether the naan tasted unique or not.

Since I had read so many rave reviews online about jalebi caviar (jalebi is deep-fried batter soaked in sugar syrup), I ordered it for dessert:

While the presentation was very cool, unfortunately this dessert was too sweet for Priam and me. I think it would have been more doable had there been five people sharing this (one person per starfish arm) instead of two. The orange things in the center that looks like caviar (but is not) was the jalebi, and the creamy liquid surrounding it tasted like liquid condensed milk.

We were given complimentary paan cotton candy (click here for my description of paan) at the end of our meal:

I thought that this paan cotton candy was delicious; I like it more than the basic pink cotton candy in America and street paan because it was more aromatic than American cotton candy but not as overpowering as street paan (which for me has a perfume aftertaste).

Masala Library has good food and interesting presentations, although I don’t think that it’s necessarily better than other fine dining restaurants in Mumbai (reviews online really hype up this place). In my opinion, the most unique thing I ate was the paan cotton candy. It was a good way to celebrate our 2nd anniversary, and I’d recommend Masala Library for special occasions.

Masala Library

Address: Ground Floor, First International Financial Centre, G Block, Bandra East, Opposite Sofitel Hotel, Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400050

Phone: 022 6642 4142

A New Twist on Mumbai Favorites, Healthy Eating, and Breakfast Recipes

There were two weekday holidays last week, so I had more time to visit restaurants and make breakfast. I had been unsuccessful walking in at 9 pm to SpiceKlub before, so this time Priam and I arrived at this restaurant right when it opened at 6:30 pm (on a side note, booking a table is also an option). SpiceKlub is a vegetarian Indian restaurant that serves food highlighting molecular gastronomy. We ordered three appetizers and one dessert, and afterwards we were comfortably full. The first appetizer served to us was naanza (the menu described naanza as “mini naans stuffed with spice cottage cheese served the Italian way gratinated”):

They looked like little slices of pizza to me, but they did not taste like pizza. The toppings were really delicious, the cottage cheese was very creamy and spicy, and the naan had the perfect soft texture. This naanza was my most favorite dish out of everything we ordered.

After we finished the naanza, the waiter gave us our pav bhaji fondue (tomato-based fondue with cheese, onions, and possibly other vegetables):

A Mumbai street food favorite, this particular pav bhaji was all gussied up complete with fancy fondue forks. This version was creamier than the pav bhaji I have had in the schools. The flavors were good, albeit not mind-blowing.

The third appetizer we ordered was pani puri:

This was the first time I’ve seen the chili liquid in test tubes on dry ice and the sweet liquid in a syringe (click here for my description of pani puri). I had a fun time assembling my pani puri together. While the presentation was unique and eye-catching, in my opinion the taste isn’t any different from the pani puri available on the streets.

For dessert, we had the bubbling kulfi (Indian ice cream traditionally made with condensed milk):

This kulfi came in little pieces on a flask filled with liquid nitrogen. The five sauces (from top left to bottom right counterclockwise) are rose tapioca pearls, malai (Indian sweet cream), caramel, blueberry, and chocolate. They all went really well with the kulfi (I tried them each separately with the kulfi and then combined some), with my favorites being the rose and the caramel. The combination of rose tapioca pearls, malai, and kulfi tasted like a falooda (Indian cold sweet drink traditionally made with rose syrup, basil seeds, jelly pieces, tapioca pearls, vermicelli, and ice cream). Priam was at first wondering why the kulfi was in little pieces, and then he came to the conclusion that the kulfi would be too difficult to break apart if it were in one large piece. This presentation was also unique and fun, with liquid nitrogen smoking out of the spout and flower petals strewn around the sauces.

Overall, I really liked the presentation of the dishes and their flavors, although you can get the same flavors of pani puri for much cheaper on the streets. SpiceKlub is the most innovative restaurant that I’ve ever been to, and I would like to visit again to try their other dishes.

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Yesterday I went to The Yoga House, not to do yoga but rather to eat. I had eaten here over a year ago and liked their food, so when I used Google maps to find this place, I was surprised to see that The Yoga House relocated to a much bigger house than the one it was in before:

The Yoga House had an upgrade, as there are now more rooms and seats available. I really like the ambience of this new house because the colors and decor make it look very serene and peaceful:

The Entrance

The First Flight of Stairs

The Second Flight of Stairs

The Third Flight of Stairs

Where I Eventually Decided to Eat (I painted my bedroom in Boston in this same shade of blue)

My View as I Ate Lunch

I ordered The Yoga House’s signature quinoa burger and signature smoothie (the menu listed the following ingredients: banana, milk, almonds, cashew nuts, raisins, grated coconut, puffed rice, beaten rice, sesame seeds, dates, figs, poppy seeds, ginger powder, and cinnamon):

Both my beverage and food tasted very healthy and organic. There were extra hummus and greens on the side, which I slathered onto my burger. Unlike most restaurants I’ve been to in Mumbai, this quinoa burger tasted like no chili was added. The water was in a copper cup, which I have heard gives health benefits. I really did not like the metallic taste of the cup though, so I avoided the water.

For dessert, I ordered masala chai and three homemade ladoos (ball-shaped Indian sweets):

For some reason I can’t really put my finger on, holding this particular cup of masala chai (top left) felt really soothing to my hands. Initially I did not know what was in the metal bowl in the top right (looked similar to Indian pickled mango to me), so I tried it and found it delicious. I asked the waiter what it was, and he told me that it is organic jaggery to be used as a sugar substitute for the masala chai. According to Wikipedia, jaggery is concentrated date, cane juice, or palm sap.

The ladoos tasted healthy, yummy, and not too sweet. I could see pistachios in the ladoos, and I think the crunchy texture was due to puffed rice, though I’m not sure. I had no problem finishing off these three ladoos.

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Last Tuesday morning, I decided to make breakfast consisting of caramelized onions, spinach, and eggs:

I followed the recipe online (click here for the recipe) with the following modifications:

1. I used ghee (Indian clarified butter) instead of butter. Ghee smells really nice when it is used for cooking, and a small amount is sufficient. I had gone to the supermarket last week and decided for the first time to purchase ghee instead of butter. This was the first time that I had cooked with ghee, and my kitchen smelled great for many hours afterward.

2. I used Spanish cheese that was given by Priam’s brother’s friends from Spain instead of Parmesan cheese. This cheese is hard, so I think it’ll last for a while.

3. I microwaved the dish in the end instead of putting it in an oven because I don’t own an oven.

Overall I thought my dish was good, although the spinach for some reason had a slightly bitter taste. I think that this dish would have tasted better if I had an oven to put it in.

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This morning, I decided to make French toast. I had made French toast several times in the past, and each time I had not been satisfied. This time I decided to do more research (click here and here for tips). These were the changes I made based on the recommendations:

1. In the past I had used multigrain bread, so this time I bought brioche. The brioche was indeed perfect for soaking up the custard. Additionally, the multigrain bread I used before were pre-sliced too thinly, so this time I cut the brioche myself into 1-inch thick slices.

3. One online article advised not to add too much sugar to the custard, while another article advised two tablespoons of sugar per cup of milk. Since my previous French toasts had been very bland, I opted to add two tablespoons of sugar.

4. I added three eggs per cup of milk instead of two (I had previously looked at a different recipe calling for only two eggs).

5. I blended my custard in a blender to avoid egg whites forming on my French toast. The articles above did not specifically mention using blenders, but one recipe did so I decided to try it out.

Generally I followed a recipe I found online (click here for the recipe) with the following modifications:

1. I added three eggs while the recipe didn’t require any.

2. I used slim milk instead of coconut milk because that’s all I had.

3. I omitted the nutmeg and cornstarch because I didn’t have any.

4. I did not serve with maple syrup because I had added two tablespoons of brown sugar to the custard beforehand (I don’t have white sugar).

5. I did not have any bananas that Americans eat (long and big), so I used two Indian bananas instead (short and small but more flavorful).

I think that the articles are great because my French toast tasted much better today than they ever did before. They were sweet enough that no extra syrup was needed. This was the first time that I used coconut oil, and it imparted a very nice flavor and aroma. One improvement I can think of is if I had half-and-half or whole milk instead of slim milk, since skim milk wouldn’t produce as rich a flavor. Still, it was the first time that I felt satisfied with my French toast.

My ingredients:

Some of my French toast after eating several slices:

I cooked six slices and two end pieces, and Priam and I became pretty full after that. Since I still had a fair amount of custard left and I did not want it to go to waste, I decided to add about 1/3 cup of flour to it. This amount was enough to make the resulting batter suitable for making crepes, which I did:

Since the crepes were very thin and light, I was able to eat them despite being relatively full from the French toast. I liked them even more than my French toast because the crepes were less dense. I had pinned quite a few breakfast recipes on Pinterest, so I will be making them on future lazy mornings.

Diwali Celebrations!

Diwali is one of the biggest holidays in India, and the kids at my schools celebrated it with lots of enthusiasm. The first celebration took place last Monday. Elementary school students were busy painting and decorating their diyas (oil lamps made from clay); some of the kids took me by the hand to proudly show off their handiwork. These diyas were then put on a few tables for sale during the food festival:

In the first half of the day, the teachers went about decorating the school. This was their end product:

Diwali is called the festival of lights, which is why lanterns are hung everywhere and diyas are lit in every corner (in this case paper lanterns were used and diyas weren’t lit, but nevertheless the symbolism exists).

For the food festival, students made all kinds of chaat, which is a term used to describe popular street food snacks. First, I had a samosa (fried pastry with savory filling such as potatoes and spices) broken into small chunks mixed with diced tomatoes, cilantro, sev (small pieces of crunchy noodles made from chickpea flour), plain yogurt, and two pieces of wrapped mango candy:

I had taken several bites of this snack before I realized that I should have taken a picture of it first for this blog. It tasted great because I like samosas and sev (any street snack with sev sprinkled on top tastes great to me).

After my samosa mix snack, I had pani puri (pani means ‘water’ in Hindi, although in this case you can see that the water is green from all the chilies in it, while puri is fried bread (nice and crispy).

There are variations on pani puri, and generally I love pani puri as long as the puri is crispy (I’ve had stale puri before and it’s not the same without the crunch). A hole is punched into the hollow puri with a finger so that potatoes, tomatoes, cilantro, sev, onions, chili, and masala can be stuffed in, then the pani (green liquid in this case) is poured into the hole. Each pani puri should be eaten in one bite (you can see four remaining here, which I ate in four bites). Since I have a relatively low tolerance for spice, I told the server not to add any chilies in my puris (there were already chilies in the liquid anyway).

Next, I had bhel puri (the school coordinator said that she would order it if I shared it with her):

This bhel puri was made out of puffed rice, sev, pomegranate seeds, cilantro, tamarind sauce, and lots of chili. I really liked the texture and flavor (sweet and tangy) of this snack, although I had to pause frequently because my mouth was on fire.

Last, I shared dahi sev batata puri with the school principal:

Dahi means ‘plain yogurt’ in Hindi and batata means ‘potato’ in Hindi. It is similar to pani puri except instead of spicy liquid, the puri is filled with plain yogurt. Dahi sev batata puri is also very good, especially for its mild sweetness. I didn’t touch the two mini cakes pictured on the bottom right side of the plate, and the green liquid at the far upper right corner was part of pani puri for the principal himself.

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The second school celebration I went to took place last Friday. I liked the arrangements of diyas on the ground at the entrance:

I watched the preschool and kindergarten teachers soak cotton balls in oil and place them inside the diyas:

I then watched the kindergarten teacher light up the diyas in front of her students:

There was a competition among the classes for the best Diwali decorations. A few are shown below:

All of the above are rangoli, which is an art pattern created on the floor using materials such as flower petals (first and third pictures), colored sand (I’m guessing for the second picture, I didn’t ask), dry flour, or colored rice.

The principal hired an outside group to make chaat:

In the picture above, there are mashed chickpeas (yellow) on the left, cilantro on the right, onions (pink) on the right, sev in the bag behind the cilantro, and puri in the bag behind the onions and the ginormous bag next to the server. I had about 10 pani puris from this guy. They were delicious.

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Since the Diwali celebrations for one of the schools and colleges took place on the same day, I could only attend the tail end of the festival at the college. I managed to see the fashion show finale:

I liked all the colors on display. There was food afterwards, but I was too full to eat anything. Overall it was a very entertaining day.

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It was a teacher’s birthday last week, so she brought in boondi ka ladoo:

Sometimes I find Indian sweets too sweet, but I really liked these because of their texture (soft and falls apart in the mouth). Boondi ka ladoos are made out of gram flour, cashews, saffron, sugar, milk, and cardamom.

Priam and I received some Diwali gifts:

The first box contained an assortment of dried fruits and nuts, while the second box contained an assortment of Indian sweets. The dried fruits and nuts had no added sugar or spice, and they tasted pretty standard. The sweets in the first, second, and fourth column tasted like cashews and mixed nuts. They were pretty good. The sweets in the fourth column had an edible silver foil coating, which doesn’t have any taste and is used mainly to be aesthetically pleasing. I did not like the sweets in the third column, which was made out of white chocolate and red jelly (too sweet for me). Overall, it was a very nice gesture on the givers’ part.

A farewell party and a bungalow-turned-restaurant

Last week, I attended a farewell party for a Berkeley alumna who was going back to the US. The party was at another Berkeley alumnus’s home in downtown Mumbai. After some drinks and appetizers (various dips with breadsticks), we were treated to a huge spread of homemade, delicious Punjabi food. I asked the host if I could write about his food, to which not only did he say yes, but also he and his mother explained every dish to me (gotta love Indian hospitality). Upon hearing that I have a food blog, one of the party-goers said that I could take a picture of him enthusiastically chowing down on papad (crispy fried dough) dipped in paneer makhni:

Paneer is a type of Indian cheese and makhni means butter; this particular paneer makhni, however, was made with a tomato base instead of butter. It tasted just as good and creamy as if it had butter in it. The dish looked like this:

There was one vegetarian biryani (mixed rice dish with lots of spices) and one chicken biryani. I really liked the combination of the black caramelized onions’ sweet flavor with the other spices in the biryani:

You can view the whole spread here:

On the top left is a bow tie pasta dish (not an Indian dish but good nevertheless), on the left is bindhi masala (okra in spice mix), on the bottom left is either the chicken or veg biryani, on the bottom right is kaali dal (black lentils), which alternatively can be called maa ki dal (mother’s lentils), on the right is paneer makhni, and on the top right is biryani. Afterwards there were mini cupcakes and gulab jamun (milk solids soaked in sugar syrup), which were not homemade but still good. I ate the desserts despite being really full already from the dinner. It was a great party overall and the girl going away said that she plans on coming back to India soon.

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Today I decided to go to downtown Mumbai to buy some Bollywood sheet music for my violin students. Since I don’t like to travel long distances just for one errand, I had decided to have lunch downtown as well. I went to Busaba because I like their Khow Suey (Burmese coconut milk noodles), only to find out that it had been closed down. Luckily next door is Indigo (a continental restaurant); I’ve been to Indigo Deli in various locations and thought they were pretty good. This restaurant looked fancier than the other Indigo Deli restaurants on both the outside and inside:

The Entrance

The Bar Area

The Restroom

The Dining Room

I really like the color contrast of the marigolds (partially blocked by other diners) against the bright blue walls.

After being seated, I saw that this location served fancier dishes as well; I decided to go with the prix fixe lunch menu. I chose a pumpkin and caraway veloute for my first course:

I had no idea what caraway veloute was initially; I ordered it mainly because I like pumpkin. When I looked up “caraway veloute” online, I learned that caraway is fennel (a very popular digestive aid among Indians), and veloute is a soup made from stock and cream. The plate (bowl?) had an unusual shape in that it curved downwards rather than upwards. The pumpkin soup itself was really well done with lots of flavors popping out at different times. The waiter placed a block of solid foods in the center and poured the soup until it was completely covered; I then proceeded to break the solid chunk into smaller pieces. I assume the pop of different flavors depended on whatever solid piece I happened to bite into. For instance, if I had a bite of the greens, I experienced a pleasant bitter taste. If I had a bite of fennel, I’d taste it quite prominently (the taste of fennel is strong). There was also something nice and sweet in the soup, but I do not know what it is.

For my second course (main course), I had the pan roasted red snapper with crab dumpling, curried spinach, and coconut lime sauce. It was the fanciest presentation of pot stickers that I’ve ever seen (I’m used to pot stickers in hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurants):

I liked the coconut lime sauce the best; it made everything taste really good. The pot stickers were mildly sweet and okay, not exceptional (I couldn’t taste any crab in them). While this dish may look small in the picture, it was actually quite filling.

Lastly, I had passion fruit and banana pavlova for dessert:

I didn’t know what pavlova was initially, but I ordered this dessert because I like passion fruit and bananas. According to Wikipedia, pavlova is a meringue-based dessert. This dessert tasted great (not too sweet), and I like the dragon fruit and star fruits thrown into the mix.

After my meal, I learned from my waiter that Indigo is for fine dining, while Indigo Deli (all the other locations I’ve been to) is for casual dining. He also informed me that this British bungalow-turned-restaurant was the original Indigo, and it has been around for 15 years. There is a terrace upstairs, but is closed for the monsoon season (although I’d think that monsoon season is pretty much over by now). I do like Indigo more than Indigo Deli, but it is (obviously) pricier as well. I would like to come here again to try out their other items, since overall I liked everything I ate here.

Non Veg Noshing

A Meating Joint for Meat Lovers

Last weekend for lunch, I decided to take Priam’s mother to Imbiss, a quaint little restaurant in downtown Mumbai that serves primarily meat. I had ordered from the Imbiss restaurant in Bandra before and found it very satisfying, so I thought I’d try out the Colaba location as well. Mumbai has tons of pure veg restaurants as I’ve been told about 50% of the Indians in India are vegetarian, so a restaurant that focuses almost exclusively on meat is quite rare. Part of Imbiss’s name is aptly named “The Meating Joint”:

The entrance smelled like delicious barbecued meats as soon as I entered:

While this restaurant would generally be considered small, its Bandra counterpart is much smaller with room for only two narrow tables on the ground floor. I actually prefer the smaller size of the Imbiss in Bandra because it feels more cosy.

Priam’s mother ordered beef roast:

I ordered chorizo rice topped with a duck egg:

Priam’s mother was very happy with her beef roast, although halfway through the meal, she said that she needed some vegetables (other than the mashed potatoes) to go with it. When she asked the waiter, he recommended garlic bread instead, so she went with that suggestion. Priam’s mother was pleased because she said that she haven’t had beef in a very long time, and the flavors remind her of Goa. She gave me a few pieces of the beef, although I thought the texture was a bit tough.

While the presentation of my chorizo rice was appealing to me, I thought that the chorizo rice from the Bandra location tasted better. My guess is that the chorizo rice in Bandra was oilier from all the fats, and hence had a stronger chorizo flavor. Overall though it is still good with spiciness that I can handle.

Priam’s mother ordered pork ribs, sausages, and more beef roasts as dinner for the whole family. I was glad that she did because I really liked the pork ribs and sausages; the mashed potatoes that came with the sausages also had a nice smoky flavor. Before we left, she had a chat with the restaurant manager, who was praising his own branch over Bandra’s by saying that it’s physically bigger with a bigger menu selection and liquor (the Bandra location is too small to acquire a liquor license).

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A Rooftop Birthday Dinner

Last Thursday was Priam’s mother’s birthday, so Priam’s parents asked me to pick a place (they are under the impression that I know all the interesting places to eat in Mumbai). I went on Zomato (equivalent to Yelp in the US except only for restaurants) to find places appropriate for special occasions; after looking at the list I made, Priam’s brother chose Mekong, a Chinese/Thai/Vietnamese rooftop restaurant at the Palladium Hotel (a high-end hotel next to the Palladium Mall in Lower Parel). It is quite common for restaurants in Mumbai to feature multi-cuisine food instead of just one non-Indian cuisine exclusively; I even read a review online stating that this one Mexican restaurant in Mumbai would be even better if it included Indian food on its menu.

Mekong is incredibly fancy:

The Room Leading to the Restaurant

The Restaurant Itself

Since Mekong is on the 37th floor, it has an amazing view. Initially, the hostess refused to seat us by the windows because she said that the tables only fit four, and having five would be a tight squeeze. She finally relented after Priam’s dad persistently stated that this was not a problem.

Priam’s brother was checking out the view, while Priam was busy with his phone as usual.

We ordered some dim sum appetizers:

At the top is shrimp with shredded vegetables, on the right is fish (partially eaten already), at the bottom is shrimp dumpling, and on the left is some kind of rice cake with meat filling.

By the time the mushrooms and broccoli were served on my plate, I had already finished the other appetizers. I couldn’t take any pictures of the dishes because it is customary in Mumbai for waiters to scoop portions directly onto the diners’ plates if food is eaten family style. While these appetizers did not taste like dim sum in the US, they were very good and flavorful in their own right.

I went to the restroom afterwards, which was really fancy as well:

The bathroom stalls are on the right side of the picture.

I chose the stall at the very end and had a nice surprise:

I actually prefer the view in this stall to the one we had in the restaurant because this view has more tall buildings lit up; this stall comes with its own sink as well.

The main course items came after some time:

At the top left is eggplant, at the top middle is vermicelli with minced chicken, at the top right is fish, at the bottom right is pork belly, and on the bottom left is mixed vegetables (maybe with some meat too but I can’t remember). The main course items were pretty good too, very flavorful. I can’t recall if we ordered any Vietnamese or Thai items, but I would say that everything we ate tasted Chinese. One of my school coordinators had been to Mekong before, and she thinks the food tastes like Indianized Chinese. While the food doesn’t taste like Chinese food in the US, I don’t think it tastes like Indianized Chinese either because traditional Indianized Chinese food just tastes like Indian food to me (heavy spices).

Lastly we ordered dessert:

The mango pudding at the top contained basil seeds (I really like basil seeds, which are common in falooda), the creme brulee in the middle had an added Asian flavor that I unfortunately can’t recall, and the coconut milk had some crunchy stuff and fruit pieces in it. All of them were really good (not too sweet) and quite different from the usual chocolate cakes and Indian desserts in Mumbai.

I had a great experience at Mekong and most importantly, Priam’s mother was very happy with her birthday outing. I would recommend this restaurant for special occasions.

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Lamb: The Other Red Meat

Yesterday for lunch, I decided to go to the Palladium Mall to get a smoked lamb burger from Smoke House Deli. I had gone here in the past thinking that it was a no-frills fast food joint (basically I was fooled by the small entrance), not realizing that it’s a trendy sit-down place. The Smoke House Deli is one of the restaurants where I can get a discount using the Mumbai Coup Card. Participating restaurants of the Coup Card generally serve non-Indian food; you can learn more about it at http://coupcard.in.

The Smoke House Deli theme looks like an artist took a sketch pen and sketched all over the room and even the menus:

The presentation of the bread is very cute, while the taste of the bread itself is a little above average:

My ultimate favorite bread still comes from the Acme Bread Company in Berkeley, California.

The smoked lamb burger is as good as I remembered it:

I ordered the lamb medium, and it was so juicy with a very nice smoky flavor. The fries were good too though not exceptional. While the burger looks small, this was actually quite a filling meal and I was comfortably full until dinnertime.

A Continental Cafe, Mughlai Restaurant, and Chapati Recipe

Last Saturday I was in the mood for a quick light meal, so I went to a continental cafe in Bandra called Eat Around the Corner. It was not the first time I’ve been to this cafe; Franav (Priam’s brother) had taken me and Priam there once, and since then I’ve eaten there a few times. I like this place because it has good bread and cold dishes, is reasonably priced, has relatively quick service, and has a nice casual ambience. I had avoided any food that wasn’t piping hot for the few months when I first moved to Mumbai (didn’t want to accidentally get sick); I think Eat Around the Corner may be the place where I ate my first salad in India. The outside seating looks like this:

It was a really hot day, so no one was eating outside. Also it was only 12:45 pm. From my experience eating in restaurants in Mumbai, they are relatively empty at 1 pm when I enter and completely filled by 2 pm when I leave.

At Eat Around the Corner, customers order their food from the counter:

Besides cold dishes and bread, this cafe offers pizzas, continental breakfast, pastas, sandwiches, burgers, and desserts. However, I’ve only ordered their cold dishes and breads so far so I can’t speak for their other items. This was my lunch:

Customers have the option of ordering a small meal (choose two items) or a regular meal (choose three items); I opted for the regular meal. On the bottom left is tomato and mozzarella, and this was good (I’ve always liked tomato and mozzarella, and it tastes like any tomato and mozzarella in the US). On the bottom right is smoked chicken and sun-dried tomatoes. The smoked chicken was very tender and juicy. I think that generally chicken tastes better in India than it does in the US, maybe because the chickens are all-natural and roam around freely. At the top left are soba noodles (Japanese buckwheat noodles), and they were quite good as well. I sat at a table facing the counter:

As you can see, there is not one but two signs asking customers to like this cafe on Facebook.

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Yesterday after an Indian music concert honoring Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday (it also happened to be my sister’s birthday), Priam and I went to a Mughlai/North Indian restaurant in Kala Ghoda (Mumbai’s art district, literally means “Black Horse”). Mughlai cuisine was developed in the imperial kitchens of the Muslim Mughal Empire (the Mughals invaded and ruled India before the British came), and their food is very rich and flavorful. This restaurant called Khyber has really good food, service, and ambience. In my experience going to fancier restaurants in Mumbai, sometimes hosts ask if you’ve made a reservation, act all huffy and say that they’ll need to check for available tables if you haven’t made one (sometimes going inside to check), then finally escort you into an empty restaurant (empty because we usually eat at 7 pm, and hardly anyone eats that early in Mumbai). Khyber’s host did not do any of these things; he was incredibly courteous, which was a nice start. After having a chair pulled out for me, I decided to take a picture of the interior:

I really like the placement of the mirror on the opposite side because it makes the space look twice as big. If you look carefully at the left, you can see me taking a photo and partially blocking Priam (to his disappointment because he was striking a pose). When a waiter saw me taking photos, he told me to come with him to see the other dining areas because they are designed to look like ancient Mughal caves with paintings. These are what the other rooms look like:

The waiter offered to take a picture of me in the empty dining room pictured above, but unfortunately it turned out blurry due to the dim lighting. Still, I thought it was very nice of him to offer to show me around. He also told me that this restaurant has been operating in Mumbai for a very long time (he told me exactly when but unfortunately I do not remember).

We ordered prawns Mughlai (cashew paste and red masala), saag (spinach) chicken, lamb chops, and lachha paratha (layered leavened dough). We also had starters on the table that we didn’t touch.

Everything was very rich, creamy, and delicious. The lachha parathas were not what we were expecting (we thought they would be flakier like the ones in Kerala), but they were very tasty nonetheless with subtle bits of sugar.

While the portions may not look very big in the photo, each item was so dense that we were able to eat the leftovers as a full lunch for two today. We also ordered dessert:

Pictured at the top is phirni, a rice and milk pudding with aromatic spices. It has a very creamy texture and tastes great for the first several bites, then it’s a little too much sweetness for me as it is like eating condensed milk in pudding form. Priam ordered the kulfi (Indian ice cream) with vermicelli (sweet noodles):

BEFORE

AFTER

I preferred Priam’s dessert because it was less sweet. The vermicelli was soaked in rose water, which reminded me of the flavor of paan (edible leaf-wrapped betel nut mouth freshener with a perfume aftertaste). In small quantities, I do not mind the perfume aftertaste because I really like the subtly sweet flavor of rose water. Afterwards both me and Priam felt bloated, but that is to be expected with rich North Indian food. Overall, I really liked Khyber and if I have any visitors from the US in the future, I think I’d like to take them here.

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Since we had eaten all the parathas, I decided to try making chapatis for the first time to scoop the leftover prawns Mughlai and saag chicken curries for today’s lunch. I looked online for a recipe with lots of pictures:

http://indianfood.about.com/od/breadrecipes/ig/How-to-Make-Chapatis/

Making chapatis is really simple and quick because I only used four ingredients (salt, olive oil, milk, and flour):

Since Priam does not eat much, I used only half of the amount called for in the recipe, which resulted in six chapatis. I used white flour because I did not have any wheat flour, and I flattened out the dough balls by hand because I did not have a rolling pin. I therefore couldn’t get my chapatis to be as flat as standard chapatis, but I think they turned out well overall:

Priam told me that he actually liked my chapatis better than the standard chapatis, which I take as a compliment because many times the food I cook do not turn out the way I expected. I think my chapatis tasted better because I followed the online recipe’s instructions, which states that to make chapatis softer, use milk instead of water and also add a little oil.

School Cafeteria, A Bagel Shop, and a Five Star Hotel Buffet

When I went to school in Gorai two weeks ago, I was surprised to see different dishes on the menu. It turned out that Gorai had acquired a new cook, and this cook has been creating dishes that are less spicy and more appealing to me. Apparently the students like the new dishes too because the school had to set up more tables in the cafeteria (otherwise students bring their own food from home and eat in the classrooms). This is what I had for breakfast two Fridays ago:

At the top is puri, which is deep-fried Indian flatbread, and at the bottom left is potato masala. It tastes pretty good, although I wouldn’t eat it all the time because the puris are very oily.

My lunch looked like this:

On the left is curd (unflavored yogurt) with finely chopped vegetables (I think carrots, onions, and maybe cucumbers). I’ve been told to pour it over anything that is too spicy for me because curd mitigates spice. At the top is vegetable curry, which I thought was a little too salty, so I poured the curd over it to mitigate the saltiness. I broke off pieces of the chapati (flatbread) on the right to scoop up the pulses (lentils) in the middle. The pulses tasted good, while the chapati was bland as usual (it’s supposed to serve the same purpose as rice, which is to suck up all the heavily flavored curries).

I’ve made it a habit to get this drink for every lunch at Gorai:

I really like this drink because it is pretty thick and creamy. I don’t know if it really is heart healthy as it claims on the backside, but it’s good enough for me.

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Last Saturday, I went to The Bagel Shop in Bandra because I had a hankering after Goan sausage. This quaint little cafe has a cute storefront:

I had taken Priam’s mother here once because she has Goan roots and loves Goan sausage. She said that the ambience and decor is very Goan (I’m thinking probably due to the hanging and potted plants everywhere and the brightly colored walls). On this occasion though, I came by myself and ordered a Goan sausage bagel with mint green tea:

It tasted good as usual. I had ordered other types of bagel sandwiches in the past, but I like the Goan sausage bagel the best because of its smoky and spicy flavor.

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Last Sunday was Priam’s grandmother’s birthday, so Priam’s mother invited me and her mother’s closest friends to a lunch buffet at a five star hotel. Priam’s grandmother passed away several years ago, so his mother celebrates his grandmother’s birthday every year in memory of her. The five star hotel is called Sahara Star, and it is near Mumbai’s domestic airport. At all the five star hotels I’ve been to in Mumbai, cars’ trunks are opened to check for bombs, welcomers dressed in very fancy traditional Indian clothes greet visitors, and bags are run through scanners. Generally for me, all the five-star hotel buffets in Mumbai taste more or less the same; they taste good, but that is expected when you pay a high price. The name of the buffet in Sahara Star is Earth Plate, which Priam’s mother said means that this buffet contains cuisines from all over the world. Priam’s mother chose the Sahara Star for its ambience:

We didn’t actually eat in this section because the buffet was in a different section, but Priam’s mother told her friends to walk around this area after lunch. When I was taking photos of the buffet spread, one waiter told me to take a picture again because the cooks wanted to smile for me this time:

Unfortunately it’s not the clearest picture, but I didn’t realize this until afterwards. Here is another section:

I first piled my plate with the appetizers:

I think that these appetizers fall into the category of continental food, since Indian food usually isn’t eaten cold. They all tasted alright, relatively bland. My second plate looked like this:

Half of the plate came from the international food section, while the other half came from the Indian food section. There were mutton (creamy beige meat on the left), beef tenderloin (dark brown meat on the right), seafood (top left), couscous (top right), and cauliflower (middle right) on my plate. All were good, though not enough for me to go for seconds. Lastly, I grabbed a variety of desserts:

I like dragon fruit the best because I don’t get to eat it often in the US (I saw it once at Berkeley Bowl but that’s about it). The butterscotch cream de pot (pitcher in the left), muhalabia (white pudding in the cup) and pineapple bavarian slice (far right) were good (less sugar and more aromatic). The other desserts (mango tart, popcorn gateaux, red ball) were too sweet. Since I was pretty full after finishing all the desserts, I grabbed second helpings of only the dragon fruit (bottom). The cantaloupe was labeled as “muskmelon”, which I thought was interesting because I have not seen that term used in the US.

The Irish House and Home Cooked Food

Normally I do not go out to eat on the weekdays, but this past week was an exception. Last Monday after going to a talk about India’s cows, leopards, elephants, and stray dogs, many attendees (including the speaker herself) went to The Irish House in Kala Ghoda (South Mumbai). Like many upscale places in Mumbai, this place is very well hidden (no signage) and you can only tell that it is nice and spacious once you step inside the door. Like The Barking Deer, The Irish House looks like it can be in Boston (especially with all the TV screens, all that’s missing is a Red Sox game):

Priam and I ordered a “burrito bowl”:

The “burrito bowl” is actually a taco bowl, and it is pretty tasty. The rice texture is similar to rice in paellas, and the flavors are sweet, spicy, and very Indian. The flavors kind of remind me of Chutney’s in Harvard Square’s The Garage Mall (Chutney’s is like an Indian Chipotle). There are chicken pieces inside this bowl as well, and they are pretty standard. I had a Stella with this meal.

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Last Tuesday, I was invited to a friend’s house for her birthday party. I asked the birthday girl if it was okay if I blogged about her family’s homemade food, to which she said something like, “Of course! The Gujaratis take pride in their food and they’d be thrilled if you blogged about them!” (I can’t remember exactly what she said but it’s something along those lines). The appetizers were so good and could be a meal in itself:

The bottom left reminds me of a falafel pita sandwich, except with potato patties instead of falafel; this is all dipped in hummus. The top left tastes similar to jalapeno poppers but better; it is spicy, has no visible hot peppers in it, and has a white cheesy filling. The bottom right is basically fried paneer (Indian cheese) with crispy strings (like a bird’s nest). I have had many kinds of paneer dishes in the past but never fried like this; I like this type of paneer preparation best. Both the poppers and the paneer can be dipped into the red chili sauce that you can see on the plate above, although technically the poppers and paneer have plenty of flavor on their own. Based on previous experience in Indian households, I was aware that I shouldn’t fill up completely on appetizers because there’s still dinner ahead; however, I really liked the appetizers so I did not pace myself. Since this was a surprise birthday party and the birthday girl didn’t show up for a while, we had several rounds of these appetizers.

Although I wasn’t really hungry by the time dinner rolled around, I still managed to eat another full plate:

The curry in the little bowl is Thai green curry and at the top is a mixed vegetable baked dish. I especially liked the Thai green curry. I’ve been told that most Gujaratis are vegetarians, and this household is no exception. When vegetarian food is made properly, I personally think that non-vegetarians won’t miss the meat at least for that meal.

I forgot to take pictures of the cakes; basically there was one store-bought chocolate cake and one chocolate cake made by the birthday girl herself. Both were good. The store-bought cake had a flavor similar to Ferrero Rocher, and the homemade cake had a slab of chocolate running through it horizontally.