Chai Point

India runs on Chai and I don’t drink it .. Err .. I sip green tea and I am told by hardcore tea lovers that it ain’t tea *facepalm* . I enjoy occasional black tea and one such time my chai crazy friends made me taste the lemon tea from chai point . If we happened to be in any place where there is a Chai Point in the radar then a visit is must for my colleagues . So when we travel out from the airport the pit stop both the ways has to be Chai Point .

On one such trip recently we stopped over at chai point and they never cease to amaze me with their innovations . Their banana cake , puffs , the bun maska are all delicious, just perfect with a chai. I also know that some prefer a little crispy snack with their chai and that has been a practice at my home too . It could be a biscuit or some mixture but little of it. This time I stumbled upon this packet which is very economical and quantity just right . I was super impressed . Innovation and service are the only differentiators in the market , if we don’t do it someone else will they remind me .

Its an AYE from me , next time you see a chai point just try ok ? did you say you are lazy? they deliver in these uber cool flasks too 😉 . Ek Chai hojaye!

Website : chaipoint

Adigas – M G Road

It was a weekday and we at office are accustomed to the snacks at around 5 . That day we were to be out for a meeting on M G Road around same time and were starved :(.. The client called me stating that he will be late for the meeting by 15 mins and we were only happy as we could grab some food. The only option that was visible was Adigas located near the metro station . We braved the traffic and crossed MG road to reach our destination.

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There was a beeline at the cash counter and I wanted bhel for myself and my colleagues chose vada pav courtesy the man who was making them at the counter . There was a grace I cant explain and very inviting vadas . I changed my mind and ordered for pav bhaaji for self and both my colleagues stuck to vada pav. We chose the self service bay and collected the food in a jiffy .

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While Pav Bhaji disappointed me with one morsel my colleagues were singing praises of the vada pav and i gave in . It was one of the best I have eaten . I am not a vada pav fan and may not even know whats authentic , if you say Mumbai vadapav classifies as one then yes ! I have tasted the best ones there 🙂 . We stuffed ourselves and ordered for a extra one too . It was a super hit amongst us and every time we go that way the only snack I see we reaching out to is , well! let me not repeat

If you have been there then you probably know what I mean , if you haven’t please go and try I say . Its an Aye from me ..

Address :

Vasudev Adigas

MG Road

084949 11152

Website : adigas

Grilled Potato slices

I have started loving simple recipes and healthy cooking has always been my first love . One of the days I wanted to eat some crispy wafers but gagged at the thought of oil in them . So went into my kitchen and decided to make something at home . This recipe is simple and guilt free 🙂

potato

Ingredients :

Potatoes – washed , peeled and sliced (I use a slicer and decide on thickness basis my liking )

Chilli powder

Turmeric powder

Amchur /Dry mango Powder

Salt

A teaspoon of oil

Mix all the ingredients and simply grill them. I also tried to do this in my micro wave and it cooked well too . Since my tray is smaller , I stacked them up separately on 2 racks of grill and let it remain inside the convection for over 6 to 8 mins and voila ! yummy crispy potato crisps, chips is ready . If you happen to try this do lemme know how it turned out .

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Notes : You can replace amchur with lemon juice , add coriander powder , I sometime get lazy and all I use is sambhar powder . Alternatively I grill sweet potatoes, Okhra , Brinjal , etc . Use your creativity here .

Happy Cooking

Koshys

Koshys is an evergreen , will never go wrong place for me from years . A place that reminds me of old Bangalore and I long to visit this restaurant most times I am around M G road. There is a thing about this place I can never explain and of course I know what exactly to order and they have never let me down.

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It was a saturday afternoon and yummy food was on my mind after a month of healthy food life balance . Which place other than Koshys could I have thought of . While parking is a huge concern after 2 rounds of Koshys we finally parked in a no parking lot(sigh!). Parking woes , ok let me not go there for now. We were blessed as the table was waiting for us and we happily plunged into them and ordered prawn curry rice and pork curry rice(not in pic , sorry) at one breath . It is always accompanied by salad , pickle and papad . The waiter uncle who attended us was very serious and spoke to the point unless the other ones I have encountered and meant serious business . Food came , was polished off in no time . I also wanted to eat an ice cream , no fancy but simple good old chocolate ice cream so ordered for it . When doing a crime , do it properly no? (am referring to the cheat meal)

Go Go anytime and enjoy the food , this place is all about old Bangalore and good food . Its a big Aye from me . If you are not from Bangalore then make a mental note to visit this place atleast for breakfast the next time you visit my city and if you are a Bangalorean and have never been there, what are you waiting for ?Just go I say .

Address : 39, St. Marks Road, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560001

Phone : 090071 19356

Radish /Mooli Sambhar

Oh yes! I know its the easiest dish , yet I know many who ask me how I make it so here I am writing the method . This is one of the ways I make Sambhar . I love to enjoy this with phulka/Roti or some brown rice . Radish I know is not a fav veggie of many , I love this sambhar and is my fav after drumstick . I will blog a sambhar powder recipe shortly 🙂

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Ingredients

Serves : 2. Please double the ingredients basis the number of people

Tomato – 1

Onion – 1

Mooli/Raddish – 1

Mustard – a tsp

Sambhar Powder – 1.5 tbs

Hing/Asafoetida – a pinch

Oil- 1 to 2 tbs

Toor Dal – one small cup

Turmeric – 1 tsp

Salt – to taste

Curry Leaves – one sprig

Method :

1.) Wash the dal well and boil in the cooker with sufficient water and turmeric powder

2.) In a wok/Kadai add 2 tb oil and add the reddish and saute . The raw smell of the radish has to go away .

3.) Add onions and sauce until the onions are cooked well

4.) Add Tomato to the mixture and continue to saute until the rawness of tomato goes away

5.) Add Sambhar powder to the mix . I added about 1.5 tb s and salt as per taste and saute well .

6.) Add the dal to the masala with salt and allow it to simmer for about 10 mins

7.) Tadka/Seasoning time : take little oil, add mustard allow it to splutter , add hing, curry leaves

8.) Transfer the tadka to the sambhar and close the lid

Step 9 : Eat 🙂 . Enjoy . Oh! refer the notes below

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Notes : I added mustard to the oil in which i sauted the mooli itself

Tamarind can be added in the end . I didn’t feel like this time

Adigas

Sunday morning breakfast is like a ritual and most days its a planned affair. Today however it was a knee jerk reaction. We were near Adigas when we were hungry and it didn’t take us a second to decide 🙂 .

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I ordered the classic idli (I know I said classic , doesn’t it sound uber cool?) and my friend asked for mini idlis , they should name them the minions if you ask me 😉 . After paying at the cash counter , we collected the receipt and headed to the delivery counter and that guy asked me if I wanted my idlis soaked in Sambhar and I happily nodded as that is the way I like it at Darshinis .. My friend got these mini idlis soaked in a yellow gravy loaded with ghee. I tried tasting that dish but was unsuccessful as all I could taste was ghee which I am not a fan of.

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I love the open dosa’s at Adigas which I will order the next time , but this time was a no compliant one as always . Its an Aye from me . There are several Adigas in Bangalore , I visited the one on Ulsoor road . Simply enjoy maadi

Website : http://adigas.in

Wheat Cake

After I started baking I literally have stopped going towards the bakery which I think is a good sign and I always look for recipes that is healthy as maida/plainflour is not my cup of tea. So here I am with a recipe I tried from the web and it is one of the yummy cakes I came across which is guilt free 🙂 . Lets begin no? 🙂

Ingredients :

Atta/Whole Wheat – 2 cups

1 to 2 cups of jaggery , cane sugar (intent is to refrain using refined sugar)

1/2 tb baking powder

1 1/2 tb baking soda

2 tb cinammon powder

3/4 cup refined oil (I used rice bran oil)

1 cup curd

water as required

walnuts, raisins , figs – a fistful

Method (I use a connection micro wave, so if you are using a oven please adjust accordingly)

1.)Pre Heat the microwave to 180 deg C | for oven 200 deg c is good

2.)Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl

3.)Blend the curd and oil together in another bowl.

4.) Mix the dry and wet ingredients and mix well. Add water as required to get the dripping consistency .

5.) add the dry fruits the way you want . I chose to garnish them , sometimes I mix them with the cake mixture itself

6.) Oil bottom of the baking dish and bake at 180 deg C for about an hour , of course checking in regular intervals . The tooth pick has to come clear when inserted and thats the sign of a baked cake .

7.) cut and serve when cool

Dry ingredients mix

Wet Ingredients mix

Blend blend both

The dry fruit time

Notes : Mixing the ingredients well is key to a good cake is my learning .

You can replace all the ingredients with maida, sugar etc and that will be the regular cake. This is an attempt to eat healthy and yet tasty .

Sugar I added one cup and it was just sweet the way I like and if you are sweet tooth soul then make it 2 cups of sugar (cane) .

Madurai Idli Shop

Once upon a time when Tamil style idli and sambhar was on mind I used to visit this place and somewhere had forgotten. Last Sunday when Idli’s were on my mind for brekkie the closest destination was Madurai Idli shop. So decided to park the car and walk in hoping all was the same .

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The idlis were ok and I am unsure what the gravy is called for it surely wasn’t sambhar . I thought tomato gravy and didn’t event eat it after tasting once ,however the guys at the service counter told me it was sambhar . Service was bad, “I dint care attitude “. I decided to eat and leave as I wasn’t planning to visit them again anyways . The idlis were cold and just ok . No spoons and the wait was unbearable .. May be expansion is not everyones cup of tea and inflation make people compromise on the quality and quantity. This is the era where chutney is more of water than flavour , whom can we blame really ? This place is a big nay! from me .. If you want to give it a try below are the details , you never know it might be your day 🙂

Address: No. 3051 80 Feet Road, HAL 2nd Stage, Indira Nagar, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560038

Phone: 080 2520 2255

Bindu Gopinath

Food – Life – Travel

Tag: foodblogger