Deliciously Delhi

Re: # 48

Copper Chimney is alive and well. And three cheers for Malabar/Konkan cuisine - no Shan masala Hamidm but you`ll have to eat it to believe it. Think Thai - kind of.

Punjabi sambar brought the Madras Cafe in Green Park on Sunday mornings to mind when all the roly poly aunties, uncles and their offspring would descend on it clutching baltis to carry away the sambar. You think I`m kidding but I`m not - they take it away in baltis because they drink it!

What`s next? Ketchup on your idli? Oh, wait, they already do that! Jam on your dosa? Nah, they do that too. :)

I long held this polite belief that if you want to eat tasty meat dishes in US, go to Pakistani, Afghani restaurants. And for tasty veggie dishes, go to Indian. Let me cast off this politeness and say it out loud: unless you go to some really top notch indian restaurant, even the Indian veggie dishes are below par compared to Pakistani veggie dishes.

Just the other day, due to a matter of convenience, i ended up going to an Indian ``Punjab Dhaba``. Keeping the above mentioned rule of thumb in mind, I ordered cholay with naan. One `burki` and I could tell that cholay in ANY pakistani restaurant were a 100 times tastier than the ones that were in front of me. Not to mention that the roti was small, thin, with hot air pressed out, and cut in pieces - compared to the gigantic fluffy right from the oven roti you get in Pakistani restaurants.

Ras/30- well I guess the jalebis will have to wait for weight to come down, and the kababs will have to wait for someone to come down.

On the subject of Dilli being like Lahore, I beg to offer that this is a misconception going back centuries which is not valid anymore. I also don`t want to start any more Singapore comarisions.

Lahore is like any other vibrant Punjabi city in India especially on GT Road. Maybe Patiala. It is obvious that the last few decades have given the Indian Punjabi cities a newer class of people with greater disposable incomes while Lahore still gives off the aura of old wealth being in charge and spending carefully.

Think carefully:- how much Punjabi did you hear spoken in the backlanes of Old Delhi? Not much, I would hazard a guess unless you actually took the trouble to go seeking Punjabi speakers. And I shall like to state here that till 15-20 years ago, Punjabi was the down-to-earth language in old Delhi used by Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs.

However, on to food again, and if you have not ``eaten`` the famous ``Chinese food`` of Delhi then you need to sweet-corn-chicken hot-and-sour mixed-fried-rice with chicken-manchurian and mixed-veg-sweet-and-sour yourself rapidly with tinned-litchee-in-ice-cream. Or go for American-Chop-Suey.

Ras....

I suggest you read what Veeresh is saying closely...

According to a report... Delhi will be biggest slum known to man in another 10 years...
I take strong exception to your comment that a lively, developed and planned city like Lahore can have any thing in common with that Delhi of theirs...

Let us not make comparisons where there can`t ever be any.

PS:

It is strange why this careful old wealth of Lahore still has better cars, better houses, better roads, better gyms and better life styles than the newly IT Rich Indians ...

I hear there is only one decent locality in Delhi called Golflinks ... which apparently compares to Allama Iqbal Town... perhaps the worst middle class locality of lahore.

What is patriotism but the love of the good things we ate in our childhood? - Lin Yutang

Subroto, Farzana se daant khane ke baad bhi u are not behaving?
Farzana, what is English cuisine?

Indian food != north indian / punjabi food.
All this masala ladden north indian dishes make me sick. I recently moved to Jackson Heights thinking that although the area is filthy, at least I will get to eat good, wholesome, desi food there. BIG MISTAKE ! I agree 100% with hamidm as far as the so called ``indian cuisine`` as available in places like Kabab King, Baluchis and Haandi is concerned. I guess the definition of good indian food outside india is chunk of meat slapped with a grease, masala and then some. If you eat it once in a while, it tastes pretty good but if you eat it everyday, you will end up dead by 40. Unfortunately, real indian food is not available in the run of the mill indian eateries at least in New York. I have been looking for stuff like Porial, Chettinad Chicken, Bakarwadi and Pooran Poli all over the city in vain.

Ras Siddiqui

Next time you come, come not as muslim or hindu.

Next time you come, remember your host can only give you what they have.

Next time you come, come and visit Balasaheb`s area called Mumbai. Come and share what is Sonia place as Mumbai. Next time you come, come and share what was Jinha`s place as Mumbai. Which FV will never know even in her dreams. She knows what oppulence is.

Then you will find what FV will never give you. Bhook. And then a tookda. Yes Ferz who will never know Patuadi played for Haid... Not only that, the woman never will in her dream will say I am sorry, I did not know. I just shoot my mouth off as usual. Saying sorry.... well it is so much honesty.. Is there any school in Pakistan it is taught? None in India will teach FV.

Then you will get what food is eaten in place called Hiduo/Paki/stan. We share. We`ll share. Not fillling. Never tasty. Spice is too costly. Cant afford.

Do not flaunt your pocket. Never be Ferz in your life. I do not like liers.

My food will never taste good. It will be simply .... Better

American or gora sikhs at the gurudwara would pile all the dishes together and mix and eat the `gutava`. They would put raita, daal, kheer, pilaaf, jalebi, sabzi....mix it and after uttering Waheguru, dig in with all fervor.

Our Kashmiri Pandit friends made excellent bakra and fish dishes.

The aim of 99.99% Indian restaurants in US is to make money. They are not there to churn out delicacies or take pride in their dishes....at least in my city. Most of the restaurant owners are former dish washers who pooled money to open a restaurant. After 6 mos, they drive Hummers that they bought with cash.

Manto, are you trying to immitate Jinnah by dispising indian food?
FV, i dont recall the names of bandra thi eateries, one i remember was 4 tables, run by a Mac who would pretty much make food to order and bring you the beer from across the street. I liky Lucky on the main road as well. Lings Pvillion is shunned by many (esp Jains)since it serves beef and pork.

Since its a holiday today, i shall attempt to make Creme Brulee.

Mumbai Trishna is really classy. The mutant prawns they serve are truely awsome..never seen a 1 lb libe prawn anywhere. Ravas with salt-n-pepper and butter in trishna has NO SHAN or BEDEKAR or MTR or other masals i swear. And when i get 2 drinks of any kind + food, i dont have any further expectations about any friday...cest la vie.

English food is not bad, e.g. bread an butter with a pint in london is never bad. French food rocks ..except Champage.. its hight of marketing. Foul testing carbonated wine hyped-up. Give me a nice Toddy any day.

kaurasach #58,
Agreed 100% with you, Indian restaurants in USA are pretty bad in quality. No way comparable to India.

jang, I will take yours and Farzana`s word about English cuisine, though I did not know that such a bird existed,discounting the fish and chips. Italian and French use too much cheese.The gripe I have with most of the european cuisines is that they are not very filling.A full course meal in Spanish and Romanian are more like breakfast. Greek is another matter.
Talking about desi cuisine, i assume it cannot be appreciated after a certain age; and I fully agree that pakistani non veg places are much better than indian places also for vegetarian dishes like chhole etc. Probably the indian places cater more towards the goras,once a turkish friend accompanied us to a pakistani restaurant, and he was unable to walk for about half an hour after he finished the meal. Talking about vegetarian food, excepting South Indian,I have never had better food in any restaurant than what is cooked at home. Vegetarian food doesnt lend that well to excess of oil and fat.

Ras, just another question which a lurker friend at chowk who is also a Muslim with plenty of family all over the world jas a view on and also asked me to place here - and that is:- did you find any differences in the way tea is made/served/drunk/appreciated etc . . . between your Indian family/friends and Pakistani family/friends?

One reason for this question is that at a lot of wayside eateries, especially in the rural areas, the ``milk`` used to colour the tea is often not really milk. It could be the local euivalent of non-dairy corn/grain based creamer OR worse it could be reconstituted with urea. This has changed the way tea tastes in much of ``public`` India.

Just curious, thanks.

Yasser:- please forgive me, I did not know LaHore was trying to be Delhi again, I thought it was right there with Singapore. Never mind, I am told that Singapore Airlines SIN-ATQ flight is going to accept economy class passengers from Lahore again, very soon, but they will have to do the Amritsar-Lahore leg by a Tata-Daewoo bus.

re:#52 by Mantolives
Manto mian,
why don`t u post a link to the report about Delhi being the biggest slum in future and i will believe you?
I think u are just biased. I can`t compare New Delhi to Lahore because i have not visited the latter. But there is a lot more to Delhi than the Golf Links. It is of course not as urbane as Bombay but it has its own charm. I miss that city quite a lot.
Sridhar

#63 rsridar: no slum competitions here please, we are Desis.....

#62 Veeresh: Tea did taste a little different in India, especially at the Dhabas. But since
I happen to be a tea addict, the choice between any tea and no tea, is not a choice at all.
I am not a “Pukki Huwi Chai” fan but my Indian hosts did change their standards for me.
But I am glad that tea is equally appreciated on both sides of the border.

# 61: Anything beyond Fish and Chips? English food is torture. Kidney Pie anyone?

#60: Try Shalimar in San Francisco or Tumerik in Mountain View for great Pakistani and Indian Food.

#59 Jang: Spicy Kababs after a cold one and Heaven can Wait….

# 58 Kaurasach: Kashmiri food can be divine…
Try Shalimar in San Francisco or Tumerik in Mountain View for great Pakistani and Indian Food.

#57 Yogiraj: I was waiting for your kind of reply quite a while ago.
That is one reason why I started off with the two rupee roti. But
do not put down the appreciation of food and compare it to lack of food.
To the hungry man, a cup of Dal is more precious and delicious than any rich man’s Caviar.

#56 John Galt: I do not agree with you, Mantolives or hamidm. I love Desi food period.

#55: The best English food is that that has originated from outside England.

#54 Ansari: Try Ghaffar’s at Riaz Masjid. My childhood favorite.

#51, 52,53: Manto: When was the last time you visited Delhi? If you do, go to NOIDA.
I know what Veeresh is trying to say. Actually Lahore is clean like Jaipur but Mughal
History and Mughlai food is what Lahore and Delhi have in common.

#51 Veeresh: I hope to be back soon. Kabab’s yes, Jalebi’s maybe…
Next time you are in Lahore, try the Mei Kong for Chinese….
I repeat from my earlier reply to Manto: Delhi and Lahore
are similar in Mughal History and Mughlai food….

#49 & #50: It is a matter of the taste you grow up with. I cannot appreciate Idli or Sambar, but gol guppas are great....

#47 rsridhar: Try Shalimar in San Francisco or Tumerik in Mountain View for great Pakistani and Indian Food.

#45 & 46: Dum Pukth and tonic?

#44 nazarhayatkhan: Toynbee “Kam Bakht”

#43 Mantolives: Desi food rules. Pepper Steak in Lahore?

#42 hamidm2: Shan rules!

#41 rsridhar: who cares about ambiance?
Try Shalimar in San Francisco or Tumerik in Mountain View for great Pakistani and Indian Food.

#40 dost-mittar: Burns Road is very much like the Jama Masjid area in Delhi minus the Masjid. I am not usually a jalebi fan and like Bengali sweets the best. But hot jalebis
are difficult to turn down.

#39 madpolkadot: Gulab Jamuns are a family favorite.

#38 vivek: I think that the French exaggerate about their food.

#37 FV: Too bad about the drinking part. Several great Thai here places in Northern California. Thanks for the description of kakori kebabs AND sharing the trip with me
via email. I have developed a certain fondness for India after this trip. It is not just the food but I got a chance to meet some wonderful people.

#36 hamidmtoo: What is wrong with Shan masala? Do you know how we spent our college days without it? After a couple of tall “rooh afzas” ones and the smoke from “miniature hookahs”, tears of longing for a decent spicy tikka or kabab/roti were not rare.
Nearest desi restaurant was 25 miles and I did not have a car.

#35 Subroto: Thanks. Any friend of KS is alright with me…

ali_1 & HP thanks for the info. At least friend arjun_m is actually trying
to express his views on an article which had no mention of Kashmir in it.
There is hope for us after all…