July 12, 2008 Comments (21)
So there are people out there who claim to be Gujarati and never heard of dabeli – also given the nomenclature of “fun in a bun” by my foodie friend Sheetal. Dabeli is the past participle of ‘press’ – so, in a word: pressed!
Forget vada-pav, that’s done with. Dabeli is a potato thing with raw onions (crunchy), peanuts and pomegranate kernels. And right before serving it, the vendor will sprinkle sev on it… Hot, spicy, sweet, crunchy, chewy — good stuff! At a street corner near you, but only in the evenings. And the best one ever is around the corner from my house! Yay ๐
Bombay• Desh• Experience• Food• Photo • dabeli• Food• mumbai• photo• street food• unhygeinic
June 25, 2008 Comments (9)
Mumbai’s local trains are awesome. Not just because of their celerity, but also because they’re a microcosm unto themselves. The people, the smells, the sounds, and definitely the literature – I love it all.
Anyway, I quite liked this offering. Unfortunately, the phone number was missing, but 600 Rupees (~$15) for 40 types of chocolate, including “Ferrero Racher” (sic) – now, that’s a steal!
Bombay• Experience• Food• Funny• Photo• Travel• Words • Bombay• Funny• local trains• locals• mumbai• signs• Words
June 24, 2008 Comments (6)
Since I got tagged by aditya, Iโm doing a random post that doesnโt quite fit โบ
To be true to my own blog, the photo is of a place I have lived in. This cool dude used to show up and hang out in my balcony last year in Delhi ๐
4 Jobs Iโve Had (in chronological order): Girl Friday at King College, News producer at boston.com, producer at an Indian radio station, & freelance radio content producer at my company News Radio India Sonologue.
4 Movies I Could Watch Over and Over: Dr. Strangelove (or how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb), (more…)
Blog• Bombay• Delhi• Experience• Food• me, myself & i• Movies• Nostalgia• Photo• Travel • animals• cat• chhavi• Delhi• personal• photo• tagged
June 4, 2008 Comments (9)
We used to know a pair of lhasa apsos called Samosa and Moongphali ๐ Anyway, this is not about them. This is about where your samosas come from ๐ Behind the halwai, in a dingy, cavernous room is where the raw samosas – still tender in their doughy skins – await their flash in the pan. So, I’m romanticizing ๐ Sue me. But the contrast was too stark to not post. Enjoy your next samosa… Oh and the post’s title? I knew a kid who couldn’t say “samosa” ๐
Delhi• Experience• Food• me, myself & i• Photo • chhavi• Delhi• Desh• Food• Funny• moving back• nri• photo• samosa
April 24, 2008 Comments (0)
When my brother and I were little, my mother decided we were using too much ‘bad language’ — we were calling each other ‘stupid’ and ‘moron’ย — and to curb our tongues, she instituted a fine. We were to drop 25 paise into a gulak for adjectives like that, 50 paise for using sh!#. These colorful gulaks in Mazjid Moth, Dilli, reminded me of that failed behavioural modification experiment ๐
Were this gulak thing instituted in our house again, all of us would be contributing quite a bit — parents included! Hmm, maybe we could use the spoils to get some good PG-13 DVD’s … ๐
Delhi• Desh• Experience• Food• me, myself & i• Nostalgia• Photo • • chhavi• cussing• Delhi• Desh• fine• Food• moving back• photo• piggy bank• swearing
April 17, 2008 Comments (3)
Juicing is hard work. Last month, I went to Janakpuri for a work visit and exiting the I just loved these two little boys who were selling sugarcane juiceย (replacing the shakharkandhi chaat of the winter) from this rotary machine which took all their strength. There were plenty of takers on that hot day — one of the first sweaty ones in Delhi’s so-called spring…
Their ice blocks are covered with jute sacks and the sugarcane stems
are then passed between the two grinding wheels. The result — a flattened stick of fibre, and sweet, sweet, sticky liquid sugar ๐
โ Desi• Blog• Delhi• Desh• Food• Photo • boys• chhavi• Delhi• Desh• ganna• moving back• photo• sugarcane• work
February 15, 2008 Comments (4)
Indian Chinese food, as the expats know, is in a class of its own. Nowhere in China would you find any of the random things we consume here, confident that they’re “Chinese”. Or close… The noodles/fried rice van outside our high school sold “Chinesh” food…
(Random factoid: The dish we call “Manchurian” – veggies, chicken, and gobi – really was invented in Bombay.)
But here’s someone in Lower Parel making some pretty lofty claims.
The tagline, btw, reads “Where Chinese cuisine took shape” ๐
Blog• Bombay• Desh• Food• Photo• Travel • Bombay• chhavi• chinese• Desh• desi chinese• mumbai• parel• photo
January 31, 2008 Comments (3)
“What a nice smile you have. Wow! And you’ve definitely lost weight. You are looking so fabulous! My god, these jeans make you look HOT! And curvy in all the right places. You look perfectly marvelous in this color, too. You simply must wear it all the time. It brings out your eyes so well. We really don’t see you often enough, you know. It’s lovely to have you here, you make the place light up. Really…” ๐
Blog• Bombay• Desh• Food• Funny• Words • โ Theatre• chhavi• cinemax• Desh• Funny• mumbai• photo• sign• spelling
January 30, 2008 Comments (7)
Tiny kiosks selling “American Corns” have become both cottage industry and franchise opp nearly everywhere in metropolitan India. I see them in every market and every mall and movie theatre.
The other day, near a stall that sell the steamed “corns” (in masala – yum, Chinese – too salty, Italian – too much oregano, and American – absolutely bland flavors) I found the discarded packaging of the frozen kernels.
It gives me the absolute heebie-jeebies every time I see it written down as corns (plural).
I always, always get a mental visual that grosses me out. In fact, a simple google search will show you exactly what I mean.
Ick, ick, ick, ick.
Blog• Delhi• Desh• Food• Funny• Words • chhavi• Delhi• Desh• Food• Funny• packaging• photo• sign• spelling
December 9, 2007 Comments (1)
No one at home likes this stuff, but I am turning into a shakarkandhi chaat fiend. I could live on this stuff. Well, all winter long, when it’s available, anyway…
It’s basically a sweet potato that’s been slow cooked over a coal fire and then peeled, diced, and shaken in a few spicy masalas and lemon juice. So yum! And hey, it’s cheap, easily available, low in calories and has a low glycemic index. Who could ask for a better snack? ๐
โ Desi• Blog• Delhi• Desh• Experience• Food • chaat• chhavi• Delhi• Desh• Food• health• pheri• photo• snack• sweet potato• work
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