Bon South - for NRI southies

Had great expectations when advised by my friend Anu and Chells when I had met them late morning @ forum. En route from Times now music festival we dropped in for dinner . Liked the ambiance , however the restaurant did not live up beyond it. The menu had a page dedicated to each state - Tamil Nadu , Kerala , Karnataka and Andra Pradesh , however the choices were limited. There were just 2 choices for the veggies and multiple for the Non-Veggies . The food was good and nothing great to comment about. The dishes are expensive - 2 appams cost about 75 rupees .

Anu has jotted about her good experience on a visit there , however we were not the lucky ones I guess - No saplings :(

This place is good for bringing foreigners who wants to taste some Indian food and yes also if you are on a company lunch treat. They enquired immediately what was wrong when one of us had complained in the feed back form - which I have never seen in other places. I liked this gesture.

Onam Sadhya!!

I should be ashamed to tell this as a Malayalee that today was the first time in 27 years that I got to have a Onam Sadhya. Sadhya consists of 21 dishes servered on a plaintain leaf! I guess it is the different style and tradition that is followed in different parts of Kerala, I am from North Kerala - Kannur to be precise. The traditional Sadhya in north Kerala consist of a non-veg lunch..mostly Biriyani. !!

I have been pulling my mom's leg telling that she never made a sadhya for Onam!! We were mostly in chennai for Onam and missed out of the fanfare and different traditions.

Mr & Mrs Biju - Thank you! The lunch was great! You guys made history in my life!!

Leaving you with some of the other snaps!

TV:Chef and his better half: NDTV Good times

Cooking is not rocket science...it is a science on its own with many chefs try out different combinations until they zero on a palatable dish which bowls you over. I am not sure how many of you have noticed this program on NDTV Good times . This is a cookery program with Techniques from the west and cusines from East. I am quite impressed with Nathasha and Nikhil (They are Husband and wife and the host of the show) on how the program is being done and like the choice of dishes that are being made. Most of the dishes are simple and easy to make, however some of them are very complicated.

The reason I like this program on cookery the most as compared with other channels are the host conduct the show very well and they give me a feel that your friends are cooking on televison. They sync very well on the show and I especially like the way Nikhil calls Natasha "My dear" I lost track of the number of times he uses them on each show.

Great work.

Food:Bhajjis,Pakodas - And the rainy day

Hot Bhajjis and hot tea to go with on a rainy day is the best treat. Bajjis are my favourites for ages and dont miss a chance to grab some, given an opprutunity. I have been in chennai most of my life and have been a regular to few bhajji shops around Virugambakkam - that is the place I live in chennai with my friends Shankar and Sabari. Thought will give those shops due respect for the amazing bahajjis and other snacks that they make.....to start with my initial fancy for bhajjis started in my school going days...

I think there is no difference in the way Bhajjis and Pakoda/Paloras are made I guess, just that the way they are called in North and South indian cusine.Bhajjis are usually made with fresh Vegetables dipped and covered in full, in a batter made of spiced up Besan flower.The popular choices of vegetables are ....

• Onion (Thin slices cut as rings)
• Chilli (Whole or slit into two, length wise)
• Cauliflower
• Egg
• Bread

• Eatery 1: There was this tiny shack diagonallly opposite to Kaliamman Koil , he later moved to a shop with concrete roof on the corner of Kaliamman koil street and reddy street, He made amazing Egg Bajjis (Mutta Bajji - as called in Tamil), and also excellent Paprupu vadai (Filafil made of grounded dal and spices) .These were his best though he made chill and Potato bondas. Suggest you try the mixed combo of the above two on a plate with some onions and chutney to garnish.One cannt miss this shop due to the crowd outside the shop. Hardcore veggies who dont even eat egg - stay clear as he uses the same oil to fry egg and vegetarian food.
• Eatery 2: The one good for Cauliflower Pakodas is on the way to chinmaya Vidyalaya in Virugambakkam. Take the right just before the bridge on Kaliamman Koil street and about 300 meters away , you cant miss this shop on the right. He also makes Good Cutlets and also Pazampori ( Ripe Kerala Banana covered with a batter made of Maida and fried).He also makes other snaps which is not worth mentioning.
• Eatery 3: The one good for chilli Bajjis are the shop on the corner of MGR street and Arunachalam Road ( Land mark is the corner where the Public trasport buses turn towards Saligramam). Onion Bajjis are also worth mentioning.
• Eatery 4: Another exciting place to source Cauliflower Pakodas is one oppsoie to MMM hospital in Mogappair. I think the secret is that , they use chicken 65 masala masala with the bajjis ..Veggies...this is pure veg....this is just the masala and does not contain any non-veg in this.

Found a couple of receipes on the net:

http://mykitchenhobbies.blogspot.com/2007/11/mirapakaya-bhajji.html

http://www.aachiusa.com/starter.html

Buddies...if you know of any good eateries for snacks...feel free to drop me a note to add to this.Managed to pick up some directions from Google Map.


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