LITTI BIT MORE

 Sameep Karve boards Litti Express to hog up delicacy of Bihar-Litti Chokha

After a long time my search ended and I was able to hog up the most awaited cuisine in my food list. This is a simple food dish of poor man or rather a worker class of Bihar and it is very filling and nutritious. I am talking about the Bihar's most famous cuisine Litti Chokha. The delicacy, which has been a staple diet of poor people over the years, has hooked celebrities in a big way in recent times.

However, Litti has made a special identity of Bihar. A distinctive cuisine of Bihar and a vital part of the ethos and culture of local people, the humble Litti Chokha has been accepted into the national scenario, and how!

You can have it piping hot at the railway station, a roadside dhaba or even order it at some swanky ethnic restaurant in the city. Interestingly, it has now become a trend for almost all Bihari Babus to throw ‘Litti-Parties’ in New Delhi and flaunt their regional identity. But Litti has been an endearing part of Bihar’s historic past.

My hunt began by searching on Zomato if I can trace out any restaurant or small eating joint in Mumbai which serves authentic Litti Chokha as in Vadodara we dont get this food and as I am in Mumbai so didn't want to loose a chance to taste this delicacy as my taste buds were tickling from long time. While googling for this cuisine I spotted one small eatery named Litti Express at Adarsh Nagar in Jogeshwari and gave a call on that number which was mentioned on google. The call was attended by Ashish who is the owner of this small shop and he guided me to reach here. Ashish greeted me very humbly and he is very courteous and by profession he directs art films and runs a production house and this is his part time venture as food is his passion and he wanted to introduce this delicacy of Bihar in Mumbai and make it popular among locals. He is making his full efforts for this and he also told me that for preparing Littis all the raw material is brought from their homeland Bihar. The main ingredient is the Sattu flour of Chana which he told that it is roasted on sand and hence has the real taste. This Chane ka Sattu is not available in Mumbai.

The restaurant is not rich in ambience and it is in small lane and swanky shop having 2 to 3 tables for sitting and there is small Bhatti nearby where littis are roasted. I ordered one plate of Litti Chokha which was for Rs.50 serving 2 hot litti balls and chokha along with the complimentary siding of green chutney made of coriander leaves and mint with raw onions.

Litti: The Sattu dough balls are stuffed with a mixture of spices like black pepper, Thymol (ajwain), ginger, garlic, mustard oil, lemon juice and salt for flavouring. After that these littis are baked in hot Bhatti and it throws a smoky taste which is unique in its sense. Once ready it is dipped in Desi ghee. In nutshell it is highly nutritious.

Chokha: It is spicier accompaniment made of roasted eggplants(Brinjals), mashed potatoes, bit of tomatoes and lots of green chillies.

My overall experience was very good and was highly satisfied. So if you are in Mumbai head to Adarsh Nagar, Jogeshwari(W) for this mouth watering delicacy.

Still my feeling is that Litti-chokha has failed to make headway as a business product on a bigger scale so far, but its prospects are immense. It will take an enterprising entrepreneur to come forward and make capital out of it.

If it is marketed properly, there is no reason why litti-chokha cannot be Bihar's answer to Mumbai's Vada Pav which lures the rich and the poor alike.

Sam's Report Card:

Taste: 8/10
Service: 8/10
Ambience: 6/10
Value for Money: 8/10

MUMBAI'S DESI BURGER

 Sameep Karve gobbles up Vada Pav

Near Dadar's Kirti college there is a stall that has people pushing and pulling at each other as they try to place their order seeking a bite of the famous vada pav from the stall.

Run by Ashok Thakur, the stall opens from 11 am to 9:30 pm attracts a large number of people who come daily to eat their favourite snack at the stall. For Rs 20 per vada pav, Thakur and his employees sell thousands of vada pavs per day. In 35 years price of Vada Pav has gone up from 6 paise to Rs 20.

Vadapav (or VP) is synonymous with Mumbai and to my mind, no one does it better than Ashok Thakur in Prabhadevi. Ok, before someone flames me, I'll admit that each neighborhood features a good if not great 'VP' stall and every Mumbaikar has his or her preferred place. In Prabhadevi, I'd have to hand it to Askok Vada Pav near Kirti College. I always considered that vadapav as top of the heap and more recently, has picked up a few accolades sorta vindicating my stand. Its hard to miss the little stall just a few steps away from the entrance to Kirti college. Thats the only place teeming with throngs of people clamoring for their orders. And yell as you might, its rather difficult to get Ashok's attention.

On a typical evening, his vadas are made fresh in small batches and that leads to customers screaming, threatening, pleading and cajoling for their orders to be fulfilled from the lot that just came out of the fryer. His policy seems to be; the louder you scream, the less likely you are to get your hot VP! As soon as a fresh batch of vadas roll out of the assembly line fryer, he and his able assistants jam the piping hot vadas into pavs on standby with their 'mouth' gaping wide open. In goes a liberal dash or two of his hot green and sweet tamarind chutneys followed by a sprinkling of the nuttier coarse garlic chutney powder. And just when you think it couldn't get anything better, he adorns, make that STUFFS, the pav with super crispy bits of 'orphaned' vada coating formally known as "chura". One bite and you've experienced sweet street food bliss! Its a explosion of flavors; the soft and spicy vada innards barely tamed with the sweet chutney; while the green and garlic chutneys riding on top come kicking through.The aforementioned crispy 'chura' offset by the soft pav do their best to control the spice explosion as your sweaty face breaks into contented smile. And there are infinite permutations and combinations;you don't want to go the whole hog with the vada? No problem; you can order the "Chura Pav". Yes, just the best parts; nice crunchy pieces with your choice of chutneys encaged within soft pillowy pavs. This place is famous among celebrities and it is frequently visited by Madhuri Dixit, Jackie Shroff, Sonu Nigam.

BEING A BACHELOR

COOL CONFESSIONS with  Sameep Karve
If you are craving for ice creams, milk shakes or falooda at midnight around 2am at Marine drive then you can bang on at Bachelorr's.

Nestled in a nook beside the railway tracks at Charni Road station in Mumbai, this ice cream joint serves milkshakes, ice-creams and sandwiches, is a regular hangout amongst the evening crowd, racing down Marine Drive for kicks, stopping at Bachelor's to cool down. Bachelor's is an experience that every visitor to Mumbai must taste to believe. Their unique flavours cannot be found anywhere else.

Bachelorr’s – initially known as Brahamchari’s – was established by Late Mr. Om Prakash Agarwal in the early 30’s (probably in 1932) on the quiet beach of Girgaon Chowpatty. Mr. Om Prakash Agarwal, belonging to a Ghaziabad in U. P., had run away from his home as a teen & come to Mumbai with almost no money. Here, in Mumbai, he somehow arranged for his livelihood by doing any job that he could get & slogged. Within a year or two,he started vending fruits at a rented stall on Chowpatty. Later he rented another place opposite to the beach where he would store the fruits as business was picking. Gradually the business started flourishing and he used to get good customers. Some customers also asked for the fruits to be cut and served in a dish. Mr. Om Prakash Agarwal started giving that service to the customers
It is open from 5pm to early am. They have lot of varieties of juices and shakes. No sitting area. But the service is quite quick. It's very easy to drive past this joint, but when you observe you can see that it's always thronged by people. It is situated bang opposite Chowpatty Sea Face. Being a roadside joint, there is not much of seating available here, however, you are free to park your car and the servers shall take your order at your car. One of the most popular food joint on marine drive, which is open till wee hours.

Having a juice or a shake hasn't been that sort of a memorable experience as a fine dining? Bachelorr's might just change that. The menu of juices and shakes itself might put many multi-cuisine restaurants to shame.
Out of the long list of menu I ordered my favourite Mango shake with pieces of fresh mangoes doing justice with my taste buds and to the season .
Mango Shake with pieces can't get better. Mangoes are just so smooth and delicious. Mango chunks add to the delight like anything. However the moment I took a spoon full of that Sweet Devil I was into a heaven. No words to describe that happiness.
Also, go for their mocha in chocolate dressing and be prepared to be bowled over. Overpriced but the experience is worth it.

PRAKASH SHAKAHARI UPAHAR KENDRA PART-1

Sameep Karve hunts for some Authentic Maharashtrian Food.

It was a Sunday morning and had a week off in office so as usual didnt had to follow the strict timings. Mumbai was greeted by heavy rains previous day i.e Saturday. It rained for almost entire day and the streets of Mumbai were wet with water and also water logging at some of the places. The weather was pleasant and cool and this would pamper your taste buds to indulge into some hot savouries which are an all time hit on streets of Mumbai. As last week had gobbled some idlys, wadas, dosas so was not planning to have South Indian food. Hence today I was craving to have some authentic Maharashtrian food and when you think of Maharashtrian food you have to head to Dadar which is a Shrine for some culinary delicacies of Mumbai. Dadar has still preserved the culinary roots of Mumbai's Marathi culture and if you are Purists for food then Dadar will treat you well as many Iconic eateries are located here. Here you shall get authentic breakfast items like Misal, Batata wada, Kothimbir wadi, Sabudana wada, Thalipeeth etc....Just having a feel of all these yummy food items in my mind started my 2.5 Kms walk from Wadala to Shivaji Park, Dadar. This walk help to burn my some calories so that it can be replenished by hogging up some of the delicacies.

So just off Shivaji Park and opposite  Shiv Sena bhavan, Dadar you have loads of options to choose from. If you are looking for Maharashtrian heavy breakfast/lunch you can choose from the stylish,AC cooled Aaswad or the bench styled Prakash Uphar Gruh. I chose the later as already had tried at Aaswad. As far as Marathi eating houses go this one should certainly be on your bucket list!

HISTORY!!!!
When Indian broke the shackles of bondage and gained independence from the British, Shri Shivram Govind Joglekar left his native village in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra for Mumbai. After a few odd jobs here and there, he was determined to establish himself in the food business. Thus in 1947 was born Prakash Dugdha Mandir at Girgaom, the then hub of Mumbai. The Dadar branch was started 24 years later in 1971.
The food hub @ Dadar branch was renamed as "Prakash Shakahari Upahar Kendra". 

The restaurant is very basic, despite the makeover it received some years back. Contrary to the food, the interiors and the ambiance (there’s no AC section and the place is crammed with tables) are not worth writing about. But considering their food prices, one simply shouldn’t complain. The clientele ranges from executives in suits to daily wage laborers. Spot a seat and grab it before its gone! Its drab no-frills interiors are the epitome of form and function; whirring ceiling fans on top and uniformed waiters whizzing about with Germanic efficiency.

 The Menu card is laminated one to protect the same from spillage and is kept on the table. Some of the regular patrons of this restaurant dont even gaze at Menu card and order their preferred dishes. The waiter rattles out the order to the open kitchen and within a few minutes, slam dunks the order down to your table.

Now coming to the food I placed my order for Mattha Misal. It is simple misal as we have anywhere else served in tiny dish and filled up to the brim of the bowl. Misal here has tiny crunches of some farsan, jheeni sev, topped on the spicy curied lentils which are cooked to perfection and are soft to chew and it also has some Poha and Mashed Potato added to it to make it more soft. The tenderness of Lentils and Poha is perfectly balanced with Crunchier bits of Farsan and they add whisking curd(Mattha) on the top to have a  hint of tang in the flavour.Here they dont offer Pav with Misal.

After relishing Hot Misal thought to give a sweet treat to my taste buds and so ordered my all time favourite Shrikhand Puri. Puris were fresh served hot right from the Kadhai and were soft as made from Whole wheat flour. Maida is not used here and hence they are not chewy. Shrikhand was a Kesari shrikhand( A sweet Yoghurt which has flavour of saffron and zing of cardamom). They serve 4 hot Puris along with the Shrikhand and this combo is all time favourite of many Maharashtrians.

After having this brunch walked out of the Hotel with sweet smile on my face showing sign of satisfaction and my total bill was Rs.109/-.

CANARA COFFEE HOUSE

EK DOUBLE UPMA EK MASALA


Today in the morning after heavy work out and walk my hunger pangs were crying so just straight away went to one of the iconic breakfast eatery at Dandia bazar. It needs no introduction as it is in the list of many food alcoholics of Baroda. It is none other but Canara cafe.

I started with Upma which I usually have and being a regular customer over there from last 30 years even the waiters over there don't ask me what I want as they are aware of my choices. Without placing an order a guy came up with Hot Upma and Chutney. After having done with Upma thought that still I can push something more in my belly so ordered Masala dosa. It was hot served with Sambhar and chutney. Total Damages made Rs.60 but its quite worth. There Poona Misal is also a big hit among the Barodians and it is worth to have it when you are here. While I was having this food it took me down memory lane. Dad used to bring us here on Saturday mornings to have a quick meal after having Darshan at Hanuman Temple at Sursagar. At that time Upma cost Rs. 2.50 and I used to have Double Upma. Same menu card with lights right from ages, no change. Only rates have changed with passage of time. Still quite economical compared to other restaurants of Baroda.

And incidentally, it hasn't changed an inch, so it would make me even more nostalgic. The same paint on the walls. The same menu, the same lit up menu, the same juice tins on the shelves, the same aquariums kind of piece at the entrance, same furniture, same glasses. Nothing has changed.

So what makes Canara cafe so great, what is it that makes it survive for so many years. Its been there for well over 7 decades i know for sure.
Is it the ambience? Could be. Its a roadside cafe, could get noisy at times. U myt not get a table to urself smtyms n wd hv to share it wd smbdy. It doesn't even have an airconditioner and the fan does not help everyone.
So is it the service? I have seen the same folks working there, with the pen behind their ear, you can order a hundred dishes and it would go straight to their brain till they shout it out so the cooks can know. They don't offer takeaways unless u go with your own containers. They don't offer home delivery. Nobody holds doors open for you or smiles and greets when you come in.
So is it value for money? Could be. The most expensive food item on their menu is, i believe, masala uttapam, which costs a good Rs.50! And that's how their prices have always been. A upma plate is Rs.10. For less than Rs.50 you can have so much to eat that you will be totally full. Quantity has never been a problem nor has quality.
And is it taste? Poona misal, perhaps the most popular dish at Canara is a benchmark of sorts. For me personally, so is the upma and the dosa. The taste is good, its definitely more than worth you spend on it and you would never feel bad when you pay the bill.
So what makes Canara Cafe a restaurant that has survived the test of time for as long as it has? Why does it continue to draw in foodies like us each day? So many restaurants don't even survive say five or ten years, what does Canara do differently?
Highly recommended