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The 5 Best street foods to enjoy in the rainy season in Mumbai!

shefali — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 10:44:08 +0000

In Mumbai food has something interesting to satiate almost every one. A melody of cuisines and a rich variety in local street foods is what makes Mumbai a place for food lovers. You may be able to find these foods in other parts of the world, but nothing beats the taste on the streets of Mumbai.

Here are the 5 best street food to enjoy in this amazing season!

1) Vada Paav : The best time to have Vada Paav is during the monsoons. Vada Paav, commonly know as the “Indian burger” is available at every nook and corner in the city. A very famous stall is at Worli, opposite Mela restaurant, Worli Sea Face, adjacent to HP petrol pump. The specialty of this place is that the vendor butters the bread along with some green mint chutney before adding the Vada and traditional lasoon (garlic) chutney. Their Vada’s, are soft crunchy and served sizzling hot! The best quality of this stall owner is that he never uses old previous days stock!

2) Sandwich : Sandwich is the most famous street food of Mumbai that can be had anytime, anywhere, there is no specific season to have it. You will see sandwich vendors also all around the city, but there are only few places where you get lots of varieties. Jay Sandwich Stall next to MMK and National College Bandra West is very famous for its amazing sandwiches with multiple variety like grill, toast, cheese, paneer, capsicum, and lots more. They are well know for their Indian pizza sandwich made from ketchup, cheese, onions, capsicum and lots of butter! The place is always crowded and takes time to serve, but its worth the wait.

3) Dosa : Dosa like South India, is a very popular street food in Mumbai too! Mumbai is famous for its varieties of authentic and fusion dosa’s. Babulnath dosawalla is one of the best in Mumbai. The stall is near Prempuri Ashram, Babulnath Temple Rd, Chowpatty, Girgaon. There is no place to sit and enjoy your food but the dosas are really amazing. There are lot of varieties of dosas like sada dosa, masala dosa, mysore masala, onion dosa, chow-chow dosa etc. This place will satisfy your hunger and yet not make a big hole in your pocket!

4) Chaat : Chaat includes small eats like paani puri, bhel, samosa chaat, dahi puri, aloo chaat, fruit chaat, corn chaat, ragda pattice etc. Most of these chaats are to be eaten in one bite to enjoy the full sphere of mixed flavors and you keep longing for more. A wide variety of chaat’s is available at Elco. Elco is mainly renowned for its paani puri, the paani is cold, spicy and flavorful and the puris are crisp and light. Its located on hill road, a super busy street in Bandra (West). It used to be a tiny roadside joint but now you could enjoy the same old chaat in their air conditioned restaurant too. If you have time on your hands you could sit down and enjoy your meal but if in a rush, have an express paani puri at their kiosk just under the restaurant!

5) Rolls : Rolls are very popular street food and especially after party food in Mumbai. It is basically a wrap made from fresh bread (roti/naan), with choices of grilled vegetables, cheese , paneer, chicken, potatoes, egg etc. all wrapped up in a spicy mint chutney and fresh onions. Ayub’s is one of the famous places for rolls. Its located at Kalaghoda, in a tiny lane, Fort, Mumbai. The menu includes both veg and non veg rolls and bbq platter of vegetables and meats. There is again no place to sit and eat, you have to eat in your car. The service is quick, and it is open till late night. The food is tasty and not expensive!

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The Best Thai in Mumbai

DeepaJ — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 07:34:56 +0000

Thai food is very simple to cook but it is hard to get the authentic flavors right. A bottled paste or sauce will never give you a restaurant style tasting curry, as the secret to the cuisine is in the fresh ingredients and the original style of cooking. Authentic Thai food is not easily available in Mumbai, and many restaurants have tried and failed in their attempts. That said, the restaurants that managed to overcome this challenge have developed a good reputation for themselves and are doing pretty well even today. Green curry is arguably the most popular dish available in most restaurants. Here are my picks of the places that make it exceptionally well:

Thai Pavilion: A fashionable restaurant specializing in very authentic Thai food located in the Taj President, Cuffe Parade. The ambience is flashy – very South Mumbai! The service is prompt, as aside from the curries, I recommend the corn cakes in the appetizers, papaya salad, stir fry vegetable with basil sauce and Pad Thai noodles. Here, a green curry for two with a serving of rice would cost you Rs. 500 all inclusive.

India Jones: A regular hang out of the elite, this restaurant is located in the famous five star of Mumbai, Trident, Nariman Point. It’s sophisticated and very stylish and the service is accordingly top class. Upon inquiry, some of their very popular dishes are Som Tam salad, Penag curry, Hormok Pak, Pad Thai and Pab Tim Kro. A green curry for two with a serving of rice would cost you Rs.700 all inclusive.

Shiro: This happening restaurant and lounge located in Bombay Dyeing Mills, Worli. It’s a lot hipper than the previous two restaurants, and would be perfect for a romantic date. Shiro specializes in fusion food, so you can try Don Buri which is a Thai style vegetable served with Japanese rice. The tofu casserole, Schiuan style green bean, stir fry vegetables in a basil sauce are all excellent choices, and the decidedly non- Thai ‘chocolate volcano’ dessert is popular. A green curry for two at this restaurant would cost you Rs. 450 all inclusive. Shiro does not serve the curry with rice so you would have to order it separately.

Joss: A bustling favorite of Mumbaiakars, located in the cultural hub, Kala Ghoda. It’s hugely popular, so it can be very noisy at times, but the service is still good and efficient. Apart from the curries, other Thai dishes that you can enjoy at Joss include Pad Thai, raw papaya and water chestnut salad, Tom Yum soup,and Thai fried rice. A green curry for 2 served with rice would cost you Rs.475 all inclusive, which is a pretty good deal!

East: A perfect place for a romantic Asian dinner, East is located in Kemps Corner. At East I would recommend the Thai basil and tomato soup, Thai Smabal tofu/paneer for an appetizer, Penag curry, Masamman curry and Pad Thai
A green curry for 2 would cost you Rs.260 all inclusive. East does not serve rice with the curry, you can order it separately.

So all you Thai food fans make sure you choose the right place to enjoy a tasty, filling meal. Make sure you have your table reserved however, especially on weekends!

Photo by Adacito used under Creative Commons License.

This post was originally written for mumbai.metrotwin.com where I am a regular food writer http://mumbai.metrotwin.com/2010/03/the-best-thai-in-mumbai/

The 5 Best ‘Pasta’ brands available in Mumbai

DeepaJ — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 06:18:06 +0000

Pasta, the essence of Italy, is the most famous food around the world and a favorite amongst people of all ages. Pasta is fun to eat because it comes in many different shapes and can be made with various sauces. There are various kinds of short pastas like Penne, Farfalle, Fusilli, Rigatoni, Conchiglie. Long pastas include Spaghetti, Linguini, and Fettuccine and stuffed pasta’s include Ravioli and Tortellini. Pastas are also available in sheets to make Cannelloni and Lasagna. Gnocchi is another variety of pasta made form potato. For beginners any pasta is shaped in a particular manner to go well with the sauce it is cooked in for instance Penne is shaped like a pipe so that the a thick sauce like Arrabiatta goes through it and Linguini can be eaten with dry sauces like Pesto. Until recently only a few pastas were available in India. Now since the food knowledge has spread around the world people know more about different kinds and brands of pasta. Still at times I see people buying not that great brand of pasta and trying to cook with it which does mostly end up into a disaster. So here’ s a little help, here are top 5 brands of Pasta available in Mumbai to help you shop better next time!

1. Barilla
2. De Cecco
3. Sunfeast Benne Vita
4. Blue Bird
5. Bambino

Barilla and De Cecco are foreign brands that are now available in Mumbai in most of the stores that keep high end and imported products like Natures Basket, Big Bazar etc. A lot of small grocery stores have also started keeping these pastas. If you plan a trip to any wholesale market like Crawford Market make sure you pick up your stock for the month as they are slightly cheaper than in the stores. Barilla is available more easily than De Cecco. These products range from Rs 155 – 400 for 250 – 500 grams.
Sunfeast had started their range of pasta’s with ready to cook pastas. After bring successful with it they have launched their new rage of wheat pastas. These are available easily in all grocery stores and inspite of being made from wheat they taste great! These are sold for about Rs 95 for 380 grams.
Blue Bird and Bambino have been the oldest brands that have been available in Mumbai for years. Initially they were of very low quality and had limited variety but through the years they have made changes in their products and got in more variety to compete with the other brands. These range from Rs 18 – 35 for 120 – 250 grams.

Since we are talking about pastas, here are quick tips for beginners to cook pasta perfectly:

- When buying pasta check the pack, if it says drum wheat or semolina, go for it! they will retain their shape even after they are cooked!

- The best way to guesstimate pasta is 1 cup of dry pasta makes 2 to 2 1/2 cups of cooked pasta

-To cook pasta take a bigger pot to cook all the pasta properly, add water and bring the water to boil.

- Once the water is boiled add salt, unsalted water boils faster than salted water. Do not add oil as it will coat the pasta which wont let the sauce coat the pasta.

- Add your pasta and keep a watch you want your pasta “al dente” which means to the tooth or slightly chewy as it will be cooked again with your sauce.

- Drain your pasta and add it to immediately your sauce, i assure you, your pasta will not de shape!

Hope these tips help solve your kitchen disasters and help you cook your pasta like a chef!

Photos by Creative tools and Jacobms used under Creative Commons License.