Once upon a time there lived a king and his prime minister. Each had a slew of palaces in the city where they lived, one more fairytale than the other. Cars, retinues of helpers, suitcases of fabulous gems – they had them all. Even when the privy purses were abolished, they lived happily ever after.…
“My granny cooks the best” Kashmiri Atmospherics: The modest-sized restaurant that has a full-sized shikara inside (it doubles up as a table!) is run by a delightfully hospitable Kashmiri couple. Surinder and Nalini Sadhu are the eponymous ‘grand-parents’ (Matamaal means naani’s house) and it is they who greet first-timers and regular guests with the famous…
Authentic food, authentic beach experience Mostly Goan Beach Shack food Atmospherics: I think it is safe to say that this resto-bar has the most distinctive interiors in the NCR. It has been done up to resemble a section of a Goan beach with cane chairs placed on real sand, a fantastic play-list that includes Portuguese…
It was the year of the Great Darbar, 1911. A young man from the outskirts of Delhi thought he spied an opportunity to earn a living. He moored a push-cart near Gate Number One of the Jama Masjid, and served dal as well as meat and potatoes with freshly made rotis. Business boomed: he was,…
There’s a nifty saying in Kashmiri that goes, “Pir chun’e bod; yakin chu bod” which translates as “It’s not the doctor who is great; its your belief in him that does the trick”. Two aspects strike me insofar as aphrodisiac foods go. The first is that the Kashmiris would appear to be right after all.…
Experience Hyderabad’s famous biryani along with other royal delicacies like keema and mutabbak at Aish. There are not too many restaurants dedicated to Hyderabadi food anywhere in the country, and even fewer that are dedicated to royal Hyderabadi cuisine, which is so painstaking that it was more or less fated to wither into oblivion. All…
“Chop off the head of the goat and with the animal’s feet tied, hang it over an open coal fire till you can easily skin it.” That is the first step in preparing the Kumaoni classic, kachpak. I spent last weekend at Bhimtal’s Fisherman’s Lodge, being educated in the intricacies of local cooking. Many of…
In the universe of the food and beverage world, you will see several restaurant models that keep playing out, over and over again. One is the family-owned restaurant where the colour scheme has not been changed since the ‘80s. The other is the modern bar that opens in January and has shut in November, after…
Fear and other emotions are alien to a generation of Kashmiri youth who grew up under the shadow of militancy.. In 1991, when militancy was at its peak, Omar Jan was three years old. It was the year I got married and travelled to Kashmir as a bride. Before that, my visits to Kashmir had…
