bingo achari masti

i tried a yummy flavour of crisps this weekend on our way back from kashid. having missed a ferry back to bombay by two minutes, we were stuck at mandwa jetty for almost an hour before the next boat arrived. it was lunch time and we were all pretty hungry. so we gave into freshly fried vada paav accompanied with ice cold thumbs-up and potato wafers. my sister-in-law selected bingo's achari masti variety which turned out to be just so delicious. if you are a mango pickle fan, you're going to totally love this. a very indian take on crisps. imagine a combo of doritos and your spicy indian pickle. be ready to lick your fingers!

burrito burrito

i'm craving mexican so much these days. i went to the taj for a lunch a few days and was all excited to dine at starboard (which has decent mexican i'm told) only to find out that it's only open for dinner. i made up this weekend by making myself and the fam some burritos for lunch.

ready-made tortillas are available at upmarket kirana stores these days. the better ones even carry jalapeno flavoured tortillas which we enjoy. my burrito homemade filling includes mexican rice (without the beans), rajma beans cooked with fajita seasoning, roasted peppers and onions, guacamole, some lettuce and salsa. i'll use the leftovers for huevos rancheros for sunday breakfast and then pack myself a tostada salad for lunch on monday. that should satisfy my desire for mexican this weekend!

recipe: daal dhokli

i'm trying to discover new dishes that will become a part of our regular home food. i'm a big fan of gujarati food and given that our maharaj also knows this cuisine very well, this is the area where i have been experimenting to see what we all (h, r1, r2, l) like best.

one of my colleagues who happens to be gujarati suggested that i ask the maharaj to make daal dhokli. i had never heard of this dish but my colleague convinced me that it was a community favourite and very versatile. it's essentially toor dal which is taken to a whole new level with the addition of pieces of whole wheat dough that have been cooked on the tawa. in addition to the regular spices and other ingredients used to jazz up daals, tamarind and jaggery are added to give daal dhokli the distinct khatta-meetha taste. the result is a soft and mushy daal with oodles of flavour and depth.

you can enjoy this daal on its own as a one pot dish or with chapatis, rice or even toast like i did this morning! r1, r2 and moi love it but h has not yet given his verdict..

brown paper bag

did you know that bombay's first terrace bar is opening in less than a week? or that you can dial for sushi in bombay? i didn't either but thanks to a cool new website called brown paper bag, keeping an eye on the hottest and coolest in bombay just got super easy. from food and drink to shopping, travel and freebies, the people at bpb snoop around town with wide-open eyes, apply their style filters and then edit down their best choices in their weekend guide delivered via email. if you can't wait till friday, subscribe to their twitter feed to get the scoop as it breaks. a god send for all us busy bee bombayites!