Paani – puri anyone…

The next in series is a special on Paani-puri. The quintessential Mumbai treat. Now let me tell you, not all paani-puri is good. You really need to know the place to go to else you could end up with a bad taste in your mouth literally.

First let’s go to the popular chaat place called Juhu Beach. Juhu beach is very popular for its chaat and paav bhaji. However, my find was a paani-puri waala. The stall is among the many stalls at Juhu. It is called Radhakrishna and the paani-puri is so yummy you just can’t stop eating it unless you are worried about your bowel movements. You need not stand and eat your paani-puri. The puri, aloo and moong masala, meetha paani and teekha paani will be served to you on your table. You decide on the quantities of each ingredient and customize your paani-puri to your liking. Now that’s what I call customization. Enjoy the amazing sea-breeze and the chaos which is so typical of Mumbai.

Another paani-puri place is near Movie Time Cinema in Malad. For people who do not know, there are different types of paani-puris. The options are the mix that I described above or one with what is known as Ragda. Ragda is made of boiled dry peas with potato and spiced with salt and turmeric. The idea is to put hot ragda in the puri and add ice-cold teekha paani and meetha paani. Coming back to Movie Time. This guy stands with his wares outside the theatre and is, well, not very popular and so you will not encounter any queues and can eat as much as you want in peace. Believe me if you like the ragda paani-puri, this guy is the best. I am hoping he still stands there since I have not eaten his paani-puri since the time I left Malad.

Now let’s come back near to Juhu, in 7 bungalows. Please read the previous post to know where 7 bungalows is. The most famous landmark for 7 bungalows is Bon Bon shoe shop. Now coming straight inside the lane next to Bon Bon shoe shop and turning left will take you to another famous landmark known as Kds low price shop. Mind you, this landmark is famous only among 7 bunglowians. I do not know if there is a word like bunglowians, if there is not, I just coined it. Coming back to Kds, actually coming out of Kds is a chaatwaala. He is essentially a very good chaatwaala. Meaning, he makes amazing sev-puri, bhel and Paani – puri. This guy is popular so be ready for waiting a couple of minutes before indulging yourself in some lip-smacking paani – puri. The specialty of this place, well, you need not add meetha paani when eating here since the teekha paani is just rightly spiced.

Try these places and let me know if you liked my recommendations.


Technorati Tags: Paani-puri, Juhu, Movie Time Cinema
, Malad, chaat,

A Foodie’s Guide

Hello people, I am back after a long hiatus. The reasons for the hiatus are unimportant since what I am about to write about is way more interesting.

I figured, I love eating more than I knew. And it also helped me figure the reasons for my ever increasing figure.

Anyway, here goes my next installment on places to eat in Mumbai. Since in my last post I wrote about the up-market, elite places serving mainly continental food; I decided to dedicate this post to some economical yet amazing eating places serving particularly Indian food in Mumbai.

First stop, 7 bungalows - Andheri. The place is called Mista Paaji and happens to be mine and my friends’ weekend lunch place. This place is not exactly economical but it features in this post because I have not found any place of a similar stature as Mista Paaji, serving delicious jeera-aloo, daal makhni, curd and hot phulkas for 90 bucks. We are such religious patrons that one weekend when we came later than our scheduled lunch time, the manager actually asked us if we were not intending to come. The manager has a complaint with me and my roommate that we do not try out anything else other than the jeera-aloo platter – which is what the combination described by me is called. But the jeera- aloo platter is so scrumptious that we just don’t think of anything else. Other dishes to try are the aloo paratha, gobi paratha, Punjabi kadhi – chawal, kheema paratha, butter chicken (for the latter two, opinions are based on feedback from my omnivorous friends). The décor is that of a dhaba but it looks way more sophisticated than a dhaba, however, the multi-coloured zari pieces adorning the walls are quite chic. The food is served in metal plates which look like brass and water and masala chaas in large glasses the kinds of those which you get on roadside dhabas.

Now let’s go to Charni Road. If you really want to enjoy this experience, my suggestion will be to board a local train and reach Charni Road. A quaint restaurant awaits your taste buds very close to the station. The place is called “Crystal”. Kheer enthusiasts swear by the kheer you get here. According to patrons of kheer, which I am not, you apparently get world’s best kheer here maybe just next to what your mom might make for you. Again, my criterion of enjoying food has also a lot to do with the ambience. I have no idea how old this place is. But it is among the few places which are not jazzed up and you enter a non-descript place with plastic tables and chairs and ceiling fans on the ground floor while the “so-called” mezzanine floor has table fans to do the honours. The mezzanine floor is slightly difficult for people like Xi Shun to fit in, hence the “so-called mezzanine floor” in the statement before. The owner of the place or so I assume is this old gentleman sitting in a white kurta pajama at the entrance. One of the few places which does not play Kenny Gee and plays old hindi movie songs. And now the best the part – the food. My favourites are baingan bharta with roti or rajma chawal or gobi paratha. Simple, no-fuss, home – like food which is incredibly reasonable. A meal for two which includes 2 veggies, around 7-8 rotis, raita and dessert will cost you some 100 bucks. The place has many patrons in the elitist as well. The place is packed for dinner on weekends with people from all ranks of society. The place serves only vegetarian food and I am not complaining at all.

So, as I always say, Happy Eating!!!


Technorati Tags: Mista Paaji, 7 bungalows, Crystal
, Xi Shun, Charni Road,