Khatta Meetha , Sarojini Nagar

One of the best memories that I have of college are that of shopping in sarojini nagar for hours and then capping it off with a round of those oh-so-sumptuous golgappapas of Khatta meetha.

Been to loads of cities after that. Everywhere one of my top priorities was to find a good chat-wala, would go to any lenght to locate one. Found some good ones too ( esp. one radical one in chandigarh) but The Best Golpappa Award would definitly go to this not-so-small & always-crowded shop in sarojini- nagar market.

So, when this time on my visit to Delhi, I had the opportunity to go to sarojini market with only ten mins to spare , just couldnt miss it for the world!! All along the way Rups heard me singing songs of praise for this utterly delectable species of chat!( He ended up looking sceptical and eager...at the same time!!)

The man behind the counter takes his business really seriously, u can tell by the perpetual stoic expression on his face.The gappas dished out by this little man are BIG, filled with really spicy alu stuffing and really really chilled "pani". Its like a fire filled in the ball that gets quelched as soon as it reaches the tummy! Ah! Bliss!:)

After three years , the golgappa quality hasn't changed( touchwood) and when the one plate turned to two, I never noticed. Guess i was just trying to make up for the lost years ( both past and future)
And Rups completely agreed!

Puchkas, Pani puri or Golgappas !The perfect ones are not a myth afterall!!

Bengali Mess, ITPL,Whitefield

I really do miss home food in Bangalore. And given the fact that till quite recently I had been eating out for all my meals( almost two years, I guess), even more so.So much so that i reached a stage where i would experience an intense craving for those normal homely hot wheat chapatis!

It was here in ITPL,whilefield I found a softly-whispered answer to my prayers in the form of Bengali Mess!!

The first day I had lunch here, I cried of joy. OK. OK I am exaggerating, but yes I was very very happy to have a meal with dal thats thick enough and not too spicy, subji that could be recognised for what it was and chapattis ( Ah! the best part)that were soft, hot and MADE OF WHEAT!! :)

They serve three kinds of meals- chapatti meal, paratha meal and chapatti chawal meal for the hungry kinds.Along with these their menu has item like omelletes, biryani, fish fry, fish curry etc. which I hear are not too bad ! ( with the exception of Biryani which AZ strongly recommends against!)

However, the best part of the meal is niether of the above ( besides the chapati of cors!!) Its this amazing " alu bhajja" that is served with at all meal times. Finely chopped potatoes, evenly fried , with peices of bitter gaurd and green chillies- this is definitely the highlight of every meal had here!!
You WILL ask for more!!

This is a usual mess. The food is typically bengali, menu doesnt change much and there isn't enough variety either. It doesn't have an extraordinary ambience and is frequented a lot by poor office going souls like me who can't stand the food at the underground Mall of ITPL any more! It is not situated exactly inside the ITPL compound -but right outside the gate- and not too clean according to some people's standards ( but which place which serves good food isnt! lols..) . In fact, a lot of my colleagues took quite a long time to muster up enough courage to try a meal here. But after they did... Well, i believe the phrase is - "There was no looking back"!!

All i can say is, the Bengali Mess saved my taste buds, revived my urge to go out, eat and conquer the world!!
He he he!!


PS: the papad that is served with the meals here is best had with the red- sweet tomato chutney -GM's discovery.
Wonder how he does this!!! :)