thecookscottage

Where can I buy "...." in Pune. The Incomplete Resource Guide to Ingredients for Cooking in Pune.

Baking supplies: P.N. Shah, Jan Mohammed Street next to Shivaji Market, Pune Camp. 26351171
                            Wholesale:Royal Agencies  1445 Shukarwar Peth, 24450723 Food Essences, Preservatives, Chopped fruit peel, Chocolate Chips,

Baking tins, Cookie sheets, Large sized cookware: Agarwal Glass  and Crockery, Bootee Street, Camp. 26051794.

Maharashtrian Goda Masala : Mohini Shahane- 26850230. Made fresh on order.

Paper Towels, Paper Napkins, Foil, Ziplock bags ,  Party supplies: Wholesale rates Bootee Street, Camp

Flours: Jowar, Ragi, Rajgira: Chandan, Jog on F.C Road.

Fresh Biscuits and Cookies: City Bakery Main street, Persian Bakery Kolsa Gully, Off MAin street

Lettuce, Salad greens (Rocket, Iceberg, Arugula, Chinese) Green Tokri- Home delivery. Call 9763717960

Fresh Coffee and coffee beans:   Dukens Cofee, 636 Raviwar Peth, Near Railway Booking office.24458459
       
Cheese: Dorabjee
Himalayan Asiago, a great substiutute for over priced Parmesan
Baramati, a good cheddar ( Also available at Chandan)

Wine: Mayur Wines. Next to Bund Garden Bridge. Quite a range of Indian and imported wines.

Foreign Herbs Fresh: ( Dill, Basil, Thyme, Sage, Sweet Marjoram, Rosemary) Shivaji Market 2nd row from the back.
Foreign Herbs Dried: Dorabjee, Chandan

The Best  Fresh Bread: Brown loaf, wholewheat rolls, Ragi Bread, Buns, Broon, Pau, Garlic rolls, Persian Bakery , Kolsa Gully, Off MG Road

Peanut butter: Spicer College shop in Wonderland. M.G Road

Tofu and Soya Milk: Chetran Foods. Now delivers to Dorabjee, Reliance and several other retails stores.

Fresh Yeast: Chandan on MG Road, They sell it in packs of 50 gm- 500 gm

Hot Samosas: Bhavnagari, Sachapir Street, Camp
                                          
Marathi Cookbooks: Appa Balwant Chowk.

Pasta and Noodles : Shivaji Market, as you enter the left gate near the bangle sellers.

Wholesale Mushrooms,Frozen Peas, Frozen Corn, Paneer, Fresh cream,Tinned Coconut milk, and Good Dahi/Yogurt to set your own from: Goyal Dairy, Sachapir Street, Camp

Please email me to add your own gourmet discoveries.

Mango Festival at the Bal Gandharva

This is the season of mangoes and mellow fruitfulness. Lychees, apricots, peaches….all those fruits are seen on the market for a very short time in summer. Mangoes dominate the scene, in the retail stores, at the market, on the pavements. We even have festivals to celebrate this  increasingly expensive fruit.

One was recently held at the Bal Gandharva on Jungli Maharaj road. If people had not picked up a dozen of their favourite fruit till then, this was the place they finally gave in and coughed up the dough for twelve of the best.  Old and young were seen leaving with their precious load in peshwis, having sniffed out the finest of the lot.  I mean what is a Maharashtrian without a mango. A cloud without rain, a book without words, a…a.. pain without paracetemol ?

The number of orchards represented were not as many as in earlier years and the hapus and kesari ruled the show which, personally, I find a bit boring. Considering that India boasts of having such diversity it is a pity not more of the others make their way to this celebration of our most lauded fruit.Where were the Totapuri's, the Dasehri, the Alampur Baneshan,the Chausa,the Sundri,the Mulgoa, the Langra, the Safeda or Banganapalli, the Rumani?  The Alphonso is considered the most tasty but  its promotion is a bit like ignoring all the other rice varieties because the basmati has gained universal acceptance. Tastes differ. It would be nice to have a bit of choice.

The College of Agriculture in Pune put up a small exhibit here of varieties grown , pictures of which might be helpful in identifying  the type of mango you are about to invest in.

Aamrapalli

\ Alphonso/ Hapus

Goa Mankur

Keshar

Naarliyo

Pairi

Ratna ( a hybrid between Hapus and Sindhu)

Sardar

Sindhu

 

Zhunka Bhakar and the House of Your Dreams

My car has a mind of its own. It takes turns whenever it pleases. Suddenly I find myself somewhere...and its not over the rainbow. Its in some strange place. I slow down and readjust the wheels of my mind...they are in a different gear obviously and my clutch is screeching blue murder. I dont blame myself. I dont blame the car. Look, everyday the landscape changes. We have a glass mall with a food court reaching up into the sky where  a jhopad patti (slum) used to be.We have a Barista where  a Cafe Good Luck greeted you, at the corner, with a bun maska and a masala chai. We have a McDonalds in the hinterland of Hinjewadi- bang on the spot , as I recall, where a buffalo shed hung lazily out, its inmates chewing the cud contentedly.
Then we have buildings in all shapes, sizes and colours sprouting up everywhere. On every bit of land, garbage pit, gutter, and soon on every bit of river I'm sure.
Apartment blocks, residential societies, bungalows,villas .
Are the names given to these eruptions indicative of the aspirations of our people or their builders?

Corinthian, Palladium,Coliseum, and other nouns descriptive of a style so quintessentially Maharashtrian wouldn't you say? Or have our builders travelled to Vicenza or Corinth and picked up on the lifestyle of the rich and famous many centuries ago.
Then we have Wellington Mews, Marble Arch,Victoria Garden, Castlemaine,Windsor Avenue, Kensington Court,.....  just short of having amche swathache Buckingham Palace up for sale.
Other wonderfully titled flats are Daffodil Avenue,Tulips, Iris, Magnolia, all, oddly enough, flowers that do not grow in India, let alone Pune.

Grandiose appellations reign: Spacia, Gracia, Eternia,Sophronia, Sicilia,Palacia.
Luminous gems glitter on the horizon; Emerald City, Sun City, Diamond Park, Pearl Towers, City Crown.

Now we are Going Green in a city shorn of its trees. We have Springfield Park ,The Woods, The Meadows, Oakwood Hills, Laburnam Lane, Yellow Blossoms, Ozone Villas, Orchard, Hill Mist and Timberland, to make up for  lack of the real thing.

Last but not least, my favourite of all time, Posh Ville. Kind of says it all. Keeping up with the Jones's or should I say Joshi's, is the developers idea of a major selling point in towns today.

No doubt builders imagine that residents of these elevated homes with marbonite floors, Italian kitchens, and French furniture eat off gold plate and feast on stuffed quail. Closer to reality, however, the average Joeshi  would be happy with a plateful of Zhunka Bhakar to be found, thankfully, in little stalls all over the state. Delicious stuff and so easy to make.

ZHUNKA

400 gm carrots, peeled and chopped medium fine
4 tsp oil.
1/2 tsp hing (asafatoeda)
1/2 tsp rai (mustard seed)
1/2 tsp haldi (turmeric)
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tbsp gur (jaggery)
Salt to taste.
4 tbsp besan (gram flour)
1 tbsp chopped hara dhania (green coriander)

(For variety add drumstick pieces, or a cupful of methi (fenugreek) chopped fine or even methi (fenugreek) seeds)

Heat oil in kadhai. Add mustard seed and let them pop. Add hing now. Add carrots and lower heat.
Add haldi and chilli powder. If carrots are sweet, no gur is needed, otherwise add 1/2 tbsp gur .
Stir a couple of times then add salt. Cover till carrots are cooked...on low heat. Do not add any water. Carrots should have a bit of bite and must not  be mushy when done.
Now take 4 tbsp besan, or a little more, sprinkle on to carrots as you stir gently, till carrots are coated with besan. Cover immediately and cook for 5 minutes or until besan 'smells' cooked. Stir once or twice gently. Remove and add dhania.

You could add a mixture of large chunks of tomato, onion and green chilli instead of carrots, for a change.

Link to Bhakri/ Jowar Roti.

Shivaji Market

Entrance to Shivaji Market, Pune

Shivaji Market is a heritage building. This became known to the average citizen when some enthusiastic corporators in Pune wanted to tear it down, to build a modern market, in order to house more vendors.
It is situated in a very crowded area with narrow streets that do not allow for any parking. Part of its charm is the surprise, coming across a large building with high ceilings in a place you'd least expect.

Rear Entrance to Shivaji Market

There is nothing beautiful about it. With solid grey granite rocks heaped together in a Victorian Gothic 'Pune jail' style typical of public buildings in Maharashtra dating from the 19th century, its great saving is its stability.It looks like it will last forever.
A 5 by 5 foot space in the market would be worth a small fortune today.The allotment is passed down from generation to generation.The boy who sells dried fish on the outer square of the market says the small sales area he has was his "baba's' (grandfather's) a hundred years ago.
The vendors sit cross legged, high above the eye-level viewpoint of most of the shoppers. And their attitude is similiarly elevated; they are very uppity with people who find the vegetables overpriced. They dismiss all attempts to bargain by looking down their noses, literally and figuratively. One particularly intimidating woman of substantial girth sells the "foreign" vegetables, such as asparagus, zucchini, baby corn, pak choi, red and yellow peppers, zucchini and brussel sprouts. She also has a mobile made of bags of fresh basil, thyme and rosemary. Dripping gold and surrounded by her treasury of vegetables, she is royalty here.

Dattatray

Become a regular buyer, and many of them are friendly, in fact positively expansive, throwing in a potato or two above the balance of their scales.
Yet the problem is, as with all allotments here, that there are far more candidates for spaces than there is space.

Lemon vendor

Now the market itself is surrounded by more vendors outside than those inside, doing a brisk business in fruit and vegetables, catching buyers before they enter the building.
Altogether one gets a fair choice in vegetables, fish, fruit, chicken, mutton and beef.

Vegetable Stall

The central and largest area of the building is for vegetables,the outer ring for poultry and dried goods, with separate buildings for fresh fish, lamb and beef. There is a little shop for Irani and Parsi specialities, another for dairy and Jain foods,a third for rice, lentils and wheat, and finally at the exit a gaggle of bangle wallas. At one time and still today, a womans shopping wasn't complete without an wrist covered with bright and glistening glass bangles.

Built in 1885

When it was built in 1885, by Lt.Gen John Ross to a design by Gen Cecil D'Urban LaTouche and W.M Ducat it cost Rs 1,23,800.
Over the years, many of the vendors have become familiar faces; that, and the daily chit-chat, are some of the perks of living in a small town.(Yes,with a population of 3 million and still growing, Amche Pune is still a provincial, small town at heart)
As I was taking photographs, I asked the fruiterer at the entrance to smile. He said "yes" brightly but continued with his work seriously. "Smai-ile", I sung out, anticipating a warmer response. "Ye-es!" he returned, and kept stacking the apples with a dour mein. Again I said, "smile", encouraging him with one of my own, thinking he might not understand what I was saying. He turned to me, and, with a barely concealed chortle, affirmed: "Yes! I Ismail. "
We both burst out laughing together.

Health is Wealth

How we love proverbs, axioms and aphorisms in India. Every day I see some wonderful saying , emblazoned on the side of a hill, cut into the rock, or painted on an overbridge, framed in a doctor or dentists waiting room or handpainted on banners hung from some building, written for the benefit of the commuter, wanderer or loiterer, anyone who has the time to read and possibly exclaim- "How True!" Or better still, " I have waited to know this piece of truth my whole life ."

We are a nation of aphorists and I cannot excuse myself from being one too.We assert our truths with conviction. And part of this conviction comes from a belief , however mistaken, that he/she speaks from some higher ground, intellectual, moral or spiritual. Which in this democratic day and age makes many sayings quaint or, sadly , even comic.

But we can never underestimate the strength of the cliche. At worst it is clumsy. At best it can touch your heart. As I found in 'Moulin Rouge" the film by Baz Luhrman. Even if people use these terribly common terms, it does not always come from an empty place.That is when the cliche becomes real.

I wondered where this love of the adage, almost a national trait, came from. My belief is that most people think they are on a journey to discover the Ultimate Truth and wherever they are on the road of life they want to share what they have learnt. Something succinct sounds credible.Written in a language other than our mother tongue it sounds like a cliche.But truthfully, these sayings are deeply felt and meant.

The butcher, the baker, the grocer and fishmonger all have their own maxims pasted or posted on their walls. Some of which I have become quite fond.
Here are a few of my favourites.

Aphorism of the Day at City Bakery

Warning

Quotable quote

'Prevention is better than cure" is among the TOP TEN adages to be seen in India. In the light of the fact that allopathic medical treatment is out of the reach of the average citizen, both in terms of distance and pocket, it makes a great deal of sense.

On quitting the RWITC Race Course ( the one open space close by with entrance free to all ), after the daily walk, I notice something of interest opposite the rows of cars and two wheelers parked outside. A neat table with several jugs and glasses and a big banner.The sound of ice and liquid being poured is magnetic after a 5 km walk in 30 degree C.
Coming closer this is what I see. Health juices on sale, set up on the sidewalk like a Charlie Brown lemonade stand.

Health Juice

Jadhav from the Kalpsha Juice Centre has the following seasonal juices for ' All morning walkers, Prevention is better than cure, Keep fit, Health is Wealth" . His leaflet assures us this is -"Natural Way to remain Ever Fresh" and "There are no side effects we are not adding any essence or preservative and this is only natural "Swarasa 'Juice"
He has tables at Anandnagar, Salisbury Park, Sun City and Salunke Vihar as well, and a steady, growing clientele, glad for a cool and healthy drink after their exercise. He says the following juices, have medicinal properties, as listed on his bright pink pamphlet, (given unedited below) .

"Neem Juice - Good for diabetes, Chronic Fever, Cough, Dysentery, Skin Diseases, Liver Stimulant and purifies Blood.
Karela Juice - Good for diabetes, Indigestion, Chronic Fever Pancreas stimulant.
Tulasi Juice and Fundina- Good for Heart, Cold, Cough, Asthma, Controls Cholesterol. Purifies blood.
Ginger Lime-Goods for Digestion, Gas Trouble cold, Cough, Ant spasmodic, Join Pains ( rhumatic arthrics)
Awala Juice-Rich with Vitamins "C", Useful for Eye, Hair and Heart, Good appetizer, Acidity, Peptic Osteo Arthritics Gynealogical Problem, Stoppage of white hair and Rejuvenation.
Kokam Juice-Useful in summer skin Diseases, Anti helmatic, Rakta, Pitta shamak and keeps the body cool.
Jamun Juice- Good digestive drink. Control burning sensation, Boils and Skin Problem,specially good for diabeties.
Fresh Wheat Grass Juice-Good for Cancer, Blood Pressure (High/Low) Acidity, Asthma, Piles and also Anamea.
Carrot Juice-Rich with Vitamin "A" and nutritios for Health and Eye sight.
Belpatra- Good for increase Haemoglobin and purifies blood. Good for weakness and eyesight.
Lemon Juice- as a digestive to reduce fat and reduce constipation.
Wheat Grass Juice- In cancer , anaermic, as a brain tinic and a general tonic for the bod."

I think the last phrase says it all "a general tonic for the bod."

Look out for links to these juice recipes from this page. Meanwhile , since this is a food blog and my poster, may I end with this thought:

"What is patriotism but the love of the good things we ate in our childhood?"-Lin Yutang.

Room to Move- Kheema Samosas

Kheema Samosas under the Veil

Traffic congestion remains a severe problem here. It is every residents bugbear. And it is increasing every day. I believe each new dawn brings 300 new vehicles onto the roads of Pune.Driving here is a form of madness. There are no rules.Vehicles overtake on the left, two wheelers slide by missing your bumpers by a hairsbreadth, cyclists dash across roads through the red light , rickshaw drivers without lights stick out a hand before cutting right across the road in the dark, directly in front of oncoming and passing traffic.
In the face of all this my language is becoming increasingly graphic . Sometimes I stop the car in the middle of the road and rest my head in my hands to recover from a near miss. Nobody notices.Everyone just goes right on.
Shocked laughter is the only response possible. To lose ones temper would be silly. As they say here " Kai ko tension leta hai".( why are you taking tension?)

There are several reasons for this state of affairs.One NGO says it is because parking spaces have not been constructed within the compounds of buildings and that cars which would normally be parked there find their way onto the road. Old buildings flout the parking rules and use built parking space for commercial purposes. Hotels basements, read parking lots , are turned into banquet halls as soon as OK certificates are released. Another is certain the roads are not wide enough. A third says we need more public transport and to reduce permits for private vehicles.

Whatever the cause is, the roads turn into pavements for pedestrians to walk or be knocked down. The pavements are used for parking or a space for living or making a livelihood by migrants.

My neighbour is convinced her rights as a tax paying citizen are compromised by migrant labour who settle illegally in the city and build illegal structures and are a burden on the system with their demands for electricity and water and space.Her answer is " Send them back to where they belong" i.e. back to villages, where they have no land, or have drought or unemployment...In any case to a place they would surely starve to death.

Migration to the cities carries on in India, putting a heavy burden on infrastructure. Yet government does not acknowledge,in their planning , that nobody would want to leave their homes or familiar lands and cast themselves into unknown territory unless it was utterly impossible to survive. Some NGO's working in cities have decided to work with reality, which is that migrants are here to stay and they have a role to play.
I think , like several others, that migrants add another dimension to a city. They bring their cultural ways with them, their songs, stories, clothes,and food.They often face inequity with courage and initiative. Pune would not have carpenters or masons if they had did not come from Rajasthan. They add their skills to the work force. Some people,with great good luck get to have their own pushcarts from where they start a small food business either a chai shop, or a vada pau stall. a bhel puri stand or better.

The roadside food stall /hawker has become an essential part of the landscape and of every resident's life. They provide cheap and often excellent snacks or fast food.

My own favourite is Mohammed Akhtar's stall for kheema samosas. When I first saw the crowd around his small cart I thought something had happened. Accident,fight, heated argument...or man with monkey / snakes, man selling Rolex watches for Rs 50, that sort of thing . So that's the way to find him.

Roadside Food stall with kheema samosas

You look out for a clamouring crowd at around 7 p.m. in the region of East Street. He sells close to a thousand samosas a day, and every batch comes steaming hot off the pan, cooked by his wife and sister down the lane in their home . The samosas disappear in seconds. In the time it took me to focus my camera the lot had vanished. Mohammed speaks excellent English and is very polite. "Hygiene and freshness are most important", he tells me in between serving hungry customers.
The samosas are like nothing I have ever eaten. Exquisitely crisp and light , with a filling to write home about. Any other kheema samosa I have ever eaten sinks in its own oiliness by comparison.
They cost an incredible Rs 4 each . He also makes vegetable samosas but I've never tasted them.
Here is a recipe for Kheema samosa from Ummal Bandookwalla which is pretty good, but I cannot guarantee they will turn out as good as Mohammed's.
But , if you can't eat 'em, cook 'em.

Kheema Samosas

Kheema Samosa

Ingredients:

Filling:

175 gms mutton, minced
2 small onions, chopped
2 green chillies, chop fine.
125 gms green peas, boiled
1/2 tsp haldi turmeric
1 tsp chilli powder
Salt to taste
4 tbsps coriander leaves, chopped fine

Place mince, with onions, chillies, peas, ghee, haldi and chilli powder in a pan and cook on a slow fire till mince is tender and dry.Do not add water.Add the coriander leaves and salt and mix well.

Pastry:

250 gms wheat flour
Water
1/2 tbsp oil
1 tsp Salt

Add water to the flour bit by bit t while mixing till it forms a ball of dough.Add oil and salt.Knead the flour for 5 minutes and divide into 16 equal portions.Roll 2 portions seperately into wafer thin strips 2" wide and 8" long. Sprinkle flour over one strip and rub it in with the palm of one hand.Place the second strip over it and roll out. Bake on a hot griddle till both sides are done. Take off the fire and separate the two strips. Prepare the other strips similiarly.

Fold the samosa covering strip into a cone and fill wilth a little mince mixture. Fold over the flap and close. Make a paste of flour and water and use to seal the ends.When all samosas are formed heat enough oil to 2 " depth in a kadhai. When the oil is hot deep fry the samosas in batches till the pastry is golden brown in colour.

Makes about 16 samosas.

Mutton Biryani

'So we plunged the hand to the mid-wrist deep
In a cinnamon stew of the fat-tailed sheep,
And he who never hath tasted the food,
By Allah! he knoweth not bad from good. '-Rudyard Kipling The Ballad of the King’s Jest

A biryani is the closest thing to a one dish dinner in Indian cuisine. With a salad of chopped fresh tomatoes, cucumber, onions and green chillies, moistened by some yogurt, it makes a hearty meal. And heartwarming too, in this time of Ramzan, when people often share a huge plate of biryani on breaking their daily fast.

Mutton Biryani

Yesterday, on a public thoroughfare, I saw the boss of an enterprise, calling his employees and collegues to eat from a communal plate in a large circle.He  fed them himself ,quite unselfconciously, if they were in the midst of work. Other colleagues continue to feed the men working, while exhorting them to leave it for a while and join in the meal.The gesture was one of such warmth, and inclusion, as an observer I found  it was completely moving.

A good mutton biryani needs a number of spices. Outside the Shivaji Market here, there is a vendor of small packs of mixed whole spices just for biryani. So people who cannot afford to buy so many expensive spices in larger amounts, can buy just enough to make that special dinner.

Ingredients:

1.You do need 10 friends or family to help you eat this.

2..In a blender make a paste of the following

• 50 gms fresh ginger
• 1 large pod of garlic, peeled.
• 6 green chillies chopped
• (250 gms of sliced raw papaya)
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 tsp chilli powder

Marinate 1 and 1/2 kg of mutton ( cut into fairly large pieces),along with the bones, in the paste for an hour or more while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

3.Wash and soak 3/4 kg of rice for 30 minutes. Drain well.  Measure and add water equivalent to one and a half times the amount of rice. Bring to the boil and cover tightly.Cook for exactly 15 minutes. Remove from fire.

4. 50 gms almonds blanch, peel and slice in slivers or make a paste

• 250 gms ghee or vegetable oil
• 1 kg onions sliced fine .
• 1 1/2 kg potatoes, washed, peeled and quartered.
• 5 pieces of whole cinnamon about 2" in length
• 1 tsp cardomom
• 1 tsp whole cloves
• 1 tsp peppercorns
• 1 tsp jeera
• 1 tsp shah jeera/ black cumin
• 2 tsp turmeric
• 1 1/2 tsp saffron, roasted and soaked in the juice of 1 lime.
• 1 tbsp of chopped fresh mint leaves.
• 1/2 kg tomatoes
• 400 gms dahi/yogurt
• 250 gms raisins or chopped dried apricots

5. Fry the onions in ghee till brown and crisp. Remove and crush three quarters of the onions, reserving the rest for garnish.

6. In the same ghee fry quartered potatoes till half done.Remove.

7. Now fry all the whole spices for a few seconds. Do not let them burn. Add the yogurt , the powdered spices and chopped mint (reserving a bit for the top) and mix well. Take off the heat.

8. Add the saffron lime juice, reserving a bit for the top layer of rice.Now add the mutton to the crushed onions, the spices , the yogurt ,saffron ,almond paste  and chopped apricots (or raisins). Mix well.

9. In a well greased pot put a layer of the all marinated mutton. Add a layer of peeled and chopped tomatoes,and then a layer of potatoes.

10.Now cover these layers with the parboiled rice.Level the rice and then sprinkle the reserved saffron and lime juice,a tbsp of chopped mint, 2 chopped green chillies and the rest of the fried onions on top. Pour over the left over ghee. ( Some people add a mixture of yellow food colouring mixed in 2 tablespoons of water to get the characteristic yellow colour).

11.Cover tightly with a heavy lid or put a weight on top of a flat lid so that no steam escapes.Make a paste of 250 gms of wheat flour and water and seal the lid to the pot with this paste.

12. Cook on low heat for 2 hours or for 1/2 an hour in  an oven at 400 degrees. Reduce heat to 275 degrees and cook for another hour.

Remove the wheat paste seal just before serving and dig deep into the dish while spreading out the rice and mutton.

It sounds complicated but it really is not. If you do not have some of the fussier ingredients go ahead anyway. In a biryani you never notice whats missing. You always feel blessed by what you have.

Kayani Ki Kahani-Shrewsbury Biscuits

Pune has always been the retreat of Bombaywalas. For the weekend, for the races, to party and to 'chill'. And anyone who goes away, must come back, most importantly, bearing gifts in hand.

Almost all visitors who come to Pune from Bombay have to take back gifts of one of it's specialities....and what could be more special than Shrewsbury biscuits from Kayani Bakery.

Shrewsbury Biscuits

Packed in familiar ,square, patterned, carboard boxes they are sold out in a few minutes everyday.People fight over them, there are near stampedes in the anxiety to get hold of at least one of those precious boxes.If you pass by at that critical time when the batch comes out of the oven you will wonder what event has occured to create such excitement.

Kayani Bakery was started by Hormuz and Khodayar Irani in 1955.They had emigrated from Iran before 1947, along with a group of people, many of whom settled in Pune and began the business of bakeries.

Kayani still makes a sourdough bread, with a starter made from hops. The yeast, even now, is produced in large wooden vats, and the bread is baked in a huge, wood fired, brick oven. The firewood is from the babul tree, a quick growing, almost weed like tree, and its unique characteristic is that it is smokeless during burning, This makes it a natural choice, for cooking on open stoves, by both city and country dwellers many of whom have no access togas or electricity.

The famous shrewsbury biscuits are also baked in this oven, morning and evening , one loading being 40 large baking trays. Parvez Irani tells me they make around 200 kilos of these biscuits a day and they are almost always sold out!

Well, quite understandably, they wouldn't share the recipe with me but here is a good recipe for Shewsbury biscuits  that will make between 40-4 dozen .

Ingredients:

• 250 gms butter
• 300 gms caster sugar
• 3-4 egg yolks
• 450 gms flour
• Grated rind of two lemons (not used in the Kayani type)

Strain the flour through a fine mesh twice.

Cream the butter and sugar with a whisk until the yellow of the butter becomes off white and the mixture is fluffy.

Beat the egg yolks till runny, add to the butter mixture and mix well.

Add the flour and grated lemon rind and stir in with a spoon till it makes a firm but not stiff dough.

Flour a surface and knead the dough gently for a minute or so.  Roll out to 1/4" thick . Using a cookie cutter (I use a glass of the right size if I dont have one) cut out circles of 2 diameter.

Place on a greased and floured baking sheet. Bake at Mark 4 or 350 degrees F for about 15 minutes till very lightly browned.

......................................................................................................

Kayani's biscuits are a pale yellow and are very buttery and very sweet. I like to use a bit more of the  grated rind of lemon to reduce the sweetness.

Onam Sadhya-A Feast fit for Kings

After fasting the whole day, though not for spiritual reasons, I saw a photograph of someone's feast at Onam. At the sight of those fluffy pappadams my spirit crumbled, my resolve melted, it had to be all..not nothing. We went out for dinner to our local Kerala restaurant.

Leaflet on Onam

Onam was celebrated this year in Kerala from the 5th to the 15th of September and the onasadya / feast is served on the last day. Here the festivities carry on throughout the month and so we had a second chance to enjoy the fare on the 18th. Dance, music performances and other cultural events are held during this time.

Pune has a sizeable Malayalee population, many of whom have lived here for generations. They speak Malayalam and Marathi with equal ease and they have completely integrated into the local population , but their cuisine is as Kerala as it comes. And what a wonderful tradition it has· Quite different from the rest of South Indian food in the use of spices, vegetables, fish and meat.

When Onam comes around , many of them, with their busy routines, choose to have their feast by take away or out at a public venue, either organised by one of the several Malayalee Associations here or at a restaurant, as cooking all the required dishes at home has become well nigh impossible.

There are special caterers for Onam and even the restaurant we went to had taken on cooks and bearers for the occasion. We walked under a garland made of palm leaves and the outside of the restaurant was decorated with a diya and flowers.

As we sat down we were presented with the bill.Ok, so maybe it was a delicate way of saying "This is going to cost you...." We waited, and waited. After a couple of encouraging smiles from the waiters we realised we had to pay up first.Problem solved, the banana leaves were ceremoniously laid out and the feast began.

First a spoonful of salt on the upper left corner of the leaf. Then one by one, in predetermined order, each preparation was served onto a particular place on the leaf. It reminded me, and it is meant to, of the manner in which food is served to the Gods during a puja. With joy , reverance and generosity.

After the salt came the banana chips and a green banana and jaggery sweet mix. Then the achaars..a delicious dark ginger and tamarind one and a orangey red mango achaar. A few Kondatam or curd chillies and then the chutneys, Pavatai / karela with mustard seed, suran / yam chutney on the upper right corner, below which were placed a masala potato bhaji and two types of pachadis/ vegetables or fruit in yogurt, tempered with spices , a pineapple and a bhindi pachadi .

Then came the vegetables. A large helping of beans and coconut vegetable in the upper middle of the banana leaf and an mixed vegetable avial made of drumsticks, lauki,/ bottle gourd carrot, and much more., in a coconut gravy.

In the lower half of the thali came a huge helping of boiled rice with two tablespoons of parappuneyyi / dal ghee. This was just delicious. A small banana was placed on the left side and after some of the meal was eaten, we were offered Kalan/ sambar.

Oh and I forgot those pappadams, for which I ventured forth in the first place. Pappadams in the south are plain, made of urud dal without pepper or chilli , and are scrumptious eaten with rice. Along with this were two cups of tomato rasam and buttermilk made with ginger, chillies and kari patta.

Last of all came the payasams/ desserts, served on the right edge of the banana leaf , one Adapradaman made of rice , coconut and jaggery and the other a Parappupayasam made wiih of moong dal, jaggery and cashewnuts.

All helpings were unlimited . Not that one could have eaten a crumb more after the first helping.

We rolled home , as satiated and pleased as King Mahabali , in whose honour the festival is celebrated.

I enjoyed the ginger chutney / pickle a great deal and wrested the recipe from a Malayalee friend who was only to happy to share it ...thanks a ton Prema.

Ennjipulla / Ginger Chutney

Ingredients:

• 350 gms imli/ tamarind
• 1 cup of water
• 100 gms fresh ginger
• 1/3 cup garlic cloves peeled.
• 1/2 tsp salt.
• 2 tbsp Red chilli powder
• 1 1/2 tbsp methi / fenugreek powder
• 150 gms gur / jaggery
• 3 tbsp til ka tel /sesame oil
• 1 tbsp chana dal -soak in water
• 1 tbsp split urud dal -soak in water
• 1 tbsp rai mustard seed

Soak the tamarind in hot water for 15 minutes. Stir well then bring to the boil.Simmer till tamarind loosens from any seeds and peel. Strain well. Then cook till it thickens into a pulp.

In a blender put the cleaned and chopped ginger, the garlic and the salt. Blend till smooth.

Add the chilli powder and fenugreek powder, the jaggery and the tamarind pulp.

Heat up the sesame oil, remove dals from water and fry along with the mustard seed and add the ground mixture. Stir till well blended.

This makes a substantial quantity and can be eaten with rice, chapathies or poories. The chutney can be bottled and refrigerated for several days.

Vaishali and Young Love

Vaishali is an institution. Ask anyone who ever attended Fergusson College. Lectures began at 7.30 a.m and finished at 10 a.m. After that - Breakfast time! And where else but at Vaishali.

Opened in 1956 by Mahabali Shetty who came from Bantwal in the Mangalore district and is part of the community of Bunts who are now  famously the  owners of almost every Udupi restaurant in India.

As the Bunts are a matriarchal community, the ownership passed on to his daughter, and has been run by her husband, Mr J.B Shetty, ever since. From the  small restaurant it was with 3-4 workers and 9 tables under Mahabali it began to grow to the present size of 70 tables, 33 of which are in the expanded garden which now sport two beautiful full grown rubber trees.

'Jai Malhar' , resident of Pune, says,-

"Vaishali *sigh* my first 'date' was in Vaishali. The waiter drove us away saying we weren't ordering anything and then we walked up the hill and were chased down the hill by a marauding bull. Very demoralizing. It was weeks before I could recover my manly pride."

Which young Fergussonian will not empathise with Jai and his first date? Though most will remember the patient waiters under whose watchful eyes romance flowered. Many sweet nothings have been uttered within the four walls of this famous place between a bite of dosa and a dip of sambar.

But much has changed since those long gone days when Vaishali first opened its doorsin 1956; dating was a no no and boys did not dare to raise their eyes to look at the girls of their dreams. Vaishali was strictly purdah. Girls and family room one side, boys on the other.What is now the entrance was the family room, where girls giggled loudly. Boys sat far away, crooning little love songs from the movies. Everyone sat facing the entrance to keep an eye on who was coming and going. Onion Uttapas were 35 paise, and kachoris, 30 .

Today the purdah has been lifted and college students sit and talk animatedly.

Regardless of the time of day there is always a crowd and you might have to stand and wait for a seat. This is usually found in a couple of minutes because the service is so fast and Vishwanath who handles the seating makes quick and accurate decisions, based on an immediate understanding of age, number and space availability in all the nooks and crannies where chairs are placed in apparent disarray. I am always impressed at his unflappability even when surrounded by fifty hungry diners, but then he has worked there for 18 years, from the time he was brought to Pune after his graduation by an uncle from Udupi district.

One of my favourites on the menu is Onion Uttappa, in honour of which Neelam, one of my friends, named her boyfriend."Uttappa ugh mugh onion special". He was rather large and plump to be honest. Food is churned out at a terrific pace in a kitchen which is crowded and furnace like. The stove over which the sambar boils ceaselessly makes a sound all its own.

Dosas are formed like skirts of whirling dervishes and stuffed in record time, while waiters come and go ceaselessly to and from the service area, laden with trays, and always in the best of humour.

Here are Prachi's (now a resident of New York) recommendations for what to have at what time of day. Even though years from my daily dosa it sounds pretty much like what I'd have chosen.

"Mornings, after climbing the TekDi (hill at the back of Fergusson College) - Upit with chutney.

Lunch/Dinner: Kanda Uttappa. Always ask for the green chutney with it, or an extra mirchi with the uttappa, tastes much better. It's the only place where I'll ever have uttappa.

After 5 pm, Shev Batata Dahi Puri aka SBDP.

In our college days, if someone else was treating you, you added Cold Coffee with Ice Cream to the order. Penniless spongers, we were."

She goes on to tell how involved the waiters got in the lives of their 'regulars'.

Lingappa once famously told me to dump "the boyfriend" I was with, because the guy touched his hair and looked in the mirror at his reflection too often. Later when I took my husband to Vaish, he looked him over and said, "ivanu addi illa. (He'll do.)

Well Prachi, Lingappa, who joined Vaishali in 1968, is still there, and the dosas and Uttappas are now Rs 22 . Mr Shetty who is now 73 years old, comes to taste the chutney every morning and check on every single thing offered on the menu .

Which is why Vaishali is still the most popular Udupi restaurant in town, catering to 4000-4500 customers a day with every sign that the numbers will increase.

Vaishali
Fergusson College Road
Shivaji Nagar Pune 411005
A meal for 2 with a soft drink each costs approximately Rs 60-Rs 100.