thecookscottage

Lila Cafe in Baga,Goa

When in Goa do as the Goans do. Eat prawn curry and rice or fish curry and rice or crab curry and rice or chicken curry and rice or pork vindaloo and rice or...anyhow you get the gist if it. I cannot get tired of Goan food as long as I make a huuuge salad from time to time. The cafes are getting a bit better in that they offer vegetables too, at least a few of them do. The management/ owners at most seaside shacks are quite happy to make up an order not on the menu. I tell them to lightly boil a mixed lot of seasonal vegetables and pour a teaspoon of chopped garlic sauteed in oil over them. Then sprinkle with a generous pinch of black pepper and bit of salt. It goes perfectly with the hot curry and you get your daily veggie intake.

There are those who tire easily of the hot stuff and want a serious change. You have little Italian pizza joints and so on but for something completely different head to Lila Cafe on the banks of the Baga river, going inland from the sea at Baga along the Arpora stretch via the tunnel bridge and past Micheala's banner. She used to be a midwife and now does piercings.

Lila Cafe is owned and run by Elisabeth Saal , who has lived in Goa for over 20 years and began the Coconut Inn at Candolim many years ago before it was sold. She is constantly around the cafe keeping an eye on everything . She does breakfasts, brunches, lunches and teas and makes delicious pumpernickel, whole wheat, and other German breads. Though the place sometimes seems to be a Lonely German Osho'ites Club, the friendly waiters serve other customers quite happily.

On the menu is simple, familiar Sour Cabbage and Mash potatoes, Roesti, Hungarian Goulash, Spaetzle, Sour Beef dumplings, Ratatouille with Rice, Brown Bean Salad, Smoked King Fish with salad, Avocado with Prawns, Aubergine Pate and other such fairly European dishes. The best was the Mango Cheesecake which I had to wait three days to taste as it was always sold out. They also have a Chocolate Mousse which is nice and several other sweet dishes.
The kitchen is spanking clean, the breads are worth buying to take home and there is a jewellery shop at the back for those who are fed up of food.

A nice place to spend an hour or two looking at the lazy river and the mad motorcyclists who cut like a knife through the perfect landscape on the road that, unfortunately, passes between the cafe and the creek.

Lila Cafe
Pumpernickel Health Food Pvt Ltd
House no 566, Baga
Calangute 403 528
Bardez, GOA
Tel: 0832 2279843
Open 9 a.m.- 6 p.m.

Asian Assimilation

Prem's Restaurant has been around since the 80's.He also began the first grocer shop stocking 'different' vegetables like celery, iceberg lettuce, brussel sprouts ( quite mangy ones to be absolutely fair) and broccoli (with a yellow tinge). At that time, the height of the Osho movement, he was catering mainly to ' foreigners' , the followers of Osho who, at that time ,were mostly from Europe , as the cult did not attract many Asians except ,perhaps , the Japanese.
They became more or less permanent residents floating down the Koregaon paths in orange or white robes.They were accepted in true Indian style, as hippies were accepted in the '60's.

Anybody who has travelled for over two weeks knows that initially one tends to react very positively to the local cuisine and then with memories and homesickness comes an overwhelming desire for the 'Taste of Home".

Prem,( meaning Love), being Punjabi ,had no idea what this taste meant to Europeans but having several friends from the ashram who possibly entered his kitchen to persuade his Nepali cooks to add a thing or two to the gravy , some kind of cuisine emerged. I wouldn't call it fusion cooking.

He now boasts 'Bazil'- a casual Italian Kitchen', "Indian Kitchen",( which has a good vegetarian choice besides the Tandoori section) "Chinese Wok' and "Continental". All available in the same place.The Continental is in a transitional state- Chillies in the brown sauce, amul cheese in the Mornay, cloves in the Hollandaise. But good.

We ordered the Pepper Lamb with (chilli),basil brown sauce , baked tomatoes, mixed vegetables and french fries

the Prawn Curry and Rice and -

Kadahi Paneer with Butter Naan.Huge glasses of fresh Mosambi juice went well with all of these dishes.

Today the courtyard at the back, where his restaurant is situated, is packed, especially on a Sunday, with people from all over the world who want a change of one kind or another.Indians who want to try "Western food" , Koreans who like the Chinese food, French who like the Indian food, and students who like everything as long as they can take their time eating it.

Since Prem's does not believe in quick service, you have time to enjoy the outdoor ambience while waiting and waiting and waiting for the food to arrive. Slow Food? Somehow it makes one feel welcome.

Lunch for three with drinks: Rs 650

Prem's Restaurant
North Main Road
Koregaon Park
Ph: 26130985

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.

Maharashtrian Thali

Driving through the madness of Fergusson College Road, where half the road is taken up by parked cars and two wheelers, I caught sight of a little restaurant, behind the temple that has been built plumb on the corner of F.C. road and Ghole Road.It was two in the afternoon and we were starving.The best time to tackle a thali meal.

Cutting across the road in time honoured Poona fashion, through the intertwining traffic made up of vehicles of all shapes and sizes, we found a place to park. What an achievement. Worthy of self congratulation.This was done loudly and with great satisfaction. Lunch loomed appetizingly large on the horizon.

Drenched in perspiration,( with the high humidity levels one swims through the day) we made our way to Shabree.

I like the name so here is the story behind it-Shabree was a tribal devotee of Rama who waited her entire life to meet him. Everyday she picks fruits from the forest and waits for him. Year after year, when all have abandoned the ashram, Shabree waits for Ram to grace her with his presence. When he finally comes , she is old and blind, but still full of devotion . She feeds him berries picked that morning and tasted by her in case they prove to be bitter. Ram eats the berries and by doing so blesses her as a true "Bhakt". (one who reaches God through unwavering love)

It was a quiet day for them or we were very late. In any case, attention was showered upon us by a group of waiters, all dressed like the Peshwa's. There is no menu as they only serve a Maharashtrian thali meal here , with typical Pune cooking. It is an 'unlimited' thali and the sweet is included in the price of the meal on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

We got a typical toor dal / lentil soup made with kala masala, a kadhi / yogurt based soup, a matki usal, / a vegetable curry made with sprouts, palak paneer / spinach and cottage cheese, beetroot raita beetroot in yogurt, Pitle bhaji / a dish made of gram flour with onions and other spices, alu bhaji , kothimbir vadi's /deep fried coriander and gram flour slices , alu pakora / potato dipped in gram flour and fried, a katori of dahi / a small bowl of curd AND 3 types of chapathies PLUS 2 types of rice . I forgot to give a mention to the choice of four pickles.

The matki usal was very chilli hot which led to another outbreak of perspiration, but the rest were a mix of tastes, slightly sweet (kadhi and raita) and slightly spicy.Home cooked pitle and matki is somehat different but what they served was a good approximation.The dal and kadhi were very authentically Pune.

We loved the bhakri/flat breads, one made of jowar and the other made of bajra. The wheat chapathies just about melted in the mouth. The result of eating all the chapathies made it impossible to even taste the masala rice. We were stuffed to the gills.

On the whole a very filling experience..the food was produced the moment we sat down, with no waiting at all. And it kept coming till we had to throw up our hands in weak protest.

Do not plan on eating for the next 24 hours.

Shabree
1199/1A F.C. Road
Pune-411 004
Tel: 25531511

Thali meals- Rs 70-80( $1.75-$2) per person.

German Bakery

Pune reaches out to a different kind of tourist. Many of them are here for study courses and their holidays are activity based. New age therapy travellers, yoga enthusiasts, academics doing Phd's in temple architecture, dancers learning the intracacies of Bharat Natyam, and many other kinds of tourists as well , back packers and guru seekers, looking for an exotic and inexpensive holiday, stop by from Varanasi or Dharamshala via Bombay on their way to Goa.

After a month of dal, rice, sabzi and hot curries, it is not surprising that many look out for food more recognisable to their intrepid but weary tastebuds. Besides pizza and burger outlets , of which there are many, a little caffe und kuchen is what the tourist yearns for. And a busy, on-the-road sort of cafe, good for people watching and being watched, is even better.

So you have Cafe Coffee Day and Barista, which are very much teen crowd hangouts. The first is for young people who earn their own pocket money, and the next for those whose allowance is generous (and from a parental pocket). Most of them seem to be talking into their mobiles and not to their companions at the table, so there is very little to distinguish the two. 

And then there is the German Bakery, of which several versions exist, in Nepal, Kashmir, and Goa. They offer whole wheat breads, cakes, pies, desserts, soft drinks, herbal teas, lassi, fruit juices, Nutella sandwiches, Darjeeling tea and coffee.

Their Pune customers are often from the Osho Ashram close by, dressed in maroon or white depending on the time of day and their status within the organisation.

Others sport rasta hair and multicoloured clothing, all a bit ethnic and brocadey, with flowing clothes, shimmering gowns at breakfast, and other garb more exotic than even their surroundings, conducive to living out an oriental fantasy. Fantasy being a non violent activity, they are accepted and treated well by most residents.

Sound in the German bakery is a babel of languages mixed with the squawking horns of the rickshaws, cars, and trucks passing inches away. In earlier and presumably better days, German bakery had usurped part of the main road and kept growing with little shacks extending in all directions.

Then the PMC (Pune Municipal Corporation) decided to undertake road widening on North Main Road, cutting a swathe through 400 year old trees and the popular Bakery, as well as several establishments of doubtful nature.

Ancestral homes were reduced in size as well, so the pain was felt all across the social board. A road, as anyone knows, is only as wide as its narrowest part. Therefore traffic on North Main road is just as mad as it always was , as 'lanes' of three or four abreast merge to form one, and spread out to reform into four to six lanes as the need arises.

As a result, GB is at the heart of the hustle and bustle. Trade does not seem to have been affected, and the cafe is just as full as it always was.Their notice says it succintly " Please do not sit for a long time" which is why I listed this blog under Fast and Furious. However I did not feel any pressure to vacate my table in a hurry.

I ordered a carrot nut cake and ginger lemon tea . Both were good and I enjoyed the atmosphere of the place.It was very holiday like and made me want to get on the bus and head for the laid back beaches of Goa as well.

German Bakery
North Main Road
Koregaon Park
Pune 411001

Kolhapuri Capers

Sadashiv Peth is a quarter in the old city, which was, and still is, the heartland of the Pune blue-eyed Brahmin. Govitrikars, Paranjpes and Agashes abound here. Keepers of the keys to knowledge, education, and information. Traditionally staunch vegetarians, meat would be anathema in their homes.

Non Veg is a euphemism for many unappetising things in India. You can let your imagination go wild here.

So when ye olde Punekar goes out for a hearty meal of mutton or chicken a la Kolhapur, where do you think he heads? Why, Sadashiv Peth, naturally.

As I walked down the street looking out for one of the famed Kolhapuri restaurants, a shady gentleman beckoned to me as if he was about to offer me some hashish or stronger stuff, and, as I approached rather nervously, said in an undertone,"You want to eat non-hvej ?" I almost burst out laughing in relief.

As it happens, the place which he pointed out to me was next door and, belying the small and dark entrance, had a pleasant garden in the back with about ten tables set out under the lemon trees and flowering bushes. The garden was dominated by a tall date palm and ten waiters with little to do. A couple of tables were taken and with the sun overhead we had to find a shady spot.

This was Sugrans Dining House and Family Garden.

The menu was in Marathi, and they offered thali meals, a 'Plate System', and single dishes. The thali came in two types: sorted by ingredient (Chicken and Mutton), by amount (Unlimited and Limited), and by degree of heat generated (Masala and Fry).

Do NOT let any misguided hungry soul order the unlimited, "eat till you drop" type of thali. Some people take this as a challenge which it is not meant to be. After an Unlimited thali the afternoon is shot to pieces. You can do nothing but lie down, flake out and recall that old Noel Coward saying with deep understanding : "Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the mid-day sun".

Ignoring other delicacies such as country chicken, which is free range (and tough as leather), or pomfret and surmai (king fish) fry, which is excellent, we ordered a limited mutton masala thali and chicken masala thali.

Now, when they say Non-veg, they really mean it. Nothing vegetarian about it except for a few chopped raw onions.

Every vati (bowl) was filled with a meaty something. This is food for those souls who are suffering from real non-veg withdrawal symptoms. 1 Mutton masala plate, 1 kheema vati,1 pandra rasa( a white mutton curry) and 1 tambda rasa( a red mutton curry), 3 wheat chapathis or 2 bhakri, 1 plate of rice. Ditto on the the chicken thali.

Though authentic kolhapuri cuisine, we did not find it as chilli hot as Kolhapuri food is famed for, but then we all eat a lot of chillies, both red and green. Be warned, it might be hair-raising for others less used to chillies in their food.
The place was clean and the service prompt.It was a nice relaxing place to eat in , quite quiet considering it was in the middle of the city.
The prices were laudable. Just cannot figure out how they manage to produce such good food for so little.Everyone I have told about it is planning a visit ...real soon.

from Rs 40-Rs 90 per person.

Sugrans Dining House,
2293,  A Sadashiv Peth, Shedge Vadi,
Pune 30

For  super Kolhapuri Mutton recipe click here.

SBDP at the Ram Krishna

Where in the world can you get a full plate of Sev Batata Dahi Puri with all the trimmings, a beautifully served Dahi Khichadi, valet parking, attentive waiters, a clean large restaurant with plenty of elbow room and enough time to chat without a bill being presented every minute, all for the equivalent of 1 Euro for two.

Nowhere but at the Ram Krishna, opposite the West End on Moledina Road, Pune.

Once a family mansion with high ceilings it is now decorated in a wonderfully entertaining style.Something from Renaissance Hindu i.e. Ravi Verma's Radha and Krishna, painted on wood with the lustre of Rembrandt, to wrought iron grills out of Florence, etched glass windows a la Vienne, and murals of scenes in the style of Botticelli's Birth of Venus all set in the RK corral.

Despite the con-fusion of art influences in the decor, the food is generically Indian, albeit from different regions. Plenty of choice and all vegetarian.

The dahi khichadi was very tasty with a touch of kari patta, a couple of curd chillies and a dollop of ghee. As for my SBDP...suffice it to say I have never ordered anything else here. Just love it.

Silk Route

Being our anniversary and feeling we had something to celebrate R and I decided to go out for dinner. It was 40 degrees in the shade during the day...a tough time to work up any kind of appetite. We decided to take a chance at Silk Route a relatively new place in town with a reputation for good Asian food as we could not access the telephone number of the restaurant.

It seemed full of life when we entered. No space in the lounge which, we were told, was a "nice place to sit about having a drink". But we immediately got a small table for two in the corner and heaved a sigh of relief in the cool air conditioned atmosphere.

R's usually irrepressible spirits were somewhat dampened by the look of total incomprehension on the stewards face when told it was a special occasion for us.However we ordered a half beer each while choosing starters from a large and varied menu. They had Chinese, Thai and Indonesian dishes on offer as well as Sushi.

For starters we chose Khoong ( Did they mean Goong?) Thod Kra Tiem Prik from the Thai menu. This was stir fried prawns flavoured with 'palette tingling' pepper and roasted garlic as well as a safe Indonesian Vegetarian Satay with peanut sauce.

The satay arrived first. It had mushrooms, onions, zucchini, broccoli and paneer on the the bamboo stick. These were supposed to have been marinated in five exotic herbs. The peanut sauce though quite tasty had no tang at all and no taste of peanuts either. The zucchini was uncooked, the paneer an awful idea in the kebab and about the only thing that tasted like it was meant to be was the broccoli which jelled well with the sauce, whatever its indeterminate nature.

The Thai prawns were slightly better with basil leaves and spring onions sauteed along with the prawns. A few slivers of red pepper gave the dish some colour.

For our main course we shared a Thai green curry with prawns Ghang (Goong ?) Kheaw Wan, flavoured with coconut milk and sweet basil. It was a hot and sweet curry, with flavours well blended but with shards of galangal floating in the curry, which had to delicately dumped from ones mouth.

Nobody offered us the menu again to choose a dessert and we decided enough was enough and gave it a miss.

The service was indifferent to downright bad, with food served sloppily, streaks of curry down the side of the serving dish. The decor uncertain with flocked wall paper, an aquarium,  purple tablecloths,  chairs upholstered in blue stripes,  green ceramic tiled floors....everything a bit faded and dirty.

All in all a rather disappointing evening.

The long and the short of this tale is- take a detour to dinner if you must but avoid the Silk Route.