East Meets West: Chai Pani at Decatur in Atlanta

You would think you were on Mumbai streets when Vada Pav makes its appearance on your table, but this is the creation of Mehrwan and Molly Irani, who have imported the idea of street food of India and have given a new twist. For Non-vegetarians, there was Bengali Fish fry sandwich, crispy and spicy.

Here the Indian street food becomes an art and you see it everywhere, in innovative Indian street food, in the ambience, the bright vibrant colors in the loud shades of bright green, orange, blue and red, on the walls, the pictures of common man in India and also of bollywood stars.

A favorite indoor game (enjoyed in Indian homes) Carom Board sits in the waiting lounge at the entrance, so while you wait for your table, you could pass your time over a game of Carom.

The bar area dominates the major part of the restaurant and serves some exotic drinks, blend of Indian flavors with Vodka, Whiskey or Gin. The mural at the bar are artistically done, with Indian script in bold.  A traditional Indian music in the background completes the picture. 

However, this is a restaurant on the other side of the world, far away from India, in a smaller suburb of Georgia, A restaurant with Indian concept and is called Chai Pani.

Chai Pani, (that literally means ‘tea and water’ in English and is aso used as slang for ‘bribe’ that we would give to an officer in India in return for a favor) is the hip spot in Decatur at Atlanta that serves Indian food in american style

I enoyed the American style french fries, topped with Kheema and cottage cheese, the crispy french fries (fried to perfection) and mince meat cooked in Indian spices made perfect combination of East meeting West.

And chicken fritters, chicken (marinated in salt and pepper) and deep fried in gram flour batter, it was very different from the chicken nuggets that you would find at MacDonalds, and yet so similar

The street food of India has been amalgated to suit American palate and this concept is very appealing, the restaurant was packed with Americans who enjoy different taste. Some of them have never been to India but still they seemed to enjoy Indian cuisine.

The menu had some interesting listings, and the speciality of the day changes everyday. On the day I visited, Papri chaat  was the day’s special. There was also Thali listed on their menu that had traditional Indian meals like you would find in many restaurants in India.

I was happy too to find my traditional Indian cuisine on foreign soil and happily munched on aniseed sweets on my way out……

Hot Dog Round The Corner

When travelling, it’s important to try local food and most importantly to try the street food because true essence of local food can be found in the street food.

I had my first tryst with street food was when I visited Bangkok for the first time. The air smelt of seafood and the food was very spicy and tasty. I have never forgotten that taste.

It’s my habit to try street food in every city that I visit. It could be a simple stir fries or more complicated sandwiches, or some weird dishes, but try I must. Every country has its own variety of street food.

Here in Canary Islands, most of the street food you will find at the Sunday market. On regular days, you will find near the city plaza, near the beach or closer to the church. People enjoy churro chocolate, a favorite street food and I had blog about this earlier.

Street food in Canary Islands is clean and sold in kiosk or in a vehicle. Last week I tried a hot dog by the beach at Garachico.

Now hot dog is the international dish, found in almost every country in the world. The basic method of cooking the hot dog is same. You put the hot dog in a saucepan, put little cold water and cook till it begins to boil, then let it stand for five minutes and you are ready to grill. What is different from country to country is the topping you get. While under Mexican influence you might get mango salsa and avocados, or under British spin you might get gravy infused spoonful of mashed potatoes but I kind of liked the topping at this place in Tenerife.

The couple was happy to share their recipe.

Hot dogs with the topping of mustard sauce, chili sauce and mayonnaise, a salad leaf, tomato and deep-fried onions and potato chips

Venezuelan Cuisine in Canarias

Whenever I come to Canarias, first thing I pick up from the shelf in the supermarket is fresh white cheese. It resembles somewhat like our paneer in India but the flavor is soft with sour touch. It is firm, fresh and slightly salty. This type of white cheese is cured for only 7-35 days.

Canary Islands are proud to be best cheese award winner. 

Its’ success is mainly due to its climatic conditions as well as 3 different breeds of goat. All cheeses are homemade or based on antique cheese making traditions. They vary from very fresh and soft cheese to cured and strong flavored cheese.

I normally eat it in a sandwich with salad leaves and tomatoes, 

or stuff it in cachapas, (a Venezuelan corn pancake) with avocado and chili sauce. The cachapas have the sweetish taste and it marries the soft sour taste of cheese.

Cachapas is the favorite meal for Canarias who enjoy Venezuela cuisine. You get the corn flour in packets, there are many different brands, but I find this brand quite tasty. (This corn flour is not same like the one we use in chinese cooking for thickening the sauce). This flour is different, it contains precooked corn leaves, sugar, wheat flour, precooked corn flour, milk serum, salt and sweet corn aroma. When the pancakes are roasted on girdle, they emit the sweet aroma of corn.

The pancakes are made from this flour by adding ¾ cup of water to 1cup of this flour. Some people add egg too to add that extra flavor.

For vegetarians just white cheese is good enough. But for non-veg person, these cachapas can be stuffed with any number of savory toppings like shredded meat/fish/vegetables or any other fillings. Adding avocado dip makes it more interesting and of course, some chili sauce too.

Some even eat it with fresh mangoes right off from the tree.

Dined a Spanish Cuisine at Olympic Village at Barcelona

When in Spain, eat what Spanish eat, no?

The fun part of travelling around the world is to taste the local cuisine. During my last visit to Bangkok, my family and I headed straight from the airport to a restaurant to take our first bite of fried rice. Even the guests who visit me in Mumbai go crazy on batatawada, pani-puri, ragda pattis. I don’t blame them, they crave for the local food and they would go wild if there was no fear of bad stomach.

There are many countries where we have to develop a taste for that particular cuisine. When I went to Spain for the first time, I found the food very bland. There was no spice or chilies in the food. Many times I would carry a chilies sauce in my purse when I went out to eat. But gradually I developed a taste for it and now when I visit Spain, I do try some local cuisine.

On my last visit to Spain, I stopped by Barcelona for four days. My hosts took me out for lunch to try a typical Spanish cuisine. Twenty years ago, Barcelona was the host for Olympic games. An Olympic village with apartments and restaurants were developed at the seaside. Here was the venue for rows of restaurants serving all kinds of cuisine. The place was well lighted and there was much activity till late evening.

It was raining and the weather was chilly. As soon as we entered the restaurant, we were surrounded with the warmth and the happy atmosphere. Tourist and business people occupied the large round tables that were evenly spaced out. Transparent plastic curtains enclosed the area to keep out the rain. On the backside, behind the transparent curtain were the bar and the kitchen.

The service was quick and the waiter was alert. The olives and freshly baked bread coated with garlic and tomato appeared on the tables before even we could decide on the menu. The order would be the mixture of vegetarian and non-vegetarian.

To start with, I opted for Sangria, a fruit cocktail mixed with red wine with a bit of bubbly soda. Unfortunately, during the meal, with many more variety of food appearing at our table, I accidently dropped off my glass of Sangria and was not able to enjoy this after few sips.

But the rest of the meal was quite enjoyable.

I stretched my fork to pick up Jamón Ibérico de Bellota. This ham, (cured for more than 36 months, I was told,) is from free-range pigs that roam oak forests (called dehesas), and eat only acorns during this last period. The exercise and diet have a significant impact on the flavor of the meat. Salty and crisp, it tasted best went combined with freshly baked toast.

Gambas a la ajillo, the shrimps stir-fried with garlic in olive oil were tender and sweetish in taste.

Calamars a la Romania, the ring shaped squids, coated with egg flour batter and deep-fried. These were crispy and tender.

 I had never tasted Chiperones, which is actually small deep fried fishes, “have this, you will like the crispy, crunchy taste” said my BIL, but we were served baby octopus instead, I liked that as well.

When the Paella arrived I was taken by surprise. Now I had never known the existence of black rice. This is the specialty of Valencia and the black color is from black squid ink that is used during preparation. The rice was salty, crisp and well grilled filled with assorted seafood and chicken.

For the vegetarians, there was goat cheese salad, vegetarian paella and vegetable pinchitos, (the grilled chunks of cucumber, white gourd, brinjal and tomatoes).

Spanish meal is never complete till it ends with liquor and dessert. I was too full to order anything. However the liquor is good for digestion and the tiny glasses were too attractive to give a miss. We finished it with the piece of cake coated with cinnamon and powder sugar.