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……

Kitchen Ninja Challenge Part 1- Sweet and Sour Kheema Cakes

Friends make a day trip to Pune and come back with stories of rain. They talk about pregnant clouds that burst apart releasing the cool droplets of water on their face. They have a happy dance, drenched to the core. Such joy shows through their crinkled eyes as they relate the romance of the rain-drenched tales.

Me, in Mumbai, look sadly up at sky, showing my clenched fist. There is not a speck of cloud. The strong sunrays reflect on the bright white wall opposite me, reflecting its glare on me, almost blinding me.

“Please pour, please pour, send some clouds into my town” I plead, I curse, “just for a day if you please, because today is the theme of my recipe on rain, I need some inspirations to churn out a dish.”

But there is no respite.

But still, I walk into my kitchen, to cook up a special meal, with dry rain on my mind, I will pretend it rained tonight. Sweet and sour kheema cake is on my mind. I am going to be creative, global, marry the Thai with Indian cuisine.

Thanks to my ‘Kitchen Ninjas’ a group of food bloggers on online Watsapp, we decide to cook and share unique recipes –to do something extraordinary, we will be in our kitchen each month, playing around with ingredients to mix and match, to create a dish, to challenge ourselves. The challenge for this month is ‘A date with Mumbai Rains’, so even if there is no rain, (no proper influence with mother nature perhaps) we will still go as planned.

My fellow food bloggers in this crime:

 Rum Glazed Sticky Chicken by Elson Sequeira from The Tummy Tale 

Poppadom Crusted Asian Style Baked Tofu by Samina Patel from The Cupcake Confession 

The crispy Masala Carp by Antara Ray from Zouqh

 Spicy Mango Salad by Mohit Chotrani from The Hungry Bawarchi

Chicken Roulade with a Pomegranate Sauce by Shanti Padukone from Riot of flavors

Amrutha Langs from Amrutha's Cookbook

Jahan Bloch from The Toxic Baker

Do visit their blog to steal their recipes and stir a similar pot in your own kitchen to enjoy with your own group of family and friends.

So, here is mine.

Sweet and Sour Kheema Cakes

Ingredients

1 bunch of basil leaves

1 medium size potatoes

1tsp black pepper

3-florets of broccoli

1 egg

1tbsp mustard oil

1 finely chopped onions

1tsp garlic crushed

1tsp ginger crushed

2 green chilies

1 chicken cube

1tbsp Thai curry paste

250gms chicken kheema

1 finely sliced tomatoes

Salt to taste.

Method

Stir fry basil leaves and keep it aside

Boil and mash potatoes, add salt and black pepper and keep it aside

Steam the broccoli

Separate the egg yolks from white. Whisk the egg whites till fluffy and stiff and keep it aside.

In a pan, add 1tbsp of mustard oil. Add finely chopped onions. Add garlic, chilies and ginger. Add chicken cube, add Thai curry paste. Add chicken kheema. Stir fry till cooked. Add tomato sauce and fried basil leaves.

In an oven proof plate, place the greased aluminum 2-inch ring. Inside the ring, put a layer of mashed potatoes, next layer it with cooked kheema, cover it with fluffy egg whites. Keep it for baking for 10 minutes till set.

Serve with tomatoes-and-broccoli salad and a drink of your choice.

Breakfast From Left-Overs Rotis

Indian diet is never complete unless we have rotis. Most of my friends have thali type of food in their house, with 2 veggies, dhal, rice, papad, curd, pickle, rotis.

I cannot eat so much food and I am kinda confused when I see so much variety of assorted veggies. Should I eat this or that? I prefer only one type of veggie and it is either roti or rice (never both). But making roti is such a pain. I can roll roti in different maps of the world (sometimes Australia, sometimes Africa) but never round (like our globe). Sometimes my rotis are so hard that you need a nut cracker to break it…er…okay...not so hard. but quite hard if not consumed immediately.

I like guests who volunteer to make rotis for me. My guests understand my discomfort when I touch my waist, wipe my brow, look blushed after every disfigured roti, they get uncomfortable of the thought of digesting my poorly roasted rotis. They volunteer to help. Sweet people. In their own kitchen they may never lift a finger (because they have a big army of cooks and maids) but they do help me if I look miserable.

I think when a real Roti maker hits the market, I won't be surprised if they run to buy me Roti maker on my first big day either as Diwali present or for my birthday. *winks*. 

But most of the time, it’s my maid who helps. She makes enough rotis for everybody to eat, plus there are left overs.

Cooking left over food by re-inventing it into a complete new dish is the fun food. Masala roti made from left-over rotis tastes very delicious. I normally have it for breakfast.

It is very spicy and pungent. I normally put too many chilies, so much so that people will be weeping, wiping their nose but enjoying. I don't offer them tissues (they might finish the whole box), give them napkin instead.

Recently my friend (who has found me on FB after donkey years) wrote to me that she still remembers the masala roti that I used to make centuries ago. She still remembers the taste. Well Hema, if you are reading this, then is the recipe for you… follow the recipe and remember me.. okay?

Mani sayal (saye masale mei)

(Chappatis in green masala)

Serves 4

Ingredients

6 chapatis, broken into small pieces

6 green chilies, finely chopped

1 cup coriander leaves, chopped

½ cup fenugreek leaves, chopped

2 tablespoons garlic

2 teaspoons coriander powder

½ teaspoon red chilly powder

2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon red chilli powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoon oil

Method:

1. Mix together the green chilies, coriander leaves, fenugreek leaves, garlic, coriander powder, red chilies powder, salt, and pound to a coarse paste. Set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a pan and fry the paste.
3. Add the chopped tomatoes and turmeric powder, stir and fry.
4. Mash the tomatoes and add 1 cup water.
5. When the mixture starts to boil, add small pieces of the chapatis.
6. Cook on low heat for five minutes, making sure the gravy does not dry out completely.
7. Serve hot with papad and buttermilk