Mumbai - City of Dreams...

This article is just some food for thought (but no actual food or pics included). It is about Mumbai - the city I always call home, even though I currently reside in Gurgaon (which is in Northern India)! For those of you who live in India or who reside outside the country - I will definitely have it on my "one of the places to visit" list.

I live in Juhu near the beach and there is nothing quiet about where I am - this hustle and bustle is what I love the most about the city and what keeps me going. At any given point of the day or night there is a continuous flow of traffic that can be seen from my window and honking of horns. There are a million people thronging the beach even in this weather when the rain doesn't seem to have ceased... and the city is full of some kind of vibrancy that makes you want to go out there and live your life and makes your dreams come true - maybe this is why it is called the "City of Dreams"!

Since, this is a food blog I will tell you about a few restaurants and places to eat that I touched upon on this trip. I couldn't go around trying a lot of new restaurants since the weather has been really blue and getting out with a baby can be quite a chore. Also, my throat is slightly under the weather so I am trying to keep it real simple. I had to go to my bhel-puri and paani-puri joint - which is in the by-lanes of santacruz between Yoko's and Tresori (e-mail me if you want directions). This guy is great for all kinds of chaats (Indian Street Food) - I think he beats Elco (on Hill Road)  since he has not commercialised it and turned it into a big shop and is yet really hygienic! He has a loyal clientèle and I have been going to him for the last ten years... Then there is Candies (in three locations in Bandra) and it has the most awesome selection of food if I may add - during my stay at Lilavati during my delivery my family was a regular at this food joint. This time there was a change in their desserts... beside the regular fare they had the cutest mini muffins - carrot, carrot - zuchini, banana, chocolate, red velvet - name the flavor and they had it. Thy had cutesy mini pies,  mini chocolates and miniature everything. In this day and age of super sizing portions it was a relief to see - coz I could try a couple of things without feeling guilty and I am always trying to cut my "dessert" intake - so these sizes really help! I also ate some Indian-Chinese at Juhu Gymkhana and it didn't fail to make me happy - chilly chicken and fried rice is the way to go when in India!

Apart from this my ten days in Mumbai flew by, also because I had a nasty cold which refused to go... the one day that the hubby showed up we tucked the baby in bed and decided to visit Olive - I just love this place - but the baby got up and we had to be back even before we had ordered drinks!

For those of you who follow my blog and are not from India.. I am going to try and put up some pics of some Indian Street Foods - so you can get a feel of what I am talking about.

I am still travelling and shall be back with some great food pics and recipes soon!

Pav Bhaji - Mumbai Style!!!!

I have a constant craving for Mumbai street food and some of these dishes have become my party staples! One such recipe that I find myself repeating very often whenever I have guests or my family wants to eat something different is Pav Bhaji. I never fail to get rave reviews and never have seconds left! Recently, when a friend of mine e-mailed me for my Pav Bhaji recipe - I realised I don't have one posted on my blog. So this one is for her...

I remember reading a recipe for Pav Bhaji long long time ago in the Sunday Mid-day (my favoritest read on a Sunday) and from then on I have had a winner on hands (with a few tweaks here and there)! This is also a healthy way to get your husband and children to eat their veggies without turning up their noses! My recipe feeds 4.

Ingredients:
5 medium sized boild potatoes
1.5 cups vegetables (carrots, cauliflower, peas, beans or whatever else you have on hand and want to feed your family ;))

4 tomatoes boiled and pureed without their peels

1 large onion diced small

1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste

3 kashmiri whole red chillis

1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
Salt as per taste
Pav Bhaji Masala as per taste

Recipe:
Boil the potatoes and put aside. In a pressure cooker add 1tsp oil and the kashimiri chillis (broken in half), ginger-garlic paste and choppee d onions. Saute onions till pink. Then add the tomatoe puree and saute till the mixture leaves oil. Now add the vegetables and saute again. Add the dry masalas i.e. turmeric, chilli powder, salt and at least 2 tbsp pav bhaji masala. Add the potatoes and stir the mixture well. If the mixture is not in semi-liquid form - add some tomato puree so that the mixture is a bit pasty. Add about half a cup of water and give this a couple of whistles.

Open the pressure cooker and mash the mixture with a masher. Add water and bring to a boil if required. Now taste and add more pav bhaji masala, chilli and salt as per taste. This whole "bhaji" should not be very curry like - so if you think it's too thin - give this a couple of more whistles and leave aside - this dries up a bit on it's own. And you're all done.

Serving Suggestions:

I always serve this with a side of diced onions, lemon and grated cheese and a big chunk of butter.

The pav's are also nicely heated on a pan with butter!