Whispering Shadow

I had a very ordinary last Sunday and didn't want it to end with an ordinary dinner so my sister and I decided to make ourselves masala dosa s. We found a packet of a ready dosa mix in the refrigerator so we were saved from the effort of starting from scratch. It said 'instant mix' so we thought it won't take as long. How wrong we were! We collected the ingredients for the masala and the dosa and started off with our little adventure. Chopping vegetables was a cake walk though, as always, the onions made me cry. Sautéing the vegetables and the spices was smooth. We left it to cook while we turned our attentions to making the dosas . How a dosa should look. We made the batter following the instructions on the back of the packet. The pan was heated and greased and everything else seemed to be in place. It was time to get rolling. We didn't have a cookbook so we kept following our instincts and improvising . We had seen it being made before and it didn't seem...

Ever felt hungry? Stupid question that. Ever felt like eating out? It is a rarity that any one normal will say ‘no’ to that. Ever felt like eating out without having to burn a hole in your pocket? Now I know you are listening. But where do you find such a place? Is it the new neighbourhood restaurant? Naah. Or is it one of the ever increasing number of food franchises (Read McDonald’s, Dominos, Pizza Hut). Definitely not. It is what sets Mumbai apart as far as its reputation for a food lover’s paradise goes. Traditionally it was the paav vada and chaiwala stalls. With time this has evolved. Now you have cuisines from all over India and in some places, from places abroad too. The streets of Mumbai have been the residence of some of the city’s finest inventors of fusion cuisines. Thought there are many places worth a mention, this entry is dedicated to my regular haunt, the ‘ khau galli ’ at Ghatkopar. The moment the clock strikes 5 in the evening, a busy but boring street junction tur...

Being a food-lover, dining out is a very essential and indispensable part of my routine. I have tried out a variety of restaurants, different, in terms of factors like cuisines, ambience, pricing and customer satisfaction. Of them I have had some fantastic experiences and some forgettable ones too. But of all what I remember, most of them are related to the bit where the meal is over. Given tips is a very debateable practice. I have on numerous occasions persisted with my dad on not giving tips, especially when the food is not up to the expectation or the service has been poor. He insists that atleast a 5% tip is a must give no matter what. His reasoning being that the if the food is not great, then the waiter is not the person to be blamed and if the service is not great, then consider it as an appreciation of the delectable food. He, nonetheless, fails to answer when neither criterion is met. On one instance, my friend ended up giving the waiter a Rs.40 tip. The meal came to around R...