Karavalli came highly recommended- especially by Mr. Fox. Since work got me to the Gateway, I decided to give it a try. I usually don't like eating at the hotel restaurant I am staying at unless I have to but I was more than pleasantly surprised.
Well first of all the Karavalli is set in a charming Mangalore type house garden with a little pond. Its what Mr. Fox calls an urban oasis. Secondly, the service is outstanding, the staff is well informed and explain the cuisine beautifully. As a matter of fact I requested Mr. Vinod serve us each time I went there because of his knowledge of the cuisine and his wonderful demeanor. Third- in the past few months I made several trips to Bangalore and made sure I had at least one meal there. And let me tell you each time the food was flavourful and surpassed expectation. It is a hard thing to uphold quality, I have noticed in the hospitality business.
So what did I eat? Below is a visual poetry of my meals at Karavalli. Each time I tried to order something different. Let me tell you about my indulgences- fish wrapped in banana leaves, their chicken and lamb curries, banana flower vegetables, pineapple stew, beef fry, lamb legs (to die for), Kerala parotha, appams. Each meal started with a glass of hot rasam and bowl of fried papads. The flavours are a mix of all coastal cuisines- Goan, Mangalorean, Kerala. I love coconut curries and these made my heart sing.
I can easily say that the Karavalli is one of my favourite places to eat in Bangalore.
Enchanting outdoor seating
Lunch with the lovely Maddie
Always a great host- Vinoth
The Urban Oasis
With the Chef and Vinoth
A cold beer - the best accompaniment
Eating traditionally on banana leaves
Fried fish.
Fish wrapped in banana leaf
Juicy!
Fried fish all gone
Rasam in a lovely cup
Beef fry- spicy and succulent
Pineapple stew and vegetable pepper stew
Payasam (ooh check out my nail polish)
Paan to cleanse your palatte
Just the kind of place that takes you away from all your worries.
Thank you for the brilliant meal.
I leave you with this song that went so well with this meal.
Don't you love compact meals all packed in one yummy roll. I am a huge fan of shwermas, falafel, kathi rolls, rolli-polis in a paratha and ofcourse THE FRANKIE. A Bombay invention, anyone who grew up in Bombay would have at some point eaten a Tibb's Frankie. It'S simple, fast and easy to carry street food and frankly speaking I love the simplicity of everything wrapped in one meal.
So here it is:
Ingredients:
For the Wrap:
1 cup regular flour
1 cup wheat flour
1tbsp oil
water to knead
1 tspn salt
For the filling:
1 Sliced onions
5-6 cloves garlic minced
handful of ginger minced
3-4 green chillies sliced lengthwise
1 green bellpepper thinly sliced
1 box of mushrooms (approx 10 numbers)
1 corn off the cob
sliced chicken kababs. I used Yummiez by Godrej. You can order or make them at home
1 egg per frankie roll
1 dash of milk
Mixed masala according to taste (I always use Papa's Magic Masala)
1 lemon
Siriacha sauce
1. Mix the ingredients for the wrap and prepare teh dough. Cover with a damp cloth and let sit for 10 minutes.
2. Roll into chapattis or rotis and on a low heat cook the rotis on the tawa or flat pan till small bumps of air show on the surface.
3. Store in a dry place.
Prep all the veggies. And roll the dough for the wraps. Follow the steps mentioned above for the wraps.
Shave the corn off the cob for fresh and crunchy bites.
Saute the garlic, ginger, chilies and onions. Add some herbs, spices such as Papa's Magic Masala mix or chat masala. Add the corn and mushrooms.
Slice the precooked chicken kababs by Yummiez. This saves time for sure. For a working woman like me this is a relief. These kababs are very tasty on their own and can be had with fresh corriander chutney. You can go all out and make kababs from scratch. But nothing beats the comfort of a quick cooked meal.
Pour the egg mix of egg, milk and spices on the tawa and make an omelet. As the omelet is cooking plaee the roti on the egg. The half cooked eggs omelet sticks to the roti. Cook on a low heat.
Flip over and serve on a plate. This is what it should look like.
Sprinkle some grated cheese and pour some hot sauce. Here I have used my favourite Siriacha sauce. You can apply coriander chutney as well.
Pile high with the sauteed veggies and pieces of the chicken kababs. Squeeze a dash of lemon and roll and eat. This is such a good rainy day meal. It takes care of all the deep fried cravings and it is really healthy. There can be so many variations to this dish. Add spinach, add cream in the corn, add potatoes instead of chicken. Will be also great with sausages, salami, bacon. Its unending. Various kinds of cheese, herbs. Just the basics can be the same and so much fun can be had with this meal.
This was a fulfilling meal and flowed well together and all the ingredients rolled into one so well that I felt it accompanied this piece of music perfectly. I discovered this redition of Adele's famous Rolling in the Deep last week on the internet. I am becoming a big fan of these Piano guys. Do hear this piece, it is beautiful.
Sunday breakfast at home after a long time. A recipe post on Follow my Recipe after a long time as well. Well mostly because I have been traveling like a maniac.
I was introduced to eggs in a hole in grad school in Chicago after a drunken night of partying, my friend Chris made us eggs in a hole. I loved the idea. So after almost 8 years I replicated the recipe in my kitchen today.
Its so easy and so fun that you cant help but smile. Maybe even giggle. My mom wants to make egg in a hole with everything- parathas, dosas, pancakes. (Trust mother Purwar to get uber creative with the idea).
Ok so you need:
Slices of bread
Equal no. of eggs.
Butter or cream cheese
A round object for cutting (preferably much smaller than the bread)
Salt and pepper and any other garnish you like with your bread and eggs
A dash of oil
A non stick pan.
1. Cut a circle in your bread.
2. Spread some butter on both the holed bread and the circle piece.
3. Heat some Oil on the non stick pan.
4. Place the bread on the pan.
5. Crack an egg in the center of the hole in the bread.
6. Sprinkle some salt and pepper.
7. Cover with a bowl and let it cook.
8. Served with your favourite sides- potatoes, grilled tomatoes, bikaneri sev (my sis will truly appreciate this), slices of bacon, Yaaa.
Also the left over circles can be used to make tres cool cucumber sandwiches.
Such simple, happy breakfasts make it all the time away from home worth it. Nothing like sharing your breakfast with your doggy.
Also this song is so perfect for today. Of course Id rather say I love Mumbai in the rain.
The Mavalli Tiffin Room (MTR) is synonymous to Bangalore. Early morning breakfasts, filter coffee, lunch thalis, bisi bele bhaat, kesri bhaat, sweet boondis - an entire range of food that represents the Karnataka cuisine is served here. I was in Bangalore quite a bit last month and in between my crazy schedule begged my driver to take me to the original MTR located near the Lalbagh Botanical gardens. This place has been around since 1924.
I asked my friend Gopal of the Mumbai Paused fame for suggestions and he said order a rawa idli, a masala dosa and the sweet of the day. And so it was.The idli was soft and speckled with dal and whole peppers. The sambhar along with it was thick and not watery like elsewhere in this country. There was a generous helping of ghee on the side just in case. The masala dosa was a surprise. It was much thicker than dosas I've eaten in Chennai or Mumbai. It had the most comforting sour dough taste ever. My fingers were slick with ghee and ofcourse there was more ghee on the side. The Kesari bhaat was surprisingly not too sweet but again rich with ghee. The filter coffee hit the early morning spot. My server very sweetly allowed me to step into the kitchen where dosas, boondis, idlis, large buckets of sambhar, chutneys were being mass produced by a few smiling men who let me photograph there process.
Post MTR a very full and satisfied me had to go for a walk around the Lalbagh Botanical gardens to see the lovely glass house which was built in the likeliness of the Crystal Palace in London. The weather was perfect for a post breakfast exploration walk under the shade of the massive rain trees.
I landed in Chennai early morning and Prats whisked me off to Saravanaa Bhavan for breakfast. It was my request. I love idli, dosa, sambhar, the chutneys, idli podi and of course good South Indian filter coffee. And I want it traditional and I want it perfectly Tamilian. Chennai's varied cuisine is always beckoning me. My friend Prats happens to be a wonderful guide into the not so well known but spectacularly delicious places in the city.
Of course, Saravanaa Bhavan's reputation precedes itself. With over a 100 outlets world over it is probably the best known restaurant for good, fast cheap South Indian food. What I did not know was that my fondly called Idli- Dosa is actually called a tiffin. Hence we had tiffin for breakfast. Prats ordered an appam with sweetened coconut milk. My exposure to appam has been limited and mostly accompanied with a chicken or fish curry. She poured the coconut milk in the center of these bowl shaped pancakes made of fermented rice flour. The center is slightly thick like an idli. The coconut milk fills up all the pores and moistens the pancake. And with our hands we mixed and turned and tore and scooped at this absolutely delicious and simple tasting breakfast snack. I ordered a rawa masala dosa. It was good, crisp, hot with perfect filling of spicy potatoes called masala. The variety of chutneys- white coconut (not so spicy), green coconut (spicy), tomato (spicy and tangy and of course sambhar. My favourite always is the tomato chutney. The sambhar accompanying hit the spot. We got ourselves some good South Indian filter coffee that Prats poured back and forth in the little metal bowl accompanying the glass. She 'stretched' her coffee as it cooled down in the pouring. I followed suit and really enjoyed the experience. It seems like I always had my filter coffee the wrong way. It was a rewarding breakfast after an early morning flight from Mumbai to Chennai. My favourite sort of breakfast.
Prats took me next door to the oldest Nalli's in Chennai. Housed in a quaint old bungalow this Nalli's has serviced women purchasing sarees for various occasions for almost 80 years. This place is historic and best known for its south Indian silks especially from Kanchipuram. Later I told my mom about going to Nalli's and she told me she had been to the exact same Nalli's several years ago when I was a little 3 year old girl. I bought my first Nalli's silk to make into a typical Tamil Nadu skirt. Ms. Prats is going to design that for me. Can't wait!
