Tummy tuck

We were out to lunch this afternoon to a well known restaurant in town. It was a food festival that we had been invited to and, not being especially social but needing to go to the boutique attached to the eatery in any case, we decided to be civil and accept the invitation. So after doing an errand here and another there, we arrived all ready and more or less willing to eat.

The reason we were a little unwilling to lunch at this particular place was that it serves thalis. Nothing wrong with that, except that you have to perforce eat far more than you actually want to and great amounts that you do not need to. A thali means lots of many things, most of which start to taste the same after the first few bites. Another and fairly major reason was that most thalis that we have come across in our limited experience of them have been overly spicy and very difficult to get through and get over. But we were assured by our hostess and the manager of the place that things would be the way we wanted and the food would suit us to the proverbial T.

And it did, really. There were not too many people at the restaurant, so service was quick, friendly and unstressed. We sat at a good table and discussed the food with our hostess and the waiters who served us. And we were allowed to choose across menus, mixing regions and dishes with happy results. What we ate was well cooked, gentle on the tongue and the tummy and most delightfully tasty. And we came away with a feeling of perhaps finding the courage to go it again…not too long from now.

We started with chaas, a yoghurt drink. It was gently spiced with salt, cumin and a faint touch of green chilli, cool and refreshing. Then we segued into appetizers – onion pakoras, khandvi, kachori and a chopped salad. From there, we moved seamlessly into rotis of various kinds – a spicy thepla, a rough-grained jowar flatbread and a chunky, ghee-soaked, heavy baati. Those were served up with dal, and various sabjis made with methi, with bhindi, with alu and karela, with gatte, with peas, with chana, with cabbage, with carrots….phew, I get tired and full just thinking of it all! The meal ended with a firm but melting mohanthal, a coconut-laden square of mithai that failed to be identified and a puran poli (which we didn’t have), a wonderful filled sweet pancake that has to be eaten with loads of fresh-made ghee. Which we could not stomach, not after all that delicious food was filling us so pleasantly!