BFH#2 : Pandey Ji

Being a North Indian , chaat has always been an essential part of my life, and getting good chaat in Manipal is quite a task. Unless you know where to go for every item, you can never have good chaat, because no one place makes everything really well.
So it ends up being a food trail, but more about the Manipal Food Trail later ;).

It took me 3 semesters, and my bihari friends to discover Pandey Ji. Pandey ji sits in his tiny little 6*6 shop, right next to Hotel Ashlesh. Even though many people know the place, and it’s not really a discovery, but I’m still gonna write about it.
During the 10-10:30 break, or the 3-3:30 one, a bunch of students, wiping the sweat off their brows, walk slowly towards the little place. As Pandey ji sees the familiar faces, he flashes his trademark grin and asks, ‘ Kya ho, Kya banae? ‘
There is no right answer to this question, of course. There are the regular samosas and kachoris , and chips, chocolates and cold drinks.There are the sweets, the gulab jamun, even ras malai. If you’re feeling adventurous , you can have his  maggi, but for me, the one thing that puts Pandey ji head and shoulders above all other chaat places is his samosa chaat.

For the uninitiated, Samosa chaat, though self-explanatory, is basically a couple of samosas, smashed and crushed and put in a bowl, mixed with sweet and spicy chutneys, some filler food (In this case, chole), onions, a dash of  dahi, and garnished with sev. A chaat made with samosa, hence the name.

Anyway, for some reason,this calorie loaded, carb-intensive Samosa chaat at Pandey Ji has always made me feel nice about life, a comfort food of sorts. Maybe it’s about the food, maybe it’s about Pandey Ji‘s heavily accented, ‘Aur kuch lenge?’ , or maybe it’s about the friends around me,but whatever it is, if you’re up for nice, filling and cheap samosa chaat (25Rps only, yaassss!), you know where to go.

If you’re not a samosa chaat person, you can always order a plate of Pav Bhaaji. Aah, warm soft pav, soaked with butter, the hot, spicy bhaaji, and a bottle of thumbs up. Talk about comfort food. Also, don’t talk about weight loss. Plis.

And Chai, oh god, the horror that Manipal has been for tea lovers. This wretched place has no good ‘chai ki dukaan‘ . Pandey Ji comes close, with his not-so-kadak , a little too sweet, ginger infused tea. I mean it’s not ghar ki chai, but it will do.
In the chai hell that is Manipal, we learn to make do with it.

Pro Tip : Tell him to make the chaat sweet, otherwise you’ll end up buying something sweet as well.
Nice selling strategy , Pandey Ji.

Broke, Fat and Hungry #1

As the title suggests, I’m fat, hungry and perpetually broke, hence I’m always looking for new, and cheap places to eat.
So cutting to the chase,today I found a new dosa place.
Called Mumbai Dosa Camp, It’s basically a couple of guys, two stoves , a few jars of batter and other foodstuff, and a counter, so yeah, not quite the gourmet chef you’re used to.
It’s right next to the swanky Kamath Cafe.you know, the one which is basically KC canteen with better furniture?

Coming back to the point, if you get tired of the vada paos or the bread pakodas, and feel like having weirdly tasty food, just take 10 steps from your trusty vada pao vendor and ask the dosa guy to make you a tomato omelette noodle dosa.

Intrigued?
So was I when took a look at the menu. Noodle Dosa , Spring Dosa, Cheese Dosa, Palak Paneer Tikka Dosa and other weird looking names adorned the yellow banner. The prices looked enticing, the smell of the dosa seductive, and I found myself wanting her, umm, It.

I gazed at the banner-menu and looked for the weirdest name there, and yes, you guessed it, it was tomato omelette noodle dosa. I was feeling adventurous and it was less than 50 rupees, so I decided on trying my luck. The man who makes the dosas, (Rakesh, was it?) grinned at me and said, ‘5 minute me banta hai, ekdum super, aap wait kro.’

So i waited, and it turned out to be the most interesting 5 minutes of my life.
He spread this yellow tomato batter, grabbed a handfull of faluda looking noodles and dropped it smack in the centre of the dosa, some schezwan sauce, buter,  garlic paste and a lot of other spicy looking things were dropped unceremoniously on the ever growing pile. I was waiting for the omelette, but that never came.  He used a press to spread the whole thing, let it be for a minute, and placed it on a plate. Two chutneys, and this brilliant dosa cut in three pieces.

Took the first bite, and I was pleasantly surprised! In a MasterChef-esque sort of a way, There was an explosion of flavors in my mouth.Crispy dosa flavored with tangy tomato, filled with spicy schezwan sauce coated noodles, with sweet-sour tomato chutney and thick, textured coconut chutney . It was a delight. Took me about 10 minutes to finish the whole thing, and it was so filling. Had to wash it down with a lime though, it was spicy.

However, after i had the dosa, this realization dawned upon me that there was no omelette involved, anywhere. When asked about it, the guy making the dosas told me very matter-of-factly, ‘Boss, omelette to jaise mix banate hai masala daal ke , islie bolte hain, baaki yahan jain customer log ata hai, non veg nahi bana skte’ . I felt cheated.

In conclusion, if I had the rate the food :
Taste : (4/5) Brilliant taste, variety of flavors
Quality and Hygiene : (3.5/5) Clean, fresh food , made in front of you. They even make it on a coal stove.
Ambience : (1/5) Standing in the sun with a plate in your hand, not exactly nice.
Price : (4.5/5) At the risk of sounding like a 19 year old girl , price game was on point!
Overall Rating : (3/5) Solid and affordable, this tasty place won’t disappoint you when you’re hungry and broke.

Chalo, I’m off. Need to look for another cheap place for today.
Cheers.

PS  : Picture of the menu