A delicious Feast after Fasting fills more excitement and energy in you and adds-up to a delightful day. The good thing is that nowadays many restaurants are offering special food for Fast (Vrat) and  this led me to explore some popular Eating Joints' thalis (platter) during Navratra.

 

First platter I ate was at Haldiram's . Earlier my plan was to visit Bikanervala and then Niruala's. But I was disappointed to know the fact that Bikanervala at Sahibabad was not offering Navratra thalis yesterday for some reason, hence I decided to visit Bikanervala at Sector 63, NOIDA which has now been shut-down (another disappointment). But as they say "whatever happens, happens for the best" we settled for Naivedyam's Navratri Thali. 

 

I like South Indian food, but never thought of Navratra Food in their menu. The Thali here comprises of Rava Kuttu Dosa stuffed with mashed potato and tomato, two Idlis, dahi bhalla, Samak Rice, Coconut Chutney, Peanuts Chutney, Vegetables subzi in coconut gravy, Sabudana Papad and Firni and two fried chillis stuffed with salt added to it. We honestly loved every single bit of each item in this thali, though found the firni was little bit undercooked. An all together different flavoured Navratra Meal, I must admit that it is the best meal I had so far.

 

The Special Thali here cost around Rs. 300 Including Tax and unexpectedly surprised me with the flavors and taste.

 

Navratra Special Thali

 

Navratras has started and it is the time when lots of people do Fasting/Vrat. The food during these days of Navratras are all together different, made up of Kuttu, Singhara, Samak, SabuDana and many more. Nowadays, many restaurants like Haldiram, Bikanervala, Sattvik, Govindas offers variety of Navratras Food and truly gives an opportunity to make your fasting days more special.

Navratras Special Thali at HALDIRAM's

My Navratra's Feast has started at Haldiram's. They have their All-New Navratras Menu for this season listing Navratra Aloo Chaat, Sabudana Bites, Kurkuri Arbi Chaat, Samak Ke Tikke, Navratra Paneer Wrap, Tadoori Platter and Navratra Special Thali. I tried the Special Thali which cost me Rs. 300 Including Tax. It has Arbi ki Sabzi, Shahi Paneer, Aloo Ki Sabzi, Samak Rice, 2 Singhara Parantha, Vegetable Raita and Ras Malai as a sweet dish. I found it good in terms of taste, but doesn't like the way they served the food which completely looks different from their Special Thali Pictures. Quantity of the food is also somewhere not satisfactory for me, but I still have to check out other places to give the final comments on this. Need to mention that I really like Arbi ki Sabzi and Singhara Parantha the most from this Thali.

I heard a lot about this place and unfortunately skipped it in the last two visits. But, this time we planned to visit Chowki Dhaani and experience the very much celebrated village, known to be popular for their food and hospitality. Chowki Dhani offers pure traditional and authentic Rajasthani food. You'll have two options to choose from, one was for Rs.700 and other was a Royal Thali worth Rs.900 per person. The only difference was that later will be served giving you some royal treatment and providing you a sitting in a closed separate restaurant and serving additional food like Paneer, Mix Vegetables and couple of more. But to me if you intend to try out basic Rajasthani food only, then take Thali for worth Rs. 700. It's an area turned into a village spreaded across acres of land, which is full of traditional amenities and culture. The emotions behind the theme is simply to present the Rajasthani culture and showcase their majestic traditions in terms of folk and the food.

Some of the food items you will get in chowki dhaani. There is lots more, couldn't accommodate everything on a single plate.

                                                                                                                                 

Welcome Drink, It is a salty drink made up of butter milk. You will get three different places to go and have your food. One with chairs and tables and the other two has floor sittings typically seen in villages. All of them are open air except the one for Royal Thali. 

                                                 This was the one with Chairs and Tables, you need to give coupons to get an empty thali and then you can walk over to have food of your choices. Basically a buffet system. You will find waiters holding big trays with bowls of rice and other food items, so need not to worry when refilling of food will be required.

                                  Now this is the place if you are in the mood to enjoy your food while sitting on the floor. The good part is that you will be sitting and eating here, no self service here, just sit down and let them serve you the food and trust me they are superb in this format. Padharo maare desh.

Vegetable Salad, don't go for it as it will only occupy unwanted space in your thali.

Green Pudina and coriander Chutney

Pickle

Gatta Curry Sabzi, amongst the popular food item in Rajasthan..made up of Corn flour.

Steam Rice

Starting from the left - Chana Daal, Gutta Curry, Baati Churma, Kadhi, Gutta Curry again and Makki ki Roti.

You will get plenty of food variety in chowki dhaani. The buffet includes Daal Baati Choorma, Sarso ka Saag, Gutta Curry, Kadhi, Aaloo pyaaz sabzi, khichri with boora (brown sugar powder) and deshi  ghee, Rice, Maaki ki Roti, Baajre ki Roti, Aate ki Roti, Aachar, Chutney, Vegetable Salad and in the desserts you will have halwa. All above food items are amazingly delicious and each bite of them is divine. If you have really tasted food in the villages and are aware of the simplicity and purity of the food, then you might feel or taste the same. To me each same sip or bite of it was divine. We didn't eat anything for the whole day just to keep ours belly empty to eat all the delicacies in chowki Dhaani and we simply loved everything about the food. I couldn't stop my self sipping the daal, kadhi and gatta curry subzi. Halwa was incredibly delicious made up of moong daal, nariyal and pure desi ghee. It was like a complete food fair for me where we enjoyed the aromatic and lip smacking flovors of the Rajasthani Food.

TIME TO RATE THIS PLACE

 

Food: Excellent
Ambiance: very soothing and dim lights, Open Air.
Service : Excellent
Rating: 4.5/5
Next Visit: Will be visiting again soon
Recommend this place: Yes, for authentic rajasthani food and enjoy the Folk music and dance.
Tips: Opt the place with floor seating, if want to enjoy the food in a traditional village style.

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To View pictures of Chowki Dhaani other than food, If interested visit my below blog for Photography:

http://www.eyzeonyou.blogspot.in/2015/01/chowkidhaani-jaipur.html

One of the very much awaited food festival/event for Delhi foodies happened at the Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium. Around 200 Food stalls has participated in the Food Festival. Cuisinier from all over India has came and conveyed their specialties in this Fest. It appeared to be a perfect food amusement event to me. With a hope to explore so much varieties and taste as much as possible, We visited the Food Festival on the last day. I expected it to be over crowded because of the fact that it was a public holiday and bought the tickets and food coupons online at  http://www.nasvinet.org The ticket price was Rs.50 per adult and a coupon worth Rs. 10, buy as much as you can eat :)

Below were some of the few food items we tried, but there were much more which were sadly missed out but I manage to capture most of them. Now, articulating about the whole experience of the Street Food Fest, it was somehow a disappointing and flavorless food venture for me. Quality was not that good and the prices were also not justified by the quantity and popularity of any food item. The intentions of the food vendors were more into earning money and finish their stock rather providing best possible flavors and quality to the consumers.

Street Food Festival, an inside view of this event at
Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium

The service and approach of most of the food vendors were not kind and generous. Another important thing to mention here is the overall ambiance of the food event. I would have expected it to be more artistic and colorful which depicts the diversity and culture of all different states we have in India. Though this event was all about the street food but we neither found it hygienic nor healthful at all.

Check out below pictures for their looks and taste reviews:

Bhaji Kachori at a Chaat Stall name Subeh-A-Banaras. It was mutter Paneer Sabji with stuffed urad dal pooris. The bhaaji was nice but low on salt, poories were crispy and nice. Very Ordinary in taste but would called it a decent start. Cost Rs.50 for 2 poori style kachoris and a small bowl of Sabji. The quantity was fine according to its price.

Jalebis to follow with Kachori Bhaaji, was something above average made of desi ghee and looks like emartees. Cost Rs. 30 per piece.

Batata Vada Pav - This is one of the favorite item and was on our list to t
ry. A simple and quick snack of Maharashra, a paav/bread stuffed with Aaloo Pakora and served along with green chilies and a red chaat masaala (which was unfortunately not available that day) 

Ragra Patties -  Heard of ragra patties before but its the first time I tried it. its a mixture/chaat of aaloo tikki, matar (cholle kulche) with chutneys on the top and sprinkled with dhania leaves. It was just an ordinary chaat with above combination. It costs Rs. 80 and expensive as per the quantity and quality.

Hyderabadi Biryani - This was the first thing came in my mind when heard about this fest. Regrettably, it was not satisfactory outcome. The biryani was quite ordinary and do not find it appealing at all. It was just like a Pulao with chicken in it. Cost Rs. 120 for a small plate with 1 piece of chicken. The above stall was managed by a group of ladies and believe me they were the most kind and active food vendors we met in this event

Mutton Nihari with Multi grain Roti - looks delicious but the taste was not compelling. It had a strong flavor of cloves which overpowered the taste of nihari and made it little bitter. Cost Rs. 140 for above quantity.

Mirch Pakora - It was at a Raasthani stall. A Green chilli layered with Corn Flour and fried. I quite liked it, was not appealing from the looks though. Cost Rs. 40

Chaina Mishti at West Bengal Stall - It tasted of cheap oil and lots of sugar, no other flavor. Completely out of taste and when we shared it with the seller he didn't replied. Cost Rs. 40 for a single piece and that too made of cheap oil

Boondi at West Bengal Stall - Same taste as chaina mishti, nothing different. Most disappointing mishti we ever had.

Dabeli - at a gujrat stall, aaloo tickki stuffed in a paav and served with chutnis. Again nothing special, just another chaat which was presented differently. Cost Rs. 60

Fish Pakoras - Rohu Fish and dry fish on the left.

Dry Fish

Vegetable Pulao

Paav Bhaaji

Pizza Dosa

Katni

Palappam with Chicken Stew at Kerela Stall

Paddu at Karnataka Stall

Mandi Kachori at Himachal Pradesh Store

Sepa Badi with Rice at Himachal Pradesh Stall

Jhinga Fry

Desi Murga with bhaat at Jharkhand

Grilled Sandwich - vegetable

Chicken Tikka and Seekh Kebabs at Delhi Stall

Chicken Curry and Chicken Korma at Delhi Stall

Bhature at delhi Stall

Fried Chicken with Gravy

Daal Laddo

Gajar Ka Halwa

Chandrakala

Gulab Jamun

Haleem

Galoti Kebab at Lucknow Stall

Paan - It was outside the Street Food Festival and was the most refreshing thing we had that day.

 

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Flame Grilled PERi-PERIi Chicken Restaurant Marks their Third Opening In One Of The Worl’d Fastest Growing Capital, New Delhi Connaught Place

New Delhi, November 20, 2014 –  Franchise group JANPATH RESTAURANTS PVT LTD, is proud to announce the opening of their third Nando’s in Delhi-NCR on Thursday, 20^th November 2014.  The all new casual dining restaurant Nando’s is situated right in the heart of the capital, Connaught Place. Nando’s believe in the idea to provide a good and filling meal at a good price. The launch evening showcased an experiential tasting of Nando’s famous flame-grilled chicken first hand along with a musical night.

The Nando’s flame landed in India way back in 2010 and soon there were 3 Nando’s restaurants across the country. It didn’t take long for people to fall in love with the addictive taste of our flame-grilled PERi-PERi chicken and now we have 7 restaurants open in Punjab, Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore. Nando's continues to spice up India with our flame-grilled PERi-PERi chicken and Afro-Portugese inspired sides.

"Nando's stand for chicken and chips and we are not diluting it to come to India. The product is the same across the world. The popularity has increased immensely with people getting over fast food and moving towards a healthier choice," said Deepinder Singh Batth, CEO, Nando's Delhi.

Further to this he added, “We are equally excited with the opening of the CP outlet of Nando’s, and I am looking at a fabulous response from the customers. Nando’s have already gained immense popularity with the Indian audience”.

With eclectic interiors done in all-natural shades of wood and Afro music playing in the background and art works displayed exclusively from South Africa. The restaurant promises to give a glimpse of the African side to the customers.

Nando’s future plans include breaking the jinx of international casual/fast casual brands coming into Delhi NCR and not being able to make a mark. Deepinder and the rest of the team want to make Nando’s the number one casual dining brand in the country. The team has launched the brand in Nov, 2012 with flagship restaurant at DLF Promenade Mall, Vasant Kunj and the second restaurant launched in Cyber Hub, Gurgaon. Future propeorties slated to open in India includes 15 restaurants all across Delhi NCR in the next 4 years.

Interiors

Interiors

Meal for 4 LS

Espetada

About Nando’s

The idea of bringing Nando’s came from a family that has always been involved in ventures in the Hospitality industry for over 2 decades, and being constantly exposed to international F&B brands around the world, the early stages of Franchising in India got the attention immediately. Having been introduced to Nando’s in Sydney, Melbourne, London and Singapore it was love at first sight for me. Destiny played its part when I met Satbir Khangura, Sukhbir Singh and Arvinder Salariya in London, all of whom were extremely keen in being involved with the Nando’s brand and like we say, the rest is history. Eventually, after presenting business plans in New Delhi, London and Johannesburg the 4 of us (Satbir, Sukhbir, Arvinder and Deepinder) secured the Franchise rights for Delhi NCR.

Disclaimer: Press Release