What to eat if you go half-way vegan?
It is depressing. Here I remain, perched on the higher end of the weighing scale, basically hating myself for over-eating, over-boozing and falling off my exercise routine. How to detox now? How now to stop the steady upward march of my Body Mass Index? How to stem the not-so-steady ballooning out of various body parts? The answer, I say, is tambli. Tambli is a cross between a chutney, raita and a lassi. It is served in coastal Karnataka-- Mangalore and upwards, usually before the rasam course. Which brings us to the key question for this column: is there any other culture that is as obsessed with the yogurt-coconut combo as we South Indians are?
Bangalore’s trendy restaurants: don’t believe Zomato
Let’s face it. A lot of what is considered best is subjective. Even if you go through crowd-polled websites, it is hit or miss. So what’s the takeaway? Mine is not to trust Zomato ratings because while they are crowd-polled, they aren’t customized, as in geared to your taste. My technique is to ask trusted friends and then account for their biases. When a Kashmiri friend says the food is too spicy, I automatically think it is probably perfect for spice-loving me. So what’s new, what’s hip in Bangalore? Read on.
Thank you Khaleej Times for the plug
Khaleej Times is big in the UAE and now they have revamped their entire paper. I am glad they carried an excerpt from Food & Faith-- the chapter on Sufism.
Where to Eat in Bengaluru (Bangalore)
What are the top ten restaurants in Bangalore? I try to find out. Use this list as a suggestion for visiting friends. I know, I know. Lots of terrific restaurants that are left out of this list. Email me with a few glaringly obvious ones and I promise to use your suggestions in future writing. Thanks.
The dark and mysterious side of the moon
As the weather warms up, I have been sitting on the balcony and watching the moon at night. This one is about the moon, about Japan, and watching the sky.
Best Bangalore restaurants for Karnataka food
Good restaurants are not just in the business of selling food. They are in the business of selling memories. For some of these restaurants that I’ve mentioned here, memories are a function of their longevity– we are able to go back to these places time and time again. But that isn’t enough. The food had better be good, else none of the nostalgia will matter. All the places listed here fit that particular bill. Read on to find Bangalore's best Karnataka food restaurants
Does your wardrobe make others pity you?
Does your wardrobe make others pity you? [...]
The best masala dosas in Bangalore
If you live in Bangalore, indeed, South India, it is hard to get away from masala dosas. I am obsessed with them. Here is a list of some really good-- and very mediocre masala dosas. All worth trying, for the atmosphere at least. But hey, write to me about your good choices and I will go try out your favourite masala dosa. What is one more carbo-load?
There is more to a name than you know
Today, I read in the paper about a chess prodigy whose name is 100% a result of numerology. I find this weird spelling names especially in Mumbai folks. Film stars....Ajay Devgn for instance. Another tangential remark is that I found a bunch of Mint columns that are not on this website. For comprehensiveness, I am slowly uploading them. Reading them.
Why isn’t Ahmedabad the seat of design?
I am visiting this 600-year-old city that Sultan Ahmed Shah founded, for the first time, and I love it. I didn’t expect to. Indians are funny that way. Each of us is intensely proud of the region we call home, and, truth be told, there is enough in each place to be proud of. Talk to a Goan and they will act as if the good life or Sussegado originated in Goa. Talk some more and it becomes hard to argue otherwise. Talk to a Tamilian and they will act as if culture begins and ends in Chennai. Visit Chennai in December and you will become convinced. Talk to a Bengali and they will make your head spin with their literary and intellectual allusions. All Bengalis think Kolkata is the center of the universe and once you get into the ‘adda’ mindset, you will feel the same way too. And now, Gujarat. Deep breath.