Tibet in North India!

Tired of Chole Bhature and Chole Kulcha, I took to the Internet to look around for places in Delhi where I can find some nice Chinese and Tibetan delights. Now we all know of the magical potency of the Internet. Google churned out names such a Majnu ka Tila and Tee-Dee from its belly. And my friends and I were left with little but to explore the incredulous place called Majnu ka Tila.

The New Aruna Nagar Colony, aka Majnu Ka Tila, with its huge monastic gate welcomed us to a make-shift ‘little Tibet’. Refugee Tibetans settled here and flagged the place as their own town, Chungtown. Every inch of this place smells and resembles Tibet as we have seen in photographs and the few lucky ones who have been to Tibet. We walked through its lanes and by lanes to explore a shopper’s haven of clothes and curios and a foodie’s happy hunting ground of authentic Tibetan cuisine.

At the heart of the colony lies a Tibetan monastery, or gumpha as they call it, from which the lanes and the by lanes radiate. We walked further inside through the by lanes for another 7 minutes and TA-DA! we reached TEE-DEE, the holiest place in Majnu Ka Tila to taste Tibetan food that is authentic to a T. As history has it, TEE-DEE is one of the first restaurants that had opened its doors to guests to taste Tibetan food. Back then old Karchung, the proprietor, served cheley (Tongue fry), lowa (stuffed lung fry), shapta (stir fried meat), thenthuk (noodle soup) and tingmo (steamed bread) to his guests. Named after Karchung’s younger son, Tenzing Drukda, TEE-DEE has emerged as the favourite spot of foodies over these 24 years.

TEE-DEE is literally a step above other restaurants in Mjanu Ka Tila, as we climbed up to the first floor to enter the paradisaical world of great food and good ambiance. Smiling Dalai Lama and a meditating Buddha welcomed us to a warm and cosy informal setting and to a new world of shabhaleys, ghenthuk and thenthuk. The service boy gave us a yellow pad to scribe our orders, but we found ourselves lost in the Tibetan names. 

Tashi, the beautiful Tibetan woman who has been at the helm of affairs at TEE-DEE since her father-in-law passed away, came to our rescue and placed the orders on our behalf. She says cheley, lowa, pork ribs, shapta and tingmo are the specialties of TEE-DEE. 

Though service was tardy, food did appear hot on our tables. We gregariously dined on pork ribs, tingmo, beef shapta and sliced pork with mushrooms. The piping entree, pork ribs, took us to a height of foodgasm. Pork ribs were deliciously juicy and zesty, with a good blend of spicy and sweet. The steamy hot tingmo with its yeasty freshness is wholesomely filling. The soft doughiness of the tingmo is best complemented by the hot and tangy beef shapta. Loaded with shredded meat, the beef shapta is indeed a must try at TEE-DEE. Sliced pork with mushroom is another dish that shouldn’t be given a miss. Shredded pork and a variety of mushrooms are packed together in a mild and glistening buttery gravy that washes your palette just enough from the tanginess of the beef shapta. 

By the end of our food journey we were full to our brim. What appealed to us most is the economical price at which TEE-DEE offered us a whole course meal. We would, however, recommend a slightly more familiar approach and a little more customer-friendly attitude.

24 years and still going guns, TEE-DEE has a simple recipe behind it. While the Tibetan colony is mushroomed with restaurants and food joints, there is hardly any that offers purely authentic Tibetan dishes. As Tashi stresses, authenticity has been their motto since TEE-DEE’s inception. It stands up to its popularity with its informal charm, authentic flavours and quality food. Though the shy and introvert Tibetan service boys refused to talk much, Tashi endeared us with her smile and welcoming hospitality.

Intriguing as the name may be, Majnu ka Tila offers a special gastronomic relish as it leads one through the narrow lanes of its mini Tibet!

A Foodie's Paradise - Kolkata!

I am a rat! I sniff my way into a city to know if it can satisfy my hunger pangs. Not that I claim to have travelled extensively across numerous cities, but I have modestly managed to touch base of several Indian cities. And from the little sniffing I did, I know well where I can quell my cravings.

                                

Calcutta/Kolkata is the city every foodie must pin down on her/his map, in case she/he is looking for a haven!

 If Delhi is our national capital, and Mumbai our cultural capital, Kolkata is definitely our food capital. Don’t judge me because it’s my hometown, but when I say that Calcutta’s gastronomic affair is by far the most democratically pluralistic one, I mean every word of it. The city is like an egalitarian wok that offers an array of global cuisines to its people. From the elites to the proletariat, Kolkata has afforded all sections of its society to enjoy a foodie’s appetite and cravings. It is one of the metros, and one of the oldest ones, which still affords its public the cheapest and the most economical living in India. Momos, noodles, thukpas, chop suey, dosas, dahi-vadas, chats, puchkas, kebabs, rolls, biriyani, burgers, pasta, fish cutlets, sizzlers, pastries, puddings, custard et al, are available not just in the plush interiors of lavish restaurants, but also with the local street vendors and within a range of INR 40 –80. What better way to keep your folks happy than through her/his stomach!

All Kolkattans are foodies, irrespective of their class, creed, sex, colour and religion. And I am serious!

That all Kolkattans are foodies bear proof in the fact that every nook and corner of city has a food joint that sells its own deconstructed variety of a principal dish. The variety available for your taste buds to relish on is just mind boggling — from Mughlai to Middle Eastern, from Asian to American. What, however, makes Kolkata the heavenly abode of Foodies is the easy availability of these delicacies, both in the street joints and the luxurious restaurants. 

My stay in Delhi, over the last two years, is deeply marked with much disappointment at the limited offers that are available for everyday snacking.  North Indian Cuisine is so heavily vetted there that to satiate a sudden Thukpa craving you might have to go all the way to Majnu ka Tila! And also let’s not forget the taboo of non-vegetarianism. Mumbai has been way better, though when it comes to choices and variety, you need to remember that in an elitist society ‘beggars can’t be choosers’! Chennai is however too full of itself to bother about other cuisines. It regales in its own magnificent cuisine.

The Bengali cuisine looms large over Kolkata too, but it’s definitely not an all consuming shadow. While delicacies like Alu-Posto, the Awadhi-styled Biriyani and Rasogolla are indeed quintessential of Kolkata, it also boasts itself of the rare Anglo-Indian dishes like the Mulligatawny soup and Kedgree, with Kolkata being the home to a large number of Anglo-Indians.  If it’s Puchka today, its’s Kabiraji tomorrow and Nachos the next day. If it’s Biriyani from Arsalan today, then it’s sweets from Balaram tomorrow and Chinese from Tirettti Bazar the next day.  If it’s Pasta from the university campus food joint today, it’s Chicken ala Kiev from The Steak Factory tomorrow and Japchae from Asia In Box the next day.

 When in Kolkata you are a Foodie and variety is the word that will dominate you plate.