Food!

Ha ha...Wondering whats so unique or interesting about it? Well in this blog post am sharing about my second love. Yup it is. Well after adventure (which includes travel and photography) its food which has been my passion. People who know me will have funny expressions on their face as I don't look like your typical foodie.

The Beginnings

Born and brought up in 5-6 different geographies thanks to Appa being in the Indian Air Force (http://indianairforce.nic.in/) which also included travelling to see lots n lots of new places and then classmates and neighbours helped me get exposed to a cuisines from far and near at a very early age. From the quick n easy idlis and upmas to the chicken biriyanis and the aloo parathas! Today when I look back I feel so lucky to have got such exposure!

School

Kendriya Vidyalaya (http://kvsangathan.nic.in/) ....fond memories! I remember being the only south Indian in my gang my lunch pack was always in demand. And what do I get in return? Yummy parathas and vegetable dishes!

Summer Vacations

The very words remind me of my aatha (appa's mom, grandmother) and her fish fries (recipe: http://bit.ly/9pl4Fw) and chicken curry (recipe: http://bit.ly/ceb4Y1) among other dishes. And of course the vegetarian delights like the sambhar and rasam. Given I belonged to a family of farmers, milk and curds were always in abundance.

College

For graduation and post-graduation I moved to Madurai (http://bit.ly/9NIG34). Like any other part of the country, Tamil Nadu can be divided into gastronomic zones and Madurai is one big zone in it. Over the 5 years that I spent there I was introduced to some really mouth-watering dishes. The one which I will always remember will be the Chicken Kothu Parotta (recipe: http://bit.ly/a311VD)

In Bangalore @ work

Joined Lowe Worldwide (http://bit.ly/bzgikk) in June, 1999. Over the next 6-7 years, work, late nights, parties and weekends introduced me to some dishes which have become part of my life. From the Seeshmahal Masala Dosa (recipe: http://bit.ly/bCJhAv) to the legendary Empire's (review: http://bit.ly/dltCgK) Kerala Parotta n Butter Chicken Masala (recipe: http://bit.ly/cBnyMA) and Mango Milkshakes (recipe: http://bit.ly/aPXx5n) to Angeethi's (review: http://bit.ly/aEhhQY) Chicken Biriyani (recipe: http://bit.ly/87Lzbw) to Coconut Groveand over the weekends it was time for the Lakeview's (http://lakeviewmilkbar.com/) Chicken Club Sandwich (http://bit.ly/9j2MkB) and many many more places. I can just go on and on... With office situated on the MG Road, Museum Road, Church Street intersection there were over a 100 places where one could go have lunch and come back to work within an hour's time!

Upma @ Reema's place!

Every Monday religiously I would have Upma (recipe: http://bit.ly/bVdNP2) for dinner at Reema's place. ( a colleague then, she happens t be my wife now) One dish I have not been able to handle all these years but to convince her would visualise it as a sweet dish and polish it off. Leaving her place late in the night I would go searching for some Coke to help digest the Upma!

Over the next 3-4 years I shuttled between Bangalore and Mumbai. During my stay in Mumbai my food habits got a bit compromised. After some time like the rest of the Mumbai-kars I got hooked to the Vada Pavs (recipe: http://bit.ly/9Nrn2w) .

Marriage brought some stability to my food habits. Given Reema comes from a Bihar / Orissa background she brought with her knowledge of some lovely cuisines from that part of the country thanks to my mother-in-law...

Today when I sit down watch all those programmes on cuisines on Discovery Travel & Living (http://bit.ly/dtdOVc), NDTV Good Times (http://goodtimes.ndtv.com) I fondly remember my own gastronomic journey which ofcourse is still going very strong!

PS: The links are references top the recipes of dishes mentioned and not necessarily of the way they are made in the respective places!