Chp 761. Dinner by Zodini

For the next couple of blog updates, I will be posting about the recent dinners I had at various homes here in Pune, with as much detail as possible on the food served and the recipes. A series of food blog post for all you food lovers out there. :)

One of the perks of being a single bachelor who live alone is that all your friends across town feel sorry for you, and so you get invited to dinners regularly. Sometimes the awesome food they cook can fill up the emptiness in your heart to a certain extent… *cue dramatic response* :P

First up, is of course my dear friend Zodini, well renowned across our Pune Mizo community for her delicious cooking. Wife of my bro Daniel, you have to be completely sober when you are invited to her place for dinner otherwise you may miss out on the delicious food she had made with so much passion and intensity.

That night, Zodini had also invited a few other people to equalize the male-female ratio :P

A really merry bunch of people - Mazuii, Duati and Zoey. They filled that night with a lot of fond memories.

Below are the awesome dishes Zodini had made that night. She messaged me earlier about the description of each recipe, which I am reproducing here to the best of my abilities.

Arsa kan (Chicken Fry Mizo style)

After deep frying the raw chicken for a few minutes on high flame, take it out and then add onions, garlic, tomatoes, green peas, and other garnishes. And then slowly add the deep fried chicken back to the mix again and put the flame in simmer, until they smell like Heaven :)

Bawngsa leh Alu kan (Beef and Potato gravy)

Heat some oil in a pressure cooker and quickly add onions, garlic, a few pieces of ginger, one pinch of meat masala, turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt, along with leaves of Bahkhawr (Culantro). Add the meat and stir for some time until everything is mixed properly.

Add some water to the mixture and then close the pressure cooker and put the flame on high. Wait for the cooker to whistle at least 6-7 times, and then reduce the flame to simmer. After a few more minutes, switch the stove off, depressurize the cooker and open it. Add chopped potatoes in it, add some more water and then cook at high flame again. Wait for it to whistle 3 times, and then cook at simmer until it is ready.

Methi bai (Fenugreek Mizo stew)

Take salt, soda powder and ajinomoto and mix it in cold water. Once mixed properly, heat it to boil. As the water boils, add chopped brinjal (the small variant) and green chillies. Cook for some time and then add Methi and stir for a while until the dish is ready.

Tauh (Mizo mixture)

Take the sprouts of Moong dal (green gram) along with 3 different types of chana (chickpeas). Soak them in water until they hydrate and enlarge ("that's what she said!"). Mix them in a bowl with chopped onions, roasted chillies and salt. Squeeze some lime on the mixture. Heat a small quantity of oil and add that boiling oil to the mixture, hear that beautiful sizzling sound, and again mix it real well.

Hmarcha rawt (Mizo Chilli chutney)

This is perhaps the easiest to make but without it, no Mizo meal course is complete. Hmarchapui (large green chillies) are roasted directly on the flaming stove (yes, great care must be taken to ensure that there is proper ventilation in the house or else everybody's gonna cough and wheeze). Once they are roasted nicely, put it in a grinder with onions, tomatoes, and a pinch of salt and ajinomoto. Grind the mixture until they are all in small pieces. Thadaaa, Mizo hmarcha rawt.

Iromba (Fermented Fish Potato chutney)

This is a popular Meitei dish and not a Mizo one, popular across Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland. You can read about how to make a simple Eromba on my previous post Chp 738. How To Make Eromba. The way Zodini made it that night was a bit different though, she had put fermented fish, boiled potatoes, brinjal, tomatoes, bastenga, salt and ajinomoto in a vessel with water, and after boiling them for some time on simmer, she grinded them all together and then garnished it with onions with dhania (Cilantro). Super yumm!

And that was it, the awesome dinner Zodini made for us. My plate -

Here are a few bonus pics of that night. Great food, great time, great memories :)

Soon it was time to leave. Duati and Mazuii left, and I followed suit as my Uber arrived.

Overall, awesome dinner Zodin, thanks a lot for it. Looking forward to it again soon :D

I hope this post was useful to you all, do hit me back if you want more details about the recipes, tomorrow's post is going to be about Biryani. Signing off for now, cheers everyone. G'nite.

Chp 760. Haleem in Pune

Eid Mubarak everyone!

So this past one month, while my Muslim friends were all fasting, I was having the time of my life enjoying Haleem! :D

Haleem is a special Muslim delicacy we get here in India only during the month of Ramadan/Ramzan. It is a stew/broth like cuisine made from wheat and meat. I always thought Haleem was made from mutton, until my landlord who's from the Gulf told me the Haleem they used to eat back in the Middle East was made from camel's meat! I would love to try that out one day.

Back when I was in Hyderabad, I used to have Haleem almost every night during Ramadan. And then I moved to Mumbai and "Kakori House" was the only restaurant I found that delivered tasty Haleem. Now that I am in Pune, I looked at Swiggy and found six restaurants delivering Haleem to my location. I decided to try them all out! :D

Here's my journal.

1. Biryani By KG, Viman Nagar.

Mutton Haleem + 2 Roti + Chicken 65 combo at ₹ 359

Yeah, "Biryani By KG" is the name of the restaurant, don't give me that look, I didn't come up with it :D Their Haleem was super yummy! I was a bit surprised though, as I was expecting Mutton Haleem and Chicken 65 to be served separately, but instead, it came together as one dish :D This was a special Swiggy Ramzan combo and it is not there on their menu now. I had it with some beef king chilli pickles and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

2. Cafe Diamond Queen, Camp.

Mutton Haleem x 2 - ₹ 360

This Haleem came with extra loads of deep-fried onions, making it super delicious. I ordered two for lunch since I was going to Teresa's place later that night and I wanted Nitin to have a taste of it. My only complain about this Haleem was that there were no cashew nuts in it. Cashews really make the Haleem tastes extra better, IMHO

3. New Paradise, Kharadi.

Mutton Regular Haleem at ₹ 200

See, this is what I meant by having cashews in Haleem. It really makes it tastier and the aroma can make any mouth water. I had it with fried eggs and raw onions. It might look simple but it was sooo gooood!

4. Faasos, Viman Nagar.

Mutton Haleem With Laccha Paratha and Kulcha - ₹ 319

Yes, even Faasos made Haleem during Ramzan :D Don't let the quantity above fool you, it might look less but it was extremely filling. Heavy and thick, this version from Faasos used almonds instead of cashew nuts and it gave it a very distinctive flavor.

5. George Restaurant, East Street.

Mutton Haleem at ₹ 200

This Haleem came with large chunks of meat, which was surprising since Haleem is supposed to be minced and broth-like. It was tasty anyway, and I had it with omelette.

6. Behrouz Biryani, Viman Nagar.

Gosht Haleem with mini Falafel-E-Khaasand mini Murgh Koobideh at ₹ 351

And finally, I ordered from Behrouz Biryani. I knew their Haleem was going to come with lots of dry fruits since Behrouz was known for adding such stuff on their biryanis. Also, you won't find this item on their menu again until the next Ramzan, so it was a must have.

Overall, that was my experience with Haleem this year, and I look forward to it again next year. My colleagues and I actually planned to go to this restaurant called "Arabian Bites" at Kondhwa last week to try out their Haleem as it is apparently the best Haleem in Pune, but unfortunately, my dear friend Siami met with an accident (she's ok now) and I had to take a leave the next day, and so we all cancelled the plan. But next year, if we are all alive and well, that's where we will be heading.

So, this is my short review on the Haleem that we get around Koregaon Park and Kalyani Nagar in Pune this year, hope you found it useful. Eid Mubarak once again everyone, see you all later. Cheers.