Kund

Kund is a small north India/Punjabi restaurant in Indiranagar, adjacent to Domino's Pizza, and virtually a stone's throw away from my office. Given this, it's a little strange that in the past 5 years I've worked at the current company, I've visited Kund only twice before (and both times were before I started this blog). Kund is owned by the father of Chef Manjeet Singh (the owner of Herbs n Spices in Indiranagar 80 feet road). It's a tiny joint, with 5-6 six-seater tables and an equal number of 2 seater tables.

The menu has several options for vegetarians (the usual gobi and mushroom and half a zillion paneer options), but for non-vegetarians, it's almost like hitting pay dirt. What's heartening to see is that they have several lamb dishes on the menu. Since this was one of the few and rare occasions where the number of vegetarians outnumbered the non-vegetarians (I went with some freinds from office) comprehensively (in a group with whom I've dined), the non-veg dishes are minimal.

The vegetarians started off with usual - paneer tikkas with green mint chutney. Along with this, they also ordered a veg seekh kabab, which all the vegans seemed to like a lot, but left a lot to be desired with my palate. Also, a good number of these guys are poor eaters really, and one of 'em is allergic to mushrooms - talk about narrowing your options - vegetarian and allergic some of the veg stuff!

Us non-PETA folk settled for tangdi kababs and gosht mazedar kabab. I got a real kick out of the name. The tangdi kababs were drumsticks marinated in a chili, ginger & garlic paste, cumin, and fenugreek. These were nice and hot and the meat just slipped off the bone. The lamb kababs were marinated in cashew nut paste amongst other spices, making it rich and creamy. The lamb itself was boneless and was extremely tender. We ordered seconds of this.

Tangadi kabab

Paneer tikka

Gosht mazedar kabab

For our main coin course, my fellow non-veggie and I ordered a gosht lababdar. I didn't read what exactly this had, and really didn't care as long as there was gravy, no bones, and tender meat. And this was exactly that. Hurray! We also ordered a mutton biryani, which came in a copper pot and was nicely cooked. I've had better biryanis elsewhere, but this was not bad, and the quantity was more than enough for the two of us after having 2 kulchas each.

The PETA folk had some paneer dish and a dal along with kulchas, and to mop up the excess dal, they had a jeera rice. I guess it was good since they didn't complain and everything was polished off - the hallmark of hungry diners and/or tasty food.

Paneer something and Dal something

My plate with my food

Mutton biryani

Food: Good
$$$: Not too expensive. 8 of us (6 veg, 2 non-veg) ate and the bill was a touch under 2000, which was around 250 per head...well worth it!
Service: Decent
Verdict: Must visit if in the area and if you want to have north Indian/Punjabi food.

Kund, #303, Ashok Terrace, Next to Domino's Pizza, 100 Feet Road, Indiranagar, Bangalore. Phone: 25281416

BM Review: Sultans of Spice

A couple of weeks back, I had been to Sultans of Spice, a new restaurant part of the Blu Petal Business hotel in Koramangala. My last visit here was to Zheng, with some friends (not part of a review). The review can be read here.

Here's a shorter take on the experience, along with some of the snaps I took.

We've all heard tales of the wild west, with gun-slinging cowboys shooting up towns, a la dirty Harry, but we've almost forgotten about the wild west in our neighbourhood - the 'frontier' region (as it was known during British rule). Yup, the NWFP, the badlands of north-nest Pakistan and Afghanistan. A lot of the culinary traits of these regions are heavily influenced from the Central Asian countries (once the satellite states of the erstwhile USSR). The landscape being arid, with scrubs and bushes making up the prominent vegetation, goats and sheep are the primary source of protein here. And so it isn't surprising to see that a restaurant serving food from a little beyond the Khyber Pass, through Punjab, all the way to Delhi, should have a good selection of dishes involving lamb.

The atmosphere inside the restaurant was very pleasant - light music, good clean linen on the table, nice upholstery for the chairs, and a menu that wouldn't disappoint even a vegetarian, and would certainly make a carnivore's mouth water. I'm not too much into the ambiance and music, so I didn't mind the Jagjit Singh ghazals in the background, but some of the guests did, although not to the point where they started throwing tantrums.

The food was great. I didn't care too much for the Punjabi section - don't get me wrong, they were nice - I just liked the dishes from the other two sections better (and so did the guests). Also, to the credit of this restaurant, the lamb dishes that were served among the starters were wonderfully cooked. Very often, the mutton in a biryani is tender and drops off the bone and this is because it is 'pressure' cooked (may not be in a pressure cooker, but you know what I mean). However, starters usually aren't, and these are slow cooked in a tandoor, and very often the meat is still a little chewy. This often spoils the experience. However, the lamb at Sultans of Spice didn't suffer from that and came off the bone quite easily. Kudos to the chef.

Paya Kalimirch Shorba

Gosht Nehari Shorba

Boondi shikhanji (minus the boondi)

Tikka Rasmonak (mushroom, background), Bhatti da peela kukkad

The one other dish I'd like to mention specifically is the Matiya Road bharwan tange. This was chicken legs stuffed with mince meat and methi. I was unable to decide which I liked better - this or the lamb chops (gosh quburghah). Eventually I settled for this because this had chicken as well as minced lamb.

Matiya Road bharwan tange

Gosh quburghah

Surjeet di Amritsari macchi

The main course, after the initial onslaught, was a little tame. Although we did have a superbly 'crafted' lamb chops dish in the main course as well (burrah kaliyan) along with the breads, we also went in for a keema fry and a mutton biryani.

Karim's keema mutter fry

Burrah Kaliyan

Among desserts, the stuffed gulab jamuns in a mango nectar were the most appealing (visually) - check out the snap below, I really liked the picture. Taste wise though, I'll have to go with something a little more, well, exotic if you like - the chickoo kulfi (they actually have a custard apple kulfi, but that is seasonal).

The hand wash bowl, with flower petals

Stuffed gulab jamuns with mango nectar

Chickoo kulfi

Jalebi + Rabdi (served in a cup)

Food: Very good
$$$: Moderately expensive
Service: Good
Verdict:Must visit
Extra info: Unless you're in a large groiup, and/or have a craving for Punjabi food, skip the Punjabi section and stay with the Kabul and Delhi section. It's not the Punjabi section is bad; it's just that the other two sections are better.

Sultans of Spice, Blu Petal Hotel, #60, Jyothi Nivas College Road, 5th Block Koramangala, Bangalore. Phone: 43431800

Punjabi Rasoi

The most vocal of dancing girls from our group of 20 who joined GXS on the same day has put in her papers, and what's more, Monday is her last day!!! So a few remnants of the original 20 decided to step out close by for a quick lunch. Since we work in different teams, and in different buildings, we don't get to meet up as often as we'd like, and it's usually during such times that we meet up.

Since it was going to be a quick affair, and since the place is fairly quick when it comes to serving the food, we ordered a plate of tangdi kabab (sorry for the blurry image, it's 4 chicken legs marinated in a mixture of curd, corriander paste, chillies),
and a plate of gobi (cauliflower) fry.
Both starters were good, and the chicken was particularly juicy, which was such a relief, because it can easily be over cooked in an over-enthusiastic wave.

For main course, the usual Punjabi fare: rotis and curry. We had lachcha paranthas and phulkas, along with a mutton curry (roghan josh),

and those who eat the food of the holy Indian cows ordered a bhindi masala (lady's finger or okra).

The mutton was tender and the spices were just right for the palate, while the okra was done well and again, not over-powering. There feelings are always a little morose when someone from your group decides to call it a day and move on to a new company, for a better opportunity in this enormous rat race that we techies are part of. And for any American reading this, no pal, I didn't steal your job. I got the job 'coz I'm good at what I do, and the fact that I'm not paid as much as you would have been paid for the same job isn't something that's in my control, so don't even bother going down that path. Anyways, it's food I discuss here, not politics, which I do in my other blog, so let's bring this to a close.

Food: Decent
:$$$: Value for money
Service: Can vary depending on the crowd
Verdict: Not expensive, so if in the vicinity, hop in.

Punjabi Rasoi, #152/1, 2^nd Main, Near Juice Junction & Just Bake, Indiranagar, Bangalore. Phone: 23339171, 23338064

Oye Shaava

Balle balle! That's the first thing that comes to mind when you hear a sound byte as Oye Shaava. Located above Saigon on Church Street, and below Oye Amritsar (both are owned by the same person and serve similar food, the other difference being in the music being belted out :) ). I visited the place on Friday for lunch along with a group of friends from work to celebrate our 3rd anniversary at our current work place (20 of us joined together, now there are 9).

The place looked pretty good and the setup was nice. The waiters were dressed in black with a make-believe turban (which wouldn't have fooled anyone), but at least they were friendly and didn't mind the excessive photogrpahs being taken and the constant loud chattering and laughing that emanated from our table. The chairs could have been a little more comfy, but otherwise there weren't too many complaints about the place.

Although I was keen to go the a la carte way, I was voted out 8-1 for the sit down buffet. I must confess I'm not a big fan of buffets all the time at every place because the food at a buffet will always score a little less when compared to the food ordered off the menu. Nevertheless, a Rs. 250/- per head buffet with 3 veg and 3 non veg starters (unlimited) followed by a main course meal consisting of rotis & naans, a veg and a non veg curry, dal, and rice followed by fruit salad and a sweet (jalebi) did sound value for money. We did, however, order a couple of starters from the menu: a pahalwani dhabe de maahi tikke (which was the restaurant's special fish preparation), and a bawazani paneer de tikke (another restaurant special with cottage cheese).

The extra starters that we ordered were excellent, while the starters that came as part of the buffet were very good too. We had a cauliflower fry, a mini veg roll and some kind of cutlet in the veg starters and had a mutton sheekh kabab, a chicken starter and a fried fish. All six were very good, and if it came down to a contest, the cauliflower would win, closely followed by the chicken. We also had a few drinks (not the alcoholic type): jal jeeras, shikanjvis, lassis and lime sodas.

By the time we were done with the starters, most of us were almost full and were moaning at the thought of having the main course now. But once the dal and the curries were served, everyone had at least one roti or naan, and a few even managed to make room for a little rice :)

After that it was time for the fruit salad (more like apple & papaya salad) along with fresh, hot jalebis. Special mention here, the jalebis were small, hot and crisp, exactly the way I like them, so all in all, a good meal, although I think I'd like to go back there sometime and try the food off the menu and not a pre-selected one. Although the buffet didn't serve anything 'special' in terms of Punjabi cuisine, the food was good, the place was clean, good ambiance, and so all in all, good value for money.

Oye Shaava, 3^rd Floor, Asha Enclave, Above Saigon, Church St, Bangalore.